CHAPTER 4.

The darkness swooped in, swallowing me whole.

Suddenly, I was in the middle of a park with no recollection of how I had gotten here. The night was darker than usual, not a single streetlight in sight. The air was slightly cooler, the atmosphere void. It was clear that there was no one around for miles to come but still it didn’t feel lonely.

There was an airy familiarity that came with this place. Somehow, I felt safe.

I looked around, trying to see if I’d be able to find a street sign, but all I saw were the outlines of flowers and grass, with trees that seemed to sway silently whenever the wind howled. It was peaceful, but I couldn’t stay. I didn’t belong here.

I started to walk around, moving towards a bench in the middle of two trees. I stopped halfway through. Behind it, a pair of red eyes had begun to form. I was not alone. The thought of someone behind the bushes, watching me all this while sent shivers down my spine.

And worse? It had started to move. It’s crimson form now appearing brighter as it closed the distance between us.

Despite the pitch black, I managed to make out a connecting body. It was a person. They stopped a couple of feet away, then slowly descended to the ground like an animal, its blood red eyes still plastered on me.

I began to panic. If there was ever a time I needed to get away, it was now. But as I backed up, my right foot stepped on a branch, making me pause in fear.

At first, there was utter silence. Red eyes flashed me a cold stare, almost like they were staring into my soul. Then without warning, took off on it’s heel, heading directly at me. My eyes went wide, I turned around and ran as fast as I could.

I didn’t know where I was headed, all I knew was I had to get away.

But I wasn’t fast enough. Something collided into my back and I toppled over, falling face down. I heard a growl inches away from my ears, then a whisper came after.

“Astra!”

An alarm blared. I woke up in shock, struggling to breathe.

Where am I? What happened?

“Astra, calm down.” Lola’s voice cracked through my hysteria.

I took a deep breath, reaching to the side of my bed to grab a cup of water I assumed Jerry had placed there for me.

“Fuck!” I exclaimed once I had settled down. “What the hell was that? I totally lost it over some dream, I really need to get my shit together.”

“Want to talk about it?”

“No, Lola!” I snapped, running my palm over my face.

I couldn’t stop thinking about the dream as I freshened up. I’ve always had dreams, but none of them was as bad as this. None of them frightened me as much as this one did, none of them made me feel this way. At the end, I summed it up to me reacting to being in a new place, surrounded by werewolves I was yet to meet.

I joined Julian and Jerry at the dinner table, taking a seat just as Jerry was placing a plate of steak in front of me.

I frowned. “Steak for breakfast?”

“Brunch actually,” he corrected.

I looked at the time. “Shit, it’s past twelve.”

“Don’t swear, Astra.” Julian said, getting up from the table. He ate his last piece of steak, then put on a leather jacket before finally looking at the both of us. “Eat up, you need to get more meat in you. And Jerry, make sure your sister isn’t late.”

Jerry nodded, and I refocused my attention on the food. Julian left us in a hurry, rushing out of the house like his life depended on it.

“Hurry up, sis. We have to get to the pack house.”

“Pack house?” I asked, now doing the dishes.

He nodded. “Everyone’s eager to meet you.”

“Everyone?” I asked again, suddenly feeling nauseous. I wasn’t technically a shy person, but it felt like I was in a completely different world, surrounded by people who were nothing like me.

When Jerry didn’t respond, I turned to look at him. He was looking at me, except his eyes were empty, like he was looking through me.

“Jer—”

“We need to leave now, Monica says everyone is already there.” He cut me off, pushing me away from the sink and out the door. “No time to clean, Astra. Get in the car.”

As we drove off, I couldn’t help but think about my mum and friends. What would they be doing now? Did they miss me? I took out my phone and texted Ella. Next, I pulled up Shawn’s name. Just as I was about to send him a message, his popped up.

Missing you, babe.

I smiled to myself. Why was I so worried? Of course he was missing me, we were practically soulmates.

“A boy?” Jerry’s voice startled me.

“What?” I asked, caught off guard. He gave me a side eye and I looked at my phone screen again. “Oh this….yeah. My boyfriend.”

Jerry nodded, frowning slightly. It was brief, I could have missed it if I wasn’t paying attention.

“Who’s Monica?” I asked, sitting straight, mostly trying to steer the conversation away from my love life. “Earlier, it seemed like you were staring into space, and then you mentioned Monica saying everyone was waiting. So, who is she?”

Jerry blushed a little. “My girlfriend.” He glanced my way, smiling sheepishly. “She says hi, by the way.”

I nodded, even though I was confused.

“Oh fuck,” he cursed, swerving left onto a narrow road. “You’re looking at me like you think I’m crazy. I’m supposed to be briefing you on the basics. So….all werewolves have abilities, some more distinct than others. I can communicate with every member of the pack, I can also read whatever emotion your wolf is feeling. For example, your wolf is…..eager.”

“He’s right,” Lola chipped in.

“Lucky guess,” I murmured.

“What are you thinking now, sis?”

I gasped, staring at him. “What the hell? I just heard you in my head.”

He gave me a cocky look. “Told you.”

“Wow,” I said excitedly, laughing uncontrollably. “That was freaking insane. Can I do that? How do I do that?”

“Okay settle down, little pup.”

The car finally came to a stop and he killed the engine.

“We’ll figure out what your special trick is,” Jerry assured me, smacking his lips. “Well, we’re here.”

I swallowed, looking around. It felt like I was going to throw up. I could see different kinds of people moving around a tall mansion, all confidently heading to whatever destination they needed to be at. Some were older than I was, some younger, and for the first time since I got here, I realized there was a possibility that I might not fit in here.

At least not the way I did back home.

“You coming?” Jerry asked, already out the car. His hand was resting on the window, his head popping in to assess my face better.

I gulped hard, my voice shaking. “S…sure.”

Immediately I stepped out of the car, the cool breeze hit me. My nose caught different scents. I felt Lola light up in me, her energy stronger. She was excited, while I was shitting my pants. But there was a lot riding on this. I had to take a step, or I might never see Shawn again.

I was super anxious, but ready. What could go wrong?

Jerry took my hand and led me through a garden where people were scattered around, engaged in conversations. But every time I passed an individual, they would sniff and look my way, like they could sense I was different.

Or maybe just new.

Soon, everyone was looking at me as I walked by. Attention was something I was used to, but not this kind. It felt like I was at a recital, waiting to give the performance of a lifetime, and everyone was waiting to see if I would do well or fail miserably.

“I have to go, Astra.” Jerry muttered the last words I wanted to hear. “Stay here, I’ll be back. Monica needs me.”

And before I could protest, he disappeared through a crowd of people, leaving me standing alone to wallow in my own filth and despair.

“Kill me now,” I whispered under my breath, looking around, trying to avoid any direct eye contact.

Instead of standing in the presence of wandering eyes, I figured I’d turn the corner, head into the maze part of the garden and hope nobody got the same idea I did.

This however, was the start of my problems.

As soon as I stepped into the maze entrance, I heard voices. I should have ignored, should have turned back the way I came, but I heard a loud slap and became intrigued.

There were four girls. Three standing, hovering over the one girl on the floor. Two of the three girls were blonde, while the other had brown hair. The one on her knees had bushy curls that looked like it was hardly ever combed, she wore a pair of glasses and was bleeding by the side of her lip.

I saw this and something in me snapped. “What are you guys doing to her?” I said loudly, rushing to help the girl to her feet.

The blonde girl with longer hair blocked my part. I immediately deduced that she must be the leader. Her eyes were hazel, but slowly turning fiery as she stared me down.

“You must be new here,” she cooed, her voice deadly sharp. “I’ll give you a word of advice. Walk. Away!”

I looked back into her eyes, showing no sign of backing down. “Or what? The three of you are going to gang up and beat me? Three against one, don’t you think that’s pretty weak? If you want to be a bully, you should at least have the guts to have a one on one confrontation.”

She scoffed, searching my face as if she was trying to figure out where I had gotten the nerve to speak to her that way. “Just who the fuck do you think you are?”

“Who the fuck are you?” I asked.

“Someone you do not want to cross,” she replied, veins popping out of her forehead.

“Well, too late.” I rolled my eyes, shoving her out of my way. “I suggest you take your lackies and get the hell out of here before I scream and call attention.”

Her confident demeanor faltered for just a split second.

She smiled devilishly. “This isn’t over. You’re fresh meat, and by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be wishing you hadn’t played a hero right at this very moment.”

Her voice was so low, it made my skin crawl.

She turned to the other two girls and signaled for them to follow her. Once they were out of sight, I offered the girl on the ground my arm.

“Thank…thank you,” she stuttered, her head bowed the entire time. “B…but…you shouldn’t h….have done that. You’ve put a target on your back because of me.”

“Don’t worry, I can handle them.” I told her. “Who are they anyway?”

“Ruby, Claire and Laura.”

The answer to my question came from behind. I turned around, coming face to face with the most gorgeous boy I’d ever seen. He was tall, had short black hair that made little bangs by the side. His lips were blood red, full and juicy, and he had a birthmark under his right eye.

His grey eyes were fixated on me, holding a glint of torture and filled with untold secrets. He held an air of mystery. He was only wearing pants, baring out his chest for whoever cared to look.

And look I did. How could I not? They were chiseled and toned, layered with abs. He was also kind of sweaty, like he had just finished a work out, judging by the towel handing around his neck.

“And you are?”

The girl beside me gasped, before deciding she couldn’t take anymore interaction for the day and abandoning me, rushing off like she couldn’t wait to leave our presence.

So much for trying to help.

“I’m Levi Parrish,” he said, circling me. “But I think the better question is, who are you?”

I followed his movements. “I’m Astra….Finnegan.” 

The slight hesitation was me considering what last name to go by. At the end, I decided to stick with my mum’s. The only name I had ever been called.

“Finnegan,” he repeated, giving me a peculiar look. “Well, Astra Finnegan, Dorothy was right. You should not have helped her.”