---
The mirror was cracked. A jagged line split his reflection in two, mirroring the divide within him.
Alex stared at himself long after the transformation ended. His skin still carried the faint sheen of energy, and his eyes shimmered faintly in the low bathroom light. He touched the glass, his fingertips hovering over the split in his reflection. He didn't recognize the face looking back—not fully.
There were flashes again. Memories, but not his. Or maybe they were.
A forest drenched in fog. A pack running beside him. The cold sting of betrayal as claws slashed across his chest. And the burning fire of power as his eyes first turned red—the mark of an alpha.
He had been one.
Once.
Now, only fragments remained.
He stood in front of the mirror, gripping the sink, feeling that old power swirl beneath his skin. It responded to his thoughts, his fear, his anger. It was instinctual, raw—and waiting. He could summon claws with a thought now. He could hear the heartbeat of a bird outside his window, half a block away.
And yet… he felt hollow.
At school, things only got stranger. People looked at him differently, like something about him had shifted. He wasn't doing anything to attract attention, but still—they stared.
Scott McCall passed him in the hallway. Their eyes locked. Scott blinked, startled. He stopped, halfway turning as if to say something, but Alex kept walking.
There was something else now—an undercurrent in the air. A scent. Respect? Caution? Wolves could smell dominance, and Alex's scent had changed. He could feel it. Others could too.
In the gym, during a routine fitness test, Alex's strength surged uncontrollably. He shattered the pull-up bar without meaning to. The coach chalked it up to faulty equipment, but Alex knew better. So did Scott, who watched him from across the room with a calculating expression.
Later, as Alex changed in the locker room, he caught another glimpse of the mark on his wrist. It wasn't just glowing—it pulsed.
Something had awakened in him, something old. The instincts of a leader. The blood of a predator.
But he didn't want power. He wanted answers.
Still, when a group of upperclassmen cornered a younger kid behind the bleachers later that day, something in Alex snapped. He didn't hesitate. He didn't think.
He growled.
And they scattered like deer sensing a lion.
Alex stood alone after, shaking, chest heaving. He hadn't transformed. But he hadn't needed to.
It wasn't just instinct anymore. It was authority.
Alpha instincts.
And they were getting stronger.
---
Chapter 5: Beacon Hills High.