# Chapter 89: The Eve of Darkness
*POV: Vanessa*
"Why me?" I asked the moon.
I stood alone in the woods. Far from pack lands. Far from anyone who could hear me cry.
The moon was big tonight. Full and bright. Like it was listening.
"Why did you make me this way?" I said to the sky.
No wolf inside me. No other half. Just me. Just human Vanessa in a world of wolves.
The wind moved through trees. Soft and quiet. Like a whisper.
"I don't understand," I said. "Everyone else gets a wolf. Everyone else gets to be whole."
My voice broke. Tears came down my face.
"But not me. Never me."
I sat down on a fallen log. Put my head in my hands.
"Gerald thinks I'm strong," I said. "But I'm not. I'm just broken."
More wind. Stronger now. Like the moon was trying to talk to me.
"The other Lunas have wolves," I said. "They can fight. They can protect their packs."
I looked up at the bright moon. "What can I do? I'm just human."
