Chapter 2 BIRTHDAY CURSE

Dahlia's POV

Something was happening to me, but I couldn't figure it out yet. I mean, this wasn't my first time sneaking out at night to enjoy the fresh air-daytime air at Northmont feels like it's been filtered through a pack of aggressive werewolves and served with a side of judgment. But tonight? Tonight, the moon was brighter. Nosier. Like it had opinions about me. Great, now even space rocks are judging.

I sneaked back into my dorm room, silent as guilt, careful not to let anyone see me. I couldn't survive another round of cafeteria comedy at my expense. My jesters were probably already rehearsing new material. I sat quietly on my bed, clutching my blanket like a security pass to normalcy, trying to convince myself I hadn't just heard a voice. Or felt the moon's gaze. It was just stress. Hormones.

"Focus on something else," I told myself. "Think of... the time. Yeah. That's safe. Count the ticks. Pretend time cares."

I have never wanted a roommate the way I did tonight. Someone to talk to, or just breathe the same awkward air. But nope. Who would willingly share a room with the fat girl? Apparently, not even the housing office.

Eyes glued to the tiny wall clock, I watched it tick its way to midnight.

"Seventeen. Still fat. Still invisible. Happy birthday, Dahlia Reed," I muttered. Maybe I'd get a miracle metabolism or invisibility powers. Or better yet, a coma.

My eyelids surrendered to gravity, and just like that, I was gone.

Suddenly, a bright light, bright enough to make my eyelids panic filled the room or wherever I was l. When I finally cracked them open, I wasn't in my room. I was somewhere glowy and suspicious. A woman appeared like she'd been airbrushed out of a fairy tale. Her gown sparkled like someone weaponized glitter, and her eyeballs were... aggressively blue. I panicked. Of course I did. My heart was playing bongos against my ribs, but I still managed to sit up straight like I was meeting a school principal.

"Who are you, and where am I?" I asked, because apparently I'm polite when hallucinating.

"Welcome, Moon Blessed, your journey starts today."

"Wait. Moon what?" I almost laughed out loud but she vanished before I could roast her. Seriously? Moon Blessed? Wrong girl. I'm not even a wolf. I mean, I do look round like the moon, so maybe she was going for symbolism. Not cool, lady. Not cool.

"But guess what?" I shouted into the glowing void. "I can be round, but I'm definitely not related to a moon."

I walked forward because what else do you do in dreamscapes? And boom-suddenly I was in a creepy forest. Is this what seventeen comes with now? Magical kidnapping?

The trees were tall, dramatic, and suspicious. Their branches looked like claws. I was officially terrified. The fairy lady should've stayed. We could've panicked together.

I heard those voices again louder and clearly now, but there were too many words being spoken that I couldn't make a sentence out of them. Like ghostly surround sound. I spun around but saw nothing.

Then one voice cut through the noise:

"You are the Moon Blessed. You are the last one. You can lead or destroy."

My lungs freaked out. My heart did its best impersonation of a drumline. And then-bam. Light. And I was back in my room, soaked in sweat and questioning every decision that led me here.

It felt real. Too real. But it had to be a dream. Right? Because I can't be the last anything of a bloodline I didn't even know existed.

Dreams aren't real. My dad said that once. He also said silence was love and grief was private, so maybe I shouldn't quote him. I remember when Grandma died and I moved in with Dad and his high-gloss wife. I had another moon-themed dream then, too. A wide field. A glowing woman. Another weird name I forgot. Dad said it was just my imagination. Like everything else I cared about. He never really takes things seriously, everything was normal to him. He said I imagined that then, but did I? Of course, I didn't.

But I've never imagined anything like this. I've imagined answers. About my mom. About who she was, what she left behind. No one ever tells me. Not even Dad. He acts like she's a bad word.

I checked the time. Still too early to get dressed. I lay back and played my favourite game: "Which excuse gets me out of Biology class today?"

Ms. Hale. Ugh. Something about her gave me the ick. Maybe it was how she stared at me like she already knew something. Like she was waiting for me to explode.

But I couldn't skip her class. I wasn't about to flunk the one subject where I could kind of prove I wasn't completely useless. Biology-ironically-was the one class where I didn't feel like a total genetic disappointment.

Still... what kind of mother enrols her human daughter in a wolf school? A loving one? My stepmom did the most to get me accepted into Northmont High, where they only admit one human a year. Guess who the lucky fat girl was? Yay me.

A headache snatched me from my thoughts, or I would say snatched my thoughts from me. The pain hit fast. Like a lightning bolt to the brain. I clutched my head, rolling on the bed like some dramatic soap opera patient. I prayed for it to stop. Bargained with the universe. Promised never to skip dinner again. Swore off sugar. But all that was a lie. It kept on taking control of my head as it owned it.

Then, just as I thought my brain was going to eject itself-

> [SYSTEM ONLINE. USER IDENTIFIED: MOON‑BLESSED. STATUS: AWAKENING LOCKED POWERS...]

...And that's when I knew. My life had just gone from tragic to extra. Because what the fuck is that?