2

At night, I felt strange sleeping in a house that wasn’t mine. I missed my bed, my sheets, my teddy bears. Sadness, I felt a bit of sadness, but I forced myself to fall asleep without caring about what I’d left behind or what had happened. In the morning, I woke up a bit late; I was tired from the trip yesterday. I frowned at the sound of chickens clucking. I got out of bed and walked to my window. Dad had a kind of chicken coop in a corner of the yard. He was out there collecting eggs. The weather was cloudy, a bit chilly—it would probably start snowing soon, I suppose.

I went downstairs in my pajamas and headed to the backyard where Dad was.

“Dad...” I called out to him.

“Good morning, Angie, how are you?”

“I slept well,” I yawned. “I didn’t know you had chickens.”

“Liana wanted to have them.”

“Liana?”

“Yes, my girlfriend. So, I wanted to please her. At least we have plenty of eggs and save money on buying them.” In the distance, I could see the lake, and I really wanted to go.

“Well, good for you two. I’m hungry.”

“I left breakfast in the kitchen for you, honey. You can eat, and then you might want to go out for a bit. I’m going to town to sell these eggs to a man who buys them from me.”

“Alright,” I said as I headed back inside and into the kitchen. I had a peaceful breakfast while scrolling through my social media. I had a lot of messages from ex-friends or ex-classmates asking where I was, but I didn’t want to see them. I wanted to leave that part of my life behind. I went up to take a shower, a long bubble bath. I wondered when the day would come for Dad to introduce me to Liana. I just hoped she was nice—I didn’t want to get into arguments with another woman over a man again. While I was getting dressed, I thought of Monique and wondered if she was okay. Sometimes I felt the urge to message or call her, but I felt it wasn’t the right time yet. Besides, she should also reach out to me; she knows I’m not good at making the first move. I’m really happy she’s with Colton, but we’re sisters. We’re one, even if we don’t want to be.

I put on black leggings, flat ankle boots, a black sweater, and a gray scarf. It was cold here. I combed my long red hair and added some curls, giving it a slightly messy but pretty look. Dad had gone to town. I stepped outside, a bit scared there might be wolves around. I guess they don’t come out during the day, right? I walked toward the lake, the leaves crunching under my feet. The trees were very tall and thin. There were no mountains on this side; the land was flat. When I reached the lake, I got a bit excited to see the sand, the water, the small dock a few meters away near a house. I noticed there were two more houses facing each other—one on one side of the lake, and the other on the opposite side. Both had docks. Well, it turns out we did have neighbors. I saw a group of guys swimming in front of one of the houses. They were all men, with maybe one or two women. They were laughing and having fun in the lake. With the weather like this, the lake must be freezing. I bent down and touched the water... it was warm. How nice, I felt like swimming, but I wasn’t going to do that. My hair would get ruined, and besides, I was already dressed and too lazy to get changed again. I’d do it when I was alone. I sat on one of the rocks to think for a bit. I was alone and bored; I missed my friends to talk about boys or go to the salon or to some event in town. Had I done the right thing coming here? I stood up, turning to head back home, but a man at a considerable distance made me stay in place. The guy was tall, had a good physique, black curly hair, and fair skin. He was wearing an unbuttoned shirt with a black t-shirt underneath.

“Who are you?” I asked when I saw him staring at me.

“The real question is, who are you?” He walked in my direction. I backed away a bit, but I stopped because there was only water behind me.

“Angelique,” I answered.

“I’ve never seen you around here, Angelique,” he came closer. Up close, he was the most attractive guy I had ever seen. “And believe me, I would’ve remembered.”

“I just moved here,” I added. “So, I’m leaving now.”

“Wait...” He grabbed my arm, making us stand very close. His eyes... his eyes were black as night... they gave me chills. I felt the same shiver I felt last night when that wolf crossed my path. “... You seem familiar to me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I pulled away.

“Of course,” he seemed to remember, smiling. “I saw you last night.”

I frowned.

“What? I just moved in last night.”

“I was walking through the woods when I saw you get out of your car and go into Harry’s house.”

“How do you know my dad?”

“Everyone here knows your father, girl.”

“I have to go.”

“So soon? It was just getting interesting. I want to know more about the daughter of the man who’s my worst enemy,” he looked at me with those piercing eyes. I was a little scared of this guy; his honesty surprised me, how cynical he was, and the way he spoke.

“Your enemy?”

“Of course. Ask him why—I suppose you don’t know. Tell him you’ve already met Damian Brown.” With that, he gave me one last look before continuing to walk along the lakeshore. I noticed he pulled a cigarette from his pants pocket and started smoking. I hadn’t left yet. I was curious about this guy.

“Damian, come here!” A blonde girl who was among the others swimming in the lake shouted to him. I wondered if she was his girlfriend. I turned, walking back to the house. As I entered the woods, I couldn’t get his gaze out of my mind. I felt like I’d seen it somewhere before, I just couldn’t remember where.

Damian Brown.

I froze when I heard footsteps nearby. The first thing I thought of was the wolf, so I quickened my pace, immediately looking around, then I heard a howl, which made me run, but I tripped and fell.

“Ouch,” I groaned, feeling a pain in my foot. I got up as best I could, limping toward the safety of my house. However, growls to my right made me stop in my tracks. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a silhouette on all fours walking toward me. I slowly turned my head until I saw the huge wolf coming toward me, licking its lips.

“Ahhh!” I screamed, but the wolf pounced on me, knocking me onto my back. The impact was hard, and I felt some pain in the affected area. The wolf was on top of me, and I couldn’t do anything. It sniffed my neck, ran its tongue along my nape, reaching my chest. With its paw, it tore my shirt, revealing just my bra. I quickly searched for a stake or something to defend myself. I found a stake nearby, but before I could hit the wolf, it gave one last growl and ran off. My chest was heaving rapidly; I thought the people in the lake would hear my scream and come help me, but they didn’t. When I got up as best I could, I saw they were still doing their thing as if they were used to hearing wolf noises all the time. I looked around, and since the wolf had left, I ran as best I could back to my house, feeling pain in my leg.

This is what I deserve, I thought.

I went in and locked the doors and windows. I went upstairs to my room, took off my shirt, all my clothes, and got in the shower. That wolf had licked me, and I was sure, I had the feeling, that it was marking me as its prey. Great, now I’d be marked by a wolf. I got out of the shower naked and put on different clothes—I didn’t plan on going out today.

“We’re home!” Dad called out. I felt relieved when I heard his voice. When I left my room and went downstairs, I froze when I saw two women there. One was the woman from the photo, I deduced she was Liana, and the other was maybe my age, black hair, fair skin, and brown eyes.

“Angie, come here,” Dad took my hand and led me down. “Let me introduce you to Liana, my girlfriend.”

I shook Liana’s hand and smiled so as not to be rude.

“Nice to meet you, Angie. Harry has told me a lot about you.”

“And this is her daughter, Lana; she’s a year younger than you. You’ll be going to high school together in a few weeks,” he told me.

“Hi, Angie, it’s nice to meet you,” she greeted me.

“Likewise, Lana.”

“Well, we’re going to prepare dinner. Why don’t you and Lana go feed the chickens?” he said, handing me a container full of chicken feed.

“Alright,” I nodded, going outside with Lana to the backyard.

"That’s obvious," she said without fully understanding, "they just wanted us to leave so they could talk in private."

I raised my eyebrows.

"Yeah, I guess so."

Outside, my instinct was to look around, but there was nothing.

"You're nervous, I can tell," Lana murmured.

"Maybe a little. This place is quite strange," I started feeding the chickens, and they all crowded around, trying to peck at me. "Ah!" I screamed, dropping the container. Then they all crowded around to eat from it. Looks like Dad will have to buy more.

"What do you mean by strange?" Lana laughed.

"I don't know, the people, the town... the animals."

"Don't worry, in a few months you'll get used to all this and see it as normal. Trust me, I’m telling you."

I nodded, thinking Lana wasn’t as unpleasant as I had imagined.

"Have you always lived here?" I wanted to know.

"Always."

"Then you know who my neighbors are."

"Yes, of course. The house on the left belongs to the Brown family. They’ve lived here for centuries. Now, it’s just Mr. Brown and his ma... family." I think she wanted to say something more but stopped. "The house on the right belongs to the Lane family. Damian Brown lives there with his sister Cristine and their parents."

"So... the one from the house on the left moved to the house on the right? Because I didn't quite get it."

"Yes, Kayler Brown lived in the house on the left, but he fell in love with Carolina Lane when she first moved here with her mother. Just like you. Well, that’s what my mom told me."

"I see."

So Damian lived in the house on the right, where I saw all those kids swimming.

"And how old is Cristine?"

"She's young, only thirteen. Damian is seventeen."

I nodded, thinking I had already learned too much, just hoping Lana wouldn’t think poorly of me.

"Have you seen any dangerous animals around here?"

Lana hesitated a bit before answering.

"No, just a few common wolves, but they’re harmless, believe me."

I narrowed my eyes.

"How can you know that?"

"Because this protects you," she pointed to the necklace my father had given me the night before.

How could that be possible? I remembered the wolf and how it ran away without harming me. Could it be? I