Chapter 23
Tori's POV:
I hung up the phone, my grandmother's words echoing in my head.
"What happened four years ago wasn't your fault."
Even though she'd always stood by me, believed in me when no one else would, I couldn't let it go.
How could I? That night had changed everything.
I'd spent four years in Silver Fang trying to lock those memories away, to build walls around them so high and thick that they couldn't touch me anymore.
But they always found a way through, seeping into my dreams, where my brother Ryan's eyes still gazed at me as the light faded from them. Where Noah's blood still stained my hands.
And it wasn't just the memories—their families were real, living reminders of that night.
Lisa Morris's vengeful glares burned into me whenever our paths crossed. My aunt Janet—Ryan's mother—refused to see me anymore, her grief transforming our family bond into something unrecognizable.
She'd already lost so much. My uncle, her husband, died in a car accident shortly after she gave birth to my little cousin Anna. Then Ryan died trying to protect me.
Janet nearly lost her will to live after that night; the neighbors told me she wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, just sat staring at Ryan's photos for days. Only Anna's cries from her crib had pulled Janet back from the edge of despair, giving her a reason to keep going.
But she made it clear through others that she never wanted to see me again. The girl who had cost her son his life. The girl who had once been like a daughter to her.
I understood. How could I not?
I'd destroyed the only real family I'd ever known. Janet, Anna, Ryan—they had loved me unconditionally, had given me everything Hannah never did. And I'd repaid that love with blood and grief.
In Silver Fang, I could almost pretend the outside world didn't exist, but here in Moonhaven, my past shadowed me like a second skin.
Sinking onto my bed, I pulled my knees to my chest.
The dormitory was quiet this time of night, with most students already asleep. Tracy, my wolf, whined softly within me, sensing my distress as memories I'd tried so hard to suppress came rushing back.
Four years ago. A full moon night. The night of my first shift.
I'd been terrified. At seventeen, I was late for my first transformation—most wolves shifted at fifteen or sixteen.
Being an Omega already made me an outcast, and the delayed shift only added to my abnormality.
When I felt the first symptoms—heightened senses, burning skin, the restlessness that came with the approaching moon—I panicked and called the one person I thought I could trust.
"Fiona," I whispered now, the name still bitter on my tongue.
My best friend. The girl who'd promised to help me through my first shift, who'd offered the address of a secluded villa as a safe place.
"Come alone," she'd said. "I'll have everything ready."
My heart was full of trust and relief that Fiona would help me through this terrifying first transformation.
When I arrived, the lights were on inside, just as she promised they would be.
Full of hope, I pushed the door open. But the moment the door swung wide, I froze in the doorway, my body going rigid with shock.
Instead of Fiona, Noah Morris stood there, his lips curled in a predatory smile that had nothing to do with his wolf. Behind him, I glimpsed several other young men lounging on sofas, bottles of alcohol scattered across tables.
"Well, well. The little Omega finally arrived," Noah had drawled, his eyes raking over me in a way that made my skin crawl. "We've been waiting."
I'd tried to back away, but Noah was faster.
His hand shot out, gripping my wrist with bruising force and yanking me inside. The door slammed behind me with a finality that still haunts my nightmares.
"Where's Fiona?" I'd asked, my voice small, already knowing I'd been betrayed.
Noah's laugh had been cold, cruel. "Fiona? She thought we'd enjoy your company more than she would tonight. Don't worry, she sends her regards."
I looked around desperately, seeing no escape. Several dangerous males, all from prominent families, all staring at me like I was prey.
In my pre-shift state, with my body already weakened and struggling with the imminent transformation, I was completely defenseless against them.
"Please," I'd begged, "let me go. I need to—"
"You need to learn your place, Omega," Noah had snarled, shoving me toward the center of the room.
I'd stumbled, nearly falling, while the others laughed.
What happened next was a blur of hands grabbing at me, voices taunting me.
I fought as hard as I could, but I was outnumbered and overpowered.
Just as Noah pinned me against a wall, his face inches from mine, the front door had crashed open.
"Ryan," I gasped now, tears welling in my eyes.
He'd burst in like an avenging angel, his face contorted with rage.
"Get your hands off my sister!" he'd roared, launching himself at Noah.
The fight was brutal. Furniture splintered, glass shattered. Ryan landed several powerful blows, but soon they had him surrounded.
Noah, already bleeding from a cut on his cheek where Ryan had struck him, circled my brother with hatred in his eyes.
"I've been wanting to teach you a lesson for a long time," Noah had growled. "Always interfering when I try to talk to your sister."
"Talk?" Ryan had spat blood onto the floor, his eyes burning with rage.
"You sick bastard. I know exactly what you were planning to do to my sister. Too pathetic to find someone who'd actually want you? Everyone knows what you are, Noah—a coward who can only feel powerful when hurting someone weaker."
Noah's eyes had flickered something darker.
The air in the room shifted as his control slipped, his rage taking over.
I watched in horror as he began to transform, bones cracking, face elongating into a snarling muzzle.
"Ryan, run!" I'd screamed, but it was too late.
Noah lunged, jaws snapping, and caught my brother's throat in his teeth.
There was a terrible sound—a wet, tearing noise that will haunt me until my dying day—and then blood, so much blood, spraying across the hardwood floors, across my face and clothes.
Ryan fell, his eyes finding mine in his final moments, filled with apology and unwilling before the light in them dimmed forever.
The room erupted into chaos.
The other guys scrambled over each other in their desperation to escape, knocking over furniture and shattering glasses in their panic.
I crawled to Ryan, my hands slipping in his blood, cradling his head in my lap as sobs wracked my body. Beside us, Noah shifted back to human form, looking down at us with no remorse in his eyes.
"Unfortunate," he'd said coldly. "But he attacked me first. It was self-defense."
I looked up at him through my tears, feeling something inside me crack and break.
The grief, the rage, the betrayal—it all converged into a single point of blinding fury.
The shift I'd been so afraid of rushed through me in a wave of fire and pain.
My bones broke and reformed. My skin stretched and sprouted silver-gray fur. My vision sharpened, colors fading as scents intensified.