1 | Goddess of Heaven

What's so attractive about a nerdy girl with geeky looks and thick glasses?

Nothing!

That's how it should be. But people in this school treat me like a goddess of heaven.

Correction, not everyone. Just a select few guys who unluckily make up two-thirds of the male student population in this school.

As a result, this nerd with an ugly appearance and thick glasses framing her eyes was forced to accept the fact that her enemies were multiplying.

"Hello, dear. How's school?"

I groaned in frustration. Mom, who picked me up this afternoon, asked the question in an annoyingly cheerful tone.

"It makes me sick," I replied curtly.

"Oh yeah? It's been three months since you transferred to this school. You shouldn't have any friends, right?"

I rolled my eyes. This was our epic conversation this afternoon.

While other parents were vying to encourage their children to have lots of friends, my parents were advising me to keep my distance from others and not have frequent contact with humans.

This is the risk of being the child of a werewolf and human couple. Everything is secretive and must be covered up.

Oh, let me introduce you. My name is Lei Moon. Yes, you didn't read it wrong. My name consists of only two syllables.

Lei is named after my late grandmother who was a real human. While Moon is the name of the clan where Dad comes from.

The Moon Clan is one of the most legendary werewolf clans. Its ability to fight makes each clan member respected by other clans.

Except for the Sun Clan. The Moon Clan's main rival has been our archenemy for centuries.

The Moon and the Sun are constantly competing to be the strongest. It's a rivalry of wolfish egos that will never be satisfied until one of us dies.

"This city is pleasant. The beaches are clean and the forest is large. I don't want to leave here too soon, Lei."

Mom turned the steering wheel. Her words broke my daydream about the history of my clan and the Sun clan's feud.

"But trouble keeps coming at me, Mom." I grumbled.

"The male students here almost all chase me. They don't even care if I'm dressed up this ugly." I took off my glasses and threw them unceremoniously onto the back seat.

My eyes were fine. However, those ugly round glasses were one of my disguises to blend in with the humans here.

I grabbed a wet tissue from the dashboard drawer and quickly wiped off the fake freckles on my face. Again, it's all in the name of a disguise mission. Mom told me to because she thought a geeky girl would never be able to attract attention.

Which turned out to be a big mistake.

"Then make yourself unlikable, Lei." Mom said impatiently.

I snorted. My gaze swept the scenery outside.

We now live in Malibu. Every few years Dad schedules us to move cities. The goal was to keep the humans from getting suspicious of our never-aging condition.

Unfortunately, I'm the only half-werewolf. When she was pregnant and gave birth to me, Mom was still a human. However, after I was two years old Mom decided to become a full-fledged werewolf.

So, Dad bit Mom and the werewolf population in our clan grew by one. This was ridiculous because Mom had all the privileges of a Luna, while I was only half Luna.

"I wish I could, Mom. I've holed myself up in the library, but those men are still after me."

The car started down the road to my house. Asphalt gave way to paving blocks. Neatly trimmed shrubs flanked either side of the road.

"Just think of a way. I don't know."

"Mom!" I protested loudly. "Don't take off the responsibility! Mom has lived for 130 years. You should have more ideas than me."

"I think my ideas are invalid. I lived in ancient times when I was your age. While you were surrounded by technology." Mom opened the car door.

"Prepare the spices for the curry. I'm going shopping for meat first."

"Look for fresh ones, Mom. Don't buy it at the supermarket. The meat is almost rotten."

Mom just grinned showing off her two canine teeth. I complained. Now Mom looks more like a vampire than a werewolf.

Mom's shopping is not buying meat at the store, but hunting in the forest not far from the beach.

There are many wild animals there. Usually Mom or Dad would bring home a deer whose meat could be stored for a few days' supply.

I whistled cheerfully in the kitchen, choosing to ignore the quiet atmosphere of the house because Dad still hadn't come home from work. As I was washing the dishes, my heart suddenly throbbed very loudly.

My grip on the plate slipped. The crockery just fell into the sink and broke into pieces.

But I didn't care.

I reflexively looked at the house across the street. It was supposed to be empty since weeks ago. But now there was new activity there.

The problem was that it wasn't the activity that concerned me. It was the fact that my werewolf radar was scanning for the presence of another immortal in the house.

Was it a vampire?

Or both werewolves?

Or was there another type of creature?

I hoped it was just another Moon Clan member or a smaller clan. I should not be neighbors with a Sun Clan member, let alone neighbors with a vampire.

"Damn. Who are they?"

I sniffed the air. The unfamiliar scent was very strong. The woodsy perfume that was trying so hard to mask their true odor.

"If I can smell them, surely they can do the same to my smell."

I ran quickly to the room. There was one balsam that the Moon Clan's ancestors used to mask our werewolf odor.

We didn't often use that ancient herb because we rarely crossed paths with werewolves in the towns we traveled to. But now I was forced to apply the balsam all over my body so that our new neighbors wouldn't smell me.

I walked back to the back. A large truck was unloading a heavy-looking wooden cabinet. There was no one but the delivery men.

Where was the owner of the house?

Curious, I finally ventured out of the kitchen. Pretending to take out the trash, I peeked at the activities in the house that was originally empty.

Then a courier looked at me very intensely. I was stunned. A wastebasket filled with orange peels fell to the sidewalk.

Strange flashes appeared in my head. There were many people. There were many shadows. I didn't understand.

The courier was still looking at me very intently. My head was throbbing. I closed my eyes trying to block out the pounding pain.

Then I felt a pair of large, warm hands wrap around my arms. A deep, heavy voice followed.

"Are you okay?"