When Hell Found Its Human

The wind tore across the hills with a mournful howl, dragging the scent of firewood and wet pine into the valley below. The woods whispered with something ancient, something untamed-something that still breathed beneath the surface of this quiet town.

At the edge of the forest stood a house made of dark timber and worn stone, its windows fogged from the warmth of the fire inside. A woman stood at the kitchen sink, sleeves rolled up, hands wet, her silver hair falling in gentle waves down her back like moonlight cascading through trees.

Talia.

She was human, at least in appearance-soft eyes, a heart-shaped face, and a quiet presence that could soothe the most violent storms. But beneath her gentle surface, her blood held centuries of secrets. She was a healer, though no one in the village dared say it aloud. They only whispered about how people who touched death often walked out of her house alive.

She hummed as she cleaned herbs-lavender, chamomile, devil's root.

Behind her, a shadow shifted.

"Don't burn the garlic again, Talia."

The voice was deep, rough, yet teasing. The man stepping into the light wore his age like a crown. Thick gray-black hair fell in shaggy locks past his ears, eyes the color of storm clouds. His arms were strong from years of hunting, but his smile-rare, fleeting-was for her alone.

Lucan.

He was no man. He was wolf-blooded. Once a full werewolf warrior, now something quieter, older-retired in the name of love and family. He still wore the scars of battles fought under blood moons, but only one had ever broken him.

The death of his first mate.

And the child she left behind.

Kain.

A full-blood wolf.

Lucan raised the boy with Talia, and though the child wasn't hers, she loved him as if he had come from her own body. Years later, she bore another son-Elias. Half wolf, half healer. A boy caught between fire and water.

The morning Elias turned sixteen, everything felt too loud.

He sat on the edge of his bed, shirtless, rubbing his temples as the sound of birdsong twisted in his ears like knives.

"Kain," he groaned, "You left the damn window open again."

"Nope. That was you."

Kain's voice came from across the room, laid-back and annoyingly chipper for six in the morning. He was shirtless too, scars etched across his chest like wild calligraphy. Full wolf strength, full wolf charm. But with Elias, he was more like a teasing older cousin than a brother. A stepbrother, to be exact-but blood didn't matter to either of them.

Kain was two classes ahead in school, tall, confident, never fazed. Where Elias was thoughtful, quiet, and full of emotion he couldn't yet explain, Kain was loud, blunt, and already halfway to manhood.

"You ready for school?" Kain asked, slinging a jacket over his shoulder. "New class, new chaos. You'll be fine."

"Easy for you to say. You're a goddamn legend in there."

"Damn right I am," Kain winked. "Just don't trip over your tail when you see the pretty ones."

Elias rolled his eyes, but his smile slipped through anyway.

Across the other side of town-no, not town. Far deeper, beyond where streetlights dared to shine-Nyxa opened her eyes.

The walls of her room flickered with the breath of blue fire, torches that never burned out. Her bed was stone, though it never felt cold. Her skin glowed faintly crimson under the dim light, runes swirling across her arms like whispers.

She stretched, and the shadows obeyed.

Her father's voice echoed from the throne room below.

"Today, you attend the mortal school."

Her jaw clenched.

The King of Demons was not a man of negotiation. His words were law. She had pleaded with him for a normal life, and this was his twisted compromise. One year. Among humans. To learn "restraint." As if she hadn't spent her whole life shackled by it.

"Wear something... human," he said before vanishing in smoke.

Nyxa stood in the mirror and let her long obsidian hair fall over her shoulders. Her red eyes dulled to dark brown. Her horns melted into her skull. The armor was replaced by a black hoodie and jeans. A mortal mask.

But she was still fire beneath it.

"Ready?" said a voice behind her.

Dareon. Her best friend. A demon boy with slick charm, silver tongue, and a grin that could undo kingdoms.

"Let's pretend to be normal," she sighed.

"Only if normal means scaring the life out of humans."

She didn't reply. She was already gone.

Ashgrove High sat between two cliffs, surrounded by forests that once howled with wolves and now hummed with cellphones. Students flooded in like birds-gossiping, laughing, alive with the illusion that life was safe. That magic was only in stories.

Elias stepped off the school bus, pulling his hoodie tight. He could feel the ache under his skin-the pull of the wolf inside. He hadn't fully transformed yet. That came with time, with age. With pain.

"Kain, you sure this is the right entrance?"

"Do I look like the welcoming committee?" Kain grinned and walked off toward his senior building.

Elias exhaled and headed to his class alone.

Nyxa stepped through the gate and stopped.

The world... dimmed. The air shifted. The human scent was overwhelming, like sugar laced with something rotten. She fought the urge to gag.

Dareon strolled beside her like a prince.

"Welcome to mediocrity," he whispered. "I give it three days before you kill someone."

"Four," she muttered.

Their classroom was on the third floor. Humans everywhere. She could see the fear in their faces, even though they didn't know what they feared. Her presence unsettled things.

Good.

She took her seat at the back of the class, Dareon beside her, chewing a toothpick like he owned the place.

And then-

The door opened.

Elias stepped in.

Late.

Hair tousled, black hoodie damp from the mist, eyes half-tired-but then he saw her.

And she saw him.

And the world held its breath.

It wasn't love. It wasn't hate. It was something older. Something buried deep in the blood. A whisper passed through her like ice down her spine. She blinked, confused. Why... why did he smell like-

"Sit down," the teacher barked.

He sat. One row from her. He didn't look again.

She did.

And felt her heartbeat thud, just once, like it was trying to remind her she was alive.

Dareon leaned in.

"That one?"

Nyxa didn't answer.

But her fire was already unraveling.

And Elias's wolf had begun to stir.