Chapter 37 Sophie's Discovery (Vivienne POV)
The door opens fifteen minutes earlier than expected, and I'm still mid-transformation, half-human, half-wolf, caught in the most vulnerable moment possible.
Sophie freezes in the doorway, her book bag slipping from her shoulder to hit the floor with a thud that seems impossibly loud in the sudden silence.
We stare at each other.
I'm on all fours, silver fur spreading across my skin, face elongating into a muzzle, claws extending where fingernails should be. Not quite human. Not quite wolf. Just suspended in the horrifying in-between that most werewolves can hide but I've been caught in.
"What..." Sophie's voice is barely a whisper. "What are you?"
I should shift back. Should complete the transformation to wolf and pretend I'm some escaped pet. Should do anything except stand here frozen like I've forgotten how my own body works.
But my wolf is panicking, and when the wolf panics, control goes out the window.
Sophie takes a step backward into the hallway. "I should... I'm going to..."
"Wait." The word comes out garbled, half-growl. "Please. Don't run."
"Don't run? Don't…" She laughs, high and strained. "Vivienne, you're turning into a dog. Or a wolf. Or... what are you?"
I force the shift to complete, letting my body flow fully into wolf form. It's easier than trying to speak through a transforming throat. Once I'm four-legged and silver, I sit, trying to look as non-threatening as a wolf the size of a large dog can look.
Sophie stares at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, she steps back into the room and closes the door.
"Okay," she says, her voice shaking. "Okay. You're a wolf. My roommate is a wolf. That's... that's happening."
I shift back to human…and immediately grab the blanket from my bed to cover myself because this is already awkward enough without the nudity complication.
"I can explain," I say, once I'm wrapped and relatively decent.
"You can explain." Sophie laughs again, still strained. "You can explain why you just turned into a massive silver wolf in our dorm room. Sure. Let's hear that explanation."
"Maybe sit down first?"
"I'm fine standing." But her legs are shaking, and after a moment she sinks onto her bed anyway. "Okay. Explain. Please."
I take a breath, trying to organize thoughts that are currently just screaming abort abort abort she saw everything abort.
"I'm a werewolf. Obviously. That part you figured out. The silver fur is because I'm from an old bloodline called Silvermane. And I didn't tell you because..." I trail off. Because why didn't I tell her? "Because it's complicated. And dangerous. And I didn't want to put you at risk."
"Put me at risk how?"
"Knowledge is dangerous in the werewolf world. The more you know, the more dangerous you become to certain people. Hunters. Hostile packs. Anyone who sees humans with werewolf knowledge as security threats."
Sophie processes this, her journalist brain clearly working overtime. "Hunters. As in people who hunt werewolves."
"Yes."
"And packs. As in groups of werewolves."
"Also yes."
"And your father?" Her eyes sharpen. "Edmund. The way he monitors you, the isolation, the control. Is he...?"
"A hunter. Yes. One of the most effective in Europe. He's been hunting werewolves for seventeen years." The admission tastes bitter. "Since he killed my mother during my birth."
"Your mother was a werewolf."
"And he murdered her when she transformed during labor. Then spent the next seventeen years suppressing my abilities so I wouldn't become what she was." I pull the blanket tighter. "I only found out two months ago. When I met Declan and the mate bond triggered my awakening."
"Declan." Sophie nods slowly. "The football captain. Who is also a werewolf."
"And an Alpha. Leader of the Greyfang Pack. Which I'm now part of."
"Of course he is. Of course you are." She runs a hand through her hair. "This explains so much. The late-night disappearances. The weird dietary changes. The way you started moving differently, like you were more aware of your body. I thought you were just adjusting to boarding school after being isolated. But it was this."
"You noticed all that?"
"Vivienne, I'm your roommate. I notice everything. Including the fact that Declan looks at you like you're the only person in the world. And the way you started spending all your time with his friend group. And how half the school treats you differently now, like you're dangerous." She meets my eyes. "I knew something was going on. Just didn't realize it was..." She gestures vaguely at me. "Supernatural."
"Are you going to tell anyone?"
The question hangs between us.
"Should I?" Sophie asks. "Is there, like, werewolf law about this? Do you have to kill me now that I know?"
"What? No! I'm not going to kill you." I'm horrified she'd even think that. "But there are... concerns. About humans knowing. Some packs have rules against exposure. Memory modification is possible…"
"You can wipe my memory?" She sounds both terrified and fascinated.
"In theory. Silvermane females have certain abilities. Memory modification is one of them. I've been learning about it in my research." I haven't tried it yet. Don't even know if I could. "But I don't want to do that. You're my friend. I don't want to erase your memories just because you saw something you weren't supposed to."
"Good. Because that would be deeply creepy." Sophie is quiet for a moment. "So what happens now? Do I pretend I didn't see anything? Do I have to swear a blood oath or whatever?"
"There's no blood oath. But..." I hesitate. "If you tell anyone, it puts the pack at risk. Puts Declan at risk. And with everything happening right now…the tournament, the threat of hunters, all the political complications…exposure could get people killed."
"The tournament. You mean the football stuff?"
"It's not football stuff. It's called The Culling. Seven werewolf packs competing for territorial rights across Britain. Except we think it's actually a trap. That hunters are planning to attack during the tournament when all the packs are gathered underground."
Sophie's eyes widen. "That's... that's in like a month, right? I've seen the promotional stuff around campus."
"Twenty-nine days. December 21st."
"And your father…the hunter…he's planning this attack?"
"We think so. Declan found evidence of equipment purchases. Silver ammunition, UV lights, gas dispersal systems. Everything you'd need to massacre fifty werewolves trapped underground."
"Oh my God." Sophie's face has gone pale. "Vivienne, that's... you could die. All of you could die."
"Which is why we're preparing. Training for both the tournament and potential attack. Trying to warn the other packs even though they won't listen." I pull my knees up to my chest. "It's a lot. And now you're caught in the middle of it because you came back to the room early."
"I forgot my statistics textbook. Had a study group." She laughs weakly. "If I'd remembered the textbook this morning, I'd be in the library right now completely oblivious."
"Probably better that way."
"I don't know. I kind of prefer knowing." Sophie stands, moving to sit beside me on my bed. "Look, this is terrifying. And insane. And I'm probably going to have nightmares about this for years. But you're still you. Still my roommate. Still my friend. You being a werewolf doesn't change that."
"You're surprisingly calm about this."
"I'm not calm. I'm screaming internally. But I'm also a journalist…or I want to be. And journalists don't panic when they discover incredible truths. They document them." She pulls out her phone. "Can I ask questions? For understanding, not for publication. I swear I won't write any of this down where anyone else could find it."
"What kind of questions?"
"Everything. How long have you known? How does shifting work? What's it like being a wolf? Can you understand human language when transformed? Do you eat raw meat?" The questions tumble out rapid-fire. "Also, what's the deal with Declan? Is the mate bond thing real or is that just romantic terminology?"
Despite everything, I smile. "The mate bond is real. Supernatural connection between two werewolves. Recognition on an instinctive level. And yes, I can understand human language in wolf form, though I can't speak it. And the raw meat thing is real but not like you're thinking…we can eat normal food, but protein needs increase significantly after transformation."
"Fascinating." Sophie is clearly taking mental notes. "And the Silvermane thing? You said that's a bloodline?"
"Original werewolf family. Dating back thousands of years. My mother's line." I touch the pendant I'm wearing. "Someone left this for me…we think it's my brother, Gabriel. He survived when our mother died and has been watching me from a distance."
"You have a brother? Another werewolf brother?"
"Who's twenty-one and leads his own pack of survivors from my father's hunts. And who apparently thinks leaving mysterious jewelry is better than actually talking to me."
"Families are complicated. Supernatural families are probably more so." Sophie's initial terror seems to have transformed into genuine curiosity. "So what do you need from me? Besides secrecy?"
"Honestly? I don't know. I didn't plan for this. Didn't have a protocol for 'roommate discovers supernatural secret.'"
"Then how about this: I'll be your human cover. Keep up normal appearances so no one suspects anything weird is going on. Help maintain your regular student identity while you're off doing werewolf things." She grins, some of her usual energy returning. "I can be your alibi. Your excuse for why you're missing classes or coming back at weird hours. Your connection to the normal human world."
"You'd do that?"
"Vivienne, you're my friend. My weird, supernatural, secretly-a-wolf friend, but still my friend. Of course I'll help." She stands. "But right now, I really do need to get to that study group. And you should probably, you know, put on actual clothes instead of just a blanket."
She grabs her textbook and heads for the door, then pauses. "One more thing. The forced transformation ability you mentioned. Memory modification. What else can Silvermanes do that I should know about?"
"I'm still figuring that out. The research suggests we can compel other werewolves to shift, can communicate across distances, can tap into ancestral memories. But I haven't mastered any of it yet."
"You will. You're smart and determined and you've got two months of experience already." She opens the door. "Also? The silver fur is actually really beautiful. Like living metal. If you ever shift around me again…which, let's be honest, probably will happen at some point…I'm absolutely going to want photos."
"Photos?"
"For personal use only! Not publishing! Just... documenting history." She grins. "See you at dinner?"
"If I'm not training."
"If you're not training." She leaves, and I'm alone with the reality that my secret is out.
My human roommate knows I'm a werewolf.
And instead of running away screaming or demanding memory modification, she's treating it like the most fascinating story she's ever encountered.
I should be worried. Should be concerned about security implications and pack safety and all the ways this could go wrong.
But mostly I just feel relieved.
Because keeping secrets from Sophie has been exhausting. And having one person in my life who knows everything…who I don't have to hide from or lie to…feels like breathing after being underwater.
I get dressed properly and check my phone. Three texts from Declan asking where I am. Two from Callum about tomorrow's training schedule. One from Freya with more research about the pendant symbols.
I should modify her memory. Should wipe this entire afternoon and replace it with something mundane. It would be safer. Simpler. Would protect her from knowledge that could get her killed.
But I can't.
Because Sophie looked at me mid-transformation…at my most monstrous, most vulnerable, most terrifying…and chose to stay.
Chose to ask questions instead of running.
Chose friendship over fear.
That's not something I can erase. Won't erase, even if it's dangerous.
So instead, I pocket my phone and head to training, where I'll learn to fight and kill and survive.
And hope that when everything goes to hell in twenty-nine days, Sophie's trust in me wasn't misplaced.
That her choice to stay wasn't a fatal mistake.
That friendship…human or werewolf…is worth the risk it always brings.