The Moonlit Lies And Unwanted Wolf

riella

hours later, wrapped in a thick blanket near the fire, I can feel it

across from me again, one knee pulled up, arms resting loosely. Alwa

ark... means you've been claim

name," he admits. "But I've seen that symbol befo

." "Not if you learn how to survive." I blink up at him. "What?" He tosses something at me. I

gain. I am "Ariella," I whisp

owering over me in the dim li

My ankle aches. My arms feel like they're made of lead. My back is on

The snow crunches beneath my bare feet. He's drawn a ci

ck

ing when you're at your worst means you'll be dangerous when

ngle under me, and I sl

itted teeth. "Then get up." I try, but I fell again. Again. And again. Each

r what feels like ho

and Scream into the wind. Bite my tongue. Cry when he's no

But he never crosses the line eithe

t. He tightens my bandages when they loosen. "You're slow," he snaps one

. Then I woke up. "No one's saving you but you." The words hit harder than his train

"Yes, I said." "Did you want to fig

ed. I get up faster. I swing harder. I scream in

s head tilts. Like maybe, just maybe,

ing to my hair, my lashes. "I've been swinging this stick so long th

dy moves before my brain catches up...low, quick,

ac

r a second, and then... A smile. A real one, tiny, crooked

my fingers. But I feel something else. Something wild, something al

he says, brushing snow from his sleev

" I want to laugh. I don't. He steps back, raising

e Who W

ys I didn't know possible. I lie awake, staring at the ceiling of

e less like a prisoner and more like... something else. Not a friend, Not yet, But m

From above it. Like footsteps on the

he woods are too dark to see much. But movement flickers between t

g. Not yell

ly at me. "Masked man," I whisper.

ne. My heart drops I grab the blanket, wr

still. Then I hear it. A Voices

. The fool." I hold the doorframe, fear twisting my stomach

sts into the clearing, we

s into him from the side...two wolves loc

..A cold, clawed hand. I twist, scream louder. A man with

ked one," he hisses. "No...

see is the masked man, still fighting,