Wolf Hearts

Sienna’s POV

“Don’t embarrass me, Sienna. And for heaven’s sake, try not to get expelled this time. If you do, don’t bother coming back to my house.” My step mother said as she dropped me off in school. She didn’t even look at me when she said it—her eyes remained glued to her phone screen, manicured nails clicked against the glass as if I wasn’t even worth her full attention.

I gripped the handle of my suitcase tighter, forcing my face to remain neutral. “Yes, ma’am,” I muttered.

She finally looked up, twisting her lips in the way she always did when she thought about me. “I mean it.” She continued. “ Your father isn’t here to shield you anymore. You are on your own. If I hear even a whisper that you’re causing trouble, you’ll be out on the street before you can even say jack. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” I replied, softer this time as I swallowed the lump in my throat.

Her eyes narrowed, scanning me from head to toe like i was hiding something. The truth is that I was hiding something. Something I couldn't let her find. I was hiding a truth that lived under my skin, burning every time the moon was full.

She thought I was just a rebellious stepdaughter. She had no idea I was a monster—or at least hiding one inside of me.

“Good.” She slipped her sunglasses onto her face, adjusting them like she was preparing for a photo shoot instead of dropping me off at college. “Behave yourself.” she said and slammed the door behind me before I could reply.

I stood there on the sidewalk with my two battered suitcases at my feet, watching as her sleek black car drove off without so much as a goodbye and Just like that, I was alone.

Again.

I sucked in a sharp breath, forcing myself to square my shoulders. I have always been used to being unwanted, used to being the outsider, the mistake, the one who didn’t fit. And this is starting afresh. My chance to change everything.

I took this scholarship in search of a clean slate. No more stepmother breathing down my neck, no more whispers about my past and absolutely no one finding out the wolf inside me, because if they did it wouldn’t just be my stepmother kicking me out. I would lose everything.

Eldergate University’s gate stood before me, tall and beautiful. It was so beautiful that it almost didn’t feel real.

As I walked in, students bustled past me, laughing, dragging trunks and hugging their parents goodbye. Their voices blended together, full of warmth and anticipation while I hugged my jacket closer to myself, wishing I could borrow just a little from their excitement. Instead, my wolf stirred inside me. “We don’t belong here.” she whispered inside.

“Shut up,” I whispered under my breath. My grip tightened on the suitcase handle. “We belong here. We are going to belong. No one will ever know you’re here.” My wolf quieted, but the tension lingered in my chest.

“Need some help with those?” I voice called out.

I jerked my head up to see a girl with honey-brown curls bouncing around her shoulders. She stopped a few feet away and crossed her hands smiling sweetly. She looked… friendly, too friendly.

“I’m fine,” I said quickly, dragging my two suitcase along. The wheel of one got caught in a crack between the cobblestones, and the whole suitcase fell sideways with a thud.

She laughed out loud. “Yeah, you look fine.” She walked over and grabbed the handle before I could protest, tugging it free with one smooth pull. “Seriously. You’ll give yourself a hernia if you keep dragging them like that.”

My cheeks flushed red. “Thanks. I… don’t usually travel with my whole life packed into two bags.”

“First year?”

“Yeah.”

“Same.” She stretched out her hand. “My name is Naomi.”

I hesitated for a second too long before taking it. Her grip was warm, steady. “I'm Sienna.”

“Well, Sienna,” she said, grinning, “It looks like we are both lost freshmen together. What dorm are you in?”

“Uh—Hawthorne Hall.”

Her eyes lit up. “No way. Me too. What room?”

“212.”

She gasped. “Shut up. You’re kidding.”

I blinked. “What?”

“That’s my room.” She let out a little squeal. “We’re roommates that's fate.”

I smiled. For the first time in… I don't even know how long, I felt a flicker of something warm in my chest. Relief, maybe even hope.

“Guess fate decided for us,” I said, trying to sound casual.

Naomi linked her arm through mine like we’d known each other forever. “Come on, roomie. Let’s go make our tiny corner of Hawthorne Hall the coziest place on campus.”

The dorm room was smaller than I expected, but Naomi filled it instantly with her chatter. She helped me unpack while chattering as if she were on a talk show, telling stories about her high school, her overprotective mom, and her dog that she missed already.

I half-listened to her as I folded my clothes, nodding at the right time but my mind kept drifting to my stepmother’s words, to the wolf that was restlessly stirring inside me and you the promise I made to myself. No one could know. Not Naomi, not anyone.

“…and if you snore, I’m totally getting earplugs,” Naomi teased, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I smirked. “I don’t snore.”

“Good, because I do.” She laughed, tossing a pillow at me. “Fair warning.”

For the first time, I laughed too. I really laughed and It felt strange, but it was good. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe, for once I could fit in. I reached for the last of my clothes in the suitcase wen a slip of paper on the floor.

My stomach dropped.

I picked it up slowly, my pulse hammering in my ears. On the paper, four words were scrawled in jagged black ink..

We know what you are.

I froze.

The piece of paper felt heavier than stone in my hands, even though it was only a tiny paper. The words scrawled across it burned into me. My stomach dropped, and for a second, the room spun. My wolf stirred instantly, it's claws scratching at the edge of my mind. “They can’t know. No one must know. Hide now.”

“Sienna?” Naomi’s voice broke through my panic. She was crouched beside her bed, pulling out a stack of sketchbooks. “Are you okay? You went pale all of a sudden.”

I shoved the note behind my back so fast that I nearly crumpled it. “Y-Yeah. Just… tired from the trip.”

She tilted her head, narrowing her sharp brown eyes. “Tired? You look like you saw a ghost.”

“I’m fine,” I lied, pasting on a small smile on. My cheeks ached from how forced it felt.

Naomi didn’t look convinced, but she shrugged and flopped onto her bed, bouncing slightly on the mattress. “If you say so. First days are rough, huh? At least you’re not alone.”

Alone. The word stung more than she knew.

I turned back to my half-unpacked suitcase, slipping the note inside between folded sweaters. My hands trembled. The paper felt like it might burn through the fabric and expose me at any moment.

I tried to convince myself that It’s a prank. Someone saw the new girl dragging her sad suitcases and thought it’ll be funny to freak her out. That’s all. But my wolf’s low growl said otherwise.

“Hey,” Naomi’s voice perked up again, casual, friendly. “Where did you move from?”

I stiffened. “Nowhere special.”

“Come on, nowhere’s not a place.” She leaned on her elbow, grinning. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those mysterious types.”

I paused then the words tumbled out before I could stop them. “I'm an orphan, living with my stepmother. Strict rules. You know the type. But I moved in from California.”

Naomi’s grin softened into something gentler. “Oh. That sucks. Guess coming here’s kind of… freedom, then?”

“Yeah,” I muttered, my throat tight. “If I don’t mess it up.”

She frowned. “Mess what up?”

I forced a laugh. “Everything. My stepmother made it pretty clear that one more screw-up and I’m out on the street.”

Naomi winced. “Ouch. Harsh.” She sat up straighter, her expression brightening with determination. “Well, then you’re lucky you’ve got me. Roommate pact: I’ll make sure you don’t get kicked out.”

Despite myself, I almost smiled. “That’s… generous of you.”

“Generous?” She scoffed playfully. “No. Strategic. You think I want to go through the lottery system again if they kick you out? Please.”

I chuckled, shaking my head as the heaviness in my chest eased for a brief moment.

But then my wolf whispered again, low and sharp. “Someone knows. You’re not safe.”

I clenched my fists in my lap.

“Hey,” Naomi said suddenly, watching me too closely. “What’s with that look? You look like you’re bracing for an attack.”

“I…” My throat turned dry. “It’s nothing. Just… bad memories, I guess.”

Naomi didn’t push, though curiosity lingered in her eyes. “Well, you’ve got a fresh start now. No bad memories here. Just… weird professors and overpriced cafeteria food.”

I nodded, but my mind was still on the note.

Later that evening, after Naomi left to explore the campus, I sat alone on my bed, staring at my suitcase. Slowly, I pulled out the folded paper again. The handwriting was rough, almost hurried. No name. No signature. Just the words.

“We know what you are.”

My chest tightened. Nobody knew. Not my stepmother, not the neighbors. No one. I made sure of it. I hid every shift, every slip, every twitch when the wolf clawed too close to the surface. No one could possibly know.

And yet—

A knock sounded on the door. Sharp and sudden, interrupting my thoughts. I jumped and the paper slipped rom my fingers. My wolf snarled. “They’ve come for you.”

My heart pounded as I crept toward the door.

“Hello?” Naomi’s voice floated in from the hallway. “Sienna, you in there? You’ve gotta see the library—it’s insane!”

I rested against the door, relief rushing through me. But as I bent to pick up the note again, my eyes caught on something new. On the back of the paper something I hadn't noticed before was faintly scribbled in smaller handwriting, “You can’t hide forever.”