The dream returned again.
It began the same way it always did: with silver fog curling around her bare feet, a forest bathed in moonlight and a whisper that wasn't a sound but a sensation crawling under her skin. Then she saw it, the wolf, massive, silver as starlight. Its fur shimmered like frost and its eyes… glowing gold, impossibly familiar. It didn't chase her, it circled, watched, waited and when it finally moved, silent as breath, it bowed its head to her. Aria jolted awake, gasping.
Her sheets were tangled around her legs, and a fine sheen of sweat coated her skin despite the cold air in the Blackthorne estate. The dream had been too real, again. She glanced at her laptop that was sitting half open on the other side of the bed. All it took was one tap for her to see the last open page on her browser, yet another website that talked about werewolves and other mythical creatures of the night. It'd been three days since she saw Skylar changing, 'shifting', like all the websites called it and she had been researching them ever since. That would probably explain why she was having the dreams she'd been having except whenever she thought about the way the wolf's eyes had burned into her, not with hunger, but something else: recognition. It made her shudder.
She glanced at her wrist. The scratch from two nights ago was still there, thin, angry, and red. It hadn't faded, if anything… it looked deeper. Amanda sat up, her heart beating wildly. She got off her bed, crouched down and pulled out her old suitcase from underneath her bed. Inside, an old box of family keepsakes sat untouched at the bottom. Her mother, Celeste, refused to speak of Amanda's father. She had always said he was "gone" whenever she asked and left it at that. Amanda opened the box slowly. Inside was a faded photo, a few notes and a locket. It was small, silver, shaped like a crescent moon. She had never really noticed it before, but now it seemed like it was drawing her in. When her fingers brushed it, the metal glowed, a faint pulse, like a heartbeat. She yanked her hand back, it stopped. She hesitated but stretched out her hand and touched it again. This time it stayed cool, normal. Amanda shook her head, she must still be half asleep because she was imagining things again. She hung the locket around her neck, shivering as it settled against her chest, then slammed the suitcase shut.
Later that morning, when Amanda arrived at school, she marched straight to Stacie.
"Oh, hi Amanda, how are you this morning?", she asked, smiling widely.
Amanda smiled back softly, guiltily even as she looked at her. Since she saw Skylar shifting in the forest, she had been avoiding Stacie. Why? She wasn't exactly sure of herself, but with everything that had been going on recently and everything she found out, she figured she needed at least one person on her side in this town and Stacie seemed nice enough.
"You're like them, aren't you?", she asked Stacie, who looked confused for a moment before it passed and turned into realization.
"If by that you're asking if I'm a werewolf, then yes, yes I am", she answered.
Amanda sighed.
"Why didn't you tell me?", she asked.
"Why didn't you tell me what this town is? What you all are?"
"I wasn't exactly sure you didn't know", she answered.
"I mean, I would have assumed you knew who your stepfather was", she added.
Amanda shrugged, she had a point, ordinarily she should have known.
"And even if you didn't, I'm not exactly sure if it was my place to tell you", Stacie added.
"Fair point", Amanda sighed.
"So I'm guessing you didn't know?"
Amanda shook her head.
"You just found out?"
Amanda nodded.
"How?", Stacie asked.
"I saw Skylar, changing, shifting", she answered.
"Wow, that must have been something", Stacie muttered.
Amanda chuckled, "Yes, yes it was."
"Are you mad at me?", she asked.
"What? Of course not", Amanda said hurriedly.
"So, we're still friends?"
"Of course, we're still friends", she smiled softly at her.
By the end of first period, the entire school was buzzing about the upcoming field trip to Moonfall Ridge.
"It's sacred territory", their teacher, Mrs. Rook announced, "One of the oldest spiritual sites in our region. As pack tradition, alpha-born students will take part in a mock rehearsal of the moonstone ritual."
Amanda wasn't sure why she was even allowed to come. She wasn't alpha born, she wasn't even a part of the pack. Tessa shot her a disgusted look as she passed her desk.
"Try not to embarrass yourself, Moonfall Ridge can smell frauds", she taunted.
Skylar at the back of the room, didn't look up. He hadn't spoken to her since the night in the woods, not that she expected him to, but still she felt his presence like static in her bones.
Moonfall Ridge was more breathtaking than Amanda expected. The bus ride wound up through thick pine woods and opened onto a clearing that sat at the edge of a cliff. The sky stretched wide and open, the clouds parting to reveal a pale silver sun. They stopped, got down and continued the rest of the way on foot, Mrs. Rook droning on about the history and significance of the ridge. They followed a path that led to a clearing and in the center of the clearing stood a rock platform Mrs. Rook called a rune stone. It looked ancient, twice as tall as any student, carved with glowing marks that pulsed faintly with power. The surrounding ground was different. Amanda could feel it humming in her bones. She didn't belong here, she knew that and yet… the ridge felt familiar. After Mrs. Rook was done teaching she gathered the students around the rune.
"Those of alpha blood may approach and lay a hand on the stone", Mrs. Rook said, "One by one."
Skylar was the first to step forward. He placed his palm flat against the stone and the marks burned bright gold. A gust of wind swept through the clearing, several students gasped. Tessa was next and while the stone pulsed, it didn't react the same. More students went, some got flickers, some nothing, then it was over, until Amanda's name was called.
She stared at Mrs. Rook.
"I'm not... I'm not alpha-born", she stuttered.
"Your stepfather is the alpha, you carry the name Blackthorne now, and you're part of this class, so try."
Skylar's head jerked up sharply. Tessa laughed under her breath, but she wasn't the only one, there were snickers from some other students. Amanda stepped forward. Every part of her screamed no, but something else, stronger, quieter, pulled her toward the stone. She placed her hand on the cold surface.
And the world exploded.