Episode 3

Today, I turn 19. That's right... nineteen, and my wolf still hasn't awakened.

I've spent entire nights begging the Moon Goddess. I pleaded, shouted, cried… but she never heard me.

For years, I lived alone in the forest. I hunted what I could, ate what I found. I found a cave where I could, at least, hide from the rain. Little by little, I dragged myself to nearby villages, and with a few handouts, I managed to make my shelter a little more habitable. Survival. That's all I knew.

At fifteen, I arrived in the village of Maladorm, where I got a humble job—serving tables and cleaning floors. The money was little, but it was enough to stay alive. Today, at nineteen, I still live in the forest. I built a small house, simple but comfortable enough just for me.

I am redheaded, thin, and 1.72m tall. My eyes are dark as the night, and freckles mark my face with sweetness. I am beautiful, I know. But sometimes, looking in the mirror hurts me. Because behind this beauty there is an emptiness that no one sees.

In recent days, the questions have returned to torment me: who am I? Where did I come from?

And today, seeing the son of the former Alpha pass through the village, the fear returned to suffocate me.

Without thinking twice, I started packing my things. Once again, running away.

Will I ever have peace?

Will I ever stop living as if I owed something to the world?

I come out of my thoughts when I hear knocking on the door. I walk slowly to it… and I come across Safira.

"Did you come to say goodbye?" I ask with a slight sarcasm.

"Actually, no. I came to go with you. I can't stand this city anymore. It will be good to start over. Can I go with you?"

"You know I have no direction, right?"

"I know. But I want to go with you, Melinda. Please. You know I have no one either." She puts her hands together and looks at me like a lost puppy.

"Okay... you can come with me."

She jumps into my arms, showers me with kisses, and thanks me like a happy child.

"Come on, it's time. We have to catch the bus to Maville."

We get on the bus, each with only a backpack and a few coins in our pockets.

We didn't know where we would live, let alone work. But, for the first time in my life, I felt... confident.

It was as if the simple name of that city—Maville—awakened something in me.

Something inside my soul whispered that there was my place. That, finally, I would find myself.

The trip was long. Hours and more hours on that tiring bus.

We stopped from time to time to go to the bathroom. We ate some cookies that Safira brought in her bag.

Looking out the window, I finally see the city surrounded by woods, with a large sign announcing:

"Welcome to Maville."

I see Safira next to me, excited.

I've never told anyone how we met... but the truth is she saved my life.

I was sixteen years old. Food was scarce, I ate, at most, once a week. My body ached from hunger and exhaustion.

And the marks that life left me... were too deep.

It had been exactly one year since I was raped.

And that trauma still consumed me like poison.

That night, I decided it would be the last.

I went to the woods, with a knife in my hands. I cut my wrists, and watched the blood run down my white skin. The vision began to darken...

That's when I saw Safira. She ran to me, even when I asked her to leave.

She ignored me, took care of me, took me to her house...

And since then, we have lived practically together.

Safira never asked me about my past. And out of respect, I never asked about hers either.

I learned something living like this:

Everyone carries scars.

We all have memories that hurt.

Memories that silence us.

"Melinda? Melinda, are you listening to me?" Safira shouts, pulling me back to reality.

"I'm sorry, I got lost in thought..."

"I'm going to ask where we can get a job and a place to live, okay?"

"Can you see if there's anything near the woods?"

"Sure. I'll be right back."

I watch the city. Maville is beautiful. It's not big, but it's surrounded by mountains and woods. The climate is dry, but pleasant.

I remember the stories I heard in childhood about a place like this—where supernatural beings and humans lived in peace. A welcoming place.

A tear runs down my face.

If a place like this has always existed... why did they abandon me? Why did they reject me as if I were a monster?

"Melinda!" Safira comes running, euphoric.

"I found it! A little place for us to live! And the guy said there are some bars needing waitresses. He's going to take us after showing us the house."

I smile at her innocent excitement.

"That's great, let's see."

We arrive at the house. Small, cozy. And the forest surrounds it as if protecting it.

I feel something in me calm down. A peace I haven't felt in a long time.

"Melinda, are you okay?" Safira approaches, wiping away with her finger a tear that rolled down without me noticing.

"I'm sorry... it's just that this house reminded me of something. But it doesn't matter. It's beautiful.

Sir, we'll take it."

"Okay," says the man. "Now let's see where you can work?"

I don't even know his name. I haven't paid attention to anything they've said so far.

All I can feel... is that I am where I should be.

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