Chapter 29: The Mark Beneath Her Skin

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Mark Beneath Her Skin

The next few hours were a blur of frantic research and mounting frustration. The two of them had migrated from the bedroom to the small sitting area, the coffee table buried under a mountain of tablets, laptops, and open notebooks.

The small living room right now, looked less like a student apartment and more like the headquarters of two amateur investigators determined to solve an impossible mystery.

Zoey had claimed one end of the sofa with her laptop balanced across her knees, while Iris sat cross-legged on the rug, another laptop open in front of her. A tablet lay abandoned beside her after producing nothing useful, and three empty mugs occupied the coffee table, evidence of coffee that had long since gone cold.

Sunlight streamed through the window, inching steadily across the hardwood floor as the afternoon wore on.

The only sounds in the apartment were the rapid tapping of keyboards and the occasional frustrated sigh.

"I refuse to believe the internet has failed me," Zoey muttered.

"You say that every ten minutes."

"Because every ten minutes I become more offended." She frowned at her screen before reading aloud.

"’Top ten wolf tattoo designs for women.’" She clicked her tongue. "Not helpful."

A few more clicks.

"’How to remove permanent tattoos naturally.’" She made a face. "Lemon juice? Baking soda? Who writes these articles?"

Iris smiled faintly without lifting her eyes from her own screen. "What did you search?"

Zoey looked almost offended by the question. "What didn’t I search?"

She turned the laptop around dramatically. "I’ve tried ’black wolf symbol appearing overnight.’ ’Mysterious animal birthmarks.’ ’Ancient wolf insignias.’ ’Occult symbols.’ and even ’rare skin diseases that looks like animals.’"

She rubbed both temples. "And somehow the internet keeps trying to sell me tattoo appointments." Zoey groaned, flopping back onto the sofa.

A quiet laugh escaped Iris, but It lasted only a second before she sighed. "I’ve not found anything either."

"What are you reading now?"

"A medical journal."

"And?"

"It says sudden pigmentation changes can happen because of hormonal disorders."

Zoey leaned forward. "Does it mention wolves?"

"No."

"Then next."

Iris sighed. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, her black dress replaced by an oversized t-shirt that left her neck exposed. She had been staring at the same page of a digital encyclopedia for twenty minutes, but the words were blurring together.

The warmth in her neck had settled into a steady, low-grade thrum, a rhythmic pulse that seemed to sync with her heartbeat.

"Maybe it’s not a symbol," Iris mused, her voice distant. "Maybe it’s... a mark. Like a brand."

Zoey sat up, her interest piqued. "A brand? Like livestock? Who would brand you with a wolf? And when would they have done it? You haven’t been to any weird underground clubs or joined any secret societies lately in the last twenty four hours, have you?"

Iris looked at her, a flicker of amusement crossing her face. "My idea of a secret society is the group chat where we complain about the business administration department. I don’t think I’m a member of the Illuminati, Zoey."

"Right. Right. Just covering the bases," Zoey said, rubbing her temples. "But think about the timing. You’re about to enter your final semester. You’re stressed. You’re exhausted. Plus the issue with Vanessa and Jason. Could it be some kind of psychosomatic manifestation? I read somewhere that extreme stress can cause physical changes in the body."

"Psychosomatic manifestations don’t create anatomically correct wolves, Zoey," Iris replied, her tone flat. "I’m a realist. This is... this is something else. Something that doesn’t follow the rules."

"The only things that I can think about are the movies." Zoey said.

"What movies?

"Twilight, Vampire diaries, The underworld, you know.....the movies that actually have something to do with Lycanthropy." Zoey pointed out.

"Lycanthropy? But Zoey, that’s science fiction. Werewolves are not real. We’re in Seattle, where exactly are you going to see werewolves on Seattle?" Iris asked her, shooting down the idea of werewolves.

"Fine then, since you weren’t bitten by anything, and you didn’t get a tattoo, how are we going to explain the mysterious wolf tattoo on your neck?"

Iris said nothing. Instead, she reached up and touched the mark again. The moment her skin made contact, the sensation returned—not just the image of the forest, but a feeling.

A feeling of immense power, of a wild, untamed hunger, and a fierce loyalty and need that made her chest ache. It was an emotion so potent it felt like it was overriding her own personality.

She gasped, her body jerking backward.

"Again?" Zoey asked, leaping to her feet. "What did you see this time?"

"I didn’t just see," Iris panted, her eyes wide and pupils dilated. "I felt... I felt like I was running. Not like a human running, but... faster. The wind was screaming in my ears, and the scent of pine and cold earth was everywhere. It was so real, Zoey. I could feel the muscles in my legs bunching, the power of the leap... it was exhilarating."

Zoey stared at her, her expression a mix of awe and terror. "Okay, this is officially beyond the scope of a dermatologist. You’re not just having visions; you’re having sensory echoes."

"What does that even mean?" Iris asked, her voice trembling.

"It means," Zoey said, her voice slow and deliberate, "that whatever that mark is, it’s not just a picture. It’s a connection. You’re connected to... whatever that wolf is."

"Pls stop saying wolf." Iris begged her, bringing her head between her knees. For a few seconds she said nothing, then she raised her head and looked to Zoey.

"Am not turning into a wolf am I?" Iris asked her.

"Relax Iris, don’t scare Yourself. You said it yourself..... werewolves don’t exist."

Iris looked down at her hands. They were shaking, but not with fear. There was a strange electricity humming beneath her skin, a restlessness that made her want to tear the room apart, to run until her lungs burned, to escape the confines of the dorm and the weight of the city.

"I don’t want this," Iris whispered, a tear tracing a path down her cheek. "I just wanted to finish my degree. I just wanted to find a decent internship. I don’t want to be... connected to a wolf."

Zoey stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Iris, pulling her into a tight hug. "I know. I know it’s terrifying. But look at it this way—at least you’ll never have to worry about your portfolio being boring. ’Businesss admin Student with Spontaneous Lycanthropic Tendencies’ is a hell of a cover letter."

Iris let out a sob that turned into a laugh, a jagged, emotional sound. "You’re an idiot."

"Yeah, but I’m the idiot that’s a computer genius, the one with the phone and the Google skills," Zoey replied, pulling back to look at her. "We’re going to figure this out, Iris. Whether it’s magic, science, or some weird glitch in the universe, we’ll find the answer. I promise."

As they sat there in the fading light of the afternoon, the room grew quiet. The shadow of the window frame stretched across the floor like a long, dark finger. Outside, the city continued its relentless roar, oblivious to the girl in the dorm room who carried a wild, ancient secret on her skin.

Iris leaned her head on Zoey’s shoulder, her gaze drifting back to the mirror. In the dim light, the wolf seemed to watch her, its black eye glimmering with a hidden intelligence. She didn’t know where it had come from, or what it wanted from her, but as the pulse in her neck grew stronger, she felt a strange, terrifying sense of belonging.

For the first time in years, the anxiety about the future, the internships, and the expectations of others felt small. They were whispers compared to the roar that was beginning to wake up inside her.

"Zoey?" Iris whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think... do you think I should not try to go home tomorrow?"

Zoey looked at the mark, then back at Iris’s determined eyes. "I think you should. But maybe... maybe pack some extra-strength cloths that don’t rip easily."

"Why is that?" Iris asked curious.

"Incase you have the urge to howl at the moon, in the middle of the night." Zoey said and Iris playfully hit Zoey on the shoulder and she burst out laughing.

"I hate you.."