The Wolf Who Knew My name

The wolf was waiting for me again. I knew it was a dream. At least, I always knew it was a dream until the wolf spoke. Snow covered the forest floor beneath my bare feet, impossibly white beneath the light of a swollen silver moon. Tall black trees surrounded me on every side, their branches twisting overhead like skeletal fingers. I couldn’t remember how I’d gotten there. I never could. Every time the dream came, I was simply there. Alone. Cold. And being watched. I wrapped my arms around myself and looked through the trees. Nothing. Then I heard it. A low growl. My heart stopped. I slowly turned. Two golden eyes stared at me from the darkness. The wolf stepped forward. It was enormous. Its black fur seemed to absorb the moonlight, making its body almost impossible to see against the shadows. Its paws pressed silently into the snow as it approached. I should have been afraid. I was. But there was something else. Something strange. Familiarity. I’d been seeing this wolf for as long as I could remember. Sometimes it stood far away. Sometimes it followed me. Once, when I was seven, I dreamed that it was bleeding. I woke up crying and found a bloody scratch across my shoulder. I’d never told anyone. Not even Mira. The wolf stopped a few feet away. Its golden eyes studied me. Then its mouth opened. “Serena.” I froze. My breath caught in my throat. The wolf had spoken. Not growled. Not howled. Spoken. In a man’s voice. Deep, rough, and almost painfully familiar. I took a step backward. “You know my name?” The wolf tilted its head. For the first time, something almost human appeared in its eyes. Fear. “Serena,” it said again. The trees behind it began to shake. A distant howl echoed through the forest. Then another. Then dozens. The wolf looked over its shoulder, and its entire body stiffened. When it looked back at me, the strange calm in its eyes had disappeared. “Run.” “What?” “Run!” The ground beneath me cracked. I screamed as black veins spread through the snow. Something enormous moved beneath the earth. The wolf lunged toward me. And just before its claws reached my hand, I woke up. I shot upright in bed, gasping. My room was dark. For several seconds, I couldn’t remember where I was. Then I heard my own heartbeat, fast and wild. I pressed a trembling hand against my chest. “Just a dream.” My voice sounded weak. I looked toward the window. Moonlight slipped through the curtains. Everything was exactly where it should be. My desk. My wardrobe. The stack of books beside my bed. Nothing unusual. Nothing supernatural. I let out a shaky breath. Then something warm slid down my back. I frowned and reached behind me. My fingers came away wet. I stared at them. Red. Blood. My stomach dropped. Slowly, I climbed out of bed and stumbled toward the mirror. I turned my back to it. Three deep scratches stretched across my skin. They were fresh. Too fresh. A cold shiver traveled down my spine. “No.” I touched one of the wounds. Pain shot through me. I gasped. This wasn’t possible. Dreams didn’t leave wounds. Did they? My bedroom door suddenly opened. I spun around. Mira stood in the doorway. Her gray hair was loose around her shoulders, and she wore the faded blue robe she’d had since I was a child. She looked half asleep. Until she saw my back. All the color drained from her face. “Serena.” I grabbed the nearest sheet and pulled it around myself. “Mira, I…” “Don’t move.” Her voice was so sharp that I stopped. She crossed the room quickly. “How did you get those?” “I don’t know.” She stared at the scratches, then at the window, then back at me. Her hands began to tremble. I’d never seen Mira frightened before. Not when our roof nearly collapsed during a storm. Not when I broke my arm at twelve. Not even when we nearly lost the house after my mother died. But now? She looked terrified. “Mira?” She didn’t answer. Instead, she walked to the window and pulled the curtains shut. Then she locked it. I frowned. “Why are you locking the window?” “Because you must stay inside today.” “What?” “Don’t leave this house.” “Mira…” “Promise me.” I stared at her. Something was wrong. Very wrong. “Mira, what happened?” She looked at me. For one brief second, I saw something in her eyes that made my stomach twist. Guilt. Then it disappeared. “Nothing happened.” “You don’t look like nothing happened.” “You’re tired.” “You saw the scratches.” “They’re probably from your nails.” “My nails?” “People scratch themselves in their sleep.” I stared at her. She was lying. I knew it. And somehow, I knew she knew that I knew it. Neither of us spoke. Then a strange sound drifted through the closed window. A howl. Mira went completely still. I felt the blood leave my face. It was the same howl from my dream. Mira turned toward me. “Did you hear that?” I nodded. Her expression changed. Fear. Real fear. “Serena,” she whispered, “whatever you do today, don’t go near the forest.” I swallowed. “What is in the forest?” Mira didn’t answer. She simply walked out. “Mira.” She kept going. “Mira!” The door slammed shut. I stood there staring after her. For twenty-one years, I’d accepted that my life was ordinary. I lived in Blackthorn, a quiet city surrounded by thick forests and mountains. I worked at a small café downtown. I had one close friend, Lily, and a guardian who worried about everything. That was it. No secrets. No monsters. No wolves. At least, that’s what I’d believed. I looked at the scratches on my back again, then at the locked window. Something had changed. And deep down, I already knew it. My nightmare hadn’t been a nightmare. It had been a warning. By noon, I couldn’t stand being inside anymore. Mira had left for work without saying another word. She hadn’t even looked at me. That scared me more than the scratches. I grabbed my jacket and headed for the door. I was halfway down the steps when I noticed the black SUV parked across the street. I’d never seen it before. Two men stood beside it. Both were dressed in black. Both were watching my house. I stopped. One of them looked directly at me. His eyes were strange. Not brown. Not blue. Gold. My heart slammed against my ribs. He said something to the other man. They immediately got into the SUV. The vehicle drove away. I remained frozen on the steps. Then my phone rang. Lily. I answered. “Hello?” “Where are you?” she asked breathlessly. “Home.” “You need to come to the café.” “Why?” “I don’t know how to explain it.” “Lily…” “There are strangers everywhere.” I frowned. “What strangers?” She lowered her voice. “They’ve been asking about you.” My fingers tightened around the phone. “What did they say?” “They asked for Serena Vale.” My stomach dropped. “What?” “Serena, who are these people?” I couldn’t answer. Because across the street, the black SUV had stopped. The rear window slowly lowered. Someone inside was watching me. I couldn’t see his face. But I saw his eyes. Golden. Just like the wolf. The phone slipped from my hand. It hit the ground. I didn’t notice. Because at that exact moment, something beneath my skin began to burn. I grabbed my neck. Pain exploded through my body. I fell to my knees. A silver crescent appeared beneath my fingers. Glowing. Pulsing. Alive. And from somewhere deep inside my mind, I heard the same voice from my dream. “They found you.” I looked toward the SUV. The door opened. A man stepped out. He didn’t rush toward me. He simply stood there, watching. As if he had been searching for me for a very long time. Then his gaze dropped to the glowing mark on my neck. His face changed. Shock. Fear. Recognition. He whispered something I couldn’t hear. But I could read his lips. “She’s alive.” Then every wolf in the forest began to howl. And this time, they were answering me.