Never the Lone Moon

Chapter-3

Norri

Harvey, stay closer!” I yelled.

“Miss ELENOR, you have to go inside right this moment,” Harvey said.

But I couldn’t move my feet; it felt like they were planted to the ground. The wolf was staring at us. Harvey didn’t move either.

“You need to stop,” he said.

It was still growling but hadn’t taken a step. It looked at me and came at me all at once. I was thrown to the ground, and Harvey flew to the side of the house.

I was on the ground while it was staring at me with its mouth open. In that moment, all I could think was that I was going to be with my family soon.

I closed my eyes and heard another growl. It felt like there were so many of them, like a pack. All of a sudden, I heard another growl, but this time with a groan. I opened my eyes and saw a pack of wolves, with the one that attacked me in the middle of them.

A wolf with green eyes stared at Harvey and me. I slowly stood up and watched the wolf that attacked me turn into a guy, a real human among the wolves.

“What the—” I started screaming, and all the wolves turned towards me.

“Is that a human? How did he turn?”

The wolf looked at Harvey, and he started running towards me.

“Miss, I need you to get in, right now.”

I wanted to refuse, but if I did, I would have a lot to regret later.

“But that guy—”

“Your uncle will explain everything. Now get in.”

As I got in, I watched all of the wolves rush into the woods again, with that unconscious human on their backs.

We were in the living room and dropped onto the couch, trying to figure out what the hell I had just witnessed. I was in shock, and I couldn’t say a word. I had millions of questions, but every time I asked Harvey, he said only one thing: Alaric would explain everything. And when I asked him where he was, he would say he would get home in the morning.

A few days ago, I was just a seventeen-year-old teenager, and now I was homeless and had a revenge to take. Now I had seen something that would beat even what I saw in my house.

I was wide awake on the couch, watching the ceiling and replaying the scenes of how the ashes drifted at my house and how a wolf turned into a human. At some point, I thought I was losing my mind.

I watched the sun slowly start rising. Harvey was nowhere to be seen, and I was still on the couch when I heard the doorbell ring. I ran to the front door and watched Harvey open the door for Alaric.

I rushed to Alaric.

“There were wolves here last night and har—”

He cut me off.

“I need to rest. Don’t badger me now.”

“Did you not hear what I just said?” I said

“YES, I HEARD WHAT YOU JUST SAID, AND I SAW WHAT YOU WERE DOING,” he started yelling at me all at once. “And what I couldn’t figure out is what you were doing in the backyard at that hour.”

I took a step back when he was about to crumble to the floor. Harvey caught him and tried to steady him.

“Oh my god, you’re bleeding?” I said.

He glared at me. “Look, I need to rest, so shut up and go find something to do instead of torturing me.”

Harvey walked him to his room, and I was left all alone once again. All I could think about was how he got hurt and why he was yelling at me, and if he was there, why couldn’t he save Harvey and me last night?

Coward and cold-hearted.

-----------------

I was walking on the side of the road; this town looked magnificent. The more I stayed here, the more I fell in love with it.

“You look new here.”

I turned when I heard someone behind me.

There was a guy, his brunette hair flying and brushing against the air, his blue eyes visible from afar, and he was smiling.

Damn, that smile.

He held out his hand, and I was looking at him like a creepy stalker.

“Oh, I am Norrie. Yes, I am, visiting my uncle.”

“I am Lucas,” he said, and even his voice sounded intriguing.

We were walking down the street; he was describing his town and where I could find anything and everything possible.

“Ahh, this is my favourite place. They make way too good cheeseburgers here. You should try one,” Lucas said.

“Maybe we should, right now,” he said, looking at me.

“Yes, we should,” I nodded.

We went in, and just when we ordered, I got a call from Harvey, but I didn’t answer. I turned it off and put it in my pocket.

Lucas must have seen me frown, but he didn’t ask anything. I was scared that he would ask about where I lived and the stuff about my life, but he didn’t ask that either. We just talked about this town and what kind of things happened in this town.

“Where do you live?” I asked him.

He looked up.

“Just around the corner of Twelfth Avenue.”

“Oh, I don’t know much about this town; I just got here,” I said.

“You should visit my house because the sunsets there are really awesome, and we have this family camping spot right in our backyard, up in the woods.”

“Sounds fun,” I said.

“It’s about to be four p.m. Why don’t you?” he asked.

I hesitated for a while because you shouldn’t go to some stranger’s house, but what did I have to lose?

“Yeah, sure, why not?”

“Don’t worry, I am not a serial killer.” He smiled.

“That’s what all the criminals would say, by the way.” I smiled.

We finished our burgers and made our way to his house. All the streets looked similar but different in their own way. We talked about his family while we were walking to his house. He had a sister, and his parents were the ones who owned a car company here.

We stopped right in front of the house, and we didn’t go in. Instead, he led us to the back, to the woods, where there were stairs. We heard some noises as we got closer.

There was the backyard he was talking about, but it wasn’t empty; there were people.

He got alert when he saw them.

“Maybe we should come some other t—”

Someone from the backyard cut him off.

“Lucien? Is that the girl?” he asked.

“No, she was just—”

He cut him off again.

“Well, well, Williams. Look what we have here.”

All the other guys, gathered around when he yelled for Williams.

The other man turned to Lucas.

“What are you doing with her?”

His face was stern, and he looked mad.

“Lucien, bring her in.”

A girl showed up, smiling like she had seen a puppy, yet her eyes looked concerned.

“No, she was just leaving.” Lucas looked at me.

I didn’t know what to do.

“Yes, I am.”

But that girl came down and grabbed my arm.

“No, you are not.”

She looked up when the shadow appeared out of nowhere, and when I looked up, I flinched and almost fell down the stairs.

I looked back and forth between Lucas and the others. They seemed terrified but didn’t seem bothered by the big wolf standing on the roof.

“Looks like we got a guest,” William said, and the others laughed, but everyone went silent when the wolf roared all at once. It jumped onto the ground and walked towards me.

I didn’t even move a muscle; I stood there still.

“Does she know?” Someone came out of the house and said, looking at the wolf.

“She’s staying here,” other women behind him said.

The wolf raced towards them and jumped. It turned into a human in the air.

“Touch her, and I will make you all pay.”

My eyes widened when I saw him transform.

It was Alaric.

He was the one who had been standing as a wolf, and now he had transformed into a human.

He turned to me and walked towards me.

“What are you doing here, kid?”

I didn’t say anything; I was still in shock.

“Um, I—”

He grabbed my arm and rushed me away. He stopped in his tracks when someone said,

“Does she know how and who killed her family?”

I looked behind me.

“Does she know that you know who killed her parents and ain’t doing anything?”

Alaric sighed.

“She doesn’t have to.”

I cut him off.

“You know who killed my parents?”

You know who killed your brother?”

“Oh, not just that, kid.”

That guy from the porch tilted his head towards Alaric.

“Have you at least told her what she is?”

I turned to Alaric.

“What is he talking about?”