"Wake up, wake up, Penelope," her wolf urged from deep inside her mind.
Instantly, Penelope's eyes snapped open, the soft rays of morning light filtering through the curtains. She sat up, and the events of the previous night came flooding back in vivid detail.
I killed a man she said in disbelief as she looked at her hands.
Her eyes roaming her room she was surprised
*How did I get back here?* she thought to herself.
"Your brother, Anthony, brought you back home," came the steady reply from her wolf.
Penelope stood up in a daze. "Who... Who are you?" she asked aloud, confusion lacing her voice.
"I'm you," the wolf answered, its tone calm yet assured. "I'm your wolf."
"Look into the mirror," the wolf instructed.
Penelope turned toward the mirror, and for the first time, she truly saw herself. Her reflection looked clearer, more alive, and strangely... better. But before she could process it, her image shifted, morphing into the form of a wolf.
The was the same as the one she saw the previous day, black and beautiful with its eyes red just like her hair.
The shock was momentary, and Penelope quickly regained herself, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"I think I'll get used to this," she muttered, still staring at the wolf in the mirror.
"What should I call you, then?" she asked, a sense of curiosity rising within her.
"Potema," the wolf responded. "Call me Potema."
Just as she was absorbing the weight of this new reality, there was a knock on the door. A maid entered, bowing politely.
"Lord Alfred requests your presence in the dining room," she said, her voice soft and respectful.
Potema's voice echoed in her mind, filled with admiration. "Your father must be proud of you."
Penelope quickly dressed and made her way to the dining room. There, seated at the grand table, were her father, Lord Alfred, her mother, Lady Eleanor, her sister, Cressida, and her brother, Anthony.
"Oh, my dearest daughter," Lord Alfred greeted warmly, his face alight with pride. "Anthony told me all that happened yesterday."
Lady Eleanor, her tone clipped and disapproving as she spoke next. "She's a lady, a noble. She should not be fighting. It's uncouth."
Penelope felt her mother's cold gaze pierce through her. *How could she speak to me like that?*
"Why don't you act more like your sister?" Lady Eleanor continued, her sharp words aimed at Penelope, while Cressida shot her a venomous look.
"Don't listen to them," Lord Alfred said with a reassuring smile. "We should be thanking Penelope. She saved my life."
Anthony's voice rang out with gratitude. "I'm alive because of her," he said, his smile warm and sincere.
Cressida and Lady Eleanor exchanged sighs of disapproval but said nothing further, focusing instead on their food.
Penelope couldn't shake the unsettling feeling. Lady Eleanor had never given her the affection a mother should. *Does she even care for me?* Penelope wondered, the thought lingering uncomfortably in her mind.
"We shall have a party to celebrate your seventeenth birthday, Penelope," Lord Alfred announced a smile on his lips. "It will be a celebration of your wolf, of everything you've become."
Penelope nodded, but she caught the soft murmur in her father's voice as he leaned toward her. "Hopefully, you'll find your mate," he whispered, his words laced with a hidden hope.
Penelope smirked, feeling a flutter of excitement. "Mate," she thought, as she left the dining room to retreat to her own space. *I've never believed in the moon choosing a mate for me.*
In her mind, only one person filled her thoughts. *I am in love with Colin, and I choose him. Not the moon, not fate—just me.*
"That's not how it works," Potema's voice interjected, firm but gentle.
Penelope shrugged, undeterred. "I don't care," she whispered to herself. "As long as he doesn't have a mate and I don't have one, we can be together."
A soft giggle escaped her lips. "I just have to wait a week to confess my feelings," she mused, her heart racing with anticipation. *He'll be back on my birthday. And when he is... everything will change.*