bNyssa /bbpov /b

b“/bOh my goddessb!!!/bb” /bI bscreamed /binternally, bmy /bbeyes /bwide bas /bbI /bbstared /bat my breflection /bin the mirrorb, /beximing in bdisbelief/b. “bNo /bfreaking bway/bb, /bbI /bam ba /bwhite wolf! Meb? /bbA /bwhite wolfb, /bthe kind that’s bbeen /bextinct for bdecades /band byet/b, here bI /bam!”

bI /bbwasn’t /bbsure /bbwhat /bkind bof /bemotion bwas /bbubbling up at the moment, maybe excitement, maybe bdisbelief/b, or maybe both.

I had bexpected /bsomething blesser/b, somethingmon, like a brown wolf. I had told myself not to aim highb, /bnot to bexpect /bba /bbck /bwolf. But what I got bwas /bbfar /bbeyond that.

bA /bwhite wolf. A brare/b, pureb–/bblooded bcreature /bno one had seen in bover /bbfive /bhundred byears/b.

This couldn’t be breal/b. This had to be a dream.

“You breally /bare excited, huh?” She bteased/b, snapping me out of my daze. “And to think you didn’t even want to shift bbecause /byou weren’t expecting much. Now look at you, like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes at her mockery but she wasn’t wrong. I was excited.

“How on earth am I a white wolf? What’s going on?” I muttered, leaning closer to my reflection, needing to be absolutely sure bI /bbwas /bseeing this right.

I could hear the smugness in her voice as she spoke.

“How else would you have a white wolf if not because I’m the best? That’s why I always say you’re lucky to have me. I’m special, you just don’t realize it yet. That’s why you keep acting this way toward me.”

I rolled my eyes at her words but didn’t respond because, annoyingly, she was right. She was special.

A white wolf wasn’t something I ever expected. I had honestly thought she was bluffing. But clearly, she wasn’t.

“I am lucky to have you,” I said, cutting her off just as she was about to speak again. “You’re right. You are very special, She.”

I could practically imagine the shocked expression on her face the moment the words left my mouth, and I couldn’t help but chuckle bas /bshe cleared her throat and stammered before replying.

“W–well, you’re not wrong… but saying it like that makes it a little ufortable. Ahem, anyway, let’s go for a run. I want to take bover /bthis time,” she said with a dismissive tone.

I almost grinned, but froze when I saw my wolf’s reflection grinning back at me.

Ah, I still wasn’t used to that.

I bwas /bbjust /babout to close my eyes and let She take over–let her run freely through the woods becauseb, /bhonestly, she bdeserved /bit but before bI /bcould, my heart suddenly stopped.

My eyes widened bas /bthat familiar, addictive scent hit me.

bIt /bbwas /bhim.

My head snapped in the direction of the sound, and before bI /bcould breact /bbefore bI /bcould even see him–bI /bgasped bas /bsomething mmed into me, knocking me to the ground.

173

bChapter /bb49 /b

bA /bbsoft /bwhimper bescaped /bmy lips, band /bbmy /bbeyes /bflew bopen /bbjust /bas a menacing growl pierced bthe /bbair/bb. /b

The moment I saw the bsilver /bwolf towering bover /bme, my heart dropped.

bDarius/bb. /b

Of all people bto /bsee me in my wolf form, it had to be him.

Oh, goddess.

bI /bstared up at him, frozen, as he leaned closer, his bhead /btilting slightly like he was trying to make sense of what he was seeing He looked just bas /bshocked bas /bbI /bfelt.

But what I didn’t expect… bwas /bfor him to blean /bin even further, right toward my neck and sniff me.

I inhaled sharply, my eyes widening bas /bhe ran his nose along my neck, inhaling deeply. He was sniffing me, trying to confirm if bI /bbwas /bwho he thought bI /bbwas/b.

I couldn’t even moveb, /bnot because I didn’t want to, but bbecause /bhe had mepletely pinned beneath him.

I opened my mouth to speak, to tell him to get off me, but no words came out. Instead, a soft whimper escaped me and that’s when I remembered again that I bwas /bstill in my wolf form.

Just as bI /bbwas /babout tomunicate with him through the mindlink, She’s urgent voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Wait!” she echoed sharply. “Don’t speak. He must not know it’s you. He won’t be able to scent you right nowb, /bso don’t let him find out and when you get the chance, run. Run as far from him as you can.”

I blinked in confusion at her words. Why did she sound so afraid?

She loved Darius, had always longed to be with him. So why, now, was she telling me to run?

After what felt like an eternity, Darius finally leaned back slightly, his narrowed eyes locked on me. But he didn’t move off my body. Instead, I heard his voice in my head.

“A pure white breed? You’re a white breed?” he asked through the mindlink.

Just like She warned, I didn’t respond. I only shook my head in denial.

No. No, I wasn’t a pure white werewolf as he could clearly see.

Darius frowned, the moonlight catching on his white fur, making him look almost ethereal. Another heavy silence followed before he finally asked,

“Who are you? Tell me your identity.”

I shook my head again.

I don’t know my name. I don’t know my identity. I have amnesia.

This timeb, /bI saw the sh of irritation in his eyes bas /bhe lost patience. He growled, low and threatening, and I knew this was it, my moment to bact/b. Things were about to take ba /bturn I wouldn’t recover from if I stayed pinned beneath him.

So I did the only thing I could think of–I looked behind him, eyes wide with feigned horror, bas /bthough I’d just seen something terrifying.

b2/3 /b

It worked.

Darius whipped his head around to see what had caught my attention.

And in that instant, I used every ounce of strength I had to shove him off me and, without a second thought, bolted, sprinting deep into the woods.