Chapter 11 CHAPTER 11
Sleep did not come easily that night. I woke to the sound of something tapping against my window, but when I sat up, chest tight and alert, there was nothing but the breeze brushing the glass. Dawn was barely beginning to rise, only a pale smear behind the clouds, and the house felt colder than it had any right to be.
I pushed back the blankets and sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, my breath fogging faintly in the air.
The necklace lay exactly where I had left it: waiting, glittering softly, too beautiful to be harmless.
I went downstairs, each step softer than the last, as if I did not want to disturb whatever was coiled in the air around me. The kettle hissed gently on the stove, and for a moment I let myself focus only on the sound, the steam rising in delicate swirls, the way the morning light touched the counter.
When the knock came at the door light, almost hesitant I nearly dropped the cup in my hands. I wasn’t expecting anyone. No one visited this early, not unless something had gone wrong.
My heart thudded painfully as I approached the door. When I opened it, Tasha stood on the step.
Her eyes were swollen from crying. She hadn’t even tried to hide it. Her hair was pulled into a messy knot that looked like it had been done by trembling hands. The moment she saw my face, her lip wobbled.
“Ayla,” she whispered, and the way she said my name made fear spike through me.
I stepped aside immediately. “Come in.”
She crossed the threshold like she was afraid of the world watching her, and when the door closed behind us, she folded her arms across her chest, hugging herself so tightly her shoulders shook.
“I don’t know what’s happening to me,” she said, her voice cracking. “Last night—” She stopped. She swallowed like her throat hurt. “Last night I thought it was over. I thought maybe it was a one-time thing. But it wasn’t.”
I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. “What happened?”
She looked up at me, eyes shining with raw panic.
“I shifted again, in my sleep.”
I took a step toward her. She took a shaky breath, grounding herself before she continued.
“I didn’t even know it was happening. I woke up on the floor beside my bed. Claw marks in the wood. My pillows shredded. My window open, I don’t remember opening it, Ayla. I don’t remember anything.”
The seriousness of her words hit like a fist to the ribs. Uncontrolled shifting was more than dangerous, it was unheard of for someone our age unless something inside them was breaking.
“Does anyone at home know?” I asked softly.
She shook her head instantly. “No. No. I covered everything before anyone woke up.”Her voice dropped to a whisper.
“But I can smell myself in the room. I can smell the wolf. Stronger than yesterday.”
I exhaled slowly, trying not to let panic slip onto my face. She was barely holding herself together. If I fell apart, she would crumble.
“Okay,” I said gently, guiding her toward the kitchen. “Sit. I’ll make you tea.”
She sank into the chair like her bones were giving up on her. Her hands pressed flat on the table, fingertips tapping nervously.
“You promised you wouldn’t tell anyone,” she said, her voice shaking again.
“And I’m not telling anyone,” I said.
The kettle clicked. I poured her a cup and placed it in front of her, and she stared at it like it was the only solid thing in her world.
She breathed out slowly. “Thank you.”
We sat like that for a moment quiet, heavy, the air taut with everything she was not saying. Her shoulders slumped as she wrapped her hands around the cup.
But then she looked up again, eyes wide.
“There’s something else.”
I tensed. “What?”
She shook her head, like she couldn’t quite believe her own memory. “When I woke up, I wasn’t alone.”
My chest tightened. “Who? Did someone see you?”
She shook her head again, slower this time. “No, it wasn’t a person. It was a scent, familiar. A scent in the air, like someone standing by my window but already gone when I opened my eyes.”I swallowed hard.
“Branden?” I asked before I could stop myself.
Her face jerked in surprise. “No, not Branden. I know his scent anywhere. This was different, almost metallic.” A chill crept down my spine.
“Maybe it was just another wolf passing by,” I tried. She looked down at her cup. “Maybe.”
But she didn’t sound convinced, and neither was I.
She took a long sip of tea, then wiped her cheeks quickly, as if ashamed to still be crying.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I shouldn’t put this on you. You have enough going on.”She didn’t know how true that was.
“I’m not letting you go through this alone,” I said, and the firmness in my voice surprised even me. “Whatever is happening, we’ll manage it.” Her eyes softened with relief, and she nodded slowly.
But her next words made the fear in my chest twist even tighter. “You won’t tell the Luna?”
I hesitated for half a second just long enough for her to notice. Her face tightened. “Ayla.”
“I won’t,” I said quickly. “I have no form of friendship with that women why would I be talking to her about you?”
She relaxed slightly, though her hands still trembled.
After a long moment she exchanged places with her courage, stood, and pulled her coat on.
“I should go home before anyone notices I left,” she said.
“Do you want me to walk with you?”
She glanced at the ground. “No. If I start crying again, I don’t want an audience.”
I pulled her into a tight hug anyway. She hugged me back desperately, like she needed to borrow my strength.
“Text me,” I whispered.
She nodded and slipped out the door.
When it closed behind her, the house sank into a thick, almost oppressive silence.
I stood still, listening. Waiting, every instinct inside me felt slightly off, like the air pressure had changed the moment she left.
I went upstairs to my room, expecting everything to look exactly the same as it had that morning.
My window closed last night, definitely closed was cracked open an inch.
A thin line of cold air moved through the gap, brushing against my skin.
The necklace on the dresser glimmered faintly, but that wasn’t what drew my eye.
There were faint, almost invisible marks on the wooden floor near the window.
Scuffs. Like someone or something had landed there.
I stared at them, my pulse thundering in my ears. Someone had been here.
My phone buzzed suddenly, sharp in the silence. I slid the phone open and it was a message from Branden.
‘We need to talk. Today.‘
My breath caught. Of course he would choose now.
Of course.
I looked back at the marks on the floor, the half-open window, the necklace glinting like a promise I never should have accepted.
The day had only begun, and already I could feel the world slipping in ways I could no longer control.