I narrowly escapes the bonfire. When we leave, the night air is cooler but the heat on my skin increases by the minute. The music is still pounding back there, the bass keep thumping beyond the trees, but over here, the sound is broken, muffled and distant.

I shouldn’t have let Naomi drag me here. I shouldn’t have let the seniors notice me. I shouldn’t have agreed to anything. But “shouldn’t” doesn’t matter when four older wolves are circling like sharks and I’m the bleeding fish who strayed too close.

“Come on, new girl,” one of them drawls behind me. His voice is slurred, laced with the sour tang of beer. “What’s the matter? Don’t like a little walk in the woods?”

Laughter follows, the kind that makes the hair on my arms rise.

“I didn’t agree to this,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady. “Naomi’s still back there. I should—”

“You should relax,” another cuts in. He is taller, his shadow stretch across the path until it swallows mine. “It’s just a dare. Everyone has done one in their first year. It's a rite of passage.”

“That’s right,” a third senior chimes. “You want to belong, don’t you? Or would you rather be the shy little ghost hiding in the corner forever?”

My chest tightens at the word belong. I’ve always wanted to belong my whole life. But not like this.

“I don’t—”

“Don’t what?” The tall one steps closer, filling himself in my space. His breath stinking of alcohol. “Don’t think you can handle it? Maybe we picked the wrong girl.”

They laugh again, jeering at me. This makes me feel uneasy. Under my skin, my wolf is stirring, restless and angry. My vision prickles at the edges. I feel the light sharpening and the colors deepening. I swallow hard and force her down. “Not here, not now.” I tell my wolf through the mind-link.

“What do you want me to do?” I finally ask.

The tall one grins, flashing his teeth in the moonlight. “That’s more like it.” He says and gesture deeper into the trees. “All you gotta do is go fetch.”

“Fetch?” I reply, surprised. My voice comes out tighter than I intended.

“There is an old tree out there,” another senior explains, pointing toward the dark. “It's the biggest oak in the forest. Everyone knows it. Someone carved initials in it a hundred years ago, or whatever. Touch it and bring back proof you saw it then you’re done. It's easy.”

Easy? My gut twists. Nothing about this feels easy to me..

“And if I don’t?” I ask..

Silence falls for a beat. Then the tall one chuckles low. “Then I guess everyone back at the fire will know the new girl’s too chicken to play. You want that?”

No. I don’t want that but the weight of their stares is worse than the dark path ahead.

“Fine,” I mutter.

“Atta girl.” He claps me on the shoulder. My wolf snarls at the contact. I grit my teeth and step forward.

---

I run into the wood. The woods feels thicker here and it's darker. But it doesn't bother me at all. What bothered me was the seniors that spread behind me like a pack. Not letting me out of sight. They didn't let me go alone either. Every snap of a twig, every chuckle, every whisper makes me finch.

“So, Sienna,” one of them calls. “Where you from, anyway?”

I didn't answer.

“Cat got your tongue?”

“She’s shy,” another says mockingly. “Bet she’s hiding something.”

“Yeah. Bet she’s one of those weird ones. Quiet until she snaps. Then—bam.” He slams his fist into his palm.

They laugh loudly while I walk faster, keeping my eyes peeled on the ground. My wolf keeps pacing in my chest, feeling agitated. While the seniors get closer. Beneath my fingers, my claws begins to ache and I force my teeth to keep it from growing longer. I force another breath.

“Don’t shift. Not yet.” I beg my wolf through the mind-link.

“Hey.” I wince in pain.

Fingers snag my hair, yanking me to a stop. I turn sharply to face them and he smirks, twirling a strand of my hair between his fingers.

“Soft,” he says. “Didn’t think the new girl would be so delicate.”

“Let go.” I winced feeling him tight my hair. But doesn’t releases the hair. His friends hails him to continue.

“I said let go!” My voice cracks sharp, my wolf voice almost sounding out. His eyes widdened for a second and then he laughs and releases me. “Fiesty. I like it.”

My pulse hammers as my wolf claws at my chest, desperate to lunge. I stumble forward instead clenching my fist tight. Desperately trying to surpress my wolf.

The seniors surrounds me, forming a half circle around me as we keep going. Their voices grow rougher, and their taunts is sharper.

“Bet she’s never even shifted.”

“She looks like she’d break if the wind blew too hard.”

“Maybe she’s not even wolf.”

That one hits too close. My wolf bristles so hard I feel her in my throat.

“I am,” I snap before I can stop myself.

“Ohhh,” one drawls. “There it is. She speaks.”

“Prove it,” another dares.

My heart stutters. “What?”

“Prove you’re wolf. Right here. Right now.”

The others whoop, jeering, chanting, “Shift! Shift! Shift!”

“I can’t,” I blurt. The word tastes like shame.

They pounce on it instantly.

“Can’t? Or won’t?”

“She’s bluffing. She's totally human.”

“No wonder she hides in the corner.”

Their laughter pierces My skin like a sharp knife while My wolf thrashes, furious at being mocked and desperate to show them exactly what we are. My chest burns, vision blurs and my nails bite into my palms. “Not here. Not like this.” I beg her.

“Stop,” I choke out. “Please.”

“Oh, she begs too,” one sneers. “Pathetic.”

The oak looms ahead suddenly, massive and gnarled, it's roots are twisting out of the ground like bones. Relief floods me, but it’s tangled with dread.

“There it is,” one says. “Go on, new girl. Touch it. Show us you made it.”

I step forward, my hand trembling as I touch the bark. It’s rough, ancient, cool against my burning palm. Proof enough.

“There,” I whisper. “Done.”

But they’re not finished.

“Not so fast.” The tall one steps up, blocking my path back. “That was too easy. Needs a little spice, don’t you think?” The others jeer in agreement and my stomach drops.

“What more do you want?”

He smirks, eyes gleaming cruel. “Kiss it.”

“What?”

“The tree,” he says mockingly innocent. “Go on your knees and kiss it like you mean it.”

Laughter erupts around me. The humiliation burns hotter than the fire while my wolf snarls, she is furious and pacing, demanding release.

“I’m not doing that.”

“Oh, come on. Don’t be such a killjoy.”

“Yeah, we came all the way out here for a show.”

“Do it, or maybe we find another dare. Something scarier.”

They keep looking at me in the darkness their eyes gleaming with mischief hungry for my breaking point. I tried to back away, but they press in, tightening the circle.

“Leave me alone,” I whisper, begging.

They laugh. “What was that?”

“Leave me alone!” I shout, this time in my wolf voice.

The sound cuts through the trees and for a heartbeat, silence falls. Their smirks falter.

Then the tall one steps forward, voice low. “Leave you alone or what?”

Something inside me snaps. Heat floods my veins, and my eyes turns gold. My wolf surges, unstoppable now.

A guy reaches out from nowhere and hold me steady stopping my wolf from shifting. But the seniors have already seen my eyes change color.

“Holy shit, did you see that?” someone yells.

“Back off.” The guy yelled. I turned to see who was talking and huge honey brown eyes were staring back at me.

“I'm Noah Vale.”