“Come on,” Kendra said, tugging at my arm.

My heart broke into pieces.

Father was not being kind because he cared.

He was only playing nice so that I would change my mind about marrying the Nighthorns.

His sweetness was a trick. I swallowed back the tears that burned in my eyes and forced my face into calmness.

If a wedding was what they truly wanted, then it was a wedding they would get. I followed Kendra to the car.

The ride was silent, but my thoughts were loud, filling me with a storm I could barely contain.

We soon arrived at the mall, and the moment Kendra stepped inside, her face lit up.

She was happiest when shopping, ready to spoil herself with endless clothes. I let her enjoy it, though my mind was far away.

I walked through the aisles, pretending to care, but I was thinking of ways to make Father regret everything.

And then I saw it, the answer standing right before me. Klasky.

Her name shone on a glowing board above a grand store, bold and proud. My chest tightened, and a small smile stretched across my lips.

Wolves and witches never got along, but from the first day in grade 2, when we first met, Klasky and I were different.

A psychopath, A friend and an Ally. While I tried to win my father’s love, she waited for the right moment when I would stop being naive and finally become. Rebel.

She was indeed my Dark side. Memories pulled me back. Klasky and I had both been chosen for the Night Owl scholarship. Due to the incident, I lost my scholarship, but she made it in. I left her to face that world alone. Just like me, she was hungry for love and affection, yet always pushed aside by those meant to care.

After her family died of an unknown cause, Klasky became the greatest witch of her time.

They avoided her like a curse, but I stayed. I was the only female wolf who dared to approach her.

She dreamed of running a fashion house. And here it was, glowing before me, ten years later.

My friend had made her dream come true. She may not have been loved by many, but her designs had reached far across the world.

I stepped closer, and my eyes caught the black dress in the window. It was beautiful. It was haunting. It was perfect for the wedding they were forcing me into. An evil smile curled across my lips.

“What are you doing here?” Kendra asked, her voice sharp.

She grabbed my hand, pulling me toward another store. But I hesitated. My heart refused to leave. I snatched her phone quickly and typed a message in her box.

I am not a girl of seventeen anymore. I am more than capable of making my own decisions.

I placed the phone back in her hand, making sure she read it. Then I walked away before she could speak another word.

I pushed open the glass doors of Klasky’s store. The air inside was different, heavy, filled with the quiet hum of magic. If there was one thing Klasky was always good at, it was sensing me.

“Snow?”

her voice called from the shadows. My smile widened.

“You…

you..... betrayed me,” she whispered, stepping forward.

Her eyes glowed faintly as she pulled out a legendary sword, the one passed down from her grandmother, Kuchewski.

The blade shimmered with strange light as she pointed it at my throat. I could not speak, but she always understood me.

I raised my hand, making a small gesture for a pen and paper. Her eyes softened slightly, and she tossed them toward me.

You look old, I scribbled, teasing her. She frowned.

“I am not joking, Snow.”

I quickly scribbled everything that had happened to me since the day of the scholarship, the strange collapse, the voices, the years that was stolen from me.

“Is that why you still look seventeen?” she asked, tilting her head.

I nodded.

“You are telling the truth, aren’t you?”

I raised my hands in sincerity, swearing it.

She paused, eyes searching mine. Then, with a sudden cry, she dropped the sword and hugged me tight.

“I missed you, my friend.”

Her voice carried the same odd accent, the same rhythm I remembered. She had not changed.

I pulled back and scribbled again:

I need a dress.

She gave off an evil smirk after seeing the notes.

“You are at the right place, my darling,”

she said, her lips curling into a proud smile.

“But before I design for you, I must ask, what is the occasion?”

My hand froze on the page. For a moment, I thought of keeping it secret.

But this was Klasky.

I wrote the truth. Her eyes widened as she read it.

I could see the satisfaction in her eyes.

“Does your father know about this?”

I nodded.

She grabbed my wrist without hesitation and pulled me into the inner room, a place filled with gowns like shadows and starlight.

Each dress was alive with whispers, carrying traces of magic.

“I will make you something worthy,” she said.

“Something chaotic, something touched by witchcraft.

The Nighthorns and his kind despise witches, so wearing this will be your rebellion.”

I watched as she lifted the black gown from its stand. It shimmered like midnight water, heavy with enchantments.

The fabric seemed to drink in the light, wrapping itself in darkness. She draped it before me, and I felt its power ripple through the room.

This was not just clothing. This was a weapon. Kendra appeared at the doorway, frozen, unable to step inside. Her face paled at the sight of Klasky, at the aura the gown released.

Wolves did not belong in witch-crafted spaces. The moment her eyes fell on the dress, something in her broke. She looked at me with fear and sorrow, as though she was losing me.

“See you tomorrow, Snow,” Klasky said, her voice steady and sure.

I turned back at her, winked, and smiled at her.

“Tomorrow?” Kendra echoed. Her voice cracked.

“What is happening tomorrow?” I looked at her but did not answer.

I only smiled, my thoughts whispering the words I would never speak.

You will see, dear stepmother.......