ASHLEY
I should never have saved him.
I should have let it take him the way darkness snuffs out a wick of flame.
Life would be simple. I wouldn't be carrying a brand new target on my back. The thought circles my mind in a slow, deliberate way, like a wolf pacing the edge of the woods for its next meal.
But there's something in him. Something about the way I see darkness clings to him that makes me... Curious.
Foolish.
I move through the madness of the small-town public school. Each hallway feels like a chokehold, my lungs straining for space, the wildness in me trapped under chains.
It's pure, fucking torture.
But I need to finish what I came back here for. I'm looking for answers. Answers I've been searching for all my life.
Someone's been trailing me since dawn.
Not close enough to see, but close enough for the hairs on my arms to rise.
Wolves can tell when they're being watched, even the incomplete ones as I am.
It's him. Carlos... He could hold a sign saying he's spying and that would still be less obvious. I can't blame him though. Something impossible chased him last night. I'd stare too if I were him.
I pretend not to notice and sit at an empty table, far from the noise. Mid-bite into my sad-looking beef sandwich, someone drops into the seat beside me. I glance at her, and she catches my annoyance.
She rushes out an apology.
"I'm sorry," she looks away shyly, pushing back a loose strand of dark hair behind her ear, "I know you want to be by yourself, but I need to hide from someone, and I don't want to be alone." Her light brown eyes carry a tired, heavy look.
I shrug. I don't mind her. It's not people I have a problem with. It's trust. Six years of living on the edge carved that into me.
"Thanks." She looks over her shoulder toward Carlos. Maybe his girlfriend. I remember them arguing yesterday, though I didn't care enough to follow it.
"I'm Elara, by the way."
"Ashley," I respond. "I'm new."
Something shifts in her expression, like realization or surprise, but it fades into silence. She doesn't eat but brings a book out of her bag and begins to read instead.
I finish eating and stand up to leave. One of my pens falls out of my side bag. When I bend to grab it, she bends too. Our fingers touch for the briefest moment.
Elara recoils as if she's touched something deadly. Panic floods her eyes. She looks at me as though she's just witnessed the fall of humanity itself.
"Are you oka-" I don't finish. She rushes out of the cafeteria.
I glance back at the table and see the book she had been reading.
I pick it up and scan the cover. The Song Of Achilles.
Interesting...
I turn towards where she had run off. "Hey, you forgot your..." I don't see her anywhere.
Strange.
***
After lunch, I head straight for the teachers' lounge. Clarke Raymond sits on a sofa, a bowl of noodles in hand, chopsticks midair. His amber eyes fly wide when he sees me.
"A word, Mr Raymond."
He blinks at me, tripping on the "Mr." part.
"Ok. Sure, Miss Vale." He excuses himself from the other teachers and follows me out, still holding his bowl.
"Ashley... not a good time?" he mutters as we walk.
"I don't think there's ever going to be a good time for what I'm about to tell you."
Intrigued, he follows me into an empty classroom.
"A wolf is responsible for the murders," I say as soon as the door closes. He freezes.
"What?" He frowns. Realization dawns on him. " You mean a"
"Yeah, that kind. You're not slow." I roll my eyes.
He sets his glasses on the desk and rubs his face as he contemplates.
"And you know this how?"
"I just know." I look away. I can't tell him I was spying on his golden boy. Clarke dotes on Carlos, and I haven't even been here long. He's not going to like what I know.
"Ashley." His tone sharpens.
A pause follows.
Maybe he can help, I finally decide. So I tell him about last night. He's visibly shaken when I say it came for Carlos. My excuse for following the boy is vague as I don't really go into it, but he doesn't really seem to care or notice.
"I helped him hide, and it just left," I finish. "It was distracted by something or someone and it just left. It was unsettling to be honest"
He frowns, staring into nothing.
"Any clue who it might be?"
"I don't know. But it was strong. Very strong."
He sets his unfinished lunch on the desk.
"We need to find out who it is. We need to figure out what it wants." I continue, "It may be the answer, don't you think. I arrived, and then it began to attack. Can't be a coincidence."
He looks at me with those usual faraway eyes whenever he wants to address me.
"I don't want you involved in this. Do you understand me?"
I roll my eyes. "I don't have to listen to you."
"Yes, you do," he says, sighing. "You came back after six years and won't tell me where you've been. And now you want to go hunt a freaking menace? No. Absolutely not." His voice rises. Unnatural for his usual calm demeanour.
"I'm sorry, kid, but you have to leave this one to me. I can't let you get hurt again, okay." I received a serious expression.
I stare at him, scoff, and walk out of the classroom.
***
The hallway is crowded now, and something heavy settles in my chest. He doesn't understand why I need answers. He can never understand.
I ran from my family. My pack. Because I need to know what happened to her. I need to know why I am the way I am.
Clarke told me to stay away. But it's way too late.
I spot Carlos at his locker, grabbing his things, checking over his shoulder as if something is stalking him. He slams the locker and swings his bag over one shoulder.
He walks toward class, unaware that more than one wolf has its eyes on him. One wants him dead.
The other... needs him for something else.