Eighteen
Gabrielle POV
I wake with a jolt.
No amber eyes. No whispering trees.
Just the familiar creak of the cabin walls and the buzz of my phone against the nightstand.
I blink at the screen.
8:42 a.m.
Shit.
“No, no – no!” I bolt upright, the movement sending a strange wave of heat rolling through me. The echo of the dream clings to me like a new skin.
My chest is tight, like I’ve been running. Like I’ve lost something I didn’t know I was allowed to want.
I never sleep through my alarm. Not on a school day. Not ever.
My phone buzzes again.
Tessa????: WTF. I’ve been waiting. Where r u??
Gabi: I slept in!
Tessa????: You never sleep in.
Tessa????: Hurry before Connor and his goon parade show up
No time to shower. I scramble out of bed, throw on skinny jeans and a slouchy tee, and wrestle my unruly auburn hair into a low tie at the nape of my neck.
It will have to do.
Another buzz.
Tessa: p.s HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIATCH!! ????
I snort, grab my bag, and race out the door.
Eighteen.
Something about the number feels heavier than it should.
----
Tessa spots me the second I step onto campus.
I should know better than to think I can keep anything from her.
By the time I finish telling her about the dream, she’s grinning like a Cheshire cat.
“Wait – what?” she stage-whispers loudly. “Birthday girl,” she sings. “Tall. Dark. Mysterious. And if I’m not mistaken… you look flushed.”
“I ran,” I lie.
She stifles a laugh. “You hate running.”
“I was late.”
She leans closer, eyes glittering. “Sooo? Did you feel anything?”
I freeze. “Feel what?”
She wiggles her eyebrows. “You know, the feels.”
Heat floods my face. “No!”
“That was very fast.”
“I’m serious, Tess.”
"Tragic," she sighs dramatically, "An absolute waste of an eighteenth birthday.”
“I’m human,” I remind her. “We don’t get thunderbolts and destiny orgasms at midnight. I had a weird dream. That’s it.”
Undeterred, she grins. “This is the best birthday present ever. Finally, my girl has got the feels.”
“Tess,” I hiss, glancing around. “Do you want the entire school to hear?”
“Oh please - no one is listening. Plus, you can't hide you’re practically glowing. Or spiralling. Hard to tell.” She nudges my shoulder. “Maybe turning eighteen flipped some internal switch.”
I groan. “Uh-huh.”
Her gaze sharpens - playful, but curious. “You sure you’re not getting a little more… wolf-like?”
“Stop.”
She laughs. “Hey, I’m just saying. If you suddenly go into heat, I want warning.”
My stomach flips. Heat. The word shouldn’t make my skin prickle… but it does.
“I will never go into heat.”
She opens her mouth to reply –
– and Connor Hale shoulders past us.
“Careful,” he mutters, close enough that I feel his breath brush my ear. “Wouldn’t want to hurt the delicate human.”
Something sharp flashes through me.
“Still pretending you belong here?” he adds, his voice low.
Tessa steps forward. “Don’t be a dick, Connor.”
He ignores her, eyes lingering on me a moment too long before he saunters away.
“The weak little orphan thinks she’s a wolf now,” he sneers over his shoulder, already smiling like he knows exactly how it will land.
My stomach drops. He did hear.
I don’t wait for the laughter. My feet are already moving, the sound of it ringing in my ears as I rush toward the bathrooms.
Inside, I grip the edge of the sink and force myself to breathe.
In.
Out.
The bathroom smells faintly of antiseptic and cheap floral soap. Too clean. The fluorescent lights hum overhead, sharp and unforgiving, casting everything in harsh white.
My hands are shaking.
I press my palms flat against the porcelain, grounding myself in the cold, solid surface. My reflection stares back at me – familiar, but wrong in a way I can’t quite place.
Same face.
Same freckles scattered across my nose.
Same mess of copper-red hair tumbling around my shoulders.
But my eyes –
I lean closer to the mirror.
They look darker somehow. Or brighter? Like someone turned the contrast up just a fraction too high. The green isn’t just green anymore – there’s gold in it. Flecks I swear weren’t there yesterday that catch the light when I move.
My pulse kicks.
“That’s not possible,” I whisper.
The girl in the mirror doesn’t look convinced.
My breath fogs the glass as I exhale, and for a second, the reflection blurs. When it clears, a strange heat curls beneath my skin, spreading slowly like embers being coaxed back to life.
I swallow hard.
My hearing feels… sharp. Too sharp.
The distant echo of lockers slamming down the corridor sounds too loud, too close. I can hear laughter outside, layered voices overlapping, the scuff of trainers on tile – all of it pressing in at once.
I wince and bring my hands up to my temples.
“Get it together,” I murmur. “You’re fine.”
The words feel hollow.
I grasp at my necklace, fingers closing around the familiar metal. It's warm. Warmer than it should be. A faint pulse thrums beneath my fingertips.
My breath stutters.
I lift it slightly, watching the chain glint under the lights. This was the only thing they found on me when I was left at the pack boundary. The only piece of my past I can’t explain. I’ve worn it for as long as I can remember, but suddenly it feels… different.
Alert.
Like it knows something I don’t.
My skin prickles as I look back at the mirror – something wild flickers behind my eyes.
My heart skips a beat.
The fluorescent light flickers once.
Just once - long enough for my breath to catch.
And in that heartbeat of darkness, I could swear my pupils sharpen, narrowing before snapping back to normal.
I jerk away from the sink, chest heaving.
“No,” I breathe.
This is stress. Lack of sleep. A stupid dream that got under my skin. That’s all.
But even as I tell myself that, my body hums with restless energy, like it’s waiting for something.
My phone buzzes in my pocket.
I jump. The sound slicing through my nerves, as I fumble it out.
Tessa????: Still love you
Tessa????: Even if you’re horny and in denial ??
I fire off a quick reply – Shut up – and laugh under my breath. My body still feels… off.
Too warm. Too aware. Like every nerve is switched on and humming quietly under my skin.
I shove the phone away and straighten, smoothing my hair with trembling fingers.
When I look back at the mirror, the girl staring at me looks normal again.
But the certainty settles deep in my bones anyway – heavy and undeniable.
Something is happening to me.
And whatever it is, it has only just begun.