For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/avq2e. Yeah, it's an asterisk. It's used to denote that there is a note relevant to the word it is attached to. It might say something like You have won a million dollars* *you haven't really It's basically an easy way of footnoting without having to format.
Arak is a generic term used for a variety of spirits found in Asia, particularly Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and some parts of India.
Aran is a wild wolfblood from Jana's pack and works for Jana's father, Alric as beta wolf. Jana may possibly has a crush on Aran, when eventhough at first, they don't trust each other very well. He was accused of stealing her art book and Jana discovered it wasn't him when one of the cubs fessed up.