CHAPTER 2- ALLERGIC TO THE SUN
1152 Words
CHAPTER 2
Ella’s POV
My father taught me how to fight. Male or female, he said, a wolf should always know how to defend themselves.
At this moment, I silently thanked him.
I elbowed the man behind me, grabbed his arm in that split second of surprise, kicked the knife free, and caught it before it hit the floor.
Graceful? No.
Effective? Yes.
I pointed it at him immediately.
“Who are you?”
“I should be asking you that,” he growled, stepping closer.
I kept the blade inches from his face, ready to slice if he even blinked suspiciously.
“How dare you? You must be out of your mind.”
His voice was bold, deeper than expected.
A black strand of hair fell over his cheek. His eyes were golden brown, intense—and annoyingly attractive.
Why does danger always come with good hair?
“How dare you enter the north wing? You must die,” he said, as if announcing the weather.
He was handsome, yes.
But arrogant?
Absolutely.
“You’ll be the one punished after I inform the Alpha that an intruder pulled a knife on me,” I shot back.
He laughed—a sharp, disbelieving sound.
“You must be out of your mind.”
“I was only looking for the restroom,” I snapped.
“And does this place look like a restroom to you?” he fired back.
I opened my mouth... then closed it.
Fair point.
I tightened my grip on the knife.
Before I could react, he suddenly gasped and stepped back.
His hand flew to his face, and he stumbled into the shadows, screaming as though something was clawing at him.
The knife slipped from my hands.
Panic jolted through me.
“Are you okay?”
I dropped to my knees, leaning in despite the voice in my head whispering, Ella, this is not smart.
“Do not come closer!” he screamed, lifting his head.
I froze.
My breath hitched.
The Alpha.
Even with his hand covering half his face, I recognized him instantly—the maskless Alpha everyone talked about.
“Get out!” he roared.
“OUT!”
I shrieked and ran so fast I might have broken a personal record.
I didn’t even bother finding Lydia.
She could tell the Alpha’s mother herself that her candidate had escaped through the nearest exit.
I stopped a cab and went straight home, still panting.
Father wasn’t back yet.
I made a beeline for the fridge, grabbed a bottle of water, and drank half of it in one go.
Could this be why the Alpha hardly stepped out?
Why he always hid behind a mask?
He stepped into the sun and screamed.
Screamed.
Something was very, very wrong.
Father returned in the evening, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what happened.
His face looked drained. Whatever had happened at the meeting had clearly gone wrong.
“I have no idea why Elder Gideon keeps insisting on a fight with the neighboring pack,” he groaned. “We could just give them what they want and avoid bloodshed.”
I handed him a cup of water.
He took a sip with a weary sigh.
“Elder Gideon—the principal of Moonlight High?” I asked.
Father nodded.
Elder Gideon was influential—too influential.
Second only to Elder Kael and heavily involved in war strategy.
He was also the principal of the school I was apparently doomed to think about all day now.
“Enough about the meeting. How did it go at the palace?” Father finally asked.
I sank into the cushion, trying—and failing—to erase the image of the Alpha screaming in the sunlight.
“It went well,” I lied. “The Alpha wasn’t well, so we didn’t meet him.”
Father cringed.
“Don’t tell me it started again,” he muttered.
“What started?” I asked.
He shook his head.
“You should sleep.”
He forced a smile.
I nodded, though my mind wouldn’t stop racing.
Could the Alpha be allergic to sunlight?
No, that sounded insane.
Then again, I had just watched a grown man scream at daylight like it was boiling oil.
I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling.
Sleep refused to come.
Then—
THUD.
My body jolted upright.
I opened my door and stepped quietly into the sitting room.
“Father?” I called.
No answer.
I flicked on the light.
My breath froze.
Father lay on the floor in a pool of blood.
“Father!”
I screamed and ran to him.
My legs shook as I knelt beside him.
Tears blurred my vision.
“Father...” I whispered, terrified.
He coughed violently.
Alive.
“I’ll get the pack doctor,” I said, standing, but he gripped my leg with surprising strength.
“Moon...light... High,” he whispered.
My heart lurched.
“What? Father, what are you saying?”
“You need to...” He gasped. “Go to Moonlight High...”
His hand slipped.
His eyes remained fixed on me.
“No... no, Father...”
I shook my head frantically.
“Father!”
Tears streamed down my face.
Deep claw marks covered his chest—the marks of the wolf that killed him.
It didn’t make sense.
Father was a trained Beta.
Who could kill him without a struggle?
A loud bang shook the door.
"Open up! The Alpha orders us to bring your daughter!"
My stomach dropped.
The palace.
This had to be about what happened earlier.
Panic shot through me.
I looked at Father’s body one last time and forced myself to move.
I packed what I could, hands trembling.
On the chair lay the envelope Father had received that morning.
I grabbed it and fled through the back door.
I ran without looking back, tears blurring my vision.
Hours later, I stopped at an inn.
I tossed coins to the innkeeper without even seeing her face, locked the spare room door, and slid to the floor.
My heartbeat finally slowed enough for me to open the envelope.
The letter shook in my hands.
Father died trying to tell me something about Moonlight High.
Elder Gideon is the principal. He was also pushing for war.
Father seemed troubled after the meeting.
Was it a coincidence?
Or was Elder Gideon involved somehow?
Father’s final words pointed to Moonlight High.
One name surfaced in my mind:
Elder Gideon.
I didn’t know if he was responsible, but I intended to find out.
I grabbed a pair of scissors from the dresser.
My tear-streaked reflection stared back at me.
I took a deep breath.
Snip.
Snip.
My hair fell to the floor, shorter with each cut.
“I swear, Father,” I whispered, my voice steady with rage, “no matter what it takes... I’ll find your killer.”
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