Campus and the Wolf's Paw

Section One: Peppermint Candy and Twin Void As the September sunlight sliced through the hallways of Crescent Moon High School, Rain Wolfe's fingers unconsciously rubbed the silver necklace around her neck. The “Genetic Testing Pending” section of the transfer paperwork was circled in red, and she ducked her head to avoid the Silvermoon scanner at the end of the hallway when the scent of cedar mixed with peppermint suddenly hit the tip of her nose. “Watch out!” The moment the clear candy cane hit her collarbone, Rain stumbled back, spilling mints like silver stars. As she crouched, her pupils suddenly glowed with a shimmering light - the back of the dark-haired teenager in front of her split in half in her auristic vision, the upper half of her body a black panther's vapors, while the lower half of her body was entwined with a double-helix band of light of human DNA, and deeper still, the outline of a tailless wolf that had been bound in chains a thousand years ago was faintly visible. “Sorry.” The teenager bent to pick up the candy, and Rain jerked his hand back as his fingertips skimmed her wrist. The silver moon insignia on the bottom of his school uniform glowed coldly in the sunlight, perfectly matching the moon phase diagram on the back of her necklace. “Ethan Lu, sophomore (3).” The teenager handed over the refilled candy canes, his voice as low as a pine needle falling to the ground, “You're the new Rain? The biology teacher asked me to take you to the lab.” Rain stared at the unhealed teeth marks on the back of his neck, the taste of rust suddenly rising in his throat. On that thunderstorm night ten years ago, his mother's figure shrouded in cedar breath overlapped with the man in front of him, and the blood that had mingled in her mouth when she was dying was now gently quivering in her veins. “Thanks.” She took the candy jar, her fingertips touching the dimpled pattern on the bottom of the jar miniature tailless wolf totem. Ethan's gaze swept over her necklace, his pupils constricting slightly, but he quickly looked away, as if avoiding some kind of taboo. The beeping of the scanner came from the end of the corridor, a few students wearing Silvermoon badges walked by, and Rain subconsciously covered her necklace with the cuff of her school uniform. Ethan suddenly got closer and lowered his voice: “The scanner reacts sensitively to hybrids, you'd better ......” “Better what?” Rain looked up and bumped into his dark brown eyes. At the moment they were a very pale amber color there, like moonlight shining into a pine forest, “Hiding your human blood under your badge like you do?” Ethan's fingers tightened abruptly, and the candy canes made a tiny clicking sound. As he turned, the collar of his school uniform ripped open a slit, and Rain caught a glimpse of the back of his neck, the edges of the teeth marks glowing a silvery gray - the same color as the blood that he remembered his mother spilling on her deathbed. “Whatever.” There was an imperceptible quiver in Ethan's voice, “But don't show that look in front of the Alpha-they can smell fear.” The bell rang suddenly and Ethan walked quickly towards the classroom. Rain saw a silver flash from his fingertips and the tailless wolf totem on the surface of the candy cane lit up with it. She touched the necklace, and engraved on the inside of the pendant were her mother's words, “When silver blood meets the pale moon, the phases of the moon will be rewritten.”