Chapter Five — The Secret in the Attic
766 Words
Daniel did not take Amara back to the house that night.
Instead, they stayed in an abandoned hunting cabin deep inside the forest.
The cabin was small, old, and surrounded by trees.
Amara sat beside the fireplace while Daniel checked the windows.
“You're expecting someone,” she said.
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“I'm not sure.”
She watched him carefully.
“Tell me everything.”
Daniel stopped.
“Everything?”
“Yes.”
He sat across from her.
“My family is one of the oldest werewolf bloodlines.”
Amara listened.
“We don't live like the stories humans tell. We have families, rules, leaders, laws.”
“And your father?”
Daniel looked away.
“He is the Alpha.”
Amara's eyes widened.
“The Alpha?”
“Yes.”
“Then what are you?”
“His second son.”
“And Marcus?”
“The first.”
She understood.
“That's why he said you were foolish.”
Daniel nodded.
“Marcus believes our bloodline should remain pure. He believes humans are beneath us.”
“And your father?”
“My father agrees.”
Amara stared at him.
“Then why did you leave?”
Daniel's eyes darkened.
“Because I refused to become like them.”
“What happened?”
He was silent for a long time.
“Years ago, I met a human girl.”
Amara's expression changed.
“You loved her?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?”
“My father found out.”
Daniel's voice became quieter.
“He ordered me to stay away from her.”
“And did you?”
“No.”
Amara waited.
“One night, she disappeared.”
Her heart sank.
“Your family killed her?”
Daniel nodded.
“I never saw her again.”
Amara reached across the table.
Daniel looked at her hand.
“I thought I would never love again.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
He looked into her eyes.
“You.”
Amara's heart raced.
Before she could answer, something crashed outside.
Daniel stood immediately.
“What was that?”
“Stay here.”
He opened the door.
“Daniel!”
He disappeared into the darkness.
Amara waited.
One minute.
Two.
Five.
Then she heard something upstairs.
A slow creak.
She looked toward the ceiling.
The cabin had an attic.
Another creak.
Amara stood.
“Daniel?”
No answer.
She climbed the narrow staircase.
The attic door was slightly open.
She pushed it.
Inside were old boxes, dusty furniture, and several strange wooden chests.
Amara noticed one box that had been recently opened.
She walked toward it.
Inside were photographs.
She picked up the first one.
A young Daniel stood beside a woman.
They looked happy.
Amara's heart tightened.
The next photograph showed Daniel standing with several people.
Then she saw something that made her blood run cold.
A photograph of Daniel's father.
On the back was a date.
1987.
Amara stared at it.
The man in the photograph looked exactly the same as the man she had seen in the recent photographs.
He hadn't aged.
Suddenly, she heard a voice behind her.
“You shouldn't have come up here.”
Amara spun around.
Daniel stood in the doorway.
His face was pale.
“What is this?”
“Nothing.”
“You're lying.”
Daniel walked toward her.
“Give me the photographs.”
She held them tightly.
“Your family has been alive for decades.”
“Amara—”
“How old are you?”
Daniel stopped.
She stared into his eyes.
“How old are you, Daniel?”
He looked away.
“Twenty-nine.”
“That's not what I asked.”
Silence.
Then he whispered:
“Seventy-three.”
Amara stepped backward.
“What?”
“I was born in 1953.”
She stared at him in disbelief.
“You're seventy-three?”
“I stopped aging normally after my first transformation.”
Amara dropped the photographs.
“You've been lying to me.”
“I was protecting you.”
“You should have told me.”
“I was afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
“Of losing you.”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“You don't get to decide what I can handle.”
Daniel moved closer.
“Amara…”
She stepped away.
“I need time.”
He stopped.
She walked downstairs.
But before she reached the door, a loud howl echoed outside.
Daniel's expression changed.
“What?”
He looked toward the window.
Then he whispered:
“They found us.”
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