Chapter 16

The door to my cabin slammed behind me with finality as I leaned against it, sliding down until I sat on the floor. My hands were still trembling. Werewolves. Actual, living, breathing werewolves. And not just any werewolves—my father's stepchildren. The men I'd been developing feelings for.

"This can't be real," I whispered to the empty room.

But it was. I'd seen Barry transform with my own eyes, watched as a wolf became a man in a series of sickening cracks and morphs. The memory made my stomach turn. Yet beneath the horror and shock, something else lingered—curiosity. Working at FaunaSphere had taught me about animal behavior, but nothing could have prepared me for this.

I dragged myself to the shower, hoping the hot water might wash away some of the confusion clouding my mind. But as I stood under the spray, I found myself absently touching the place on my neck where Ara had kissed me days earlier. The skin felt warmer there somehow, more sensitive. When I examined it in the mirror afterward, a faint pattern seemed to shimmer just beneath the skin—visible one moment, gone the next.

Hours later, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, sleep eluding me despite my exhaustion. Questions raced through my mind on an endless loop. How was this possible? Were there others like them? Did this explain the strange possessiveness all four brothers had shown? And most troubling: what did they want from me?

The digital clock on my nightstand flipped to 2:17 AM. A cool breeze rustled the curtains, carrying the distant sounds of the Ken Jungle through my open window. Somewhere out there, were they running as wolves beneath the stars?

I must have finally drifted off, because suddenly I was running—not from something, but with something. Moonlight bathed a vast meadow in silver light, and as I glanced up, I saw the full moon hanging impossibly large in the night sky. The sound of paws thumping against earth surrounded me.

Wolves. A pack of them flanked me on all sides as I ran, their powerful bodies moving in perfect rhythm with mine. But strangely, I felt no fear. Instead, a profound sense of belonging washed over me, as if running with these magnificent creatures under the moonlight was exactly where I was meant to be.

One wolf—larger than the others, with familiar golden flecks in its eyes—moved closer, running so near that its fur occasionally brushed against my leg. I recognized those eyes. Ara. Behind him ran another with midnight black fur—Barry, I somehow knew. And further back, two more wolves kept pace, watchful and protective.

I reached out in the dream, my fingers just grazing Ara's fur—

And jolted awake, gasping, the phantom sensation of coarse fur still tingling against my fingertips. My hand flew to my neck, where the skin burned hot beneath my touch. Dawn light filtered through my curtains, signaling the start of a new day. A day where I had to somehow pretend everything was normal, despite my entire worldview being shattered.

Work. I still had to go to work at FaunaSphere Dynamics—the very place that now seemed like a cruel joke. I studied wild animals for a living, yet had completely missed that I was living among them.

Somehow, I managed to arrive at the office on autopilot, my mind still replaying fragments of last night's dream. The vivid sensation of running with the wolves—of belonging with them—refused to fade, clinging to my consciousness like morning mist.

"Earth to Lina! Hello?" Jessica's voice snapped me back to reality as she waved a hand in front of my face. "I've been talking to you for five minutes. Where did you go?"

"Sorry," I mumbled, setting my coffee down on our shared desk. "Didn't sleep well."

Jessica's eyes narrowed with concern. "I can see that." Her gaze shifted slightly to my neck, and before I could react, her hand gently moved my collar aside. "What's that on your neck? It looks unusual."

I quickly adjusted my collar, heat rushing to my face. "It's nothing—just a bruise. I bumped into a shelf."

Jessica raised an eyebrow but didn't press further. "If you say so. You've seemed distracted since you moved here. Everything okay?"

The question sent a jolt of panic through me. What could I possibly say? Oh, just discovered my neighbors transform into wolves.

"It's... complicated," I hedged, busying myself with organizing papers on my desk.

"Is it about Ara?" Jessica asked casually. "I've noticed you two talking quite a bit since you started."

"It's not like that," I replied, with more force than I intended. Jessica's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Sorry, I just... things got awkward, that's all. I'm a bit upset about it."

"What happened?"

I sighed, searching for a version of the truth I could actually share. "We had a disagreement. He and his brothers have been keeping something from me, something important."

Jessica nodded sympathetically. "Secrets can be difficult. What did he—" She stopped mid-sentence, her eyes fixing on something over my neck. "Speaking of which..."

I turned to see Ara walking through the office doors, his tall frame impossible to miss. He looked exhausted, dark circles under his eyes suggesting he'd slept as poorly as I had. When his gaze met mine across the room, something electric passed between us—a connection I couldn't explain but couldn't deny either. The mark on my neck seemed to warm in response to his presence.

Jessica gave me a gentle nudge. "He looks like he wants to talk. Maybe hear him out?"

"It's not that simple," I muttered, turning away from his intense stare.

"It never is," she said with a small smile. "But sometimes it's worth listening. He seems genuinely concerned."

I could get even more entangled with a family of werewolves who apparently think I belong to them, I thought. But another part of me—the part that had run freely with wolves in my dream—whispered that maybe that wouldn't be so terrible.

As Ara started walking toward our desk, my dream flashed vividly in my mind—the feeling of security, of belonging, of running free with creatures who accepted me completely. My hand unconsciously drifted to my neck again, to that spot that still tingled with phantom warmth.

"Fine," I conceded, standing up just as Ara reached us. "Five minutes. That's all he gets."

Jessica nodded. "I'll give you some privacy," she said, gathering a few files. "But I'm here if you need to talk after."

As she stepped away, Ara stopped in front of me, his expression a complex mixture of hope and trepidation. The wolf from my dream superimposed itself over his human features for just a moment—those same golden-flecked eyes watching me with an intensity that made my pulse quicken.

"Lina," he said simply, his voice low and uncertain. "Can we talk?"

The mark on my neck pulsed once, warm and insistent, as if answering for me. Despite everything I'd learned, despite all the reasons I should turn and walk away, I found myself nodding.

"Five minutes," I said firmly, though something deep inside whispered that this conversation would change everything, again.