Alpha Luna Diary: My Personal Obsession

CHAPTER 5: The Secret My Mother Buried

Open this diary only if you’ve ever discovered that the people you trust most have been keeping an entire world hidden from you.

Because tonight, I learned that secrets don’t stay buried forever. Sometimes… They scratch you at your front door.

The sound came again.

Scrraatch.

Something dragged its claws against the wood of our front door. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t blink, neither could I even feel my legs. I simply just stood there, staring at the door as if my eyes alone could somehow see through it.

Then another scratch came. This one sounded longer, slower and more deliberate. It sounded almost like someone was trying to remind us that it was there, that it could wait, that it wasn’t in any hurry.

My mother grabbed my arm so tightly that it hurt, like she wanted me to get behind her. “Don’t move,” she whispered. Her voice trembled in fear. I had never heard my mother sound afraid. I had heard her angry before, I had heard her yell at my father because he forgot to pay a bill. I had heard her cry when our old dog died.

But fear? No, never. Seeing it now made my own fear grow ten times larger. My father swallowed loudly. “What… what is that?” he asked. Nobody answered him.

Jack was staring at the door. His expression had changed, he no longer looked like the quiet boy from school.

No.

He looked much dangerous, focused, and sharp as though every part of him had suddenly awakened with an instinct and courage to fight. I have never seen him like this before, and strangely… I couldn’t stop looking at him, even now, even when I was this terrified. My stupid heart still found time to notice him.

Then another howl echoed outside. This one was closer this time, very close. My skin prickled instantly. Max Briggs exhaled slowly like he calculated everything. “They’re early,” he muttered.

I blinked. “They?” I repeated. He looked at me. “They found you faster than I expected.” I stared at him. Found me? How could anyone be looking for me? I was simply nobody and I was ordinary. I wrote in a diary and worried about homework and had a crush on a boy who probably liked someone else.

Who in the world would come searching for me?

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. Max’s expression softened as he took a deep breath. For a brief moment, he almost looked sad.

“I know.”

“No, I really don’t understand,” I said, my voice rising. “Who are they? Why are they here? Why are they looking for me?”

Silence.

Then my mother suddenly spoke. “Because of me.” The room froze in my eyes instantly. I slowly turned toward her.

“What?”

Tears were in her eyes. “I should have told you sooner, Marionette.” I stared at her, I was speechless. My heart was pounding so hard that it hurt. “What are you talking about?” I asked her.

She looked away and answered, “I wanted to protect you.” For the first time, I laughed, a nervous, shaky laugh, “Mom… I think we’re past protecting me.” Another scratch came from the door, louder, and more violent.

I jumped from where I was. My father nearly screamed. Jack stepped in front of me. The movement was so sudden that I barely realized what had happened because one second I was standing there and the next… he was between me and the door, protecting me, again.

I looked at his back, at his broad shoulders, and at the way he stood there without hesitation. Why did he always do this? Why did he always protect me?

The thought made my chest ache. I hated that my heart could still feel warm at a time like this. I hated it, and I loved it also because Jack is close to me. Oh, I was a mess.

“Father,” Jack said quietly. Max nodded, “I know.” Then they both looked at the door. I felt like I was missing half the conversation.

“Can somebody please explain something?” I asked, almost desperately. “I feel like I’m the only person here who has absolutely no idea what’s happening.”

My mother took a shaky breath, then she looked at me. “Marionette… before I met your father, I lived somewhere else.”

I frowned at that word. There is always a coma to it, “What do you mean?”

“I knew the wolf world,” she said. I blinked in surprise, “You… knew werewolves?” She nodded.

I opened my mouth, closed it and opened it again. I honestly didn’t know what to say. There were too many questions, too many impossible things. “How?” I finally whispered. Her eyes became distant. “I worked for the Briggs family.”

The room fell silent again. I stared and shouted silently, “You what?” She looked at Max, then back at me. “I was once their doctor.”

I nearly choked. “My mother was a doctor for werewolves?” Nobody corrected me, which somehow made it worse. “No,” I whispered.

“Yes,” she said.

“No,” I insisted because I didn’t want to believe it. “Marionette…” she called with a peculiar tone.

“No!”

I ran a hand through my hair. This couldn’t be happening. This couldn’t be my life. I was supposed to be worrying about exams, not secret wolf societies, not billionaire werewolf families, not creatures scratching at my front door.

Then my mother looked at me with tears in her eyes. “And when I left… I was carrying you.”

Suddenly, there was silence. I blinked, then blinked again because I didn’t understand. I honestly didn’t understand. “What does that mean?” I asked softly.

She hesitated, then Max answered, “It means your mother disappeared before we knew you existed.” I stared at him. “I existed?”

He almost smiled at me, “That’s generally how children work.” I glared at him because this was not the time for jokes. Jack actually looked like he was trying not to smile. Even during a crisis, my heart had terrible priorities.

“Why did Mom leave?” I asked them, but nobody answered. I looked at her, “Mom?” She lowered her eyes. “Because I was afraid.”

“Of what?” I asked her reluctantly.

Silence.

Then she whispered that word to me, “Of you.” The words struck me like a slap. I felt my chest tighten, “You were afraid… of me?” She immediately shook her head, “No. Not of you.”

“Then what?” I tried to reason with her. Her eyes were still literally filled with tears, “I was afraid of what would happen if people knew about you.”

I stared at her because I didn’t understand. Why was everyone speaking in riddles? Why couldn’t someone just tell me the truth? I was tired, so tired of this. I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down in two days.

Then—

BANG!

Something slammed into the front door. Everyone jumped backward. Another bang sounded again, then another.

The wood shook. My father took several steps backward. “What is outside?” he whispered. Jack’s eyes narrowed. “Rogues.”

I swallowed, “Rogues?”

“Wolves without packs,” Max explained quietly. “Dangerous ones.” I almost laughed not because it was funny, but because this had become so ridiculous that my mind couldn’t process it anymore.

“Wolves without packs are attacking my house,” I said weakly. Nobody answered. I rubbed my face with my palm, “I’ve officially lost my mind.”

Then the banging stopped. The silence that followed felt even worse. Nobody moved. Nobody spoke.

Then…

A voice came from outside. It was a man’s voice; cold, and calm. “Open the door,” he said.

I froze in fear and panic. The voice continued. “We know the girl is inside.” Every drop of blood in my body turned cold that very moment. The girl, me, they meant me.

I looked at Jack. He was already looking at me surprised as well. For a brief moment, something flashed in his eyes.

Fear. Real fear. For me.

Then he stepped closer. “Marionette.” I swallowed. “Y-Yes?”

“Whatever happens next…” he said quietly, “stay behind me.” My heart skipped. Even now at a moment like this, It actually skipped because of him.

The voice outside laughed. “You can protect her tonight, Alpha. But sooner or later…” Another bang shook the door in frustration. “…we’ll take her.”

My breath caught. The house suddenly became very, very quiet. Then Max slowly turned toward me and the look on his face made my stomach drop, because it wasn’t confusion anymore, it wasn’t suspicion, it was certainty, absolute certainty in his mind.

He looked directly into my eyes and whispered, “They know who you are now, Marionette Miche.” I stared asking him as well, “What… am I?”

Another deafening crash came from the front door. Wood splintered, the lights flickered and Jack’s eyes suddenly began to glow an impossible, brilliant blue.