Cassie's POV
The night felt heavy, like something was sitting on my chest.
I woke up with this dull, twisting hunger that pulsed through my veins—not the kind a midnight snack could fix. My throat was dry. I stumbled out of bed and padded barefoot down the hall, hoping water would help.
The moonlight painted everything in this pale blue light. The fridge hummed softly ahead, but I froze halfway.
Voices.
Low. Urgent. Coming from the living room.
I pressed my back to the wall, instinct prickling beneath my skin. My mother rarely had visitors—never at this hour, and definitely never men.
"She has to be ready before the full moon. That's the deal," the man said. His voice was sharp, steady. Confident.
"Don't pressure me," my mom snapped. "You think I don't know what's at stake? But this isn't about a title. This is my daughter's life."
I leaned in closer, heart thudding.
"The wolves are already watching too closely," she continued. "If anyone finds out—"
"No one will," the man interrupted. "She looks like a regular wolf, right? No one would guess what she really is."
My breath caught.
Who were they talking about?
I stepped closer to the hallway entrance and peeked in.
He was tall. Strong shoulders, dark clothes. The kind of presence that made you want to take a step back, even if he didn't move an inch. Something about him was… wild. Like the bayou lived in his blood.
"And when I take the title, I'll have the power to protect her," he added. "You'll stand beside me. Like it was meant to be."
My mother turned away from him, her back tense.
"Lucas," she said, quietly now. "You weren't supposed to come here. Not like this."
Lucas?
Something about that name made my skin prickle.
I stepped into view. "What's going on?"
The man turned. His eyes locked onto mine—piercing, unreadable. For a moment, he didn't speak. He just looked at me like I was something he'd been searching for, maybe even mourning.
My mother turned sharply. "Cassie. You shouldn't be awake."
"I couldn't sleep," I said, not moving. "Who is this?"
She hesitated. Just for a second. But it was enough.
"Cassie…" the man—Lucas—started, voice softer now. "I'm your father."
I blinked.
My mother's shoulders stiffened.
I laughed. Not because it was funny. Because it was the only thing my brain could do.
"No. You're not. My mom never even talks about him."
"She didn't want you caught in the crossfire," Lucas said. "But you have a right to know who you are. What you are."
My mouth opened, then closed.
There were too many things I wanted to say. To ask. I settled on the only one I could get out:
"Why now?"
He stepped closer, slowly, like I was some wild animal he didn't want to spook. "Because the full moon is coming. And your life's about to change in ways you don't understand. You need to be ready."
"You don't get to show up here after all this time and start telling her what she needs," my mother snapped, stepping in between us.
He ignored her. "You've felt it, haven't you? The hunger? The restlessness? That pull inside you that doesn't make sense?"
My heart thudded faster.
"It's waking up, Cassie," he said. "Your other side."
I stared at him, trying to make sense of everything. "What are you saying? That I'm not… normal?"
He didn't flinch. "You're not. You're something rare. Dangerous, yes—but powerful."
I turned to my mom. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Her voice cracked. "Because I was trying to protect you from exactly this."
"So you lied."
"I kept you safe."
"No," I whispered. "You kept me ignorant. That's not the same."
Lucas exhaled, like he'd been holding something in. "I'll be in the south marsh. You know the place." He looked past my mom, straight at me. "You deserve answers, Cassie. When you're ready."
Then he left, just like that. No goodbye. No apology.
I stood in the doorway, staring at the empty space he left behind.
The silence that followed was deafening.
I looked at my mom. Her eyes were glassy. Her lips parted, like she wanted to explain—but no words came.
I turned and walked back to my room.
The hunger was still there.
But now, it had a name.
I always knew I was different.
Not just in the way kids at school whispered or stared. I knew it in my blood.
I wasn't just a wolf. Not really.
There was something darker, colder, coiled deep inside me. Vampire blood.
My mom never said it aloud, but I'd seen it in her eyes. In the way she flinched anytime I got too angry. Like that day back at my old school—before everything changed.
A boy, maybe fifteen, had already gone through his first shift. He sniffed me in the hallway, just once, then reeled back with a snarl.
"You're not a real wolf," he said. "You're… bad blood."
I saw red. My hands were around his throat before I even registered moving. He gasped and clawed at me, eyes wide with terror, and I swear—I felt something snap inside me.
It took three teachers to pull me off.
My mom was called. She didn't yell. She didn't even cry when they expelled me.
She just wrapped her arms around me that night and whispered,
"You're special in your own way, sweet one. Never let anyone make you feel like you're a mistake."
Since then, I'd been homeschooled. No more taunts. No more stares. No more fights.
Just silence. Isolation.
But after meeting Lucas—after hearing him say the words I'm your father—everything cracked open.
If he was a wolf, then… what did that make me?
Half-vampire. Half-wolf. A hybrid. A curse.
A knock jolted me from my thoughts. My door creaked open—of course, I'd forgotten to lock it—and my mom slipped inside.
I rolled onto my side, pretending to sleep. She sat on the edge of the bed anyway.
"Sweet one," she said gently. "I know you're angry. And confused. But the truth I kept from you… I did it to protect you."
I stayed quiet.
"The kind you are," she continued, "is seen as a threat here in the bayou. Hybrids aren't just rare—they're feared. Hunted. Your identity must remain hidden at all costs. Do you understand?"
I turned, slowly. Her face was pale, fragile in the moonlight. Eyes rimmed with tears she wouldn't let fall.
"Why?" I whispered. "Why am I so dangerous?"
"Because your bite—when you shift—can kill both a vampire and a wolf," she said. "That's why."
My chest tightened.
"Lucas… was my ex-husband. We weren't supposed to have you. But fate had other plans."
I sat up, fully now. "But I'm safe here, right? I don't hang around wolves. I don't go to the bayou school. Nobody even looks at me."
She shook her head slowly. "They're already watching, Cassie. Rumors are spreading—there's talk of a vampire nest hiding in the swamps. Some think the vampires are planning something. All eyes are on the pack again."
"Then let them look," I snapped. "I've been hiding all my life. I'm not going to parade around pretending to be someone else just because he—Lucas—wants to be Alpha."
Her voice wavered.
"The next full moon is the coronation. Lucas is set to become Alpha… but to claim the title, he needs a blood heir. That's you."
"Oh, so now I'm useful?" I barked a bitter laugh. "Let me guess—he wants you as his Luna again, and me as his daughter, so he can keep up appearances?"
She didn't answer.
"You said it yourself—people see me as a weapon," I whispered. "That's all he sees too."
She looked down, hands clutched in her lap. "I didn't come here to ask for your permission," she said quietly. "I came to tell you what's coming. Whether you like it or not, this is about survival."
"You think joining him will save us?"
"I think if you don't shift by the next full moon, everything will fall apart. For you. For me. For all of us."
She stood, brushing invisible dust from her skirt.
"Start preparing. We leave with Lucas tomorrow."
And with that, she walked out—leaving my door wide open and my world flipped inside out.
I lay back down, staring at the ceiling.
What if I never shift?