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        “Run! Run! Save the children, women, and elderly! Save them first!” the whole place was complete chaos. 

It was supposed to be a peaceful night for them after gaining the alliance with one of the respected werewolf tribes, but everything was destroyed in just a snap.

Their home was halfway destroyed, houses burned, and the Alpha’s people ran for their lives. The enemy killed some of the Alpha’s men who attacked them, no one dared to stop them, the wolves were to preoccupied with hiding and running. 

“Father,” a boy whose age was between ten or fifteen years old, was holding his father’s wounded hand, “What’s happening? Why are they destroying our home and killing our people? Did we do something wrong?” 

The Alpha caressed his son’s face; he tore from his shirt and wiped the dirt on his face; the kid was not crying; he was both confused and hurt, “They are our enemies, son. They are killing to domain our territory,” 

“Why?” he curiously asked, he was too young to even understand the world; this cruel world. 

“Because they are enemies, they are bound to kill and destroy what they think is enemy; however, our tribe doesn’t think that way,” the Alpha roamed his eyes, “Son, we don’t have all day for this, first, we have to save our people, do me a favor and look for your mother, make sure you take care of her,” he kissed his son’s forehead, “Can you do that?” 

The boy nodded immediately, “Yes, when will we see you again?” he asked, with hopeful eyes.

The Alpha smiled, “After this war, my son,” 

The scene changed; the boy was now holding both his father and mother in his tiny arms, and both were fighting for their lives; his mother was poisoned, by an arrow, while his father was severely wounded and turning into a human again. 

“You can’t leave me both; you can’t do this t me!” the boy howled, bawling and shaking. 

“We l-“

“I told you to stop messing with my fucking stuff!”   

I woke up from that loud voice echoing in my ear; Liberty must be unconsciously using her mind link again; she was not aware that she could do that; since I’m the only one who can hear her, I also have no idea why am I the lone wolf who can link to her. 

“Liberty!” I growled. I could hear her heartbeat; when she heard me, I stood up and went straight to her room; she was fuming mad, “What did I tell you?” 

“But Mimi! That stinky wolf kept messing my stuff when I told him not to!” 

“My god, Liberty! He is your brother! Get up and fix your things!” 

These kids will be the death of me! I’m not even twenty yet; I’m mothering this two! 

                                                           ---------

“Come on, Mimi, you have to attend that school; it’s good for you, and you will learn a lot; I never heard a wolf doubting attending a class meant for their kind,” Mom said, chuckling while arranging her spell book. 

“But I can attend a normal school, with Liberty and Jarvis,” I insisted that I wanted to go with them; I’m not prepared for this. 

“No, you’ll attend school tomorrow, no more buts, this is for your own good, listen to me,” I sighed and just nodded, following her words. 

I went to our library and continued the book I was reading yesterday, but I was stopped when something came to my mind, my dreams, they kept on disturbing me, that boy who survived a tribe war. Who might that be? 

Of course, it wasn’t my memory; it was as if I was standing behind them, just watching what was happening to them. It was chaotic. Even the said Alpha, the boy is a stranger; I have never seen them before. 

What’s more disturbing is that there is a particular poison that killed them, wolfsbane, and only a few people knew about that, well, that was based on my readings and research. It can’t be general information, for it was perilous and might be used for dark motives. 

The dream was too vivid to forget; I could feel the heat of the burning houses, the echoing sound of the people running with fear, and the smell of their blood, scattered to the whole place; it felt so real. I started dreaming about it three weeks ago, just after my birthday. Mom said that it might be some manifestation of my line.

Line is the ability of werewolves; its manifestation differs from one another. Some manifest at the early age of twelve; however, seventeen and older were the most often ages for lines to manifest. 

“Ahh!” I was about to stand up when I felt a burning sensation in my chest; it made me feel dizzy; I remained sitting, breathing to calm my chest; it lasted for less than a minute before it subsided, “What the hell was that?” 

I was in that position when I felt something weird again; my heart was beating so fast, my breath was uneven, followed by the gushing window; I looked behind me when I felt a significant presence enter the library. 

“Who are you?” I’m still holding my chest; a lady wearing an all-white under her thick black cloak is in front of me. Her aura is shouting authority and menace; I can read auras and see them, “How did you get in?”

This house is protected by a thick barrier, and no one can enter without us knowing; how the hell did she get inside our border? 

“Your time is about to come, little wolf.” Her voice was as cold as ice and as deep as the pit, “You have no control over what is about to happen; you will try to stop it, but the history will repeat itself as long as the chain of curses is still anchored to your heart,” 

“Who do you think you are, trespass and spat meaningless words? I’m not anyone’s property; I will make my own destiny, so get the hell out of here while I’m asking you nicely,” 

“You know by yourself that your time is about to come,” she tilted her head, I couldn’t see her face fully since her cloak hood was covering half of her face, but I saw her lips curled up; I’, not sure if that’s a smirk or a smile, “You can read my aura,” she said, she wasn’t asking, she is stating, how did she know? I never told anyone about that, “Don’t try to stop it, Esmeray; you will fail; you will die in the process,”

“Who are you?!” I hissed in so much annoyance that I didn’t understand what she was saying from the beginning. 

“You know me; you always knew me, Esme,” 

In just a snap, she disappears in front of me. 

I was too preoccupied that I didn’t even have the chance to grab my books. I left the library and fixed myself. Mom had already prepared my uniform and stuff to use for school. White Chinese cut blouse, with red lining, paired with a red checkered skirt, two-inch above the knee, mom wanted me to wear the black shoes she bought, but I prefer my white snickers; I grabbed my bag and went straight to the kitchen, where I saw mom, cooking breakfast for us, Liberty and Jake, sitting on the table.

My mom’s face lightened when she saw me dressed up for school; she handed me money; I sighed and bid her goodbye; I wasn’t sure if there was a service bus, but I started to walk, it was fifteen minutes away from us, and I’m not a fan of commuting.

We moved to our house when I was twelve, but since then, I only had one best friend; she actually moved from the city to this countryside to join me here.

I didn’t realize that I was in front of the school; I tightened my grip on my backpack’s strap; I was still unsure, “Come on, Esme, you’ll do good,”