After getting Uncle Demir's promise that he would train me, I ran back home. The moment I stepped through the door, I was met with Özde's furious face. As I calmly walked toward the room I shared with Nilis, Özde shouted from behind me:
"I expect an explanation, Karmen!"
I stopped, but didn't turn around. "I don't owe you any explanation!" I replied coldly. Why did Özde suddenly start caring so much about me? She had never acted like this before.
"There's been a murder outside. They don't even know who did it yet!" she said, her voice trembling though she didn't bother to hide her anger.
That surprised me. "Wait… were you worried about me?" I asked without thinking.
Özde's eyes flashed with fury. "Of course not! If you die, all the paperwork will fall on us, and the police will interrogate us too. From now on, be careful, girl!" She turned her back and walked toward the kitchen.
I didn't feel the need to answer her. Instead, I went to the room I shared with Nilis. Özde didn't know I was a wolf girl. I was probably stronger than whoever committed that murder anyway. I sat down on my bed and opened the breaking news on my phone—only to be shocked.
The blood-soaked chestnut hair, the pitch-black eyes still wide open in horror even in death, the wheat-colored skin, and flawless figure—it was my classmate Filiz.
Her photo was right there on the news page as the murdered victim. Looking closer, I saw that one of her arms was missing from the elbow down. It looked as if it had been bitten off by a wild animal. Filiz never talked to anyone. She always read books and studied hard. She had no enemies—so who would kill her, and why?
The rest of the article mentioned that a note had been found on her body, written in large capital letters:
SHE DIDN'T JOIN ME, BUT YOU WILL!
Impossible. At first, I thought a human committed this murder. But there was no way a human could rip off Filiz's arm like that. And an animal couldn't have written a note. Tomorrow, I'd ask Berke about it. He must know something. I only hoped the killer wasn't who I feared.
The next day, I went to school half an hour early. After leaving my bag in the classroom, I followed the scent of damp earth after rain—a scent that belonged to him. I found Berke wandering aimlessly in the second-floor hallway. He looked lost in thought. I crept up behind him and tapped his shoulder. He jumped and spun around. When he saw me, he smiled.
"Hey, Karmen. Something wrong? Your heart's racing."
"Did you hear about the murder yesterday?" I asked, my voice deadly serious.
"Yes, I heard. Sadly… Filiz is dead," Berke said, his face full of sorrow.
"What do you think killed her?" I pressed, wanting the truth.
Berke's voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm not sure, but my father says she was killed by a werewolf—or a she-wolf."
I swallowed hard and whispered back, terrified. "From your pack?"
"No," Berke said firmly. "My father interrogated everyone. If it had been one of ours, he would've known. I think the alpha who turned you is trying to build a pack of his own. And those who refuse… he kills them."
I frowned. "But he didn't ask me anything."
"That's because it was the full moon. He wasn't in control," Berke explained.
"Couldn't it have been a vampire that killed Filiz?" I asked, considering another possibility.
Berke shook his head. "Vampires don't kill like that. Their victims always have two bite marks. Besides, the note found on Filiz—it sounded more like it was meant for you."
I raised an eyebrow. "And how do you know that?"
"Because that's how wolves send warnings. Don't you get it? He's saying: 'Soon I'll come to offer you a place in my pack. If you refuse, you'll end up like her.'"
Cold fear rushed through me. "Whoever this alpha is, he knows Filiz was in our class. Do you think… the alpha is one of our classmates?" I asked nervously.
Berke shook his head. "I don't think so. In our class, it's just you and me who are wolves."
"Asya and Kübra are vampires. Do you think they might know the alpha?" I asked, fishing for more answers.
"You mean… if they know him, maybe they helped with the murder?"
I nodded. "Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
This murder, and the mystery behind it, was turning into a dangerous puzzle that desperately needed solving.