The ancient-looking door yawned open, its tired hinges groaning like the forest itself warning her back. Alicia dragged her weary legs inside. The air was thick, spiced with herbs, smoke, and something older, darker, that coiled around her like unseen hands. Candles burned low in crooked holders, their flames bending toward her as if in greeting. Dried bones dangled from the rafters, charms of feather and claw swayed in the draft, and jars of strange, glowing liquids lined the shelves. This was no shelter of chance. This was a den of power.
A figure emerged from the shadows, cloaked in black, her eyes glinting with uncanny knowing. The witch smiled as though she had been waiting all along.
"Welcome home, child."
Before Alicia could form a word, the woman seized her wrist and guided her inside where a steaming bath waited, its heat chasing the forest's chill from her bones. Weeks of filth melted away, though nothing could wash the venom from her heart.
Fresh robes clung to her frame when she emerged, and the witch ushered her to a table heavy with food. The scent alone broke her. Alicia lunged. She tore bread, ripped into meat, devoured everything with the frenzy of a beast starved too long. Hunger drowned her shame.
The witch said nothing. She only watched, eyes gleaming, lips curled in a patient smile.
At last, Alicia stilled, breath ragged, hands trembling over the scraps.
Then the witch's voice cut the silence, low and certain.
"I saw your coming long before your feet touched this forest," the witch murmured, her eyes glinting like coals. "But your heart, child… it burns with rage, with vengeance, and I like it."
A low, devilish laugh rolled from her throat, curling through the room like smoke.
Alicia froze, her lips trembling. "How did you know?"
"I see all," the witch said, her voice smooth as drifting smoke. "And I know what you crave. But the power you seek is no simple gift; it'll feed on the wolf within and when spirit and sorcery collide, they tear at the seams of flesh and soul. Should your beast seize the reins, you will not return. You will become neither woman nor wolf, but something fouler, hunger given form, ruin without end, the orchestrator of eternal damnation.
Alicia's eyes hardened. "I don't care. I'm ready for anything."
The witch leaned closer, shadows bending with her. "Then be patient. The ritual requires the storm. When the seven days of rain begin, so shall your rebirth."
The candlelight flickered wildly, as though the forest itself shuddered at her words.
***
Rain hammered the campus, thunder rattling the windows as if the sky itself was splitting apart. Jessie staggered barefooted through the downpour, mud streaking her legs, her hair plastered to her face. She had no memory of how long she'd been wandering, only the cold, the pounding rain, and the strange fire burning under her skin.
By the time she reached her dorm, Jessie was drenched and shaking, barely able to recognize the mud-smeared figure staring back at her from the hallway mirror. Relief washed over her when she saw her roommate's bed empty. She stumbled into the bathroom, slammed the door shut, and began stripping off her soaked clothes.
Then she froze.
The mirror glared back at her, veins crawling like black rivers beneath her skin, pulsing, writhing, as if some creature inside her was desperate to tear free.
"No…" Her voice broke, ragged with panic. She clawed at her arms, scratching, scraping, trying to peel the thing away from her body, but the veins only thickened, spreading like wildfire.
Pain seized her chest. She gasped, spine arching as if her bones were being twisted from within. A scream ripped from her throat as she collapsed onto the cold tiles, her nails raking the floor, leaving bloody crescents in her palms.
Every spasm felt like her skeleton was grinding against itself, her ribs stretching, her jaw trembling with an ache so deep it felt ready to snap.
"Stop! Please, stop!" she sobbed, slamming her fists against the tiles, but the storm outside only roared louder, thunder shaking the roof in time with her agony.
Jessie's breath caught, terror flooded her as her pupils stretched into slits, swallowing the brown of her irises until only glowing gold remained. She staggered back, clutching her chest as her ribs groaned and snapped, rearranging themselves with sickening cracks.
Her nails lengthened, blackened, curving into sharp points that split her fingertips until they bled, only for the blood to vanish into her skin like it had never been there. Her jaw locked, then wrenched, teeth splitting into jagged points. Jessie muffled her cry in the crook of her arm, but the sound that tore out was not human, it was a low snarl that made the bathroom light flicker.
Jessie collapsed again, sweat dripping, heart slamming like it would explode. In the mirror, her reflection stared back, not wholly human, not fully beast, something trapped in between. Her veins pulsed with a golden fire, her eyes burned like molten metal. The face staring back at her smiled without her permission, lips curled, teeth bared.
***
The forest had been his only comfort since Alicia's banishment. Night after night, Alpha Travis loosed his wolf to the wind, running until the trees blurred, until exhaustion drowned his thoughts. But tonight, his wolf was restless, wild, untamed.
He tore through the undergrowth at full speed, blind to the world, until…
Impact.
His massive frame collided with something small and fragile, sending it sprawling into the wet leaves. Travis skidded to a halt, heart pounding. A girl? What's she doing out here alone by this time?. She pushed herself up, mud streaking her face, and the instant her wide eyes met his glowing ones, terror broke across her features.
She screamed.
And ran.
Travis stilled, instinct warring with reason. He should let her go. She was human, and this was no place for her. But his wolf growled low in his chest, insistent. It would not let him leave her.
With a reluctant breath, he shifted back, the beast folding into man. Grabbing his clothes from a nearby tree where they hung, he dressed quickly and followed her scent.
He found her curled behind a tree, arms around her knees, trembling. Yet when he stepped into view, she did not flee again. She lifted her head, eyes searching, and for a moment, just a moment, he swore she was waiting for him.
He extended his hand and she placed her small, trembling fingers in his palm. Her eyes showed pure and unguarded trust and something inside Travis shifted.
She ran with him that night, barefoot through the drenched woods and her laughter was fragile, breaking through the storm. For the first time since Alicia, he felt alive.
By dawn, while he carried her back to safety, she was shivering in his arms as the rain beat down on them, her lips parted as though she wished to speak but didn't. He held her tighter, reluctant to let go.
At the campus edge, he knew what must be done. Humans weren't meant to remember nights like this. To let her keep it would endanger her and him. So he pressed his palm gently to her temple and whispered the command, his Alpha power weaving into her mind.
Forget. Forget me. Forget this night.
He believed His touch was harmless; at least that was what he thought. So he left her standing where he knew she was safe before vanishing back into the woods.
***
Now, in the quiet of his chamber, Travis sat staring into the dying embers of the fire. His heart should have been calm. Instead, it raced with restless energy.
The strange girl in the woods.
He could not banish her from his thoughts. She had been terrified, yet she had taken his hand. With Alicia, it had always been fire and fury. With this girl, there had been trust, something softer, but no less powerful.
He rose abruptly, his tall frame a dark silhouette against the flickering hearth. He could tell Justus was right outside his door from his scent, heavy with worry.
"I am well," he said firmly the minute he stepped into the hallway. The lie rolled smoothly from his tongue. "There is no need for alarm."
Then, straightening to his full height, he addressed him. "I will be leaving for a while. Urgent matters call me beyond our borders. With Alicia gone, I will need you to oversee things until I return."
He caught the flicker of unease in Justus's eyes, but Travis's resolve was set and he knows no one dares question his orders, not even Justus.
He had a girl to find.
Not because he knew the storm his touch had awakened in her. Not because he realized the wolf clawing to the surface within her fragile frame.
But because, for the first time in years, he felt alive.