I paced my room for an hour before realising I couldn't just stay in there anymore, not after what just happened.
Outside my window, the full moon was glowing with the same green glow it had had since the mist seeped in. It was the night of the Green Moon. Which means the mating ceremony was happening right now.
My hands shook as I shoved my door open and ran out of the building. I needed answers. I could have waited until the next day but…no, I couldn't anymore.
I needed to find Teliff. She would probably be able to make some sense of what was happening to me.
The cool air hit my face as I stepped out of the dorm and past the other buildings in the Northern Sector. The corridors of the dorm had been dimly lit, but the path outside seemed to be lit up bright in every corner like in some sort of festivity. It was probably because of the mating ceremony. People littered the paths everywhere and crowds were casually forming at the end to go to the centre of the Parthenn where the event was likely taking place.
I knew I wasn't allowed in there yet, but maybe I'd be able to find Teliff somewhere around. My eyes kept scanning the Omegas coming out of the dorms, trying to make out a flash of purple hair until I realised that something was wrong.
As I passed by, the other Omegas seemed to stop and stare at me, muttering under their breaths and pointing as if I were some kind of new specimen. Dread filled my stomach.
"That's her, I think," someone muttered.
"The one who threw and punched Calon?"
"She's probably mutated. What if…what if she's a Varcolac?"
Varcolac.
Shit.
It seemed like Valeria and Calon had already been running their mouths. I had no idea what they might be saying about what happened in my room but being accused of being a Varcolac was bad. Like a cause of sure death kind of bad.
The Varcolac were the monsters residing in the mist, outside the glass dome. They were terrible, strong creatures who were once humans who had mutated to great extents. All of us who were rounded up then had been tested for mutation levels, and every single one suspicious enough to be a Varcolac were culled. Brutally.
The worst part was that I wasn't even sure I wasn't Varcolac anymore.
That's when I spotted Valeria and Calon standing near the Delta guards posted near the iron gates. Valeria was animatedly explaining something to them while scanning the crowds and worse, she'd seen me.
She rapidly pointed at me like a lunatic until the guards' heads snapped my way. I gulped in fear.
What had she done?
The moment the guards' hands went to their rifles, my instincts screamed and I turned around and just ran.
I bolted as fast as I could through a dirt-stricken path right into the dense foliage of trees that lined the Centre. I could hear them shouting behind me, asking me to stop, their footsteps pounding as I darted into the shadows. The branches clawed at my hair and face and I could barely see anything except for the few slivers of moonlight that entered in between the trunks.
I didn't dare look back. I knew what would happen if they got to me.
They would kill me.
An Omega doesn't show that kind of strength all of a sudden unless something else has happened. In my case, unless they've been mutated into a Varcolac.
I was too focused on putting as much distance between me and the guards when it happened again. The same feeling that I got when I pushed Calon into my room.
The searing pain like electricity coursing through my veins.
"No!," I screamed.
I stumbled into a clearing, away from the trees and fell, clutching myself in pain. It felt like my bones were being dipped in molten lava, the pain so excruciating. Every muscle felt like it was seizing, tendons snapping and coiling until all I could do was groan and scream in agony on the cold ground.
"Help," I managed to croak out.
But no one would help me anymore. I was just an anomaly that needed to be killed. And this was the worst way possible. If the Delta guards found me I'd either be dead or captured.
My skin felt like it was being flayed bit by bit, my limbs twisting and popping until another scream tore out from my mouth.
And then it all stopped. I realised the last one wasn't a scream anymore. It was a howl.
I looked down at myself, at my new body. The body of a wolf. Claws sharper than knives, skin coated by thick black fur. Every sound, every smell, every single one of my senses was heightened until it became too unbearable and overwhelming.
So this was what it felt like.
Shifting into my werewolf form for the first time ever.
I…was a wolf now. It was unmistakable.
The reality was still sinking in as I caught the sudden new scent. I panicked immediately until it dawned on me. No, it wasn't a new scent. Because I had caught this scent before, while I was cleaning yesterday. But now, the scent had increased tenfold, even more than that. The same intoxicating scent enveloped each and every sense, so much richer, sending a tremendous amount of heat through my body.
My head jerked sideways as the trees rustled and it walked out into the clearing.
It was massive, towering over even my wolf form. It was bigger than I ever thought a wolf could be. Its fur was a blend of silver and black, gleaming brightly under the moonlight and I could make out its long canines as it glared at me, locking its eyes on me like a predator marking its prey.
The eyes. They were bright and glowing dangerously.
They were Red.