Celeste had no idea why she was suddenly so twitchy and grumpy. Maybe it was because she couldn't even feel her wolf. Or maybe Jeremy should be blamed for shutting her out. She didn't know.
They argued a lot as all the siblings did. And it was not the first time Jeremy kept her out of his room. Hell, she had done the same to him, too. But this time, the fact that she couldn't see him annoyed and frustrated her like nothing else. She had no clue why it felt so different now. She should have been glad she didn't need to deal with her idiot brother. Finally, she gave in. Fuck! She didn't need him! She would probably shift tonight and had all the questions answered instantly. She puffed and lay on the bed. She heard the little noises the summer wind made when it ran between the leaves. A small part of it entered from her window and brought in the light scent of leaves and dirt, stirring the air of the room with the fragrance of the cookies. Celeste turned to her side, facing the window. It was already dark out there, and she could see the starry sky from her bed. Away from city light, the stars were much brighter. That was her favorite part of the country. But from this angle, she couldn't see the moon yet. She only caught the faint ring of it lingering on the edge of her frame. So she settled by counting the stars until the moon decided to make her appearance. It was not so round, but the silver moon gave away the cool, calm texture that took Celeste's breath away. "When will I transform, dearest Goddess?" She asked, spellbound. And of course, the silence that followed was well expected. She stared hard at the moon, hoping to wake up the wolf inside her. Wolves were drawn to the moon, weren't they? But even when her eyes were sore from the staring, she still didn't feel anything from her wolf. Celeste closed her heavy eyelids, wondering what was going wrong… When she opened her eyes again, it was bright in the morning. She jerked upright and looked down at her body expectedly. But soon, disappointment was written all over her face. She was still in her human form, and her clothes were perfectly unharmed. No luck transforming! She didn't even dream about it last night. She yawned and dragged herself out of the bed. She opened the door and saw Jeremy's room. The door was open, but the man was nowhere. She hurried downstairs and was told her twin brother was gone earlier. Celeste didn't know what she felt. Was he avoiding her? The third day was the same. When she finally managed to stop the man on his way out, Jeremy didn't even look up at her. "I'm going to see Byron, and I'm already running late." Then the man fled. When he came back at night, he slid into his room and locked the door without making the slightest noise. And by day, he was nowhere to be found again. Celeste started to wonder if she actually had a twin brother. Now she was not just guessing. She was almost certain the man was hiding from her. But why? Had she done anything wrong? Or was Jeremy just want to be alone? Celeste couldn't help but spoke her mind at breakfast, "Jeremy is acting weird these days, don't you think? After his first shift, I mean." Nora knitted her brows. "I was thinking about that. He met Byron yesterday. When Byron invited him to shift and hunt, Jeremy refused." Jeff swallowed the waffle in his mouth. "Right. It has been three days, and he hasn't shifted again since that afternoon. He should let his wolf out more often so they can get used to each other. And the full moon is only a few days away, he'd better loosen his wolf a little before the moon forces the wolf out." The father took a drink of his coffee and added, "I was going to talk about it with him, but the brat ran faster than a rat!" Celeste chuckled. "I bet he can outrun any rat in the world now." She spread the syrup all over her waffle and took a bite in satisfaction. "Oh, right! I'm going out today to quit my job," said Celeste after she swallowed the mixture of syrup and waffle. She always complained about her part-time job being too far away. Now that her transformation was approaching, she decided it was her time to quit the job for good. Nora looked up at her daughter, "Why don't you just make a phone call? Your wolf might surface today." Yeah, yeah. Her wolf might surface today. Celeste had heard that every day ever since Jeremy's shift. But her wolf never surfaced. Celeste couldn't even feel any sign of her wolf. Somehow, she knew her wolf was not ready. She wouldn't surface today. "I know. But I don't think my wolf will come out today. In fact, I just know she's not ready. Besides, I promised I would give away the cookies. Sarah cried for the cookies I made." Nora nodded, concerns still on her face. "Be careful then. Jeremy could have gone with you in case anything happens. Too bad your dad and I have to work." "Don't worry. I'll be fine." It was not big of a deal. Celeste could finish her own business without help. But she was indeed a bit disappointed that Jeremy wasn't there.After a trip to the supermarket, Celeste drove to the place she worked. Her friend Sarah was chatting with Raymond. When the young lady laid eyes on Celeste and the jar of cookies in her hands, she cried in surprise and jumped at Celeste. Raymond rolled his eyes, "Yep… Like a monkey jumping at the sight of bananas." His voice was low, but Sarah didn't miss it. She shot him a dagger and returned her attention to Celeste. "Hey, Cel! I miss you!" Celeste chuckled, "I guess you miss my cookies even more. Here you go." Without a moment of delay, Sarah took the jar and picked up a cookie. She tossed it into her mouth and moaned in satisfaction, "You never let me down." Celeste smiled. She was always happy when her friends liked the food she made. She didn't make friends with too many humans, though. Not that she was racist or distrustful of humans. No. Or she wouldn't have taken this part-time job at the very beginning. It was just that humans grew old and died while werewolve
Celeste was a bit lost by the sudden change of topic. "I mean… You and Sarah have been curious about my secret, right? And now I'm offering it to you. So, let me ask again. Do you want to know my secret or not?" Weird as it sounded, she was intrigued. She shouldn't have cared about him since she no longer worked with him. But her instinct told her to say yes. She sensed something fishy, though. "Why? Why do you decide to tell your secret now?" she asked suspiciously. "Because I… I like you. I hope we can still be friends. I want to share a secret and earn a friend," Raymond answered, gaze fixed on her. That was a very strange reasoning. "Why on earth do you think I will be your friend after I find out your secret?" "Because you're not seeing me as who I truly am. If you know my real identity, you will change your opinions of me. I think you'll even consider me a hero." Celeste snorted. "You cocky ass must hype it up, huh?" That being said, she was curious. She pond
Celeste paled. Of course, she knew what werewolf hunter meant. But she never expected Raymond to be one. She couldn't even imagine him holding a gun and aiming at his target. Raymond was just a clueless, nerdy man to her. Hunters and werewolves were worst enemies for hundreds of years. Not that they had never made peace, but the peace had always been short-lived along with human life and perished as new generations grew. As time went by, suspicion and misunderstandings swelled into hatred and bloodshed. For example, Alpha Byron's Luna was killed by the hunters. Werewolves seemed stronger with their sharp teeth and power, but they were vulnerable under the moon. Hunters stood no chance if they were barehanded, but their weapons were getting more lethal to give them the edge. In the end, werewolves could only hide, as they did in this town. The moment Raymond admitted his identity as a werewolf hunter, Celeste felt the urge to run. To run for her life. To warn her pack. Notici
For several days, Celeste stayed at home to wait for her wolf to surface. After days of observation, she was convinced that Jeremy was avoiding her. No matter how early she got up and ran to the door, she was always one step behind him. And she always fell asleep before he came back and locked himself up in his room. Celeste had no idea what she had done wrong to deserve that. But she would find out tonight because it was the full moon, and Jeremy would have to stay at home after sunset. *** Celeste was thrilled when she saw the round moon in the sky, but that apparently was not enough to wake up the wolf inside of her. She sighed and shook her head. She sneaked to Jeremy's door and looked down at the crack between the door and the floor. It was dark. The smartass must have drawn the curtain. In fact, Celeste was impressed by how her twin brother was holding onto it. Their parents had shifted freely when the moon made her appearance on the dark stage of the sky. But Je
The beast on Celeste froze as if he had been struck by the lightning. The hungry fire died in his eyes when she twitched and screamed under him. The weight on her left. Celeste met his bluish eyes again and was greeted by something even stranger in the depth. Before she could look closer, the wolf jumped away from her and leaped out of the window. The wolf's pad landed on the roof, and then the grass, making soft noises. The noises grew farther and farther until it was no longer audible. It happened so fast and abruptly that she wondered if she was dreaming all about this. She stayed on the floor, studying her ceiling. Now her heartbeats were the only sounds knocking her eardrums. Her heart was coming down from its peak. But she could still feel the sensation of the beast's paws on her skin. His body heat lingered on her skin and trapped her on the floor. Celeste heaved a long breath. She didn't know what to make of it. She was certainly angry. And she was very much conf
What did Raymond want? Frowning, Celeste read the text. "Hey… Just want to say sorry. I didn't mean to invade your privacy. You have every right to be angry. I'm sorry. And I still hope we can be friends. So… Would you come out and meet me again? I know you're interested in werewolves. And didn't you want to know how I discovered the werewolves in the town? I'll tell you everything this time I promise." Celeste had no clue why Raymond was so obsessed about the part of them being friends. That sounded like a crappy excuse to her. Was this just some front of his true motive? Was this a trap for her? "What happened? You look concerned." Nora asked, knitting her brows. "Raymond… I mean the hunter in town texts me again. He … asks me out, promising to tell me how he found out about us." Celeste answered in hesitation. She didn't know if it was a good idea to let her parents know. "You're not going, are you? Smells like the hunter's trap to me." Nora commented. Jeff nodded in
Nora and Jeff seemed bewildered by Celeste's bold announcement. "What do you mean? How could not having your wolf out be your edge?" Celeste explained, "Well… I mean, I know Raymond. He's cautious. If he suspects me as a werewolf, he might very well run some tests first before he takes any action. And my wolf hasn't surfaced, so theoretically, I won't be affected if he acts against me in any way that will hurt werewolves." Before her wolf came out, she was just an ordinary human woman to the hunter. The perfect proof was that even a full blood moon couldn't do anything to her. So, she should be safe if Raymond cast any anti-werewolf magic on her. But why was it possible only theoretically? Because she was not sure about it. After all, as far as she knew, no werewolves had the death wish to risk their lives and test if the anti-werewolf method could kill them before they wolfed out. So, it was a gamble Celeste would have to take. "Even so, it's still risky. Besides, you don
Celeste texted Raymond back that she agreed to meet him tomorrow afternoon. But she insisted the location was for her to decide. Raymond had suggested she go to his place, saying that he could show her more about werewolves and werewolf hunting. Celeste shivered at the thought of the latter and denied it without hesitation. In the end, they decided to meet up again at the café last time. The café didn't have too many customers, which made it a good place to talk. And it was also busy enough as a public place to keep Raymond from doing anything sinister to her. Raymond pondered for a while before he agreed. Celeste wondered if she should give Jeremy a heads-up about her upcoming adventure. After all, they were twins, and they had promised never to keep secrets from each other. Well… at least the deal was that they didn't keep big secrets. Celeste snorted at the thought. They had made that promise when they were kids, and she didn't know if it was still valid. As far as she