Chapter 149 CHAPTER 149
Isabel stood alone in the middle of the field.
The grass beneath her feet was unnaturally green, almost glowing under the stadium lights. The air was thick, buzzing, charged with a sound that took her a moment to understand. Cheers. Loud, rolling cheers, pouring down from every direction. When she looked up, the stands were full. Packed. Every seat occupied by students from Lunaris, their faces blurred together in a moving sea of bodies and color.
She swallowed and turned slowly, trying to understand why she was there.
On the far end of the field, a line of figures stood shoulder to shoulder. Tall. Broad. Dressed like athletes ready for a game. Their bodies were tense, coiled with energy, eyes fixed on her as though she were the opponent they had been waiting for. She was alone on her side of the field. No teammates. No one standing beside her.
A whistle shrieked through the air.
The sound sliced straight through her chest.
They started moving.
At first, it looked like they were running. Then she saw it—the way their bodies twisted unnaturally, bones stretching, spines bending at impossible angles. Skin rippled. Clothes tore. One by one, the figures shifted, not into humans anymore but into wolves. Massive, powerful creatures with bared teeth and glowing eyes, paws pounding against the grass as they charged toward her.
The cheers from the stands changed.
What had been applause turned into howls. Deep, feral sounds that vibrated through her bones. When she looked again at the crowd, her breath caught in her throat. They were no longer human either. Some were half-shifted, faces distorted, eyes sharp and predatory. Others were fully wolves now, throwing their heads back and howling her name—or something like it—into the air.
She tried to run.
Her body refused.
Her feet felt rooted to the ground, as though the earth itself had wrapped around her ankles. Panic exploded in her chest. Her heart slammed so hard she thought it might break her ribs. The wolves were closer now. Too close. She could hear their snarls, feel their breath in the air.
“Lisa,” she tried to say.
No sound came out.
She searched the stands desperately, scanning every face, every shape. Lisa had told her to call if anything happened. Lisa would come. Lisa always came.
Then she saw her.
Lisa stood on the pathway that cut between the stands, her back turned. She was walking away from the field, calm and unhurried, as if she couldn’t hear the howls, as if she didn’t know what was happening behind her.
“Lisa!” Isabel tried to scream.
Her throat burned. Nothing came out.
Lisa didn’t turn around.
The wolves surrounded her.
She squeezed her eyes shut just as one lunged…
Hands grabbed her shoulders.
“Isabel. Isabel, wake up.”
She gasped and jolted upright, her body drenched in sweat, chest heaving as if she had been running for miles. The room was dark, familiar. The soft glow of moonlight filtered through the curtains.
Lisa sat beside her on the bed, hands still on her shoulders, eyes wide with worry.
“You were screaming,” Lisa said softly. “You were crying.”
Isabel lifted a trembling hand to her face. Her fingers came away wet. The tears were real.
“I’m okay,” she whispered, though her voice shook. “I just… had a bad dream.”
Lisa brushed her hair back gently. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
Isabel hesitated. The images were still too sharp, too alive. She shook her head slowly. “I think it’s just… everything. Being at Lunaris. Being different. My mind is probably just trying to catch up.”
Lisa studied her closely, her expression unreadable. “Is it too much?” she asked quietly. “If you want to go back to your old school, I can talk to Ethan.”
“No,” Isabel said quickly. “No, I don’t want to leave. I just need time. I’ll give it a few weeks. If it still feels wrong, then we can talk about it.”
Lisa nodded. “I don’t want you forcing yourself to stay somewhere you don’t feel safe.”
Isabel looked at her and managed a small smile. “I feel safe when you’re around.”
Lisa’s shoulders relaxed slightly. “Do you think you can sleep again?”
Isabel paused, then sighed. “Actually… I’m kind of hungry.”
Lisa laughed softly. “Of course you are.”
They slipped out of bed and padded downstairs in their nightgowns, the palace quiet and hushed. Lisa pulled up a stool for Isabel to sit on at the kitchen counter. She poured milk into a glass, pulled cookies from the cupboard, and warmed the milk gently before setting everything in front of her.
“This ought to help,” Lisa said.
Isabel took a sip, the warmth settling her nerves. As she nibbled on a cookie, Lisa leaned against the counter, watching her a little too closely.
“What are you thinking about?” Isabel asked after a moment.
“Nothing,” Lisa said quickly. “Just making sure you finish your milk. I don’t want you waking me up in the middle of the night asking for more.” Her smile seemed a little forced.
Her eyes lingered on Isabel a moment longer than necessary.
For a second, she wasn’t in the kitchen anymore. She was back in Silverpine - standing at the edge of the pack, always close enough to belong, yet never fully inside. She remembered how it felt to walk among wolves who shared blood and instinct while she felt… wrong. Different. Like her presence needed explaining. Even after her wolf awakened, she had hidden it, afraid that showing it would only push her further out, not pull her in.
She saw that same tightness now in Isabel’s shoulders. The careful way she smiled. The way she brushed things off too easily.
Lunaris was supposed to be a place of learning, of safety. And yet Isabel was the only human in a school built for shifters and creatures who could feel power in their bones. Lisa’s chest tightened at the thought of Isabel sitting in classrooms, surrounded by difference, wondering if she truly belonged there - or worse, believing she didn’t.
It hurt that Isabel wouldn’t say it out loud.
Lisa wanted to be her safe place. The person she could lean into without fear. But standing there, watching her drink milk she didn’t really want, Lisa sensed a wall - thin, fragile, but real. Isabel was holding something back, not because she didn’t trust her, but because she didn’t know how to name the loneliness yet.
And that scared Lisa more than anything ever could.
She shifted her weight, fingers tightening briefly around the edge of the counter. Lisa cleared her throat, the sound softer than she intended, almost unsure.
“Isabel… is there anything,” she began, then hesitated, searching Isabel’s face, “anything I need to know?”
Before Isabel could respond, footsteps padded into the kitchen.
Ethan appeared in the doorway, hair messy, wearing pajama pants and a loose shirt. He blinked at them. “Are we having a midnight meeting, or did I miss something important?”
Lisa smiled. “Isabel couldn’t sleep.”
Ethan poured himself a glass of milk and leaned against the counter beside them. “I’m allowed to be awake worrying about the kingdom,” he said lightly. “But you’re not. What’s bothering you?”
“Just a bad dream,” Isabel said.
Ethan nodded, his expression softening. “That makes sense. New school. New world. It’s a lot.” He paused, then added, “How would you feel about going to Red Valley this weekend? We need to visit the village anyway. It might help to get out of the palace for a bit.”
Lisa’s eyes lit up at the suggestion. “That’s actually a really good idea. I promised Alpha Reed I’d visit them too,” she said, a faint crease forming between her brows. “There’s been so much going on, I just… I haven’t found the time.”
Ethan nodded in agreement, thoughtful. “It’s overdue. They’ve been waiting.”
Isabel, still nursing her glass of milk, hadn’t even considered the possibility that the plan included her. She was halfway through a sip when she noticed the look they exchanged - Lisa’s soft, expectant smile, Ethan’s calm, assessing gaze.
She blinked once.
“Wait,” she said slowly, lowering the glass. “You want me to come too?”
“Why not?” Ethan said. “It’s beautiful there. Fresh air. No classrooms.”
She smiled, the tension easing from her shoulders. “Okay. I’m in.”
Ethan nodded. “I’ll ask Liam and Celine if they want to join us.”
By the time Isabel finished her milk, her eyelids were already drooping. Lisa and Ethan exchanged a quiet smile.
Lisa took her hand and led her back upstairs. Within minutes of lying down, Isabel drifted off again, her breathing slow and steady.
Lisa lingered beside the bed, brushing Isabel’s hair back once more, slow and careful, as if afraid the moment might shatter if she rushed it.
“I know there’s something you’re not telling me,” she said softly. “I can feel it.”
Isabel’s breathing stayed even, her eyes already heavy with sleep.
Lisa swallowed. “I don’t know if it’s fear, or loneliness, or something you haven’t found the words for yet. I just…” Her voice faltered, then steadied. “I hope it’s not because you don’t think I’m safe enough to hear it.”
She leaned closer, resting her forehead lightly against Isabel’s.
“But whatever it is,” she whispered, fierce and gentle all at once, “I won’t let Lunaris break you. Not on my watch.”
A soft sound answered her.
Not a word. Not even a sigh.
Just a quiet, unmistakable snore.
Lisa froze, then pulled back slightly, blinking. Isabel’s face had relaxed completely, her lips curved in the faintest, almost mischievous smile, as if she’d slipped into sleep at the exact moment the world felt safest again.
Lisa let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding and smiled.
“Figures,” she murmured fondly.
She slid under the covers beside her, careful not to wake her, and turned onto her side, facing Isabel. One arm came to rest lightly across her waist, a quiet promise made without words.
Isabel shifted closer in her sleep, breathing deep and even.
Lisa closed her eyes then, letting the stillness settle around them, as she drifted to sleep too.