The Watcher's Mark
1720 Words
Chapter 7
The Watcher's Mark
Lilly stared at the black feather on the table.
For several seconds, she couldn't move.
The library was silent.
Too silent.
She looked toward the doors.
Closed.
The windows.
Locked.
There was nowhere anyone could have entered without her noticing.
Yet the feather was there.
Again.
Her fingers slowly reached toward it.
The instant she touched it, her wolf growled.
Don't.
Lilly stopped.
She pulled her hand back.
"Fine."
She wasn't going to touch it again.
Not until she knew what it was.
She closed the old book and slipped it beneath her arm.
Then she looked around the library one last time.
"Who are you?"
Nothing answered.
But somewhere beyond the castle walls, a wolf howled.
Lilly's skin prickled.
She hurried out.
She barely made it halfway down the corridor before Bruce appeared.
"There you are."
Lilly stopped.
"Why are you looking for me?"
Bruce folded his arms.
"Because Max told me you disappeared into the library."
Lilly raised an eyebrow.
"Does Max always know where I am?"
"Apparently."
"That's unsettling."
Bruce laughed.
"He worries."
Lilly's smile faded.
"Worries about me?"
"Don't look so surprised."
"I am."
Bruce studied her.
"You really don't know, do you?"
"Know what?"
"How much people care about you."
Lilly looked away.
She couldn't answer.
Because the truth was painful.
In her first life, people had cared.
She simply hadn't known how to accept it.
Or perhaps she had allowed the wrong person to convince her that she wasn't worth caring about.
Bruce stepped closer.
"You're different."
Lilly's heart skipped.
"Everyone keeps saying that."
"Because it's true."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No."
He smiled.
"I like this version of you."
Her chest tightened.
"This version?"
"The one who actually talks back."
Lilly laughed softly.
"You didn't like me before?"
"I didn't say that."
"You didn't have to."
Bruce's smile disappeared.
"I liked you more than I should have."
Lilly stared at him.
He looked away.
For the first time, she saw something vulnerable in his expression.
"Bruce..."
He shook his head.
"Forget it."
"No."
She reached for his arm.
He stopped.
Their eyes met.
"I want to understand."
Bruce was silent for a moment.
Then he said quietly, "Before, whenever you looked at us, it felt like you were somewhere else."
Lilly's throat tightened.
"Where?"
"I don't know."
He gave a sad smile.
"Maybe with someone else."
Clarence.
Of course.
Lilly lowered her eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Bruce frowned.
"For what?"
"For making you feel that way."
He stared at her.
Then slowly smiled.
"You really are different."
They walked together toward the garden.
The afternoon sun filtered through the trees.
For a few minutes, Lilly almost forgot about the feather.
Almost.
Then she noticed something.
A black mark on the stone wall.
Three curved lines surrounding a crescent.
The same symbol she'd seen in the hidden room.
She stopped.
Bruce turned.
"What is it?"
Lilly stepped closer.
"I've seen this before."
"Where?"
"In the old wing."
Bruce's expression changed.
"Don't touch it."
"I wasn't going to."
He reached toward it.
The moment his fingers came near the symbol, it disappeared.
Both stared.
Bruce frowned.
"What just happened?"
"I don't know."
He looked at Lilly.
"Did you do that?"
"No."
The mark was gone.
Only ordinary stone remained.
Bruce looked unsettled.
"We need Max."
Lilly nodded.
But before they could leave, a voice came from behind them.
"What do you need me for?"
Max.
Lilly turned.
Max walked toward them.
His gaze moved between Bruce and Lilly.
Then toward the wall.
"What happened?"
Bruce explained.
Max listened without interrupting.
When he finished, Max touched the stone.
Nothing happened.
He looked at Lilly.
"Show me exactly where it was."
She pointed.
Max studied the area.
"There are no markings."
"I know what I saw."
"I believe you."
Lilly looked at him.
She hadn't expected that.
"You do?"
Max met her eyes.
"Yes."
Something warm spread through her chest.
Trust.
Not complete.
Not yet.
But enough.
That night, Lilly couldn't stop thinking about the symbol.
She returned to her room and opened the book she'd taken from the library.
She searched for the black feather.
The Watchers.
The crescent.
Nothing.
Then she remembered another book.
Her mother's old journal.
Lilly had kept it for years but had never read all of it.
She opened the drawer beside her bed.
The journal was underneath a stack of old letters.
She picked it up.
The leather cover was worn.
Her mother's handwriting filled the first pages.
Most entries were ordinary.
Pack events.
Family gatherings.
Lilly's childhood.
Then she reached an entry dated shortly before her parents' deaths.
Her mother's handwriting became uneven.
Something strange happened today.
Lilly leaned closer.
Your father says I'm imagining things. But I saw someone outside the estate again.
Her heart began beating faster.
She continued reading.
They wear dark clothing. I never see their faces. Your father refuses to explain.
Lilly turned the page.
The next entry was shorter.
He told me never to ask about the old bloodline.
Lilly froze.
Old bloodline.
Her fingers trembled.
She turned another page.
The words were barely visible.
If anything happens to us, Lilly must never be told until she is ready.
Lilly stopped breathing.
The journal slipped from her hands.
Her parents had known.
They had known something.
Something about her.
Something about the bloodline.
And they had been afraid.
A sound came from the window.
Lilly looked up.
Nothing.
She approached slowly.
The curtains moved in the wind.
Then she saw it.
A figure standing far beyond the garden.
Black cloak.
Silver mask.
Pale eyes.
The Watcher.
Lilly's heart pounded.
She opened the window.
"Wait!"
The figure turned.
For one second, they stared at each other.
Then the figure raised one hand.
A black feather fell from their fingers.
It drifted to the ground.
The figure disappeared into the forest.
Lilly rushed outside.
She grabbed the feather.
This time, she didn't feel the cold.
Instead, warmth spread through her palm.
A whisper entered her mind.
Three years earlier.
Lilly froze.
What did that mean?
Three years earlier?
That was now.
Her second life had begun three years before her execution.
Was the Watcher telling her that something had already changed?
Or was it a warning?
She looked toward the forest.
"I don't understand."
Her wolf growled.
Someone is coming.
Lilly turned.
Footsteps approached behind her.
Clarence.
He stopped when he saw her standing outside alone.
"What are you doing?"
Lilly closed her hand around the feather.
"Nothing."
Clarence's eyes narrowed.
"You've been acting strangely."
"So I've heard."
He stepped closer.
"Are you hiding something from me?"
"Everyone hides things."
"Not from the person they love."
Lilly looked at him.
The words would once have melted her.
Now they disgusted her.
"You keep saying love as if it gives you ownership over me."
Clarence's expression hardened.
"You've changed."
"Maybe."
"Because of them?"
He glanced toward the castle.
"The twins?"
Lilly didn't answer.
Clarence stepped closer.
"Are you falling for them?"
Her stomach twisted.
"No."
The lie came easily.
Clarence studied her.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
Lilly's skin crawled.
"Why?"
"Because they aren't what you think they are."
She almost laughed.
"Funny."
"What?"
"That's exactly what you used to tell me."
Clarence went still.
Lilly realized her mistake.
She had spoken too naturally.
Too knowingly.
His eyes sharpened.
"What do you mean, used to?"
Lilly forced herself to smile.
"I mean you've been saying it since we met."
Clarence didn't look convinced.
But he stepped back.
"You're making a mistake."
"Maybe."
"You'll regret trusting them."
Lilly looked directly into his eyes.
"Perhaps I already regret trusting you."
The smile disappeared from his face.
For a moment, neither spoke.
Then Clarence turned away.
"We'll talk tomorrow."
"I don't think we have anything to talk about."
He stopped.
His fists tightened.
But he didn't turn around.
Then he walked away.
Lilly watched until he disappeared.
Her heart was racing.
She knew she'd pushed him.
She also knew something else.
Clarence was getting suspicious.
That was dangerous.
But it was also useful.
Because for the first time, he was afraid of her.
The next morning, Lilly was summoned to the council chamber.
Max and Bruce were already there.
Several elders stood around the long table.
Elder Rowan looked serious.
"Lilly Starlight, there has been an incident."
Her stomach tightened.
"What happened?"
"A border patrol was attacked last night."
Bruce's expression hardened.
"By whom?"
"We don't know."
Max looked at the map.
"How many?"
"Four guards injured."
"Any deaths?"
"None."
Lilly exhaled.
Then Rowan added:
"But something was left behind."
An elder placed an object on the table.
A black feather.
Lilly's heart stopped.
Nobody spoke.
Max looked at the feather.
Then at Lilly.
Bruce noticed her reaction.
"You've seen that before."
It wasn't a question.
Lilly slowly nodded.
"Yes."
Rowan frowned.
"Where?"
She hesitated.
The truth was dangerous.
But lying to the council could be worse.
"In the old wing."
A murmur passed through the room.
Max's expression darkened.
"Why didn't you tell us?"
"I found it last night."
"Why?"
"Because I didn't know what it meant."
Rowan picked up the feather.
"This isn't from any wolf."
Lilly stared.
"What is it?"
The elder's face became grim.
"That's what concerns us."
Max looked toward the guards.
"Lock down the northern border."
Bruce nodded.
"And search the forest."
Rowan turned toward Lilly.
"And you..."
Lilly met his gaze.
"Stay away from the old wing."
Her heart sank.
"But—"
"Whatever is inside that place is connected to something dangerous."
Max looked at her.
For once, he didn't argue with the elder.
Lilly understood why.
They were protecting her.
But she couldn't stop now.
Not when the answers were finally appearing.
She looked down at the black feather.
Then at Max.
Then Bruce.
Someone was watching her.
Someone knew about the True Luna.
Someone knew about her parents.
And now that person was moving closer.
Lilly had spent her first life believing Clarence was the greatest danger she would ever face.
She had been wrong.
The real enemy might have been waiting long before she was born.
And if the Watcher was telling the truth...
her second life had not changed the future.
It had awakened something that had been waiting for her all along.
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