The rest of the day dragged on like molasses, though Ethan could barely recall a single word spoken by his teachers. His attention was fixed on her—Selene Veyra. Every time she shifted in her chair, he caught himself stealing glances.
There was something unusual about her. Not just her silver-gray eyes, but the way she seemed to move too gracefully for the cramped classroom, like she belonged somewhere larger, wilder.
At lunch, she didn't sit with anyone. Most new students got absorbed quickly by cliques desperate for novelty. But Selene simply took her tray, walked to the far corner, and sat alone. No phone, no book, no noise. She ate in silence, as though the world wasn't worth noticing.
Ethan hesitated. His best friend Maya elbowed him when she caught him staring.
"Don't," she whispered. "She's… different."
"You don't even know her," Ethan muttered.
"Exactly. And neither does anyone else."
Still, by the time lunch ended, his sketchbook was open under the table, filled with half-finished drawings of her.
That evening, unable to shake her from his mind, Ethan decided to take the long way home through the woods. The path was narrow, the trees bending overhead to form a tunnel of shadows. He'd walked this trail a hundred times, but tonight felt different. The air was heavier, damp with the scent of rain even though the sky was clear.
Halfway through, he froze.
A low sound—half growl, half snarl—echoed from the trees. His breath caught. Eyes glimmered between the branches, not the green reflection of a deer, but something brighter. Silver.
Then the figure stepped forward. A wolf. Larger than any he had ever seen, its coat dark as midnight, its eyes glowing with an uncanny intelligence. Ethan's heart hammered against his ribs.
He stumbled back—
But before he could run, the wolf turned, vanished into the trees, and was gone.
Ethan stood trembling, clutching his sketchbook to his chest like a shield. He should've been terrified, but instead, a strange thought clawed its way into his mind.
Those eyes.
They looked just like