Chapter 10
That night, after Beta Alfonso helped me back to my dorm from the hospital, I couldn’t find it in me to sleep.
My body ached with every movement–another curse of not having my wolf. Unlike other werewolves, my healing wasn’t accelerated. Without her, I was more human than anything else.
The moonlight spilled into my room through the half–closed curtain.
I sat on my bed, hugging my knees, the silence pressing against my ears. I sighed deeply, then stood and walked over to the window, slowly pushing it
open.
The night air was cold and sharp, but I welcomed it. I needed something to remind me I was still alive after what happened.
The night had a quiet magic to it. Crickets chirped in the bushes below, and a light breeze danced across my face.
I closed my eyes for a moment and let it calm my thoughts. But then I glanced at the table where my sketchbook sat and felt a pull I couldn’t ignore.
Reaching over, I picked it up and settled down on the floor beneath the window, cross–legged.
I flipped past the sketches I knew by heart–Patricia’s laugh, Louis and his book, a fading memory of my wolf from when she used to talk to me–and stopped at a blank page.
And then, my hand moved on its own.
I began to draw.
Not the gentle lines of a flower or the calm face of a friend.
No, this was something wild–raw.
The Lycan…
Him…
The creature I saw tonight wasn’t like the ones in the old fairytales or horror books.
He wasn’t some mindless beast. He was something majestic. Monstrous in size, yes, but regal. Powerful. Ancient.
His fur had shimmered beneath the moonlight–dark gray with streaks of silver, eyes that glowed with otherworldly intensity.
I remembered the way he moved, the way his massive body crashed into the rogue like a thunderstorm, the earth shaking beneath his steps. And then…
Then he shifted. And became him.
Francesco Lycaon…
The Alpha. The elusive, enigmatic leader of this pack I had only heard his name before coming here–whispers of a Lycan Alpha who rule and silence. But tonight… tonight I saw him with my own eyes.
And now I was sketching him.
1
strength
I traced the memory of his sharp features–high cheekbones, a strong jaw, lips that rarely smiled, and those haunting, piercing eyes. Eyes that had looked at me like they saw me. Not just the broken girl who couldn’t shift, but someone more.
I shouldn’t think like this.
I cursed myself quietly and bonked my own head with the palm of my hand, groaning when it throbbed slightly.
1/3
16:50 Sat, 12 Jul T G O·
Chapter 10
Stupid bruise…
it hadn’t healed properly yet, and all I’d done was make it worse.
“God, what is wrong with me?” I muttered, biting my lower lip in frustration.
Drawing his face? Thinking about his voice? His eyes?
The deep rumble of his voice still echoed in my ears.
I shivered…
Even remembering it made something twist in my stomach. Not fear, not exactly… something else. Something deeper.
Stop it, Ellaine!!
I was about to close the sketchbook when something cut through the night.
Howl…
I froze. My blood turned cold.
Another howl–but this time, it wasn’t like the others. It wasn’t the desperate cry of a rogue, or the territorial growl of a warrior werewolf.
This one…
This one was different.
It was deep, guttural. Powerful.
It resonated through my bones, and my body reacted instinctively–I stood up slowly, eyes wide, clutching the edge of the window for balance.
A Lycan’s howl.
My heart skipped a beat.
Even I, a wolf–less girl, could feel the power in it.
Across the campus, in other dorms, I could hear stirrings–footsteps, whispers. The wolves in the pack felt it too. I saw flickering lights turning on in neighboring buildings.
And I wasn’t the only one confused.
Miles away in the heart of the pack house, warriors were already on alert.
Beta Alfonso shot up from his seat in the meeting room. His eyes flickered gold for a split second as he locked eyes with the warrior beside him.
“That’s the Alpha,” he said, disbelief in his voice. “He’s howling.”
“When was the last time he-?” the warrior began.
“Years,” Alfonso muttered.
Because a Lycan doesn’t howl without reason. And Alpha Francesco? He never did it idly.
Something was happening…
And Beta Alfonso could only guess the reason behind this involving the young girl that he helps hours ago.
16:50 Sat, 12 Jul TGD
Chapter 10
Back in my room, I clutched the sketchbook tightly to my chest, trying to calm the tremble in
Why now?
Why was he howling?
I tried to rationalize it–maybe another rogue was spotted?
Maybe it was just a warning signal?
But deep in my gut, I knew.
That wasn’t a warning. It was… a call.
my
hands.
A call from something old, primal, and aching. A call from something inside the Alpha that hadn’t stirred in years.
A Lycan’s howl wasn’t just sound–it was energy. It was felt through the soul.
And somehow, somehow… it felt like it was meant for me.
Don’t be stupid, El, I scolded myself again, but the thought wouldn’t go away.
I sat back down, flipping to a new page, and without thinking, I began to draw again. But this time, not his face.
His howl…
The pain in it. The power. The loneliness.
Tears pricked the corners of my eyes as I drew sweeping lines and heavy strokes, letting the emotion in the howl pour through my pencil.
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel entirely alone.
AD
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