The Face in the Mirror

Grace shot straight up in her bed, her strawberry blonde hair clinging to her face from being drenched in a cold sweat. Her alarm was blaring next to her ear, she reached over and smacked it off, she was in a terrible mood. Grace had the same horrible nightmare every night for the last week, it was getting more vivid with each passing night. With a groan, Grace rolled out of bed and quickly got dressed to join her mother at breakfast before school.

"Good morning Gracie, did you sleep well?" Grace's mother Martha greeted her as she turned from the stove to greet Grace walking into the kitchen. "I am making chocolate chip pancakes, are you hungry?"

"Ravenous and you KNOW I hate it when you call me 'Gracie' Mother" was the grumbled response as Grace stumbled over to the fridge for some orange juice.

"I know, but you're still my little girl, it doesn't matter one bit that you're turning twelve in three days." Martha teased, waving the spatula like a wand. Grace was an exact copy of her mother, right down to the freckles on her nose.

"You don't have to remind me, I am counting down the days until I can finally stay up late as you promised," Grace said with a smirk.

"Yes, well, until then it's still in bed by nine, young lady" Martha said in a mock stern voice. "Eat quickly, you'll be late for school."

Checking her watch, Grace found that she had fifteen minutes to get to class. Quickly finishing her glass of orange juice, she rolled her pancakes up and bid her mother goodbye as she walked out the door to go to her first class. Three days until her birthday but it was a little difficult to be excited about it today because of the math test that she just knew she was going to bomb. There is also that dream that she can't shake off, it's just plain creepy having the same dream every night. Lost in her thoughts, Grace munched on her breakfast and didn't notice the shadow darting from tree to tree, trailing her every step of the way.

Looking at her watch again, Grace made a face and started to run. She only had three minutes to get in her seat or mean old Mr. Flowdrew, the homeroom teacher, would make her sit in the hallway and mark her as absent. The man seemed to revel in being the most hated man on the planet, even the other teachers had a hard time dealing with him. Grace just managed to sit as the bell rang, Mr. Flowdrew had a deeper scowl on his face than normal. Mr. Flowdrew was a man well into his forties with a close buzz cut that he tried to use to hide his premature balding, but failed.

"Starting tomorrow, ANYONE not in their seats one minute BEFORE the bell rings will be counted as ABSENT" Flowdrew barked, staring daggers right at Grace. "Open your books to page ninety-five, read to yourselves SILENTLY, there will be a TEST in twenty minutes covering the information up to page one hundred and ten."

Grace knew there wasn't any point in groaning or protesting, Mr. Flowdrew would just extend the covered material and let the time keep ticking, but she couldn't help herself this morning. "What has you in such a foul mood this morning and WHY do you always take it out on US?!" Grace demanded, standing up sharply and slamming her hands on her desk. Mr. Flowdrew had been her homeroom teacher since the beginning of the year, she had heard the stories of how awful he was but she was at her breaking point with his attitude. He seems to target her ALL the time and enough was enough. "Every day we are expected to walk on eggshells around you and FRANKLY I am tired of it. IF YOU HATE KIDS SO MUCH, WHY ARE YOU A TEACHER AT ALL?!"

A sharp collective of inhales from the rest of the class as they held their breath in anticipation as Mr. Flowdrew's slightly bloated face rapidly went from his normal shade of pinkish-red to a deep purplish-red of deep rage.

"You...PrinciPAL...NOW...GO..." Mr. Flowdrew sputtered almost incoherently accompanied with spittle.

"GLADLY!" Grace snarled, quickly gathering up her belongings and stomping towards the door. "You're the WORST TEACHER EVER, by the way, I hope you get FIRED!" Slamming the door behind her sent a booming echo down the empty halls. Grace had zero intentions of going to the principal's office or even hanging around the school, she walked straight out the front door into the cool autumn wind blowing the fallen leaves of yellow and red around her feet. Grace could hear voices calling her name as the door closed, she began sprinting as fast as she could away from the school, without a particular plan in mind. Grace knew she'd be in deep trouble as soon as her mother got word of the day's events, so going home was out of the question. Living in the small town of Kearney, Nebraska severely limited where Grace could go too, the people living in this town knew everyone and the chances of one of them calling her mother were super high. Lost in a whirl of thoughts, Grace looked up to find herself in her favorite haunt when she wanted to be alone.

"Hey daddy, I guess I'm visiting you today. Fat chance you'll rat me out" Grace said with fond sadness, looking at the ornamental marble headstone carved in the shape of a wolf howling at the moon. Ethan Wolfrik was killed on a hunting trip four years ago, Grace assumed he was given the unique grave marker because of his love for wolves. The man knew everything about wolves and collected little wolf figurines. Grace was devastated when she lost her father, somehow she also felt comforted when she was near his grave.

"I don't know what to do daddy, I just got so...ANGRY that I couldn't control myself. Mr. Flowdrew hates kids, I don't know why he would WANT to teach at all. It's not like teachers get paid the greatest. Unless he just likes to pick on poor defenseless children" Grace confided. A glint of silver caught her eye in the grass nearby as the sun broke free from the clouds once again. Curious, she walked over and picked up a hand mirror made of porcelain with little painted pink roses on it. "Weird, what's a mirror doing here?"

Looking into the mirror, Grace didn't see herself as expected, but her father just as she remembered him. "Daddy...?" Grace choked, looking all around in confusion. She stood in the cemetery alone and yet her father was in the mirror instead of her reflection. What was happening? Turning back to the mirror, her father was gone, it was just her own reflection in the mirror. Maybe she imagined it, with her emotions being so amped up right now. With a sniff, Grace decided to hang onto the mirror for reasons she didn't know and started to trudge her way home. Her mother would be there, waiting to discuss the day's events with the look of disappointment on her face. Grace didn't know if she would prefer her to scream or not, sometimes the disappointment seems worse. It's hard to get angry and scream your frustrations when all your mom does is look like somehow she failed you.

Getting closer to her house, Grace realized that the mirror in her hand would complicate the upcoming conversation with her mother, it was going to be difficult enough as it was. Frantic, Grace went to the side of the dull gray house and pulled a loose stone out just below the siding. The secret stashing place was built by her father and he would hide toys for her to find whenever he returned from one of his business trips. Grace didn't know if her mother knew about it or not, but it didn't matter. The mirror could be retrieved before Grace went to bed. Carefully, Grace placed the mirror inside the small space with the reflective surface facing inward and replaced the stone as far as she dared. Standing up and brushing herself off, Grace steeled herself for the inevitable as she marched inside.

As expected, her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, looking extremely disappointed. Martha was still as a statue, she motioned for Grace to join her at the table and resumed her stationary pose until Grace did so. "How was school?" Martha inquired.

"I wouldn't know, I walked out" Grace stated flatly.

"You could tell me about the school day to the point of when you left" Martha probed.

"Okay, I sat in my seat right as the bell was going off and Mr. Flowdrew decided that wasn't good enough, if we aren't in our seats one minute before the bell rings he'll mark us as absent. I went off on him because he is such a jerk and everyone hates him anyway. He sent me to the principal's office but I left instead" Grace sneered defiantly.

"And went to visit your father, no doubt" Martha added, rubbing her temples in frustration. "Listen, sweetheart, I think we need to talk about some things since you are getting to be about the age-"

"MOM! EWWW NO!" Grace shrank back mortified. Of all the things to discuss with her mother, THAT wasn't a conversation she was willing to have at this moment in time, or ever. Turning, Grace ran to her room just to get away from her mother. Slamming the door behind her, Grace heaved a sigh of exasperation as the tears began to stream unbidden down her cheeks. Throwing herself on the bed, Grace grabbed her favorite stuffed wolf and clutched it tightly to her chest as she always did whenever she was upset. The animal may just be a toy, but to Grace, it was a thing of comfort. The wolf was the last thing her father had given her, whenever she held it Grace felt like she could feel her father somehow.

Grace was running through the forest. Something was stalking her, she was certain of it. She caught herself on one of the massive trees, frantically looking for any sign of who or what was after her. Grace launched herself away from the tree, she didn't know where she was going, she just knew she had to keep moving. The forest gave way to a seaside cliff, floating above the crashing waves below was the ornate hand mirror Grace found earlier, the image of her father's face was twisted in fear and urgent shouting something silently at Grace. Slowing turning around, the forest was shrouded in darkness and golden yellow eyes glared at her and snarls could be heard all around. Turning back to the cliff, faceless men dressed in blood-stained leather armor and chainmail raised crossbows and let the bolts fly straight at Grace.

Shooting straight up, gasping for air, Grace looked around to find herself still in her room. The dream again, although the mirror was a new concept, it's the first time it had appeared in her dreams.

"Grace! Grace! Are you alright?" Martha burst in, concern written on her face. "What's wrong? What happened?"

Grace realized she must have screamed out loud, alerting her mother. "Nothing, nothing is wrong. I just had a nightmare, that's all." Shakily standing up, Grace walked to the window and stared out, thinking about her repetitive dream. Why was she being haunted like this?

Martha started to reach out to her daughter, then stopped herself. "Dinner is ready if you can stand to eat with this 'old lady'. You're grounded for your behavior today until the moon rises on your birthday, better pray for clear skies." Martha silently left Grace to her thoughts, she knew her mother was trying her best. Martha never once faltered in her devotion to raising her daughter the best that she could, even after she became a widowed single mother.

Grace knew she should be more thankful for everything her mother did for her, but these days she just felt so restless, like some primal force was driving all of her actions. It felt really good to stand up to Mr. Flowdrew, but Grace felt that she didn't have control over herself. It went deeper than just simple anger, but she couldn't name it. Tomorrow will bring a fresh wave of misery, Mr. Flowdrew will likely want revenge for the embarrassment he experienced. Grace smiled at the thought. No matter what tomorrow brings, it was worth giving the old man a piece of her mind. With a heavy sigh, Grace went to join her mother for dinner.

Grace sat up, the house had been quiet for a while. Looking at her alarm on the nightstand, Grace saw that it was one in the morning. As silently as she could, she slipped out of bed and crept downstairs towards the back door to retrieve the mirror. She opened the door slowly and the door let out a creaking groan. Grace froze, what if her mother heard the noise? Silence. Realizing she was holding her breath, Grace slowly let it out and slipped carefully out the door. Quickly, she pulled the brick out, retrieved the mirror, and replaced the brick. Hopeful to see her father in the mirror again, Grace raised the mirror and to look into it. There was the unmistakable sensation of hot breath on her neck, terrified Grace looked into the reflection. There was her white face from terror and standing behind her snarling was...

Spinning around and falling to the ground from shock, Grace was confronted by the vision in the mirror. Towering above her was a massive wolf with matted black hair snarling at her. The thing stood on two legs as if it were a  human and it looked angry and hungry. It took a step towards her and Grace tried to let out a scream but she blacked out instead.

Grace sat straight up in bed as her alarm continued the annoying electronic chirping. What happened last night? Was it all a dream? Grace felt something in her hand, looking down, she saw it was the mirror. If she had the mirror, does that mean it was real? If so, what was that thing? Surely it wasn't...but those things aren't real...Grace was losing her mind. What kind of sickness did she have that she hallucinated a werewolf?!

Hiding the mirror in between her shirts neatly folded in the dresser and quickly getting dressed, Grace raced down to the kitchen, expecting to find her mother cooking breakfast. The room was deserted, a note was left on the fridge. It said: 'Grace, sorry to leave you without hot food today, but I got an emergency call from work. Don't be late for school and remember you're grounded. Love you lots, Mom'.

Grace took the note off the fridge, wrote 'OK, love you too', and put it back on the fridge for her mother to find. It wasn't unusual for her mom to be called away for emergencies at work, it was typically about 3 days a month. With a sigh, Grace made herself some buttered toast with honey and munched on it as she walked to school. Glancing at her watch, Grace found she had made it to school in record time, she was thirty minutes early. She decided to wander into the library and after mindlessly wandering for a few minutes found her mind drifting to the mirror and the hallucination from the night before. Grace found herself looking up information about the mirror, it seemed to be from the region of Germany in the eighteenth century but any personal information about the mirror was still shrouded in mystery. Still, it was cool to know that she had a small piece of history hidden away in her dresser drawer. Grace went to her locker to prepare for class and found the principal Ms. Asung standing in front of it with her arms folded in front of her waiting. Standing only four feet tall, Ms. Asung was surprisingly intimidating and commanded attention well. The other students knew she was there for Grace and still skirted around the woman because they could feel her cool wrath that emanated from her being.

"How nice of you to rejoin us today miss Wolfrik, perhaps you'd care to join me in my office? NOW?" Ms. Asung's tone suggested that the questions were more of a command, Grace simply nodded silently and followed the principal to her office. The door swung open to reveal Mr. Flowdrew was sitting smugly in the office already, a mug of presumably coffee in hand. "Wipe that smile OFF your face, Jasper. You're on thin ice as well you know." Flowdrew's usual scowl like he had just swallowed rotten eggs returned to his visage harder than before. "I presume you both know WHY you are here and not in class."

"Actually no, I don't. Why don't you ENLIGHTEN me?" sneered Flowdrew. He seemed to instantly regret this decision however, he squirmed slightly and looked down as Ms. Asung glared at him with a fierce gaze that could have competed with Medusa.

"YOU are HERE this morning because of the ATROCIOUS display of behavior yesterday. You both played parts in that, and I WILL NOT ALLOW either of you to sully this school's reputation. IS THAT CLEAR?" Ms. Asung boomed, looking between Grace and Mr. Flowdrew.

Grace nodded silently, looking at the floor in remorse. She knew that she would be in trouble, but this was worse than anything she had imagined. "Yes ma'am" Grace uttered.

Ms. Asung turned her full attention to Mr. Flowdrew, who was silently fighting with himself. "Yes, crystal clear" he spat through clenched teeth.

"Get to class Jasper. WE will discuss things privately AFTER the students have left. Miss Wolfrik will remain here for the day" Ms. Asung stated in a flat tone.

Clearly dismissed, Mr. Flowdrew stood and abruptly stomped out of the office. The door was closed a bit harder than was necessary. "That man is an absolute nuisance, I can hardly fault you for barking back yesterday, Grace." Ms. Asung was a lot calmer now, not quite her normal bubbly self but not seething in rage anymore either. "However, it is still against school policies for students to disrespect staff or to leave the property, as you have done both, disciplinary actions are required. You are to sit in my company all day, enjoy tea and relax as you think about how much worry you caused people with your actions. When you return to class tomorrow, you are to tell anyone who asked that you endured a punishment so bleak that you can't speak of it or you will be in serious trouble. Understood?"

Grace blinked in surprise, confused by the sudden change in the principal. "Umm..drink tea with you here and reflect on my actions, is that all that my punishment is?"

"Think of it more as a day for yourself, to gather your wits and center yourself to prevent such disturbances from happening in the future. The part about this experience being bleak is to make sure no other students act out to get a day out of class or you and any offenders will be writing sentences on the blackboard until you all have written at least five hundred lines." Ms. Asung took her seat behind the desk for the first time since entering the office and produced a porcelain tea with red flowers and gold trim, reminiscent of the mirror Grace had found. "It's an antique from Germany I am told, pretty isn't it?"

Pouring the milk tea into matching cups, Grace found herself having a delightful time in the company of the principal. Grace found it was extremely easy to confide in Ms. Asung but still refrained from telling her about her dreams or the mirror. The principal walked Grace to the door and bid her a safe walk home with a reminder about the severe punishment if she let slip the easy day she had.

"How was school, Grace?" Martha asked at the dinner table that evening. The table was set with a delicious and hearty beef stew, freshly baked bread, and honey butter.

"I got to school early and Ms. Asung was waiting for me by my locker. We went to her office, Mr. Flowdrew was there and he got chewed out for being smug, and I spent the entire day drinking tea and talking to her. I'm supposed to tell anyone who asks that I was writing lines all day. So a good day, tomorrow will probably be terrible though because I am supposed to go back to class." Grace took a big bite of bread and stew, sighing in content over the taste of the honey butter melting into the stew.

"Ms. Asung sorted that man out then, good. I'm glad I reached out to her on this matter, I need my daughter safe and that man is the biggest menace to your education since the start of the year" Martha growled. "I have to go out this evening, I expect to be out late so I suggest you finish eating and turn in early, tomorrow is a big day for you." With that, Martha rinsed her dishes in the sink and walked out the back door.

Grace finished her supper, washed the dishes, and flopped on the bed, staring at the ceiling. What was the big deal about turning twelve anyway? It was just another year older. Turning her towards her dresser, Grace noticed an odd light coming from her drawer with the mirror inside. Despite her fear, Grace felt drawn towards the silvery-white light and opened the drawer. The light vanished instantly, picking up the mirror Grace found herself staring at her father once more. Ethan was trying to say something but issued no sounds from his side of the looking glass and Grace couldn't figure out what he was trying to say.

Turning around, Grace found herself back on the cliff's edge staring into the dark forest with the golden eyes winking among the trees. Hearing the chain mail and hard thunks of bolts being loaded, Grace braced herself and held her breath. One...Two...Three! Grace dropped like a stone to the ground as the crossbow bolts whizzed over her head. Between the Beasts and the men, Grace decided to take her chances with the forest and launched herself into the darkness, running as fast as she could. Over her ragged breathing, Grace could hear the snarling and panting from the creatures growing closer and closer. She felt the hot and sticky puff of air when she looked over her shoulder into the golden eyes of the great silver wolf as it opened its jaws wide to swallow her whole.

Grace sprang from the bed like it was on fire and looked around wildly expecting to see the wolf crouched to lunge somewhere in the room. It was that dream again of course, but it was too realistic. Sunlight streamed through her bedroom window, birds chirped merrily outside. With a sigh, Grace checked her alarm and found she was awake an hour before it was set to go off. Quickly showering and getting dressed, Grace wandered down into the kitchen where she found her weary mother had made her a special breakfast.

"Happy birthday my dear Gracie, I hope you're hungry," Martha said without turning around from flipping a pancake. "In honor of you, I've made chocolate chip pancakes and put out the chocolate syrup for you, scrambled eggs, hashbrowns, and bacon. Enjoy." Martha deposited the heaping plate in front of Grace. "I am a little surprised to find you're awake at six-thirty in the morning, but it does save me the trouble of waking you up."

Grace slowly ate her meal, enjoying each bite to the fullest. Only on special occasions was she allowed to use chocolate syrup on her pancakes. After finishing, she started off to school for another day of misery. Upon arriving at school, Grace realized there was an excited tone in the student's voices. Collecting her books from her locker, Grace slipped into the classroom and took her seat. Standing in front of the blackboard was a younger man in his late twenties with slicked-back dark brown hair and dressed in a casual business suit.

"Welcome to today, class, my name is Adrian Lunasine, I will be your teacher for the remainder of the year. I don't know what happened with your previous teacher, but let's try to focus on the mysteries of school lessons, shall we? While not nearly as interesting, the answers are easier to find at any rate." Laughter followed his introduction and he started teaching the lessons for the day.

School flew by quickly for once, which was a radical change from the normal day. Maybe it was because Mr. Lunasine made the work fun, as a bonus there wasn't any homework to be done and any homework Mr. Flowdrew had given was thrown out, extra credit if you did it but it wasn't required.

Grace skipped merrily home, imagining the cake that would be waiting for her on the table. Bursting through the door, she found a two-tier cake waiting for her. The bottom layer looked like it was rich chocolate, the top was green like grass and it was topped with a wolf figurine in a howling position.

"No cake until after dinner, you know that" Grace almost jumped out of her skin in shock as Martha appeared from the shadowy living room, holding a box of candles in one hand and wooden matches in the other. "How was school?"

"It was great since we got a new teacher. Mr. Lunasine is way better than Mr. Flowdrew, but no one knows what happened to Mr. Flowdrew either" Grace responded. "No one cares either."

After having a delicious meal of pork chops, macaroni, and extra cheese, and broccoli smothered in liquid cheese, Grace and Martha each enjoyed a slice of the extravagant German chocolate cake and a hearty scoop of strawberry ripple ice cream.

"There is something we need to talk about Grace," Martha began. "You see-"

BANG! BANG! BANG! There was a tremendous pounding at the door followed by the drunken rantings of Mr. Flowdrew. "GRACE WOLFRIK!" He bellowed from the porch. "YOU COST ME MY JOB GIRL, GET OUT HERE AND FACE ME! GET OUT HERE AND DO SOMETHING!! YOU OWE ME AN APOLOGY AT THE VERY LEAST!!!"

Grace looked at her mother in alarm and grew even more frightened. Her mother was shaking from rage but there was something animalistic in her stare as she slowly rose from her chair and moved to the door as Mr. Flowdrew continued his loud drunken tirade until Martha flung open the door with an exploding crash as it embedded into the wall. "Shut your prattling mouth little man!" Martha growled gutturally in a deeper voice than usual. "Give me a reason not to rip your throat out and leave you so tattered you can't be identified by any means."

"Y-y-your daughter cost me my job and n-n-now you INTIMIDATE m-m-me?" Mr. Flowdrew whimpered, failing miserably at his attempts of bravado. From the window, Grace could see he was quaking in fear. "I should c-c-c-call the p-p-p-police for this-"

Mr. Flowdrew didn't get to finish his thought, a shadow ripped him from where he stood and disappeared into the shadows without a sound. A few moments later, Martha stumbled back inside, blood dripping from her mouth and covering most of her shirt. "Hmm...lost control," Martha said indifferently. Flicking her gaze to grace, she half-smiled "No one threatens my daughter and gets away with it. Happy Turning Day, this is a less than ideal way for you to find out the family secret, but there it is."

Grace stared at her mother mortified. "Did you...KILL...?"

"Yes," Martha said flatly. "To be fair, I did warn him though"

Her mind was screaming at her, her mother was a monster. But Grace's mind kept returning to that thing she said..."Happy Turning Day? Family secret? What do you mean?"

With a sigh, Martha sank back into her chair. "We're lycanthropes dear, also known as werewolves. Your father, rest his soul, was a member of the Silver Arrow Order, a secret society that hunted our kind. A bit of a family business itself, every member is related by blood or marriage. Your father was to hunt me, which he did, caught me in a trap and stood over me fully prepared to execute me. I was prepared to die at his hand, if he was expecting me to beg he was disappointed. I was surprised when he released me, told me to run. I did but I stalked him for a full 3 months from the shadows. After watching him mercilessly kill three of our kind, I pinned him and demanded to know why he hunted us. He told me of his order, how he was given targets and was expected to kill them. I asked why he let me go then, he answered that he couldn't bring himself to kill a woman as beautiful as me, even if I was a monster. We eloped shortly after that, I hunted only animals on the full moons and we lost your poor father to one of his Order. He died protecting us, but not before he wiped out a third of the men they sent. Turning Day is the first day that a wolf turns, the first full moon of their twelfth birthday."

Grace's mind whirled with this new information, half afraid to ask but it came anyway "How do you know how dad died?"

"I had followed him, he received a letter challenging him and despite my protests, he went anyway. We fought the Order together when it became clear that they wanted him disposed of and me dead. They knew nothing of you, after your father fell and I had wiped out all but two of the remaining men, they surrendered. They begged for mercy, I granted it out of respect for your father. I sent them back to the Order with a message stating that I would massacre the rest of them if they ever bothered me again. I still see their members here, spying on us so they are aware of you now and my deeds this night, but I don't believe they will make trouble" Martha sighed. "Now you know the whole truth."

Grace pondered what her mother had said then asked "what about the mirror I found? And the dreams I have been having?" Grace explained everything to her mother and at her request retrieved the mirror.

"This was your father's mirror, one of the Order must have dropped it. As far as the dreams go, I assume they are the result of Lycanthropy blood mixing with Order blood. Every wolf has dreams leading up to their first turning, usually not as dramatic as yours though." Martha looked into the mirror and only saw her reflection. "It's yours now, do with it as you will tomorrow. Tonight we run free under the glorious moon together, I will need to teach you how to hunt animals." A light of excitement crept into Martha's eyes in anticipation of the upcoming hunt.

A shiver ran through Grace's body, she felt frozen. Her head jerked back so she was staring straight at the ceiling, the shiver became a violent shaking. She could feel the hair growing at an accelerated rate all over her body, she could feel her teeth and nails extending on their own. The sensation of tingling was all that Grace could feel and when she could move again, she slowly looked down to find the massive wolf from yesterday smiling at her. Looking at herself, Grace found her fur was pure white like freshly fallen snow.

"Legend among our people say that our fur reflects our nature. Most newly turned fur is gray or silver, becoming darker over time with the deaths of Men. Yours is the first that I have seen that was so pure. My fur started ash-colored. With each life I was forced to take, it became darker and darker. Promise me you'll stay pure Gracie, if the legend proves true you'll be the first to achieve it" Martha proclaimed proudly.

Grace couldn't speak, she was too overcome with emotion. Throwing her head back, she howled her frustrations and with her mother took off into the night. After that night, Grace's life was filled with balancing her animalistic nature and her human side. Martha taught Grace as much as she could, about the Wolf and the everyday life lessons as well. Grace noticed Order members lurking about the graveyard where she frequently visited her father with the mirror in hand. When Grace looked into it while leaning against his headstone, Ethan appeared every time with a broad smile on his face. In the following years, Grace was quietly married and bore two children who carried the wolf blood, teaching them as her mother had taught her. The Silver Arrow Order disappeared without any trace, Grace's fur remained the pure white it was on her Turning Day throughout her life.