Alex Carter never thought the city could feel so empty at night. The streets of Larkridge—usually buzzing with neon lights and honking cars—were silent under the pale glow of the streetlamps. He pulled his jacket tighter, though it wasn't cold. Something in the air made his skin tingle, like electricity dancing just beneath his veins.
It started with a dream.
In it, a wolf with fur blacker than midnight stood on a rooftop, its eyes glowing gold. Its gaze pierced Alex, making his chest tighten. Then came the howl—a sound so raw, so full of longing and rage, it woke him in a sweat, even though his window was closed.
"Just a dream," he muttered, forcing himself to laugh. But his voice sounded hollow, even to him. He shook his head and tried to shake the feeling, but it lingered.
Walking home from his late shift at the diner, Alex felt… watched. Shadows seemed to stretch longer than they should, moving just outside the range of the streetlights. He quickened his pace.
And then he felt it: a sudden, sharp pain in his chest, like a claw ripping through his ribs. He stumbled, hands gripping his shirt. His heart pounded faster than it should, each beat echoing in his ears.
The city around him blurred. The air smelled… wild. Metallic. Animalistic. He gasped, trying to catch his breath, but the world was slipping. His fingers scraped the concrete as he fell to his knees.
"Alex…" a voice whispered in the wind, low and guttural. Not human.
The moon broke through a cloud, bathing the street in silver. Pain twisted through him, and something deep inside him—something ancient—awoke. His nails elongated painfully, teeth sharpened, and his senses exploded. Every sound, every scent, every heartbeat around him was suddenly painfully loud.
A scream tore from his throat—but it wasn't quite his. It was something harsher, wilder.
Then, just as suddenly as it started, the pain stopped. He fell onto the curb, panting, shaking, human again. Heart racing, he looked around. The streets were empty. No one had seen him—or so he hoped.
But he knew. He felt it. Something had changed.
That night, Alex didn't sleep. He stayed by the window, watching the city, listening to the faint howls carried by the wind. His life, he realized, had just turned into something he couldn't ignore.
Something hungry had been awakened.
And it wasn't done with him yet.