Silvia's POV
I saw his eyes change colors, shifting from an intense metallic gray to a fiery, dangerous red. At first, I thought I was hallucinating, but then I saw it again, and my heart stopped.
"Are you telling me that my parents visited you, told you I had a fiancé, and you stupidly believed the people you barely knew, people you've never met, over your friends? Over me? You didn't even think to ask me or come to me and fight! You just got up and disappeared like a fucking ghost!"
His grip on my hand tightened ever so slightly, indicating the rise of his emotions. Rage flooded his gaze. At me. I didn't know how to process that. I wanted to tell him I deserved it, that I deserved his anger for leaving him the way I did. But my stubbornness wouldn't let me back down. Years of pent-up frustration and self-hatred twisted into anger that I projected onto him, onto this situation, onto everything involving him.
His face was chillingly cold, his voice disturbingly calm. I noticed his teeth elongating before my eyes, but my brain struggled to register this bizarre transformation.
"What was I supposed to do? Should I have asked you to leave your very impressive fiancé for someone like me?"
I raised my voice slightly, fear clawing at my throat, but I fought to keep calm. As calm as one could be with their blood boiling from fear and anger.
He released my hand, creating distance between us, his heated gaze unrelenting. Disappointment and fury pulsed from him, making the air between us thick. He rubbed a hand down his face in exasperation.
"So you ran like the coward that you are—like you did at the orphanage. Like you did at school. Who knows where you're running from now? Just like you did then, and what you want to do now." He spat in disgust, directing his venom at me.
His words sliced through me, sharp as daggers. My mind, like every other time, spiraled into chaos. Anger surged within me, and I felt something deep inside, a primal urge to fight back.
Then, I heard it before I felt it. A snap. Then another. Then another. It took me a moment to realize the sound was coming from me—my bones bending at odd angles. I cried out, but what escaped my lips was a long, chilling howl. What was happening? Fear gripped me, and blinding pain consumed me.
Just when I thought I might finally die, the pain stopped. Just like that, without warning. As suddenly as it came, it vanished.
I looked up at the man in front of me. He seemed to tower over me, his form shifting as if reality itself was distorting. I opened my mouth to speak, to ask him what was happening, but instead, a yip escaped my lips. My head pounded heavily, and confusion engulfed me.
I looked down at my hands... my paws? A coat of white fur shimmered in the light. It looked adorable, but the moment it registered that the paw was mine, panic surged through me.
"Xavier?" I tried to say, but another yip erupted instead, escalating my fear.
"Silvia?" His voice was filled with concern, and that only heightened my anxiety. I bolted, hitting him in my frenzied escape. I heard a thud, then I was free—running at full speed, searching for an exit. When I couldn't find one, I made my own by leaping through a window. The glass shattered around me, but I didn't care. I fled into the woods, heart racing, panic still clawing at my insides.
Heavy footsteps thundered behind me. That sound did nothing to calm my frayed nerves. My mind still buzzed with the remnants of my transformation.
**I am a beast.**
"No, you are not."
A voice echoed in my head, intensifying the pounding. What was happening? I tried to rub my temples to alleviate the pressure.
"You need to accept me. I'm using everything I have to keep you from exhausting yourself. You have to accept me, or I will fade away." The voice resonated with urgency.
Everyone behind me halted, but I paid them no mind, fully focused on the voice in my head.
"I am your wolf, Silvia."
"What? That's not possible. This isn't *Twilight*," I shot back, my disbelief palpable.
"We don't have time for formalities. You want to return to your human form, don't you?"
"Of course!" I gasped, caught in the throes of panic.
"I need you to accept me. They're planning to attack quickly."
"How do I do that?"
"Breathe in, stay calm, and accept me as your wolf, your first power."
Though thoroughly confused, I obeyed. I took a deep breath, and suddenly everything stilled. The symphony of the woods flooded my ears. I heard the rush of the river, the chirping of birds, even the rustle of insects living their small lives.
Everything felt so peaceful, like a classical piece composed by nature itself. For the first time in years, my mind cleared. I let the feeling wash over me—it was beautiful.
"Now, calmly imagine yourself back as a human," the voice instructed.
I did just that. Almost instantly, I felt my own two feet beneath me. My knees buckled, and just when I thought I would collapse, a strong breeze enveloped me, warm hands catching me, holding me up. Everything felt right again.
I smiled weakly at him. "I missed you, Zuzu."
And then, everything went dark.