Chapter 1 I'm Just Pariah

Luisa is the daughter of the Alpha and Luna of the Cindermoon pack. However, while other teenagers had undergone their first shifting at the age of sixteen, Luisa remained trapped in her human form. She had tried repeatedly to shift every time the full moon arrived, but all she got was excruciating physical suffering. She felt her bones being forcibly broken and her skin burning as if on fire, yet in the end, she still failed to turn into a wolf.

That difference became even more painful when she saw her twin sister, Leasa, as well as her older sister, who had grown into formidable wolves. In the eyes of the pack and her family, Luisa was no longer the daughter of a leader; she was considered a disgraceful defect to the noble bloodline of Cindermoon.

For the Alpha and Luna, Luisa's existence was a disgrace that tarnished the pack's honor. The Luna finally gave her daughter an ultimatum. Luisa was given one month to show her wolf form at the next full moon in front of the entire pack. If she failed to transform again, she would be officially exiled and banished from Cindermoon.

When the next full moon arrived, all members of the Cindermoon pack gathered to witness Luisa's shifting.

"This is your last chance, Luisa," said the Luna, who was her mother.

And under the cold gazes of hundreds of eyes, Luisa summoned her entire soul to transform into a wolf. However, instead of fur and fangs emerging, what came was only suffering, striking her once again, this time far more agonizing.

Luisa collapsed to the ground. Her body trembled violently, weak and helpless from the pain that tore through her bones to the very last point. With the last of her strength, she lifted her face, looking at her parents with tears beginning to stream down her cheeks. She found disappointment and hesitation in her mother's eyes, as well as in her father's expression.

"Father, Mother, please give me one more chance," Luisa sobbed. She tried to crawl on the ground toward her parents, even though her body felt crushed and powerless.

"Stop calling us Father or Mother! You have lost the right to that title," the Alpha snapped, his voice trembling yet sharp. "Leave this place before you further destroy this pack's honor."

"Mother... Mother, please help me... I promise I will prove that I can turn into a wolf, please give me one more chance," Luisa pleaded between her broken cries.

"Mother has given you chances for three years, Lui, and this was your last chance. Forgive me, Mother. I cannot help anything." The Luna looked at her daughter with a painfully pitying gaze, but as the co-leader of the pack, she had to be firm in letting go of her daughter. She turned her face away, choosing firmness over a mother's love.

With the last of her shattered strength, Luisa tried to stand up. She staggered closer to her older sister and twin sibling. "Eve, Leasa... please, don't leave me."

"Forgive us, Lui," Maeve said softly, her eyes showing pain. She then put her arm around Leasa's shoulder, leading her younger sister to turn around and walk away, leaving Luisa standing alone in the midst of her exile.

"No! Mother, please... give me a chance! Give me a chance!" Her sobs grew more hysterical, but not a single one of them looked back. The silhouettes of the people she loved slowly drifted away and vanished behind the darkness of the forest, leaving Luisa in a deadly silence. Her hoarse voice was answered only by the whisper of the night wind, she had truly become a stranger in her own land.

Luisa sobbed uncontrollably. She chose to exile herself on the outskirts of the human town, far from the reach of her kind. Luisa knew very well that the forest was not a friendly place for someone as weak as her, especially without the protection of her pack; she would only become easy prey for the Rogues—bloodthirsty rogue wolves. That was why she chose to live on the outskirts of the human town.

Throughout the years in her solitude, she kept that small hope alive. Every time the full moon arrived, Luisa still tried to awaken the wolf inside her, hoping that a miracle would bring her back into the warm embrace of her parents in Cindermoon. But time passed without change; all she received was pain and torment. Her body remained human.

Finally, Luisa reached a point of resignation. She stopped forcing nature's will and began to accept the reality that she was indeed not destined to be a wolf. She redirected all her energy into studying the secrets of nature around her. Through the silence of the outskirts, Luisa delved into natural healing, concocting leaves and roots to help the humans in need. She was no longer the failed Alpha's daughter; instead, she became a herbalist who slowly discovered her new identity. As a herbalist, Luisa knew exactly which parts of the forest could heal or kill.

One night, Luisa ventured deeper into the forest to look for a rare plant root. However, her steps halted when her ears caught the sound of heavy breathing accompanied by groans of pain. Reflexively, she pulled out the silver knife tucked at her waist—her only protection against the threat of Rogues that might be lurking. She had wrapped the knife in thick leather to prevent direct contact with her skin. She always carried that silver knife whenever she went into the forest to search for rare plants for medicine. Silver was the only weapon that could give her a chance to survive a Rogue's ambush. She would rather hold something that caused her pain than die without a fight. She did not want to feel humiliated for a second time.

A deep voice sounded hoarse, with labored breathing.

"Who's there?!" Luisa exclaimed warily. She assumed a fighting stance, directing the edge of her knife in every direction. Her heart pounded loudly, splitting the forest's silence which suddenly felt tense.

The voice came again, this time much weaker, as if its owner was on the brink of death.

Luisa slowly approached the source of the voice. Behind the dense bushes, she gasped upon seeing a man lying sprawled in a pool of blood, his eyes injured. His face was deathly pale, and in his chest, a silver bullet was embedded deeply, emitting thin smoke that burned the wolf's flesh.

"Who's there?!" the man shouted. His eyes could not see because they had been affected by wolfsbane pollen, so he was experiencing blindness.

"Who are you?!" Luisa asked in a trembling, wary tone, yet her hand remained firm gripping the knife. "Are you a Rogue?!"

"I ... I am not a Rogue. I have a pack," he said breathlessly, enduring the burning pain in his chest. "I was betrayed... by my own pack. Who are you?" his voice was rough and gasping.

"I... I'm just a herbalist who is looking for plants and happened to pass by here."

"Can you help me?" he asked breathlessly, trying to endure the pain.

"I can't help you!" Luisa snapped sharply. She nearly turned to leave, wanting to cut off everything related to the wolf world that had cast her out. However, the man's pained groans stopped her steps. There was a tormented inner turmoil; she wanted to help, but she was hesitant. All this time, she had only treated humans, and she was not sure whether her remedies could counter the deadly silver poison that was lethal to her kind.

After warily observing the surroundings, her empathy won. Luisa let out a long sigh and approached the man. She tried to examine the wound on the man's chest and also his eyes.

"The bullet is not too deep. And your eyes... you have been exposed to wolfsbane powder," Luisa said.

"Can you walk?" she asked while crouching beside him.

"Yes," the man nodded weakly, trying to gather his remaining strength.

Luisa then helped the man's large body to stand up. When they were so close, the man instinctively sniffed deeply at the scent emanating from Luisa's body. His brow furrowed. He smelled the calming scent of forest and medicinal plants, but there was something strange; the scent was not detected as a wolf, yet it also did not feel entirely like an ordinary human. He could not see the woman's face. He also did not ask many questions, as he had no energy for it.

"Hold on!"

Even though shrouded in doubt, Luisa helped the man toward her place of residence. She kept her gaze scanning warily, worried that Rogues or other enemies might be trailing their blood trail. After a long and exhausting journey, they finally arrived. The man appeared increasingly helpless until he finally collapsed onto the floor.

"I can't promise much, but I will try to help you," Luisa murmured.

She hurried to the fireplace. Instinctively, she heated the tip of her knife over the fire until the metal glowed red.

"This is going to hurt a lot. So, hold on."

Luisa began to cut into the man's wound to remove the bullet. The man groaned heavily, and then at the peak of his pain, he accidentally scratched Luisa's hand, tearing it open and making it bleed. Although the sting was sharp, Luisa did not flinch. She continued focusing on digging out the bullet until the small piece of metal began to appear on the surface, although it was still very difficult to pry out.

Luisa could see that the man was almost losing consciousness from the unbearable pain.

Luisa was overcome with hesitation. She stared blankly at the wound on the man's chest, then placed her knife on the floor. Despite being aware of all the risks, she decided to use her bare hand, which was drenched in blood from the scratch, to reach for the silver bullet. For a moment, she closed her eyes, gathering her remaining courage to face the pain that was to come.

When her fingers touched the bullet, an intense burning sensation spread through her hand. The man groaned in pain, but something impossible happened, the blood flowing from the wound on Luisa's hand seeped into the man's wound. Instantly, a red light blazed brightly. Luisa felt as if her soul was being forcibly pulled out, while at the same time, the man felt a strange current he had never experienced in his life.

Luisa's body jolted violently, her head stiffly tilting upward as if struck by thousands of volts of electricity, making her entire body convulse. Her eyes turned into glowing silver-gold. As soon as the silver bullet was successfully removed, an explosion of energy flung Luisa's body backward, slamming her hard against the wall of the hut.

Luisa writhed in pain. Her body felt empty and weak, as if all her energy had been drained just to remove the bullet. In her entire life, she had never experienced such a powerful phenomenon. While coughing, she tried to get up from the cold floor.

At that moment, she realized that the silver bullet was still clutched in her hand. Reflexively, she immediately threw the cursed metal away until it clinked in the corner of the room.

Luisa froze, staring at her palm. The scratch wound she had gotten from the man slowly closed and disappeared right before her eyes. Yet, she knew very well that she usually needed days to heal, given that she was different from other wolves. Even more impossible, her hand had not blistered at all after direct contact with silver.

"Why... is my hand not injured?" she murmured in disbelief.