Wolves among humans

whispers beneath the skin

Friday night

Olivia sat cross-legged on the roof of her house, the sky clouded but still faintly silver. She could feel it—the low, restless buzz in her chest. The moon wasn’t full yet, but her wolf stirred beneath her skin like a whisper turning into a scream.

Her fingers gripped the edge of the roof.

It was getting harder to keep her instincts buried.

She could smell the fox prowling three houses down. Hear the heartbeat of the neighbor’s cat curled up in a laundry basket. And Raine… even when he wasn’t there, she felt him like a shadow pressed against her soul.

Something was changing.

In her. Around her. Between them.

And it wasn’t safe.

Monday morning

“Olivia!” her mom called from the kitchen. “Hurry, or you’ll miss the bus!”

“I’m walking,” Olivia called back. “Too much energy.”

She walked into the kitchen, her long black hair falling down her back in waves. Her outfit—a short black pleated skirt, cropped top, and boots—drew a disapproving look from her mom, but Olivia just raised a brow.

“You’re not seriously going out like that.”

“Why not?” she said, dabbing on some gloss and eyeliner. “Half the girls at school wear less.”

“You’re still half-wolf, Olivia.”

She froze at the doorway. “So? We’re not forbidden from fashion.”

Her mom sighed and handed her a metal lunch container, the kind they always used to keep her food scent-free. “Just be careful, alright? And eat everything. I added ground herbs to help calm your shift.”

“Thanks, Mom,” Olivia murmured, tucking it in her bag.

As she left the house, she muttered under her breath, “Do humans even eat what we eat?”

At Platform High School

Blair strutted through the school gates like she was on a runway. Maddy and Jenna flanked her, dressed in matching shades of beige and smugness. Their eyes scanned the crowd until they landed—predictably—on Olivia.

“She looks like she crawled out of a bad vampire fanfic,” Jenna whispered.

“She’s trying so hard to be mysterious. Pathetic,” Blair muttered, flipping her platinum curls. “But people are noticing her. He’s noticing her.”

Olivia brushed past them, eyes forward, shoulders squared.

Unbothered on the outside.

Boiling inside.

First period

She felt Raine behind her before he even sat down.

He always arrived silently, like a ghost or a storm.

The hairs on the back of her neck rose.

Raine hadn’t spoken to her in days, but she could feel the change in his presence—his attention narrowing, his energy spiking.

When the teacher stepped out for a moment, his voice finally came, low and direct.

“You’re not sleeping.”

Olivia didn’t look back. “Neither are you.”

“The wolf inside you is getting louder.”

She exhaled sharply. “I’m handling it.”

“For now,” he said. “But the full moon doesn’t care how strong your will is.”

She finally turned to meet his gaze. “Why do you care?”

He didn’t answer.

Didn’t need to.

His eyes told her enough.

Because he knew what it was like—to live under the weight of a secret. To feel the moon calling. To hide what you are in a world that would run if they ever saw the truth.

Lunch Break

Lila sat beside Olivia under their usual tree behind the science building. The cafeteria was too risky. Too many smells. Too many people asking questions.

Today, Olivia unwrapped her container carefully, making sure the scent stayed sealed.

But Lila noticed.

“Is that… raw meat?”

Olivia stiffened.

“It’s a rare-cut steak,” she said, too quickly. “High-protein. My mom’s on this weird ancestral diet thing.”

Lila tilted her head. “It smells kind of... wild.”

Olivia forced a laugh. “That’s the rosemary.”

Lila didn’t push, but Olivia saw the flicker of doubt in her friend’s eyes.

“I like you, Liv,” Lila said suddenly, serious. “Even if you are weird. You don’t have to hide from me.”

Olivia’s heart stung.

But she said nothing.

Because telling the truth would only put Lila in danger.

After School

Blair cornered her at her locker.

“You and Raine have some kind of secret, don’t you?”

“I’m not interested in Raine,” Olivia said, not looking up.

“But he’s interested in you.” Blair stepped closer, voice a hiss. “You think no one notices? He doesn’t talk to anyone. But suddenly, he’s around you. And you—you’re not normal.”

Olivia shut her locker with a bang. “That’s rich coming from someone who tracks her ex like a bloodhound.”

Blair’s expression twisted.

“Watch yourself,” she warned. “Before you end up in pieces.”

Olivia smiled sweetly. “Thanks for the advice. From someone already falling apart.”

That night

The wolf in her stirred restlessly.

Pacing beneath her skin.

Her mom handed her a cup of steaming tea mixed with calming herbs.

“Blair is trouble,” her mom said quietly. “You need to stay in control.”

“She’s pushing.”

“Then push back quietly,” her mom warned. “You shift in public, Olivia—and everything changes.”

“I know.”

But what Olivia didn’t say was that it wasn’t just Blair she was worried about anymore.

It was the way Raine looked at her now. Like he knew something she didn’t. Like he was waiting for her to break.

And worst of all…

She wasn’t sure she wouldn’t.

Later that night

The moon was nearly full.

Silver clouds passed over it, casting patterns across her floor. Olivia stood in front of the mirror, clutching the sink, heart hammering. Her skin was burning. Her eyes—silver. Glowing. Her nails had sharpened.

Her breath came out in gasps.

She couldn’t suppress it much longer.

Then—tap, tap—at the window.

She turned, trembling.

Raine stood on the roof outside, hoodie up, face in shadow, eyes bright.

Their eyes met.

No words passed between them.

But she heard him anyway.

It’s starting.

And Olivia knew:

Everything was about to change.

No one must know. But the moon doesn’t keep secrets.