This How I Die?
SCARLETT
I sat on the library floor, back pressed against the shelves, staring at nothing. The tears had stopped, but the emptiness hadn’t. It was the same hollow ache I’d carried my whole life.
Back home, I was invisible.
My father is the pack Alpha, strong, respected, feared. Everyone bows when he enters a room. But when he looks at me, it’s like I’m not even there. A ghost. A mistake.
My mother was his cherished Luna. Beautiful, kind, fierce. She died giving birth to me. The pack says I killed her. They never say it aloud, but I feel it every time they look away.
Before me, she gave him two perfect sons.
Ronan, the oldest—the future Alpha. Tall, powerful, everything a leader should be.
Calder, the second—the Beta warrior. Loyal, brutal when needed, adored by the pack.
And then there’s me.
Scarlett.
No wolf. No shift. More human than Omega.
Weak.
A burden.
They never hit me, at least I have that. Father’s too proud to raise a hand to his own blood, even the disappointing one. But they don’t see me either. Ronan barely speaks my name. Calder looks through me like I’m furniture.
At pack high school, it was worse.
Beautiful enough to be wanted.
Wolf-less enough to be hated.
They lusted after me in secret, mocked me in public.
Called me “the human pet.” “The runt.”
Tripped me in hallways.
Spread rumors that I was defective. Broken.
I had no friends.
No one to sit with at lunch.
No one to walk home with.
The only thing that ever quieted the loneliness was Mom’s violin.
She left it for me, a note tucked inside the case the day she died.
“For my Scarlett. Let the music say what your heart cannot.”
Father wanted to burn it. Said it was a waste on a girl with no wolf.
But I begged. Cried for days. Hid it under my bed.
When I turned nineteen and the scholarship letter came, he was furious.
“You think you can leave? You belong to this pack.”
I begged again. Cried again.
Promised I’d return after graduation. Work for the pack. Prove I wasn’t useless.
He let me go.
Only because no one had offered to mate me yet.
I wanted to make a difference.
To bridge the gap between humans and werewolves, show the world we could coexist.
Maybe become a liaison, a mediator. Something that mattered.
I wanted my father to look at me one day and see his daughter.
Not the mistake that killed his Luna.
I wanted to be more than a burden.
The violin was the only thing that ever listened.
I stood suddenly, wiping my face.
I needed it now.
I ran back to the dorm, ignoring the stares at my pudding-streaked clothes and hair. Grabbed the case from under my bed, fingers tracing the worn wood like it was the only real thing left.
Then I ran again.
Past the buildings.
Past the quad.
Into the woods behind campus.
Deeper, until the trees thickened and the path vanished.
Until I found the cliff.
A sheer drop to a rushing river below, a waterfall thundering white and wild. Cool mist rose from the rocks, kissing my skin.
I sat on the edge, legs dangling over nothing, and opened the case.
Inside lay Mom’s note, yellowed and soft.
For my Scarlett,
Play when your heart hurts.
The music will hold you when I can’t.
I love you always.
Mom
Tears fell again, hot on my cheeks.
I lifted the violin, tucked it under my chin, and closed my eyes.
The first note trembled.
Then grew stronger.
I played “Ashokan Farewell.”
Slow, aching—every bow stroke a sob I couldn’t voice.
The melody rose over the roar of the waterfall, carrying my loneliness, my fear, my desperate wish to be seen.
I played for the mother I never knew.
For the father who never looked.
For the brothers who never cared.
For the girl who just wanted to matter.
Tears streamed down my face, dripping onto the wood.
The music poured out—raw, broken, beautiful.
I didn’t hear the footsteps behind me.
I just played, pouring my heart out until my hands ached, but I kept going—fingers flying across the strings, faster, fiercer—until I finally stopped. My chest heaved. My heart thundered against my ribs. My hands trembled.
And then…
“That was amazing,” a deep voice said from behind me.
I stiffened, a startled yelp escaping my lips. My body jerked so violently the violin nearly slipped from my grasp. I whipped around, heart slamming against my ribs.
A guy stood a few feet away, tall, impossibly broad. The sun blazed behind him, throwing his face into deep shadow, but I could still make out sharp features, dark hair, and a build that screamed Alpha.
Except… nothing.
No pheromones crashing over me like a wave. No overwhelming scent marking territory. No Beta softness either. Just… blank. Like he wasn’t even there.
I clutched the violin tight to my chest and scrambled to my feet, legs trembling. The cliff edge was right behind me—one wrong step and I’d be gone.
He raised both hands slowly, palms out. “Hey, easy. I’m not here to hurt you.”
His voice was deep, smooth, calm—like he was talking to a spooked animal.
“Who… who are you?” I managed, voice cracking. “This is private campus property. Students only.”
He took one careful step closer. “I’m new. Transfer student. I was being shown around when I heard your music.” He tilted his head, as if still hearing the echo of it. “It was beautiful. Sad… but beautiful.”
I didn’t move. My heels hovered inches from the drop. The waterfall roared below, cold mist curling up around my ankles.
“You should step away from the edge,” he said quietly. “You might fall.”
I nodded, throat tight. Swallowing hard, I shifted my weight forward, ready to move to safer ground.
My foot caught on a loose rock.
The world tilted violently.
I pitched backward, arms flailing. The violin pressed hard against my chest as gravity seized me. The air rushed past my ears. My scream choked off as icy water slammed into my back.
For a split second, I saw him above, hand outstretched, eyes wide with alarm.
Is this how I die?
Then a deafening crack split the air, like thunder exploding right overhead.
Everything went black.