Howl Beneath the Neon Lights

POV: Ava Morgan The howl cut through the night like a blade through silk. I froze. My knuckles tightened around the rusted railing of the rooftop as the sound clawed at my chest, rattling something deep and ancient inside me. It was impossible. Wolves didn’t exist here, not in this choking city of neon lights and concrete towers. And yet, the sound was real—so real that my knees trembled. My wolf stirred. The cursed, broken thing buried so deep in me that I’d convinced myself it was gone. No, I told myself, forcing a breath. You don’t exist anymore. You can’t. But the ache in my bones whispered otherwise. “Freak.” The word slammed into my back before I could brace myself. I spun, too late. Helena and her pack of painted shadows blocked the rooftop door, their expensive uniforms perfectly pressed, and their perfume thick enough to suffocate. Her lips curled like she’d been waiting all night for this. “Standing out here howling at the moon, Ava? Or are you just waiting for someone to push you off?” Laughter rippled behind her, sharp and poisonous. “Possibly she is waiting for her ghost lover.” Nike, one of Helen’s companion cut through. I gritted my teeth, trying to avoid the look on their face. “I wasn’t howling.” “Oh, but your eyes…” She stepped closer, close enough for me to see the satisfaction burning in her pupils. “They’re glowing again. Feral little mutt.” I blinked rapidly, heat crawling up my neck. Please not here. Not now. If my eyes shifted in front of them, even for a second— Her hand cracked across my face before I could react. The sting burned through my cheek, flooding my eyes with tears I refused to let fall. “Don’t look at me like that,” Helena hissed. “Like you could matter. You think getting a lucky scholarship makes you one of us? Newsflash, Ava—you’ll never belong. You came from dirt and dirt you belong.” The others laughed, echoing her words like a chorus of knives. “She came from dirt and dirt she belongs.” They mocked. My chest heaved, shame burning hotter than the slap. I wanted to scream, to fight, but my body refused. “Say something,” Helena taunted. She tilted her head, her glossy hair sliding perfectly over one shoulder. “Or are you too scared your wolf will slip out?” A cold silence fell. My stomach dropped. How did she—? Her lips twitched into a cruel smile. “What? Did you think we didn’t know? That you’re one of them? One of the broken wolves?” She spat the word like venom, and the laughter behind her turned vicious. “That’s not true.” My voice cracked making me cringe as the first drops of tears trail down my cheeks. Helena’s eyes lit with triumph as she spat. “Those anything seem to be true to a mutt?” she snapped. I clutched my skirt in terror. They expression becoming more feral as they approached. “Say it louder, mutt.” She shoved me against the railing. The metal dug into my spine, and for a moment, I thought she’d really push me off. My breath caught as my wolf surged again, clawing against the cage I kept it in. “Helena, stop,” one of the girls whispered, but she only smirked and leaned in until her breath brushed my ear. “Helena let’s leave here before something unexpected happens.” “No one should tell me of stopping.” Helena snapped, “Let me face this fool.” “And you too should be wise enough to follow the instructions of your friends.” I said with the last ounce of confidence I had left. Before I could react, the landing of her palms made its way on my cheek causing iron liquid to fill my mouth sending me to the ground, “What manners to talk back at me.” The words disappeared from my very lips, eyes locked to the ground in agony. “You should’ve burned like your parents. At least then you wouldn’t be our problem.” The words shattered something inside me which made me for a moment loose breathe. I couldn’t think. All I could see was the fire—the way the flames swallowed everything I loved when I was ten. The way I screamed until my throat bled, but no one came. A sudden surge of bravery filled me as I shoved her back. My voice broke out, raw and shaking. “Don’t you ever—” Her spit hit my cheek before I could finish. Hot. Humiliating. “And what would you do bitch.” My eyes locked on hers, fingers clutched to a fist as my heart throbbed against my ribcage. “Yes. Tell me, what can you do? No wonder your parents were known as the fire fighters.” She mocked. The laughter roared louder, drowning out the pounding of my heart. “Pathetic,” Helena sneered. “Funny she doesn’t even fight back. Maybe you really are broken.” I wiped my face with the back of my sleeve, refusing to let the tears fall in front of them. Inside, though, my chest caved in—one part telling me to fight back, another telling me to act weak to this burly. Every word cut deeper because they were true making me more and more broken. I’d always been broken. “Let’s go,” Helena said at last, her heels clicking as she turned. “She’s not worth it.” They swept past me, their perfume lingering like poison. I stood frozen, gripping the railing until my knuckles went white. My body shook—not with fear, but with rage I had no place to put. When the door finally slammed shut, I let the tears come. Silent, searing, and endless. I hated them. I hated this city. I hated myself. And yet, beneath the pain, that howl still echoed in my bones. By the time I stumbled down the stairwell and onto the empty street, the city had shifted into its usual chaos—neon signs flickering, car horns blaring, shadows twisting at every corner. I pulled my hood over my head, desperate to disappear. I thought I had. Until I saw him. He stood across the street, half-hidden in shadow, a transfer uniform hanging loose on his tall frame. Dark hair, darker eyes, but it wasn’t his looks that made me freeze—it was the way he looked at me like he knew me. Like he’d been searching for me all along. I could feel my wolf still making my breath caught. For one terrifying second, I felt my bones shift. My teeth ached. My heart slammed so hard it hurt. And then, across the traffic, his lips moved. I shouldn’t have been able to hear him in the midst of the horns, the sirens, the city noise—none of it mattered. His words slid into me like a whisper inside my skull. “I found you. I finally found you Ava.”