It was an unusually quiet morning when Lisa had to leave early for training. She had a major event to prepare for, and although we normally walked to class together, that day I was left to head off alone. The campus air was crisp, the usual chatter of students filling the walkways as I made my way to my first lecture of the day. But even with the rising sun casting golden hues across Maryville's stone paths, I couldn't shake off a faint, gnawing feeling like eyes were pressing into my back.
After my classes ended and I began my walk back, that feeling intensified. It started slowly an awareness that someone was walking just a little too close behind me. I tried to tell myself it was nothing. Maryville was always busy, especially around lecture hours. But as I neared the junction that led toward the Large Lecture Theatre, I glanced over my shoulder.
He was there.
A guy. Not just any guy the same boy from my dream. The dream that had haunted me days ago, the one where he told me not to join the Millie-wolves. The one where he said I was chosen… where he told me I belonged to the White Wolves.
I froze. My breath caught. Was I dreaming again?
But he was flesh and blood, standing in broad daylight under the watchful gaze of the sun. He had an aura calm yet commanding. His presence wasn't exactly overwhelming, but something about him felt ancient, like he had lived lifetimes before this moment.
He approached me, a gentle smile tugging at his lips. "Hi," he said casually, as though we were old friends. I didn't reply immediately. Every instinct told me to keep walking, to avoid whatever this was. But curiosity held me still.
He nodded as if understanding my hesitation. "My name is Karle," he said. "We've met before… in a way."
The certainty in his voice sent chills down my spine. I still hadn't said anything, hadn't even confirmed who I was, but he wasn't waiting.
"You're Keisha," he added.
Keisha?
I blinked in confusion. "Excuse me?" I managed to say.
Karle's gaze softened. "You might not remember yet. That's okay. Everything will come in time."
Before I could even piece together what he meant, he launched into a strange story. At first, it sounded like a folktale one of those bedtime myths told to children in whispers. But as he spoke, each word carved itself into my memory like symbols being etched into stone.
"There are bloodlines hidden in plain sight," Karle said, his voice low but steady. "Not all humans are just human. Some carry ancient souls. Spirit-wolves. Shifters. Chosen ones. You, Keisha… Emerald… you are one of them. That name, Keisha, was yours in another time. But your soul hasn't changed."
My breath caught again. I hadn't told him my name, yet he called me Emerald just as easily as he had called me Keisha.
"This isn't coincidence," he continued. "You've seen the signs. The dreams. The growls in the night. The strange encounters. You are being awakened. You were born under the lunar eclipse. You are tied to the White Wolves by fate. A destiny no one not even Millicent can erase."
That name. Millicent.
Something inside me shifted at the mention of her. Everything began to swirl the night I saw those two strange figures fighting behind the bus, Lisa's warning, the way Millicent tried to lure me, the dream, and now Karle.
"You must be careful," Karle said. "The Millie-wolves aren't what they pretend to be. They call themselves guardians, but they are shadows. Black Wolves who lost their path. Their power is rooted in deception."
My lips parted, and I finally found my voice. "Why me?" I asked. "Why do I have to be part of any of this? I never asked for it. I just want to be normal."
"You were never meant to be normal," he said gently. "You were chosen not because you're perfect, but because your spirit remembers what others have forgotten. Your instincts, your heart they will guide you. But you must not align with the wrong pack. There's a war coming. And you have a role to play."
The word echoed again in my head: chosen.
Just like in the dream.
I stood there, struggling to believe that all this wasn't just another delusion. But the strange clarity in Karle's eyes his calm demeanor, the way he spoke with certainty it all felt too real to ignore.
And yet, nothing had really changed, had it? The sun was still out. Students passed by us on the path, laughing and chatting like their lives were untouched by destiny and ancient bloodlines. No one noticed that I had just been pulled into a world far deeper than school or roommates or college drama.
When Karle turned to leave, he left behind no contact information. No number. No instructions.
Only a warning:
"Stay away from the Millie-wolves. And remember who you are."
As I walked back to Flora Room, I couldn't stop the racing thoughts in my head. Lisa would be back soon. She needed to hear about this. But how would I even begin to explain it? How could I convince her that everything she'd once whispered to me all those years ago about being a chosen wolf was now happening to me too?
And more importantly…
What did being chosen truly mean?