THE ALPHA WHO HATED ME - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

EVANGELINE POINT OF VIEW
The air grows cold. So cold I can see my breath in little white puffs. The temperature drops until my teeth start chattering, until my fingers go numb. Frost forms on the boxes around me, turning everything silver and strange.
"Who's there?" I call out, trying to sound brave.
A voice answers. Not from in front of me, but from inside my own head.
*You're finally ready to listen.*
I scramble backwards, hitting the door with my shoulders. The voice isn't my wolf's voice. It's something else. Something ancient and patient and very, very dangerous.
*Don't be afraid,* the voice says. *I've been waiting for you.*
Light blooms in the darkness. Not from the dead bulb, but from the air itself. Silver light that makes everything look like it's underwater. And in that light, I see her.
A wolf. But not just any wolf. This one is pure white, with silver eyes that hold the wisdom of centuries. She's beautiful and terrible, like something from a fairy tale that ended badly.
She sits in the center of the room, surrounded by boxes and broken furniture, looking at me like she's known me my whole life.
*Hello, Lunara.*
The name hits me like a physical blow. I've heard it before, in dreams and whispers and moments between sleeping and waking. But hearing it spoken aloud makes it real in a way that terrifies me.
"That's not my name," I whisper.
*Isn't it?* The white wolf tilts her head. *You've been running from yourself for so long, you've forgotten who you really are.*
"I'm Evangeline. I'm just... I'm just an Omega."
The wolf's laugh is like wind through winter trees. *You carry her blood. Her enemies remember. And now... so will you.*
"What blood? Whose enemies?"
*Your mother's.* The wolf's eyes burn brighter. *They killed her because she was like you. Because she threatened their power. Because she loved someone she shouldn't have.*
My heart stops. "My mother died in an accident."
*No, child. She died protecting you. And now you must finish what she started.*
The wolf stands, and I notice she casts no shadow despite the light around us. Her form flickers like a candle flame, becoming more translucent with each word.
*You must find her. The one who can unlock what you truly are.*
"Find who?"
*The witch.*
The words echo in the small space, bouncing off the walls and boxes until they become a whisper, then a breath, then nothing at all.
"What witch? I don't know any witches."
*You will know her when you see her. Look for the woman with blood-red river running through her garden. The one who tends black willow trees. The one who wears your mother's necklace.*
My hand flies to my throat, where my mother's crescent moon pendant rests. "My mother's necklace?"
*Not that one. The other one. The one that holds her power.*
The white wolf begins to fade, becoming translucent like smoke or fog. But as she does, images flash through my mind. A cottage by a dark stream. Ancient trees with drooping branches. A woman with silver-streaked hair and kind eyes, wearing a necklace that pulses with inner light.
"Wait!" I reach toward her, but my hand passes through empty air. "Don't go! I need answers!"
*Find the witch,* the wolf says, her voice growing distant. *Find her before the next full moon. Before they discover what you are and try to destroy you.*
"Before who discovers what?"
*The ones who killed your mother. The ones who will kill you too, if you don't learn to use your power.*
The light dies. The cold lifts. I'm alone again in the darkness, but something's different. My left palm burns like fire, and when I look down, I can see a silver mark glowing faintly on my skin. A crescent moon, identical to my mother's pendant.
It fades as I watch, but I can still feel it tingling under my skin. Proof that what just happened was real.
I sit there in the darkness, trying to make sense of everything. The vision, the wolf, the name she called me. Lunara. It feels right in a way that scares me, like putting on clothes that fit perfectly but you don't remember buying.
My mother was murdered. Someone killed her because she was like me. Because she had power they feared.
And now they're coming for me.
The white wolf's words ring in my head like a bell that won't stop ringing.
*Find the witch.*
*Before the next full moon.*
*Before they discover what you are.*
I don't know how much time passes. Hours, maybe. Days. The darkness makes everything feel endless, like I'm trapped in a pocket of space where time doesn't exist.
But then I hear it. The sound of footsteps in the hallway. A key ring jangling. Hope blooms in my chest like a flower after rain.
The key turns in the lock.
I scramble to my feet, heart racing. The door swings open, and I'm blinded by the sudden light. When my eyes adjust, I see the janitor standing there, looking shocked.
"Miss? What are you doing in here?"
I stumble past him, desperate to get out of that room. "I was... I got locked in. By accident."
He frowns, looking at the key ring in his hand. "This room is always locked. How did you get in?"
"I don't know," I lie. "I just... I was looking for something and the door closed behind me."
It's a weak story, but he doesn't push. Maybe he can see how shaken I am. Maybe he doesn't want to get involved in student drama.
"You need to get home," he says kindly. "Get some rest. You look like you've seen a ghost."
If only he knew.
"How long was I in there?" I ask.
He checks his watch. "Well, it's Saturday morning now. Must have been nearly sixteen hours. No one even looked for you."
Sixteen hours. No one looked for me. The words hit harder than they should, but I push the hurt down. I have bigger things to worry about now.
I walk through the empty hallways on unsteady legs, my mind still spinning with everything that happened. The vision feels like a dream, but the memory of the silver mark on my palm proves it was real.
*Find the witch.*
I don't know where to start. I don't know who to trust. But I know one thing for certain: my life as ordinary Evangeline is over.
Whatever I'm becoming, whatever power is waking up inside me, there's no going back now. The white wolf made that clear.
I am Lunara. Daughter of a murdered woman. Carrier of dangerous blood.
And I have until the next full moon to find answers before my enemies find me.
The morning sun rises as I walk home, painting the sky in shades of gold and red. It should be beautiful, but all I can think about is the darkness that's coming. The hunt that's already begun.
I touch the place where the silver mark appeared, feeling for any trace of its power. Nothing. But I know it's there, sleeping under my skin like a seed waiting to grow.
The witch. The blood-red river. The black willow trees. My mother's other necklace.
I have clues now. A path to follow, even if I don't know where it leads.
But as I walk through the empty streets, I can't shake the feeling that I'm being watched. That somewhere in the shadows, my enemies are already closing in.
The hunt has begun. And I'm still not sure if I'm the hunter or the prey.