The Unwanted Wolf

When I woke up, my bones felt completely chilled. The ground was damp, and the room was dark again. There were no windows in the room, so I had no way to tell what time it was or how long I had been in there. I was still alive, which was surprising to me. Theron seemed bent on killing me, so I didn’t understand why he didn’t just kill me at the party or when he escaped with me.

I wasn’t complaining. It would give me a chance to figure out a way out of this mess, even if it was a slim chance. I slowly pushed myself up, and there was a sharp pain in my side. I sat on my knees and slowly felt my rib cage. I winced halfway up. I wasn’t sure if it was just bruised or if they were cracked. I took a few deep breaths before attempting to stand up. The pain radiated through my body as I stood, but I gritted my teeth and pushed through it.

I walked over to the door and pressed my ear against it. There were no sounds on the other side of the door. I knocked on the door to try to get Theron’s attention, but there was no response. After a few moments, I moved over to a wall and leaned against it. Slowly, my body slid to the ground. I still felt tired from before.

Crossing my legs, I took a deep breath, which caused another sharp pain to shoot through my body. I closed my eyes, and tried to focus on the ball of light I saw before. At first, all I saw was darkness. I pushed through the pain and continued taking deep breaths and navigating through the darkness inside of me. Eventually, I came to an image of a misshapen dark lump that resembled a ball of coal.

The lump was icy, and I felt my lungs freezing as my mind moved closer to this. I knew this was where my power source came from, but I couldn’t feel any power coming from it. Is this because of the serum Theron injected into me? If I couldn’t even summon the faintest power, I would never get out of here. I would never see Mark again to be able to tell him he was the one I wanted. I couldn’t leave this world without telling him this.

Tears started streaming down my face, but I didn’t move. All of this was Theron’s fault. He had no right to come into my life and try to take it from me. I finally had a chance at a happy life where the people around me actually care about me. I had a chance to fall in love and build the family I didn’t have, but he had taken that away from me just because of an act his father committed over twenty-one years ago.

The dark lump flickered for a moment, and a small rush of heat sparked inside of me. That was it! I needed to use my anger to fuel my powers. I took another deep breath, and instead of trying to push through the pain, I tried to focus on it and the reason it was there. Theron kicked my side and threw me to the ground. He took away my happy celebration and threatened my friends. The dark lump sparked again, and this time it started to glow a deep orange. I continued focusing on the orange lump and imagined fueling it. It started glowing brighter and growing in sight.

The door slammed open, pulling me out of my mediation. My eyes snapped open, and I instantly gasped. The person standing in front of the door wasn’t Theron, but it was someone I recognized.

“Haley?” I stared at my coworker, not believing my eyes. I had to be hallucinating. “What are you doing here?”

She rolled her eyes at me. “You really are stupid, aren’t you? No wonder bae wants to get rid of you. You don’t deserve to inherit his powers.” She was standing in the doorway holding a silver tray.

“Bae?” I repeated.

“Do you really need me to spell it out for you? God, I thought you were smarter than that at least. Theron is my boyfriend. He’s going to treat me like a queen once he takes over his family’s coven and inherits their powers. I’ve been helping him try to eliminate you. Too bad that wolfsbane I put in your drink didn’t do the trick. You’ve been a real pain, don’t you know?” She walked over to me and looked down on me.

I felt completely sick. To think someone I worked with was assisting with trying to kill me. She had completely fooled me for months, and I felt so stupid. I always knew Haley didn’t like me. She wasn’t subtle about it, but I never once thought she wanted to kill me.

“Does power mean that much to you?” I looked up at Haley and saw her in a completely new light. The shadows flickered on her face, highlighting her worst features. She wasn’t an ignorant teenager getting by on daddy’s money. She was power hungry and willing to do anything to get it.

“I deserve to be treated like a queen. Bae said he can give me everything I’ve ever wanted if I help him achieve his goals.”

“Then why are you here, serving me food? If you are truly his queen, why are you doing such a menial task?” I could feel my anger boiling inside of me as I looked up at her.

Haley clicked her tongue and dropped the tray in front of me. It clattered to the ground, and whatever was on it, splashed onto my face.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. Bae has his reasons for everything. Although I don’t understand why he hasn’t just killed you. We’re wasting precious time.” Haley didn’t try to hide her annoyance with the situation. “He thinks you could still be useful, though.”

“How?” This intrigued me. Theron had made it seem like killing me would solve all of his problems before.

“I don’t know. He thinks he can steal your power or something like that. It’s a waste of time, if you ask me.”

“Does Theron not agree with you?” I could feel the frustration behind Haley’s words. Maybe if she doubted Theron, I could get her on my side.

Haley rolled her eyes. “He tells me I don’t know what I’m talking about.”

“Sounds like he doesn’t respect your opinion. If he truly sees you as his queen, shouldn’t he treat you like an equal?” I wiped the food off my face and flicked it off my fingers.

“Shut up!” Haley kicked the tray on the floor, spilling the rest of the food. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I would kill you right now if I could.” She turned and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. She locked the door, and then her footsteps echoed down the hallway until they disappeared.

I let out a sigh, absorbing the new information. I pushed the tray that was used to hold the food. I dipped my finger in the slop that was on it and took a small taste. It tasted like chalk, and I didn’t bother taking another taste. I hoped I wouldn’t be here long enough to feel the need to eat that garbage. I could skip a few meals just fine, but any more than that, and I would start to grow weak.

–

Everything became a blur the longer I was locked up. I was going through what felt like an endless cycle of meditating, sleeping, Haley dropping off food, and then repeating. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get the image of the ball inside of me to glow more than a small flame. My anger wasn’t enough to fuel it, and the more I failed, the more I felt discouraged.

I still hadn’t touched any of the meals dropped off, afraid of what might be in it. Theron was no stranger to poison, so I was afraid the food was laced with something that would dull my powers or subdue my wolf. Without both of those features, I knew all would be lost. However, the longer I went without food, the more difficult things became. I could hardly muster the strength to stand or move, so I spent more and more time sleeping and sitting.

The door started to open, and I was expecting Haley to come in with another tray of mush, but when I looked up, this time I saw Theron’s familiar brown eyes. They reminded me of the brown eyes I saw in the mirror. I had always wondered where my brown eyes had come from. My mother had green eyes, and the man I thought was my father had icy blue eyes. Growing up, I had just assumed it was from some grandparent, but I knew my eyes belonged to my biological father.

Theron walked over to me and looked me up and down. “Foolish girl. You’re growing weak.”

My breathing was slow, and I didn’t have the energy to keep fighting. “Why haven’t you killed me yet? Why bother keeping me alive?” I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes. I was starting to think it was hopeless getting out of here.

“I’ve thought about it. Believe me, it’ll feel amazing when I take your life with my own hands.” Theron crouched down in front of me and stroked my cheek with the back of his hand. “But I have time. I can’t inherit my family’s powers until I turn twenty-one. If I can figure out how to steal what little powers you have from you, I will become the greatest sorcerer there ever was.”

I didn’t say anything in return to Theron. I was too tired, and I wanted to save the energy I had left. Theron nudged me, and I opened my eyes. He was looking at me carefully.

“Aren’t you going to respond?” Theron asked.

“I don’t have any intentions of entertaining you. What do you want me to say? No, please don’t take my powers. Let me go so I can live my happily ever after.” I looked at Theron, not afraid for the first time in a while. “People like you don’t change. No matter what I say or do, you aren’t going to change your mind, so I’m saving my energy.”

Theron huffed in response. “You think you know it all, half-breed?”

I laughed at this and stared directly into Theron’s soul. “I don’t know anything, not really. Except that there is something deeply wrong with you.”

Theron slapped my face, making me gasp. “How dare you insult me! You don’t know who you are dealing with. Once I figure out how to take your powers, I’m going to kill everyone you have ever cared about in front of you. I will rip your mate’s throat out in front of you and all you will be able to do is watch him bleed out. Only when you have reached your lowest point will I kill you so slowly you’ll be begging me to just end it.”