Chapter 1 – The Night
Night.
The air is cold.
The street nearly empty.
Streetlights flickering.
Headphones on.
Music loud.
The world reduced to a screen.
He doesn't hear the engine until it's too late.
A roar shatters the silence.
A black car appears from the corner at full speed.
It brakes with a violent screech.
The doors open before the vehicle comes to a complete stop.
Three men get out.
Long guns.
They don't look at him.
They aim toward the other side of the street.
Gunshots.
Dry. Fast.
The echo bounces between buildings.
He freezes.
He removes one earbud.
Another shot.
Something enormous crosses between shadows.
He can't see it clearly.
Just a gray mass moving too fast.
A man screams.
He's lifted from the ground as if he weighs nothing.
Slams against the car.
Glass shatters.
Another tries to aim better.
The shadow is already upon him.
Claw.
Blood.
He steps back without looking.
And in that instant, he crosses into the line of fire.
Two detonations.
Impact in the chest.
Another in the side.
The world loses sound.
He feels no pain.
Only pressure.
As if the air were being sucked out suddenly.
His knees give out.
He falls.
From the ground, he sees the sky spin.
He hears more gunshots.
And then he sees her.
The she-wolf.
Large.
Dark gray fur.
Red eyes glowing under the cold streetlight.
She doesn't attack him.
She observes him.
An eternal second.
Then she turns her head toward the men.
She leaps.
One falls to the ground screaming.
The other fires without aiming.
The she-wolf returns to him.
She leans down.
She sniffs him.
And without hesitation…
She bites him in the chest.
Not tearing.
Marking.
A brief, deep pain.
Then she lifts him with impossible ease.
She runs.
Jumps over a side wall.
Throws him behind another structure, out of sight.
The men keep firing toward where they think the beast is.
—Where is she?!
—We got her!
But darkness swallows her.
Silence.
Only the car engine still running.
And blood pooling on the asphalt.
The streetlight flickers.
And then…
He sees her.
On the other side of the street.
Standing under the white light.
A feminine figure.
Motionless.
Elegant.
She doesn't run.
She doesn't scream.
She doesn't hide.
She only observes.
The wind slightly moves her hair.
Her eyes reflect the red of the blood on the asphalt.
For an instant, her gaze crosses with his.
There is no fear.
There is certainty.
The she-wolf reappears behind her, barely visible among shadows.
Large. Protective.
The feminine figure takes a step back.
Darkness envelops them.
The streetlight flickers again.
And everything goes out.
Black.
He wakes up.
He's lying on damp earth.
The cold seeps through his clothes.
The smell of rotting leaves fills the air.
There is no ceiling.
Only black branches silhouetted against the sky.
The moon is full.
And it is not white.
It is red.
Deep.
As if it were bleeding.
The forest is dense.
Long shadows.
Between the trees, distant howls are heard.
Branches breaking.
Something moves.
He sits up slowly.
Leaves crunch beneath his weight.
Two wolves emerge from the darkness.
One large.
Dark gray fur.
Firm gaze.
Beside him, another younger one.
Smaller.
But equally attentive.
They don't growl.
They don't attack.
They only look at him.
Then they turn around.
They begin walking toward the thicket.
Their silhouettes disappear among the trunks.
And then…
Where they stood, two human figures appear.
An adult woman.
Elegant bearing even in the middle of the forest.
Beside her, a teenage girl.
Firm gaze.
Eyes reflecting the red of the moon.
The woman takes a step forward.
—I had to do it.
A pause.
—It was the only way to save you.
The wind blows stronger.
Leaves fly around him.
He doesn't respond.
He doesn't understand.
The two figures turn around.
They venture into the red forest.
They disappear.
The moon flickers.
And he wakes up.
He opened his eyes.
The ceiling was there.
But something was different.
Everything looked too clear.
The cracks in the paint.
The dust suspended in the air.
Colors more vivid, more intense.
He blinked.
He breathed.
And then he felt it.
The smell.
Eggs.
Toast.
Coffee.
Too strong.
He sat up.
His feet touched the floor.
They didn't before.
He searched for his glasses.
Put them on.
Everything blurry.
Took them off.
Perfect.
Put them back on.
Nothing.
Repeated the gesture three times.
Until he understood.
He didn't need them.
He was still wearing his uniform.
On the shirt, there was a tear.
A bite.
But his skin was intact.
On the vest, two clean perforations.
He touched his chest.
No pain.
He entered the bathroom.
Looked in the mirror.
Taller.
Broader shoulders.
Defined muscles.
Naturally marked.
On his skin, two small round marks.
Like gunshots.
Closed.
He remembered nothing.
The last thing in his head was crossing the street, looking at his phone.
After that…
Empty.
Water was running when the smell hit him again.
Violent.
He turned off the faucet.
Ran down the stairs almost running.
The kitchen was empty.
Only a note and money.
The smell came from the restaurant on the corner.
And then the world opened up.
He heard the spatula against the griddle.
Oil bubbling.
A truck three blocks down.
A street vendor.
A police car.
Birds.
Crickets.
The microscopic crunch of ants crossing a crack.
The smell of cat.
Dirty litter.
Cheap perfume.
Sweat.
All at the same time.
Too much.
The world wasn't brighter anymore.
It was screaming.
He put on headphones without music.
It didn't help much.
But it lowered the edge of the noise slightly.
He went out.
Walked.
Little by little, the sounds began to settle.
They didn't disappear.
They organized.
They still bothered.
But they no longer crushed him.
Almost reaching school, he saw Mateo, Iván, and Lin Mei.
—You got here early, Mateo said.
—You look… different, Iván murmured.
—I didn't sleep much, he replied.
Lin Mei observed him without saying anything.
They walked together toward the building.
And for the first time that morning…
The world stopped screaming directly in his face.
The teacher finished speaking.
—Today we have an exchange student.
The door opened.
She entered.
Silence.
—Countess Eliza von Armand.
A murmur ran through the classroom.
—You may sit wherever you prefer.
Eliza smiled slightly.
—I'll sit across from my boyfriend.
Nervous laughter.
Crossed glances.
She walked down the aisle.
Stopped beside the empty seat next to him.
Sat down.
Leaned in.
Soft kiss on the cheek.
—I found you.
Her voice dropped barely.
—Your scent is impossible to lose.
Silence.
A thread of blood fell from her nose.
No one spoke for two seconds.
Then the murmurs exploded.
And Lin Mei did not look away.