ZIELLE
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A howl.
Loud and bone-chilling.
It pierces through the stillness of the night like a sharp double edged blade.
It is the kind of howl that would make the bravest of the wolves shiver, It will make our hearts thud, hands tremble.
I jerk awake from my sleep, hands clutching around the woollen blanket. I heard it again. So it wasn't a dream. I stare out of my open window, the moon stares right back at me.
The wolf howls again. It sounds of anguish and fury. Makes my hand sweat and heart beat even louder and harder.
A knock on my door makes me jump from the bed. I laugh at my own nerves. I'm the tamer, if anything I had the experience with the wildest of beasts. A howl shouldn't scare me like this.
But it does. It does things to me.
The knock keeps raining on my door. I clutch the blanket around me and walk to the door. It must be Lily, she might have gotten scared from the howls.
When I unlock the door, my suspicions are proven right. Lily stood before me with wild, concerned eyes. Before I can ask if she is okay, she pulls me into a bone crushing hug. I return the hug even though I am a little dumbfounded.
"You alright, baby?" I whisper to her hair, rocking her in my arms. The howl keeps echoing relentlessly and I hold her a little tighter.
"Let me ask you the same!" She pulls away from me, her hands gripping mine tightly, "I heard your scream. I was scared."
My eyebrows crease, lips pursing. When did I scream? What is she saying?
"I didn't scream, baby." I say, squeezing her hands, "Maybe it was just a dream." I wiggle my body funnily, "See me? I'm perfectly alright."
She looks at me like I have grown two heads and it weirds me out.
"It wasn't a dream, I swear. I was woken up by your scream." She repeats, looking around my room like she expects some monster to slide out from under my bed.
"No way. I didn't make a sound." I say, the howl comes again and I flinch.
Lily gives me a weird look. "Why are you flinching, Zi?"
What? Doesn't she hear the howl? The loud, piercing howl? Who wouldn't flinch at that?
"Are you joking?" I chuckle. "Acting so brave now, I see. My baby used to be a scaredy cat. Now look at her, I'm proud."
"Did you hit your head somewhere, sister? I don't understand you." The way she says it, words crisp and tone serious makes my smile dim.
The howl rings again and I notice how she doesn't flinch at all. It's like she doesn't hear it at all.
I stare at her, trying to capture any tinge of fear in her face, any trace of amusement or any emotion that could be brought out by the howl. I found nothing there.
My heart weighs on my chest like a stone. A cold dread spreading through my limps. "You don't hear it?"
"Hear what, Zi?" She asks me, her brows creased together like she couldn't guess what I am talking about.
Another howl comes. She doesn't flinch.
"That." I say.
"What?"
My breath caught in my chest, but I tries to laugh it off, "Nothing, I was playing around."
Lily doesn't look convinced. But don't push either.
"Go back to sleep, baby." I ruffle my fingers through her short silky hair, "You have to wake up early tomorrow."
"Can I sleep here today?"
"No." I am a little too quick to shoot her down, "I toss and turn a lot in my bed nowadays."
"Why? Are you having trouble sleeping?"
I sigh, I make this little girl worried all the time. "No baby. It's fine. You go to bed. You need the sleep."
She leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek, "You too."
I watch her round the corner and disappear into the dark. I stand rooted on my feet. Heart beating like a wild animal from inside my chest.
Why do only I hear it?
Howl
My heart jumps
Howl
My mind blurs
Howl
This is not just a howl, this is a summon.
I move to the window again. The moon has risen higher now, huge and pale, bathing the city in silver light. Everything looks unchanged. But I know better. Things are changing. This isn't just any Alpha they've brought in.
He's calling out.
And somehow—he's calling out to me.
My body is moving on its own as I reach for my drawer and pull out a cloak, securing it around my body. The chill of the night seeps into my bones, but it's not the cold that makes my hands tremble—it's the way my instincts are acting without permission.
Like something ancient inside me has woken up.
I don't know why I'm doing this. I should stay. I should lie down and pretend I'm not hearing the howl that refuses to fade. I should pretend it doesn't set my insides on fire, but I can't.
My feet move anyway.
I slip out of the room, the halls cloaked in moonlight and silence. Lily might have fallen alseep again. She is a fast sleeper, and she looked very tired too.
I move through the paths like a ghost.
Not a single soul stirs. The guards don't patrol this late near the Tamer's wing, and I take that as a small mercy. No one to stop me. No one to ask where I'm going.
Because I wouldn't have an answer.
A voice in my head screams to me to turn back and run. To escape. But I don't feel like me anymore.
Just a puppet, my strings being moved by someone's hand.
When the howl comes again, my omega howls right back. Taking me by surprise. It's been years since I heard from my inner wolf. She has been silent for way too long.
Why is this wild alpha pulling her out now?
What is he doing to me?