Fionna couldn't get the cafeteria mess out of her head. The sticky remnants of mashed potatoes had washed off in the bathroom sink, but the humiliation clung to her like a second skin.
She trudged through the rest of her classes, ignoring the snickers and sideways glances from Rose's crowd. Cynthia kept shooting her worried looks, but Fionna brushed them off with a forced smile.
"I'm good, Cyn. Really. Just another day in paradise."
By the time the final bell rang, her head was pounding. Those weird flashes during the confrontation, flames, a man's stern face and a sense of burning betrayal,they felt like splinters in her mind, too sharp to ignore but too vague to grasp.
She waved goodbye to Cynthia, who had to dash to her part-time job at the diner, and headed to the library alone. Maybe burying herself in homework would drown out the noise.
The library was quiet, the kind of hush that amplified every page turn and distant cough. Fionna claimed her usual spot in the back corner, surrounded by dusty shelves of forgotten books.
She pulled out her history textbook, but her eyes glazed over the words. Instead, she found herself doodling in her notebook: wolves, moons, a girl with silver hair running through a forest. Weird. She wasn't even artistic.
A shadow fell across her page. She looked up to see David Phillip standing there, hands in his pockets, that quiet confidence radiating off him like heat from a stove.
"Mind if I join you?"
He asked, his blue eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that made her stomach flip.
"Uh, sure."
She muttered, shifting her stuff to make room.
"Thanks for earlier. You didn't have to step in."
He sat down, leaning forward on his elbows.
"Yeah, I did. Those girls are toxic. You don't deserve that crap."
His voice was low, almost soothing, but there was something else there,an undercurrent, like he knew more about her than he let on.
They talked for a bit and it was awkward at first. He asked about her family,her dad the bricklayer, her mom who always had that knowing smile, her little brother Jacob who thought she hung the moon.
She asked about him,new in town, moved from some remote place up north, no siblings. But the conversation kept circling back to her.
"Do you ever feel like... I don't know, like there's something missing? Like a puzzle piece you can't find?"
Fionna froze, her pencil hovering over the page.
"All the time."
She admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Especially lately. These headaches, these dreams... it's stupid."
"Not stupid."
David said firmly. He reached across the table, his hand brushing hers. A spark jumped between them, not static, but something deeper and warmer. That voice in her head whispered again,'Mate. Home.' She yanked her hand back, rubbing it like she'd been burned.
"What was that?"
She demanded, her heart racing.
David's expression shifted, a mix of caution and urgency.
"Fionna, there's stuff about you,about us,that you don't know yet. But it's coming. Soon."
Before she could press him, the librarian shushed them from across the room. David glanced at his watch.
"I gotta go. But promise me you'll be careful walking home. Stick to the main streets."
"Why? What's going on?"
He stood, slinging his backpack over one shoulder.
"Just... trust me. We'll talk more tomorrow."
Fionna watched him leave, her mind spinning. Trust him? She barely knew him. But as she packed up and headed out into the cooling evening air, his words nagged at her.
The streets were emptying out, the sun dipping behind the buildings, casting long shadows that seemed to stretch like fingers toward her.
She cut through the park to shave off a few minutes,stupid, in hindsight. The rustling started subtle, leaves crunching underfoot that weren't hers. She picked up her pace, glancing over her shoulder. Nothing. Then, a low growl echoed from the bushes, freezing her in place.
Out stepped a figure, tall and scarred, eyes glowing faintly in the twilight.
"Hello, little Alpha."
He snarled, his voice dripping with malice. More shapes emerged from the shadows, circling her.
"Time to finish what we started."
Fionna's blood ran cold. She backed away, her hands trembling. But deep inside, that voice roared to life: 'Fight. Remember.' As the leader lunged, a surge of power rippled through her, her nails sharpening into claws. What the hell?
Just as the attack closed in, a familiar shout cut through the night and it was David, charging in like a
storm. But the attackers were too many, and one grabbed her arm, twisting hard. She yelled in pain, and everything went black.