Chapter 10 – Who could I be then?
1078 Words
Chapter 10 – Who could I be then?
Nyra's POV
I barely had time to blink before I saw Aran charging up the stairs, every step like thunder.
“Aran—” I rushed out to block the hallway, my heart hammering. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting all day!”
He didn’t even glance at me. Just shouldered past and pushed open my bedroom door.
He started scanning the room.
Panic surged in my chest.
He knows.
“What are you doing?” I tried to sound calm, but my voice cracked halfway through.
He didn’t answer. Just stood there, tense, nostrils flaring.
Aran wasn’t stupid. He could feel the shift in the air. Smell it, even.
His gaze snapped to mine. “Where is he?”
My stomach dropped. “Who?”
He gave me a hard look. “Don’t do that. Don’t act like I’m dumb.”
I didn’t move. Couldn’t. My hands were clenched at my sides.
“I have a nose, Nyra,” he said, stepping closer. “I’m a Beta. You think I can’t tell when someone’s been in here?”
Before I could stop him, he leaned in and sniffed the sleeve of my shirt. His face darkened.
“Who was here?”
The truth nearly slipped out, but I swallowed it back. What was I supposed to say? Oh, just a rogue warrior who claims I’m some magical heir and likes breaking into bedrooms to chat about ancient wolves. Yeah, that’d go over well.
Instead, the dumbest thing spilled out of my mouth.
“My... boyfriend?”
Aran blinked. “What?”
“Yeah. He’s, um... my boyfriend.”
Dead silence.
“The same guy whose scent you reeked of when you came back last week?” he said, voice sharp. “After disappearing for two days?”
Oh no.
“I didn’t mean to worry anyone,” I mumbled. “It... just happened.”
“You told us you woke up unconscious in the woods,” he snapped. “We searched for you everywhere. Mom nearly lost her mind. And you were off... with him?”
He leaned against the doorframe, jaw clenched. “And now he's sneaking in through your window like some back-alley criminal? Come on, Nyra. You're smarter than this.”
Guilt crushed my chest, hot and heavy. I hated lying to him. But what choice did I have?
“Please don’t tell Mom,” I said, barely above a whisper.
He looked at me for a long time. I couldn’t read his face.
Then, finally—“Okay.”
I blinked. “Wait... what?”
“I won’t tell her.”
“You mean it?”
He shrugged, already turning to go. “Good night, little sister.”
Then he disappeared into his room like nothing happened.
I just stood there, stunned.
That was... too easy.
The next morning, Aran said nothing. Ate breakfast like he always did, casual and cool. But I wasn’t fooled. His eyes kept flicking to me, tracking my every move.
And when he offered to drive me to school?
Yeah. That wasn’t kindness. That was surveillance.
He was watching me. Protecting me. Or maybe just waiting for me to slip up.
Either way, I was screwed.
Aran had a nose for lies—and once he caught a whiff, he didn’t let go until he tore the whole truth out.
Now I’m sitting in the back corner of the school library with Naria and Jade. The place smells like old paper and pine floor polish. I’ve just finished telling them everything—Ivan, the prophecy, the strange, wild power that’s been clawing its way up inside me.
Jade's been flipping through this ancient book for a while now—leather-bound, thick, and cracked like old bark. The kind of thing you'd find buried in a pack elder’s closet under a layer of dust and secrecy.
“Okay,” he finally says, tapping a page, “this is the only book I found that even mentions the Lunaborn.”
He pushes it toward us. “Page seventy-five.”
“Oh, Jaden, my sweet little research goblin,” Naria teases.
“Focus,” I say, shooting her a look before she can start flirting. “Jade, what does it say?”
He clears his throat and reads slowly, voice steady and serious.
“‘The Lunaborn were an ancient royal bloodline of werewolves who once ruled a hidden land called Wombstone—so named because it was said to be the birthplace of all werewolf magic. The first Lunaborn queen was bonded to a guardian spirit named Dara, a wolf born of moonlight and forged by a circle of vixen witches to protect the sacred lands. Dara was not a regular wolf—it was pure magic, living and breathing through the queen’s bloodline.’”
He pauses, eyes flicking to mine. “The wolf is passed down from mother to daughter. No sons. No outsiders. Only the daughters carry the mark.”
I felt like I couldn’t breathe. “Wait... does it say what happens if someone awakens Dara?”
Jade flips a few pages. “Yeah. There’s a line here: ‘She who awakens Dara must guard Wombstone... or be the end of it.’”
The words hit like a punch. My skin prickled with goosebumps.
Like someone had written them just for me.
“Does it describe what Dara looks like?” I ask, desperate for something real. Something I can point to and say, That’s it. That’s the thing inside me.
Jade shakes his head. “No descriptions. No drawings. Just that Dara is the key. Salvation or destruction. That’s all.”
It’s not enough. I need more. Something solid. Not just folklore and ominous warnings.
Naria must see the storm on my face because she softens her voice. “Hey. Don’t give up. Jaden’s just getting started, right?”
Jade snorts. “I’ll check the pack archives. Maybe there’s more buried in there.”
I force a smile. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate it. But I’ve got gym next, and Coach doesn’t do second chances.”
I sling my bag over my shoulder and trail after them, but my thoughts stay behind, circling like a restless wolf.
If I really have Lunaborn blood...
Then who am I now?
Just another girl in the pack?
Or something else entirely?
Someone who might be destined to destroy it?
- Writer
