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Chapter 2: The Warning

Aïssata POV

Blood.

That’s the first thing I smelled when I opened the door to our cramped apartment. Not the usual scent of rice cooking on the stove or the faint soap my sister, Mariama, used to scrub the floors. Just blood. Metallic and raw.

My heart pounded as I called out, my voice trembling. “Mari? Mamadou? Where are you?”

“In here!” Mariama’s voice came from the tiny bedroom at the end of the hall, sharp and strained.

I dropped my bag and ran, skidding to a stop when I saw her kneeling on the floor beside Mamadou. My baby brother.

He looked so small, slumped against the edge of the bed, his face twisted in pain. Blood seeped through the rag Mariama pressed to his arm, and his shirt was torn, exposing a nasty scrape across his shoulder.

“What happened?” My voice cracked as I fell to my knees beside him. “Mamadou, talk to me!”

He winced, turning his head slightly. “It wasn’t... that bad. Just some wolf running through the market like he owned the place. Didn’t even stop when he knocked me over.”

Mariama’s dark eyes burned with anger. “Not bad? You’re bleeding all over the floor, and they didn’t even apologize! They think they can just do whatever they want because they’re wolves!”

I clenched my fists, fury bubbling beneath my skin. Of course, it had to be a werewolf. It was always a werewolf. They treated people like us—humans, the ones who weren’t part of their packs—like trash. We didn’t matter to them. Not in this town. Not ever.

“Did you see who it was?” I demanded, my voice trembling with barely contained rage.

“No.” Mamadou winced as Mariama adjusted the rag. “It happened so fast. He just... barreled through the crowd.”

I swallowed hard, trying to steady my breathing. This was why I couldn’t stand them. Wolves thought they were invincible, untouchable. They didn’t care about the destruction they left in their wake.

“Mari, go grab the first aid kit,” I said, keeping my voice steady.

She hesitated, glancing between me and Mamadou. “Are you sure you can handle this?”

“I’ve got him. Just go.”

She nodded and hurried out of the room, leaving me alone with my brother. I pressed my hand gently against his shoulder, trying not to let him see how much I was shaking.

“Mamadou, you have to be more careful,” I said softly. “You know how dangerous it is out there.”

“I didn’t do anything wrong, Aïssata,” he murmured, his voice breaking. “I was just trying to sell the carvings like you told me to.”

“I know.” My throat tightened. “I know, little one. It’s not your fault.”

But it didn’t stop the anger from simmering in my chest. The werewolves had taken so much from us already—our safety, our dignity, our peace. And now this? My little brother was bleeding on the floor because some arrogant wolf couldn’t be bothered to watch where he was going.

Mariama returned with the kit, and together we cleaned and bandaged Mamadou’s wounds. He tried to brush it off, laughing weakly about how he was tougher than he looked, but I could see the fear in his eyes. The wolves had made him feel small. Powerless. And I hated them for it.

Later that night, after Mamadou had fallen asleep and Mariama was busy cleaning up the mess, I sat on the balcony with a cold breeze brushing against my skin. My mind wandered back to the diner, to Koffi Mensah and the way he’d looked at me, like I was some kind of puzzle he needed to solve.

Why does she smell like… us?

The words echoed in my mind, sending a chill down my spine. What had he meant by that? I wasn’t like them. I couldn’t be. I’d spent my entire life staying as far away from their world as possible. But Koffi’s words had planted a seed of doubt I couldn’t shake.

Meanwhile, across town at the Mooncrest Packhouse, Koffi paced his office, his hands clenched into fists. The scent of Aïssata lingered in his mind, a maddening familiarity he couldn’t place.

“She’s just a human,” Adama said from where he leaned against the desk. “You’re overthinking this, Koffi.”

“She’s not just a human.” Koffi’s voice was low, dangerous. “There’s something about her. Something... different.”

Adama raised an eyebrow. “Different how?”

Koffi didn’t answer. Instead, he closed his eyes, trying to make sense of the storm inside his head. But when his eyes shut, the dream came rushing back to him—the woman cloaked in shadows, her voice like the wind whispering through the trees.

“If you reject her, your empire will fall.”

The words had burned themselves into his mind, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake the feeling that they were a warning. A prophecy. And Koffi Mensah didn’t ignore warnings.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of knocking—sharp, insistent, and far too early for my liking. Groaning, I pulled myself out of bed and shuffled to the door, my head still foggy from a restless night.

But when I opened the door, my blood ran cold.

There, pinned to the wood with a jagged nail, was a note. The paper was crumpled, the edges smeared with dirt, but the message was clear:

Stay out of their world, or you’ll pay the price.

I stared at the words, my heart pounding in my chest. My hands trembled as I reached out to pull the note free, my mind racing. Who had left it? Was it a wolf? A warning from Koffi or someone in his pack? Or was it someone else entirely?

My instincts screamed at me to slam the door, to lock myself inside and pretend I’d never seen it. But I couldn’t. This was my home. My family’s home. And whoever had left this note had just declared war.

I wasn’t going to back down. Not now. Not ever.

Across town, Souleymane Diabaté, the Alpha of the rival Silvercrest Pack, lounged in the corner booth of a high-end cafe, a sly grin tugging at his lips.

“She’s intriguing, isn’t she?” he said, swirling the wine in his glass.

Adama, seated across from him, scowled. “What do you want, Souleymane?”

“Oh, nothing much. Just a little... warning. Your Alpha should be careful. There are humans who could change everything. Humans like her.”

Adama’s jaw tightened, his mind racing. Souleymane’s words were as cryptic as ever, but there was no mistaking the threat beneath them.

Back at the apartment, I crumpled the note in my fist, my jaw set. Whoever thought they could intimidate me had another thing coming. I’d spent my whole life fighting to survive, and I wasn’t about to stop now.

But as I stood there, staring out at the city beyond the balcony, I couldn’t shake the feeling that my world was about to change forever.

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