CHAPTER TWELVE
1391 Words
Maya’s Pov
I tried to match Louis’s calm steps, but my heart beat unevenly in my chest. I was suddenly aware of everything, how tightly I was holding his hand, the smudge of dirt on my jeans, the slight tremble in my fingers.
“They’re just curious,” Louis whispered.
I nodded but didn’t reply. I could feel the small crowd forming behind us as we neared the main house.
I felt like a stain on something pure.
We walked up the steps of the main lodge. My eyes caught the symbols carved into the archway, moons, stars, wolves in mid-howl. They hummed with energy.
“Who lives here?” I asked.
Louis smiled. “Luna Anya.”
He didn’t knock hard. Just once. Like he didn’t need to.
The door opened almost immediately.
The door opened and a woman stood there. Tall. Poised. Her silver hair fell in soft waves past her shoulders, framing a face that was both beautiful and impossibly fierce. Her eyes, icy blue and unmoving locked onto mine like they saw everything. Not just who I was now, but everything I had been and could become.
She stared for a moment.
Then she pulled me into a sudden hug.
I froze, arms at my sides, overwhelmed.
“I’ve waited so long to meet you,” she whispered. “You’re safe now.”
When she pulled back, her eyes found Louis. A soft nod.
“Thank you for getting her here before anything worse happened,” she said to him. “You did well.”
Louis nodded stiffly, jaw clenched. I could feel the tension rising in him.
Then Luna turned back to the pack members who had gathered outside.
“I want everyone to hear this,” she said, her voice rising smoothly, powerfully. “This young woman is not just a newcomer. She is my niece. The daughter of Alpha Fred and Luna Celine, who died in the Blood War. Maya Hawke is of Alpha blood. She is heir to her family’s legacy. And she will take her place as Alpha.”
The silence that followed was sharp. Like air was being sucked from the forest.
I didn’t breathe.
Louis stiffened beside me, his hand slipping from mine.
After the announcement, he stepped forward, clearly wanting to speak to Luna, but she raised a hand to stop him.
“I need to speak to Maya. Alone.”
“No,” I said, too quickly. “He stays.”
Her eyes met mine, slightly amused. “You don’t trust me?”
“It’s nothing about trust. I'll feel more comfortable with him around.”
Louis looked surprised, but didn’t say anything.
Anya studied me for a moment, then nodded.
“Very well,” she said. “But Maya, what I’m offering you isn’t small. You were born with purpose. I can train you. Guide you to become the Alpha Luna you were meant to be. This pack needs you.”
The pressure of it all sat like a boulder on my chest. A real burden.
“I... I just got here,” I whispered. “I haven’t even figured out who I am.”
Louis finally spoke, “Maybe she needs time. To adjust. To breathe. Let her explore before you shape her into something else.”
Anya raised an eyebrow, then gave him a small, knowing smile.
“You’ve made yourself very important in her life already, haven’t you?”
Neither of us answered.
But we didn’t need to.
She could see it plain as day.
Zelda's Pov
The town hall smelled like old wood and dust. Everyone had shown up. They were packed shoulder to shoulder, murmuring and craning their necks to see over one another. No one knew exactly what this was about, but after what happened at the Hawkes' house... they had a good guess.
Dad stood at the center of it all. No tie. Shirt sleeves rolled up like he’d just stepped away from serious work. That was the image he liked to project. Always the man in control.
He tapped the mic once, twice, waited until everyone stopped talking.
"Thank you all for coming on such short notice," he started. "I know a lot of you are still shaken up. What happened today was not just a scare. What we witnessed... what we survived... wasn’t something any of us expected. It was a warning…”
“A werewolf transformed in front of our very eyes. Right here, in our own neighborhood. To save a girl we thought we knew. A girl who could’ve been sitting next to your child in class. A girl who was raised among us.”
Gasps. Murmurs. The air changed.
He nodded solemnly, letting the weight of his words hang.
“If one of them could be hiding among us for this long, don’t you think there could be more?”
People shifted in their seats, uneasy.
That was my cue.
I stepped forward, slow and composed. I didn’t need to shout.
“I heard them talking,” i said holding my hands like I was terrified. “Maya and the boy who helped her. Louis. They said others are coming. That this isn’t just about her. They have a plan.”
Eyes turned to me. Some shocked, some confused.
“Are you sure, Zelda?” someone asked. “You heard that?”
I nodded slowly. “Clear as day.”
Then i looked down like it was hard to say, just like Dad had shown me.
A woman up front touched her chest. "God help us."
Dad turned to the crowd again. His voice picked up just a notch.
"We don’t know how many are out there. But we know enough. And we can’t wait for them to make the next move. We need to protect ourselves, our families, our town."
Someone near the back asked, “What are we going to do?”
Dad nodded. "We, we will track them. We will find out where they’re hiding."
A younger man near the window added, “And then what?”
Dad didn’t flinch. “We make sure they don’t come back. We make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
That got people going. Heads nodding. Voices rising in agreement.
He raised his hand. "Let me be clear. This is not about panic. This is about prevention. We don’t wait to be attacked. We stop it before it starts. They attacked us once,” he said. “They tore through families during the Blood War. They left scars on this town that haven’t healed. And now they’re creeping back in.”
Someone shouted, “They need to pay for what they’ve done!”
Others chimed in, voices rising with agreement.
Dad nodded. “And they will. I promise you that. For our families. For our safety. We’ll finish what the last generation started.”
I looked out over the crowd, and I could feel it, fear turning to focus. They were listening. Really listening.
It worked.
After the meeting, I followed Dad back to his office. The energy in him hadn’t faded. He tossed his jacket over the back of a chair and stood over a map spread out across his desk.
He traced his finger along the forests just outside town.
“They couldn't have gone far,” he said. “I saw the direction it took. They’re hiding in those woods. Somewhere near the reserve.”
I sat on the edge of a chair, legs crossed. “What now? Deputies?”
“Not yet,” he said. “We don’t move until I know for sure. But we’ll watch the trails. We’ll find them.”
He looked up. “You did well tonight. Got them listening.”
I smiled. “Told you I could.”
He picked up a folder, flipping through documents, but paused. “Still have that recording?”
“Of course.”
“Keep it safe. When the time comes, it might be what pushes the rest of them to act.”
I stood and walked to the window. The sky outside was dark, scattered with stars. Somewhere out there, Maya was prob
ably breathing easier.
But it wouldn’t last.
Because when my father sets a target, he doesn’t miss.
And now, the whole town had agreed to hunt with him.
- Writer
