Chapter 3 Chapter 0003
•RAVEN•
"I found her on the side of the road with the other girl. She wasn't breathing, and I—"
"It's okay, ma'am. She will be okay. We detected a heartbeat after a few minutes she was brought in. It was a miracle that you found her the time you did. But there might be complications since she's been medically dead for a little while. Her brain might have been affected."
The voices sounded distant, but I could hear them clearly.
My eyelids were too heavy to open, but I couldn't help but feel I wasn't supposed to have survived the incident.
I remembered my mother's face when I slipped out, but I couldn't remember what else happened. The memory faded as soon as I thought about it.
"I can pay any money you want for any surgery she may need," the woman answered. "Just save her life, please. She's just a little girl. I owe this to her mother."
My mother?
"Oh, look," the doctor's voice was clearer now. "Her brain activity is normal, and so is her heartbeat," her voice dropped. "This is impossible."
"She doesn't need surgery anymore?"
"No," she answered, gasping. "Her brain wasn't affected at all. This is a medical miracle. I've never seen this before. Please wait here while I call over the chief surgeon to explain this phenomenon."
The doctor's footsteps disappeared toward the door, and the woman leaned over.
"Raven, can you hear me?" The woman whispered, placing her hand on top of mine.
The moment I felt her hand on my skin, my eyes opened, and I tilted my head and looked at her. She was around my mother's age, but I had never seen her before.
"What happened?" I muttered.
"You don't remember?" She gasped, and I shook my head. "You were in a car accident, Raven. You survived, but—" she sighed. "It's okay. What matters is that you're safe."
"Do you know my mother?"
"Yes," she answered with a faint smile. "Sable and I were best friends. She died before I could see her again. And I knew when I saw you that you were her daughter. But don't worry, you will be safe with me."
A few days after I was discharged from the hospital, Maddie took me to her home. She had three daughters and was living alone with them after her husband's death.
Her youngest daughter was only two years older than me, and the oldest was twenty. The middle one was eighteen and a little more reserved.
Everything was going well until Maddie's death on my 18th birthday. Things changed and reality kicked in.
I felt as if I wasn't welcome there anymore. Katerina and Tamara changed on me. They started criticizing everything I did and hinting that I should find my own place.
But Rumi, their youngest sister, was different. She never changed on me even when people were already gossiping that I might be human since I never shifted on my 18th birthday.
I got used to being labeled an omega or a human. I decided I would wait for a month until several colleges approved my applications and then I would be out of the Blackwood pack.
One day while I was going for a swim in the nearby river, oblivious to the looming presence around me, a boy in his twenties approached.
I gasped when I tilted my head while drying my hair and realized he had been standing there, watching my nakedness from behind.
I dressed up quickly when he leaned forward, smirking.
"Many trespassing humans have disappeared in this river," he said, his tone cold. "The moon water bears a curse for anyone who isn't our kind."
My chest tightened, but as far as I knew, my father and mother were both werewolves. "Oh, I'm sorry, but I didn't know."
"I've been observing you, little human, living as though you were one of us," he hissed, circling me. "I'd advise you to stop bathing in this river if you value your life."
Ugh. I rolled my eyes. I was fed up with all the insults and criticisms because I couldn't shift.
"If the moon goddess had wanted me to die, I would've died a long time ago because I had been bathing in this river since I was ten. You can do the math yourself," I scoffed. "It has been eight years now, and I'm still standing. Maybe humans aren't different from you now, are they?"
He stopped in front of me and scoffed. "I see." His eyes narrowed. "But I wouldn't be comfortable if I were you. You've survived here for this long because you were an innocent child. The moon goddess is kind to innocent souls, but now I don't think she would be."
"Why are you bothering yourself with me?" I scoffed. "It would've made sense if you were the Alpha."
"Tristan," the pack house guard said when he arrived and bowed his head before him. "Your father, the Alpha, is requesting your presence in the council hall."
My heart stopped, and the air froze. My lips parted when I realized I was talking to the Alpha’s son. I wanted to apologize, but he was already gone.
I swore under my breath, wondering why I was making things even more difficult for myself. I had only a month left before I could go to college.
"What do you want from Tristan?" Katerina's voice snapped me back to earth when she walked into my home without knocking.
I was reading a book when she barged in.
"What?" I scoffed. "What are you talking about?"
"I know you were talking with him today, Raven," she sneered. "You can act dumb for all I care, but Tristan is mine. My mother made a mistake when she brought you here, which is why you should leave."
"No, this is my—"
She didn't wait for me to finish before she grabbed me by my hair and dragged me to the door. I shrieked as I tried to free myself from her grasp, but she was stronger.
But when she was about to open the door, it opened, and she gasped when he walked in.
