Fur so black, mixing with the darkness under the dense trees. Eyes so green and devilish, I was shivering. It was bigger than I had ever thought. When it opened its mouth a little, the thick saliva that hung on the canines, my next scream was lost within my mouth.

I had lost my voice because it kept scaring and staring at me. Thousands of needles prickled my skin when it forwarded it's paw towards me.

He would be jumping on me any moment.

I was numb. I was blank. My feet weren't moving anymore. This was death, I realized. This truly was when I could see all the moments of life revolving in my eyes.

A faint growl escaped the wolf's mouth and I was sure, I had peed a little in my pants.

I was shaken when it growled again and another paw was forwarded.

A wail escaped my mouth when I saw him coming towards me. Within a second, I would be gone. With this thought, I covered my eyes with my arms and let out the loudest of screams.

I hadn't even expected for the attack yet I knew it would happen, when all of a sudden, something hit me hard on the right side, making me fly towards the left.

A scream left my mouth as I fell on the ground and felt like all of my bones were broken. Another growl was heard followed a different one which made me gasp as I raised my head and immediately felt blood trickling on my forehead.

My eyes widened when I found another black wolf in the ground, but it was bigger than the one who had scared me. Like a giant. My heart was lost somewhere in a parallel world full of gardens and butterflies.

Instead, I was stuck in a wild jungle and the wolves.

"Oh my God!" I cried out when the bigger one jumped onto the smaller one. They wrestled with each other for barely ten seconds when all of a sudden, the bigger one caught the throat of the smaller one.

I gasped loudly.

The bigger one growled loudly and I could swear, the grounds were shaken. I was shook badly.

More noise happened when I heard galloping sounds and growls. Two brownish wolves appeared on the edge of the streets entering the forest, one of them having patches of black at places.

The small black wolf was writhing until now and suddenly, it cooled down when the bigger one growled again.

With wide eyes I watched, as the bigger one left the smaller one's throat, and with a growl left the forest as if it was angry. I blinked in terror.

The two brown wolves went towards the black one who was now writhing quietly. One of them looked at me and started walking towards me.

I screamed out and immediately rolled on, started crawling into the forest. Before, I could even crawl five steps, the wolf pushed his canines through my clothes, making me fly in the air and fall on it's back.

I clutched on it's fur for my life and before I could even realize what was happening, the wolf started running, leaving me screaming all the way.

With sobs that wouldn't even let me speak a word and eyes so tightly closed, I couldn't see if it was day or night, the wolf stopped.

I was hanging on it's back from one side, almost falling when it laid down. Someone's footsteps I heard and the two arms picked me up bridal style.

My eyes opened and with blurry vision, I recognized Uncle Robert taking me inside the house.

Before I could observe anymore, my eyes closed on their own so heavily, I wasn't waking up any soon.

_______

". . . I want answers, Pete. I want answers. . . This isn't how you treat a person."

Pain shot beneath my eyebrows and I let out a groan. My hand automatically reached my head as I rubbed my eyes slowly and breathed. The pain was everywhere in my body and the most, it was on my left elbow and left ass.

My eyes filled up when I opened them. All the memories of events rushed back when I recognized the white ceiling of my room.

I winced at the tightness on my forehead. There was a band-aid pasted on the skin above my eyebrow.

"Mom. . ," I let out a whimper. "Mom."

I was never a cry baby but this had scared me to death. I had never seen wolves before, that even throwing me here and there.

"Mom."

The doors burst opened and footsteps rushed in. Pete and Mom came in my sight when I tried to raise myself.

Self-pity consumed me like a beast as I remembered the horrific view that I had witnessed, nearly losing my life. If not with the wounds, with the heart attack.

"Stay like that. Don't move. You need to stay still." Pete ordered immediately while I let out a sob.

Mom came on the other side, chuckling and hugging me the most she could by leaning on me. "Oh baby!"

"I. . . There. . . The forests. . . Wolves," I cried out, looking at her while she chuckled sadly at me. With her eyes, I already knew that she had been crying.

She nodded with her eyes closed. "I know, baby. I know. Do not worry. I am here."

"Misty?" I looked at Pete, watching him seated at my left, looking at me with helplessness in his eyes. "We all know what happened. It's a blessing that you are okay from the fall and not in trauma. You are a brave girl." He smiled slowly.

"We have bandaged your knee. A massage and some rest is what you need." Mom said, trying to keep me at ease but I knew, it was more. Because the pain was unbearable. "You will be fine."

I lowered my eyes, observing the thick bandaging from my forearm to my elbow. The courage to move my arm wasn't collecting as I was too afraid that it would hurt like a bitch. It was already hurting slightly.

"Um, your left elbow is stuck," said Pete.

"What?" I could feel smoke leaving my ears. I looked at Mom who seemed afraid of me at this moment.

She gulped while Pete continued, "It's nothing, Misty. You just have to rest your elbow for some days. Not straighten your arm-"

"Is it broken?" I asked fearfully.

Pete shook his head, "No. But it hit the stone hard. You aren't feeling it now but you'll feel the jam later. It will be fine within ten to fifteen days. Just avoid moving your arm much. I have already brought this band for your support." He pointed at the band on the drawer while I had lost my mind.

"Those with fracture, wear those. No." I cried out. "You guys are lying." I tried to bend my arm and the pain jolted within the nerves in my arm to the toes of my foot.

"Misty, calm down-"

But I sat down despite their hands on my shoulders, cursing when my left ass started burning.

"I have to go to college. I have to earn a degree. I have to write and study. I have to do my tasks. I can't be handicapped. No. I. . ."

Pete rolled his eyes while mom chuckled immediately. "Misty, it's just a minor jam. You will recover. This is nothing deep."

"No. I want to go home. I need Gran." I sobbed, "I want to go home." I laid back, crying to myself.

"Misty, don't say that, baby. It's all fine. Those wolves were just Eva and your father. Later, Pete and Thomas came to take you."

I stopped crying and looked at my mother in shock. Observing her face full of shame and helplessness, I looked at her in disgust. I looked at Pete and found him shaking his head slowly.

"Eva was just playing with you. Then, Dad came to stop you guys because the woods were dangerous. You were close to cross the borders. If it hadn't been Dad signing us, we wouldn't have been able to reach and take you and Eva back to home."

I opened my mouth in shock, letting out a silent sob in pain.

"You all are monsters. Fucking monsters trying to play with me? You all are not capable of love. No matter how much I hope, you guys will always be the rascals-"

"Misty," Pete looked at me.

"Gran was right. You guys are monsters." I looked at Mom, who almost jumped at seeing anger and pain in my eyes. "You are a monster. How could you let Eva scare me like that? I was terrified. I had pissed my pants. My elbow's hurt. My ass feels swollen. I don't know what more injuries you are hiding because I feel like I am fucking torn and broken."

"Leave her be," the manly voice came, earning our attention immediately. There he was standing at the door, Gilbert Arche with his head high and no care on his face. "Both of you."

Pete got up immediately while Mom had her tear-filled eyes stuck on me.

"Listen to him, like you always do." I told her, controlling a sob. "Leave."

"Misty, Eva will be punished. But I don't understand what you were doing at the forest-" Her tear spilled.

"I was following Natalie and Keira to home since I already felt like an outcast, couldn't walk beside them. Suddenly, they are gone and I don't know which place I am at." I explained, sniffling. "I am done with coping with all of you. I want Gran. I want my Gran."

Mom gasped and looked back at Gilbert as if they were exchanging a thought. Something that even Pete felt at shame for discussing openly.

"Malina," it was in that one straight tone he said her name, and she got up slowly, looking at me in longing.

I turned my head away, not giving any of them any glance and kept crying softly.

Mom and Pete left while Gilbert still stood there for five seconds. Before he could close the door and leave, I managed to glare at him.

"How could you let someone feel what your Alpha Rucus felt?" I asked in a hoarse voice. His eyes met mine. "I felt just like him. My body broken, in trauma, cold and crawling. This is what, you teach your daughters. Huh? One bunks her classes and one makes fool of someone for fun. Way too kind and compassionate."

His jaws clenched and still, he had no care on his face. He was just listening.

"They have my blood running through their veins," he said, his eyes focusing on me. "And that's what matters."

Angel filled me like a flood, my eyes burned with utmost hate for this heartless man.

Breathing out slowly, I shook my head. "I pity her sweet mom for she is stuck with you pitiless people-" I screamed when he ignored my openly, left the room and didn't forget to slam the doors shut after him.

"I pity her!"

I kept screaming on the top of my lungs, despite feeling my ass throbbing in pain.

______

The doors burst opened so loud, I had jumped in my own seat on the bed. Thomas was panting, his eyes moving furiously on me. They softened just as he caught the sadness on my face.

"Misty," he breathed out, walking ahead and sitting on the other side of the bed tiredly. He looked at me. "You okay-" He stopped when his eyes caught the case on my arm.

"It's broken."

His lips curved into a small smile but he controlled for my sake. "Misty, it's just sore. It happens with many of us. But that doesn't make it alright. Now, does it?"

I closed my eyes, leaning back on pillow while straightening my legs and keeping the notes away from the class. "Your father thinks it is fine."

"You care for what he thinks?"

I looked at him, sadness consuming more of me. "Shouldn't I?"

Thomas smiled lightly. "He is down there taking both Eva and Natalie's class. Mother is standing aside along with Pete and Uncle Robert watching the justice."

"What worse could he do to them? They are his daughters." I muttered, my face falling from each second and Thomas grimaced. I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't take things that passionately. I was bullied in my middle school. But I never thought it would happen here too, that even by my half-sisters. Well, it's my fault that I wasn't trusting the movies. They show it right."

"Natalie is not of a culprit here, honestly." Thomas looked at me, chuckled while explaining, "I am not defending her. But listen at least. Natalie is girlish kind of a girl. She loves make up, she likes flowers. Just like mom. She doesn't think bad for someone, Misty. It's more of-" he gulped.

"Eva's mind. She influences minds. Natalie imitates her. And Keira, she is just bipolar," Thomas rolled his eyes. "One time, she would be a goddess, next time she could eat you alive."

I burst out in a laughter, seeing the way he said it.

"Natalie told me everything," Thomas explained, "They just wanted to have fun and were keeping an eye on you. They would have reached you after sometime of you getting lost in those quarters. But Eva and we all were returning from training. Males were going home while Eva and her friends joined them. It was her idea to show you a bit of wolf show."

"She was scary," I shuddered.

Thomas nodded with a soft smile. "That she is. But Pete doesn't let her get out of what is needed. Eva is ambitious but Pete wants his pack to respect him rather than fear him."

I smiled sideways. "Thanks for bringing my broken ass from there or I would have died there bawling," I murmured, looking at him.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders and gave me a trustworthy look. He forwarded his hand, "So, now are we on favorite sibling's terms or not?"

I laughed out and shook his head actively. "Absolutely."

He was only getting up from the bed while teasing, "It's just an arm broken," my eyes widened while he laughed, "I mean, stuck. So, you can come and join us downstairs. Mother and I are going to start sewing clothes for Aunt Kate's upcoming little monster."

My mouth opened in wide smile as I nodded. "Oh my God! I was thinking about it in the class."

He chuckled when coincidentally, his eyes fell on my notes on the bed. His one eyebrow raised while I bit my lip in consciousness.

"Notes, hmm?" He gave me a cheeky look. "Mother wasn't lying when she said, you are bright."

My eyes lit up but I was focused on answering, "The story was good and kind of new for me. I loved the tragic tale. I wish I could make it in a movie or something."

Thomas shook his head at me, his face now turning serious. "Its good that you are interested in knowing what happened. But girls aren't being taught just to be entertained, you see. There is a purpose behind this that you'll soon come to know. Just don't do the mistake of taking it lightly in front of any other wolf. We all worship Alpha Rucus from hearts, Misty. We exist because of him."

I let out a heavy breathe nodding at him. "Sure. Right." I gulped while lowering my eyes. What happened today had scared me enough. I won't go tomorrow, I had decided the moment I saw Eva as a wolf and that giant one, the Alpha. But a question was bugging me since last day. I didn't wait to ask him. "Why is it only girls attending the classes?"

His mouth opened and a familiar mischievous look overcame his features. "Please don't say, I'll learn it in mythology class too."

He looked amused and I could almost see his sharp nose turning red, something that I had noticed on his father too.

"Its only the she-wolves because," I bit my lip in suspense as he stretched it longer knowingly, "Because boys know everything already. We were taught at the age of ten everything that they are learning today."

Saying that I was confused was an understatement.

Thomas blinked innocently and sat back on the bed. "Males know everything and since then, they keep eyes on girls. So, no  she-wolf do anything that can offend us or break our rules. How would I stop you from going towards the restricted forests if I myself didn't know the secret?" He explained.

I got the point but the mention of those forests suddenly reminded him of my little visit there. His gaze turned curious and insecure as he asked, "I have been meaning to ask this since it happened, what did you feel in the forest?"

It wasn't like I was getting scared by the thought of it again. But I was certainly stressed from the way Thomas put it in words. What was I supposed to feel? Even a little child, or a teen could feel scared alone in a forest, especially when someone had warned them to not be there. I simply blinked and told him, "Fear, obviously. I was lost and had entered the forest you had warned me to not. It was all my inner self getting frightened by own thoughts. But when the wolf showed up, I had lost it."

Thomas was staring at me but was watching the scene replaying in his mind. "You were just hundred meters away from the border of the pack, Misty." My mouth opened in realization as I remembered Aunt Kate's story about Lycan's crossing the border.

"Oh my God! Was that the border touching Alpha Ronyn's pack?"

Thomas finally blinked and shook his head. He leaned closer as if telling me the most secretive gossip and whispered, "Just like in your world, you don't cross a border without passport and visa. We, wolves too don't cross the borders, Misty. If any of the wolf do it without their or another pack's Alpha-permission, the wolf is considered a-"

"Terrorist? Refugee?"

Thomas blinked seriously. "Rogue. Our pack is friendly with all other packs but unfortunately, one of our neighboring pack is of Lycan's too."

I nodded, already being aware of that.

"Other packs will forgive you or worse will contact your Alpha. But Lycans will-"

"Kill us?"

Thomas gave me a pitiful look and then, his gaze was serious. "Father always call it 'worse than getting killed."

I gulped, not liking this phrase. "What could be worse than a kill?" I whispered back.

Thomas breathed slowly, straightening back. "Don't enter the forest again. A wolf can fight back. A human will not even have the chance to see what killed him. . ," he said getting up, making chills ran down my spine.

"Or her."

________

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