Chapter 2
When he turned fifteen, the night of the full moon brought his very first shift.
Wolfkin pups always experience their first voluntary shift at fifteen, marking a werewolf's coming-of-age ritual. Usually, packs arrange for elders to supervise the process in a designated area to ensure absolute safety.
But Ryan was an exception.
He had no elders to guide him.
His mother was a pureblood werewolf, but his father was just a regular human.
No one had told him that he shouldn't stay inside a wooden cabin during a full moon.
No one had warned him about the searing heat that would erupt from within his body.
That day, he ran a fever so high he became delirious, yet he stubbornly refused to leave his grandmother's cabin.
He locked himself inside his room, curling up on the bed.
I climbed through the window to find him.
That was when I saw his eyes—golden slits glowing like twin lanterns in the dark.
"Cecilia!" he rasped. "Get out! Go!" In the next second, a wave of heat exploded from his body again.
A wooden beam snapped, bringing a heavy lamp crashing down onto my lower leg, pinning me to the floor.
The agonizing pain almost made me pass out, but I bit my lip hard, wrapped him in a wet blanket, and dragged him out with me.
Then my mother burst in.
When I woke up, I was in a clinic bed, my arms heavily bandaged. He sat on a chair by my bedside, his head hung low, hiding his face.
It was the first time I had ever seen his human form.
The boy wore a faded, old shirt.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I ruined your skin... It's going to scar."
I wanted to tell him it was fine, but the anesthesia hadn't worn off yet, and all I could manage was a faint whimper.
He looked up, his eyes bloodshot but entirely tearless.
"Cecilia," he called my name, his tone carrying a solemnity I had never heard before.
"From now on, you are the most important person in my life."
Back then, I truly believed that some promises lasted a lifetime.
*****
At seventeen, he was adopted by a man he called his uncle.
At eighteen, he scored in the top ten across the realm to enter the Wolfkin's most prestigious university, with everyone predicting a brilliant future for him.
But my world collapsed overnight.
My father crossed paths with a Rogue Pack while patrolling the border and succumbed to his severe injuries.
Upon hearing the devastating news, my mother suffered a sudden heart attack and collapsed in the kitchen.
My legs completely gave out by the time they brought me to the clinic; the corridor felt endless, and every step felt like walking on clouds.
In the clinic bed, my father lay hooked up to tubes, his face as pale and ghostly as a sheet of paper.
Kneeling by his bedside, I clutched his freezing hand, sobbing too hard to utter a word.
His eyes half-open, his lips trembled as he whispered, "Cecilia... don't cry... Daddy's fine..."
"Dad... lease don't talk... You're gonna be okay..."
A faint smile touched his lips. "I still want to... see my Cecilia in a wedding dress..."
Those were his very last words.
My father was gone.
And my mother was still confined to her clinic bed.
Suddenly, I was all alone in this world.
No, not entirely alone.
I sat on the corridor bench all night, staring blankly at the ceiling.
He arrived the next morning.
Rushing back from Capital City, he hadn't even changed out of his school uniform; exhausted and travel-worn, the dark circles under his eyes made it obvious he hadn't slept a wink.
He walked up to me, crouched down, and placed his hand over my freezing knuckles.
"Cecilia," he murmured, calling my name.
I looked up at him, tears instantly spilling over.
"Dad is gone..." My voice shook completely. "I'm all by myself... Ryan, I'm so scared..."
He reached out, pulling me into a suffocatingly tight embrace.
"You're not alone," he whispered softly, his voice meant for my ears only.
"I'm right here, Cecilia. I will always be by your side."
His chest was warm, and his racing heartbeat thudded heavily against my ear.
Throughout that endless, dark night, that steady pulse was my only anchor.
Later on, he tore up his university acceptance letter.
"Are you insane?" I gasped, my eyes widening as I watched him shred the piece of paper millions would die for.
"I know exactly what it represents," he threw the scraps into the trash, his tone as casual as if discussing the weather.
"But you matter far more than any of that."
I didn't cry.
I had already run out of tears.
He brought my mother and me to Capital City.
He promised to build a home for me.
But Ryan's uncle, a highly respected figure among the Wolfkin, utterly loathed humans.
He declared, "An Alpha heir is strictly forbidden from mating with a human girl."
Defying his uncle openly, he endured ninety-nine lashes of the whip and renounced his birthright as the Alpha.
He chose to become an actor just to make enough money to support me.
I could only stare at him—at this man who had sacrificed everything for me—and make a vow to myself.
I would never, ever let him down in this lifetime.
*****
The year Selena Hart appeared, spring arrived exceptionally late in Capital City.
She was huddled on a bench outside a convenience store, wearing a faded sweater and clutching a half-eaten piece of bread.
The night wind tousled her hair into a messy tangle as she tucked her head in, looking like a discarded stray animal.
I pulled two silver coins from my hand warmer and nudged Ryan. "Go buy her a hot drink."
He glanced at the girl and knit his brows. "You're always too soft-hearted."
"She looks so pitiful."
Taking the coins, he walked over to the store.
Later, I often wondered: if I hadn't been so naive that day, would everything have turned out differently?
But deep down, I knew what was meant to happen would happen anyway—if not her, it would have been someone else.
Selena was a clever Omega.
That was my very first impression of her, and ultimately, my final conclusion.