CHAPTER 12
1433 Words
Back at the packhouse,
News of the school incident spread like wildfire.
Whispered rumors burned everywhere and Elise’s name came up in hushed conversations.
“She fought Becky yesterday…”
“And then Becky vanished?”
“You don’t think—”
“No way, Elise wouldn’t—would she?”
Elise walked through the halls, feeling the shift in how people looked at her.
No longer just whispers of admiration. Now, there was suspicion. Unease.
Again, Elise felt like it’d be best for the ground to open up for her to enter.
Or better still, she could vanish — but she couldn’t. There was no hiding from this.
She missed the days when no one paid any attention to her and she could just go in hiding after being bullied.
Now, she was the talk of the town and in a bad way.
She had always been talked about in a bad way, but not in a guilty way that seemed to tarnish her image.
She could feel the weight of it, like invisible chains.
At lunch, she sat with Kai and Lucien, but the dining hall was quieter than usual.
People glanced her way and then looked away just as quickly.
“I hate this,” she said, stabbing her fork into her salad.
“You knew people would talk,” Lucien said, not unkindly.
“I didn’t expect to be the villain in their story,” she murmured.
“You’re not,” Kai said placing his hand over hers.
“You’re the girl who stood up to a bully. And now, you’re the girl who survived something bigger. We just have to figure out what that is.”
That night, Elise couldn’t sleep again.
She sat on the edge of her bed, staring at the moon outside her window.
Her thoughts were a storm—Becky’s disappearance, the hooded figure, the school attack. And then there was the guilt.
The guilt of being feared… and not knowing why she was different.
For once in her life, she genuinely cared about her image.
Her body couldn’t sit still.
She stood and quietly slipped out of her room.
The woods behind the packhouse were quiet, eerily so.
This scene felt the same way it started when she was attacked by those giant wolves during the silver moon ball.
The thought of this made her skin crawl.
But she knew she had to face whatever it was that was taunting her.
The breeze rustled the trees, but the silence between the sounds felt heavy.
She moved slowly, cautiously.
“I know you’re out there,” she whispered.
“I can feel you.”
The scent from the other day came again.
Faint, but real.
“Elise.” A voice called out, subtly.
She froze.
The voice wasn’t in the air this time.
It was in her head.
“Elise, help me…”
Now, Elise recognized that voice.
It was Becky’s.
“Becky?” she whispered, looking around wildly.
“Becky, where are you?”
No response.
Elise’s heart started racing in her chest. She no longer was brave.
There were so many thoughts rummaging through her head.
“What if Becky was trying to lure her to injure her — or even to kill her!”
Becky was strong and proud.
She’d rather die than ask for her.
So the thought that she was calling her name for help in the woods was hard to believe.
Then there came a sudden flash of something through the trees.
A flicker of white—maybe fabric?
A hand?
Elise ran toward it, with her instincts screaming not to, but she couldn’t help herself.
Her legs were suddenly faster than her mind.
She felt spasms in between her legs which made her dash forward without thinking.
She ducked through branches, leaped over fallen logs.
The deeper she went, the colder the air became.
Her mind racing fast with her eyes breathing like they were going to pop out of their sockets anytime soon.
Her eyes kept wandering around, searching the whole place for what sent her here.
Then she saw her.
Becky.
Or… what looked like Becky.
She stood in way, back turned, arms limp at her sides.
Elise stepped closer. “Becky?”
The figure turned slowly.
Her eyes were wrong—milky white and unfocused.
“Elise,” Becky rasped. “They’re coming.”
Elise could feel her body shaking in fear.
Becky’s words felt so true, she couldn’t remember the fact that they held grudges towards one another.
She didn’t doubt any word.
“What—who’s coming?” Elise stepped forward.
“They want you”.
“The one without a wolf”.
“The one that survived”.
Becky said one after the other, in parables. Almost slurring.
Elise’s heart pounded. “Becky, I’m going to get help” she said, making an attempted to leave to get Kai and Lucien.
But then Becky screamed.
Not a scream of pain—but something deeper.
Magical.
It tore through the air like a curse, and Elise felt her knees buckle. Her ears rang, her vision blurred—
And then Becky was gone.
Vanished.
Elise collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
Something crackled beneath her hand.
She picked it up.
It was a black feather—charred and oily, unnatural.
It pulsed with faint warmth.
“Elise!”
Kai’s voice.
He crashed through the trees and dropped to her side.
“I’m okay,” she managed.
Lucien appeared seconds later. “What happened?”
“I saw her,” Elise whispered.
“Becky. Or… something pretending to be her. She said they want me. She said I survived.”
Kai glanced at the feather in her hand and his face went pale.
Lucien swore under his breath. “No way…”
“What?” Elise asked.
“I know what that is,” Lucien muttered.
“It’s a raven feather. Not from any normal bird. It’s a calling card. From the Shadowborn.”
“Shadowborn?” Elise repeated, brows furrowed with worries.
Kai’s eyes flashed with understanding. “I thought they were wiped out years ago.”
“They were supposed to be,” Lucien said grimly. “But if they’re back…”
Elise looked between them.
“Who are the Shadowborn?” She asked, her pulse rising.
Lucien turned to her, his voice low and serious.
“They’re a rogue faction.
A cult.
They hunted rare wolves, especially Omegas… and especially those with powers they couldn’t explain. They believed those wolves were keys to something bigger—something ancient.”
Kai’s grip on Elise tightened.
“They must think you’re one of those keys,” Lucien finished.
Elise stared down at the feather.
“Keys?” She muttered to herself.
“What do they want with me?” she whispered.
Lucien shook his head. “We don’t know. But we’re going to find out.”
“Let’s get you back to the packhouse”. Kai said, attempting to carry Elise.
“It’s okay, I can walk”. She raised her right hand up as a sign to show that she was okay and that he didn’t need to carry her.
Kai ignored her without hesitating. He lifted her up and signaled to Lucien.
“Let’s take her to the infirmary”.
“I really am fine”. Elise said in between her teeth. She was smiling now.
“All I need is a hot bath to make me feel less cold”. She saud, rubbing her palms against her shoulders in motions.
“I could join you, yunno”. Kai said, smiling.
“Guys, i’m still here”. Lucien joked, raising his hands above his head in defense.
They all laughed while heading back.
Later that night, back at the packhouse.
Elise stood under the shower, letting the hot water run over her shoulders.
Her body felt heavy.
Her mind even heavier.
It felt like her head were going to explode from the thoughts piled up, so she let the waters run through her hair for a while.
When she finally stepped out, she found something waiting on her pillow.
It was a scrap of parchment.
Burned around the edges.
Written in black, jagged ink.
“The wolf without a wolf. The girl who should have died. You are not one of them. And soon, they will know it too.”
Elise’s hand trembled as she crumpled the note.
There was no doubt anymore.
They were coming.
And she wasn’t ready.
- Writer
