Selene's POV –Growing Up Different
Growing up with Evan was like living with a shield I didn't always deserve but couldn't imagine life without. After Mom and Dad… well, after they were gone, he became my world. My protector, my teacher, my friend — sometimes all at once.
Our little house at the edge of the forest was quiet most days. The town was small; everyone knew everyone, and everyone had an opinion about who we were supposed to be. And for some reason, I never quite fit in. Maybe it was the way I noticed things others didn't — the subtle shift in the wind, a branch snapping too sharply, a shadow that lingered just a moment too long. Or maybe it was the way my senses felt sharper, my reactions faster. People whispered that I was odd. Strange. Weird.
I didn't mind Evan noticing it. He never treated me like I was broken. He just rolled his eyes when I froze mid-step, listening to a sound no one else could hear, or when I stared at some detail in the distance that later turned out to matter. He understood. And in that understanding, I felt safe.
"Sel, you're staring again," he'd say, and I'd laugh, trying to appear normal. "What now? Are you seeing ghosts in the backyard?"
I'd shake my head, forcing a smile. "Just thinking," I'd reply.
The truth was, Luna — the strange, intangible presence that had been with me as long as I could remember — nudged at me constantly. Her whispers were faint, like intuition made flesh, guiding me, warning me, keeping me alert. I never called her a wolf. I didn't even know what she was. I just knew she existed. And somehow, in Evan's quiet understanding, I could pretend she was normal.
Most kids at school avoided me. The quiet ones, the weird ones, were easy targets, and I was an easy one. They called me names, made fun of my odd habits, my sharp glances, my tendency to notice the unnoticed. I let it roll off, mostly. I had Evan. And I had Kaela.
Kaela didn't care that I was "different." She thrived in her own chaos, and somehow she made room for mine. She laughed at my obsessions, teased me when I froze to listen to the forest or focused too much on small details, and yet she accepted it all. With her, I could be… me. Not the weird girl the town whispered about. Just Selene.
Evan and I had grown up side by side, navigating the strange absence of our parents, learning to rely on each other. We shared everything — food, chores, secrets, small victories, and big fears. Sometimes I felt guilty for needing him so much, for leaning on him to keep the world at bay. But I couldn't help it. Without him, I would have been swallowed by the isolation, the quiet judgment of people who didn't understand.
I remember one summer afternoon — the forest behind our house thick and green, the sunlight scattered through the trees — I had followed some instinct I didn't understand, Luna nudging me to move, to listen, to notice. I had wandered too far and stumbled upon a fox den. Evan had been furious at first, his anger softening only when I laughed and explained what I had felt, what I had noticed. He didn't scold me for being "weird." He didn't call me reckless. He just… nodded. And I realized then that he had always known I was different. And that was enough.
Kaela, Evan, the quiet hum of Luna beneath the surface — they were my world. The town could whisper and point, but they didn't matter. The forest could call and pull, and I didn't yet understand why. The instinct that stirred inside me was confusing, almost frightening at times, but it was mine. And with Evan by my side, I felt like maybe I could handle it.
Even if I didn't know what it all meant.
Even if the world out there — the forest, the packs, the unseen dangers — was waiting for me in ways I couldn't yet imagine.
For now, though, I was just Selene. Just the girl who grew up with a brother who loved her fiercely, a best friend who accepted her completely, and a whispering presence she didn't yet understand. Just a girl who felt… different. And that difference was mine alone.