The She Wolf's Secret

Sienna The darkness was everywhere. It swallowed everything around me until I couldn’t tell where the ground ended and the sky began. I couldn’t see the buildings. The trees. The vehicles. The people. Nothing. Just an endless wall of black. It felt alive. As though the darkness had wrapped itself around our pack and was slowly tightening its grip, squeezing the life from everything inside it. Then I heard a scream. It ripped through the night without warning. A shrill cry of terror that twisted into something far worse—a scream of agony. Then silence. My heart slammed against my ribs. Before I could make sense of what I had heard, another scream pierced the darkness. Then another. And another. Suddenly, screams were coming from everywhere. Blood-curdling screams. My stomach twisted as fear flooded through me. What was happening? “Sienna!” I spun around. “Mum?” She appeared out of the darkness, grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards her. “Listen to me. We have to go. Now.” “What’s happening?” “There’s no time. You have to get out of here before they find you.” She started running. I stumbled after her, struggling to keep up as she dragged me through the darkness. The screams continued around us, each one sending another wave of terror through my body. “Mum, wait!” She suddenly stopped and dropped into a crouch, pulling me down beside her. I landed hard on my knees. For a moment, neither of us moved. I could barely breathe. My heart was pounding so hard I was sure whoever was attacking us could hear it. I leaned closer to her. “Where’s Dad?” I whispered. “Where are the warriors?” “Shh.” Her voice was barely audible. I had never heard my mother sound like that before. Afraid. My mother was never afraid. Then I heard it. Footsteps. Coming towards us. Slow. Heavy. Getting closer. I clamped a hand over my mouth to stop myself from screaming. “Mum…” I whispered. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it. “Don’t make a sound.” The footsteps came closer. Closer. I held my breath, every muscle in my body trembling. Who was out there? Who was doing this? And where was my father? I had never been so scared in my life. Finally, the footsteps faded into the distance. My mother released the breath she’d been holding. “Come on.” She stood and pulled me to my feet. “Mum, what is happening?” I whispered. “Please, Sienna.” Her voice cracked slightly. “I know you’re scared, baby. I know you are. But there isn’t time for questions.” “But—” “You need to leave.” The words hit me harder than anything else that had happened that night. Leave? My home? I had never been anywhere except our pack lands. I had never even imagined leaving them. “But this is my home.” “I know.” “You’re coming with me, right?” My mother stopped. For a moment, she simply looked at me. Then she reached out and cupped my cheek. “No, baby.” My heart sank. “What do you mean, no?” “I have to stay.” “Why?” “Because I’m the Luna.” Her eyes filled with something I couldn’t understand. Fear. Love. And something else. Something that terrified me even more. “I have a responsibility to this pack,” she continued softly. “But right now, I have an even more important responsibility.” She brushed a strand of hair away from my face. “You.” My eyes burned. “I don’t want to leave you.” “I know.” “Then come with me.” “I can’t.” She took my hand again and started walking. I followed because I didn’t know what else to do. It wasn’t until I recognised the outline of the pack vehicles ahead that I realised where she was taking me. The SUVs. “Mum…” She kept walking. “Where are we going?” She stopped beside one of the vehicles. I stared at her in confusion. “I can’t drive.” “I know.” “But—” Before I could finish, another woman came rushing towards us. “Sara!” My mother hurried towards her. “Thank the Goddess you made it.” Sara looked between us, her face pale. “What’s happening?” “You have to get her out of here,” Mum said urgently. “Please, Sara. Take my baby somewhere safe.” Sara nodded immediately. “Yes, Luna. I will.” “You have to promise me.” “I promise.” My mother turned to me. “Sienna, get in the car.” “But—” “Now.” Something in her voice made me obey. I climbed into the back seat, tears spilling down my cheeks. My mother closed the door. I pressed my hand against the window. “Mum!” She stood outside, staring at me. For one horrible second, I wondered if I would ever see her again. “Go!” she shouted at Sara. “Get her out of here!” The SUV lurched forward. I twisted around in my seat, watching my mother disappear into the darkness. “Mum!” She became smaller. Smaller. Until I couldn’t see her anymore. I turned towards the front of the vehicle. “Sara…” She didn’t answer. She was staring straight ahead, both hands gripping the steering wheel. We sped down the dirt road, the darkness swallowing us. But the screams were still there. Faint now. Yet impossible to forget. I hurriedly pulled my seat belt across my body and looked through the window towards the direction of my family’s Alpha house. Something was glowing in the distance. An eerie orange light flickered against the black sky. “What is that?” Sara glanced towards it. “Fire.” My stomach dropped. “Fire?” She nodded. “Wait…” My voice trembled. “Is my house on fire?” “I don’t know.” “My parents are there!” “Sienna—” “We have to go back!” I grabbed the back of her seat. “We have to help them!” “We can’t.” “Why not?” “Because your mother ordered me to get you to safety.” “But what about them?” My voice broke. “What if they’re hurt?” Sara was silent for a moment. Then she reached across and squeezed my hand. “Your father has warriors. Your parents have trained their entire lives for situations like this.” “But—” “They know how to fight.” I shook my head. “That doesn’t mean they’re okay.” “No,” she admitted quietly. “It doesn’t.” That answer frightened me more than anything else. I stared through the window at the orange glow. The flames seemed to be getting brighter. “What are they doing?” “Who?” “The wolves attacking us.” Sara’s jaw tightened. “They’ll destroy whatever they can.” “What does that mean?” “They may burn buildings. Destroy homes. Damage businesses. Anything that causes enough destruction to hurt the pack.” “Why would they do that?” “Because an attack isn’t always about killing wolves.” She looked at me briefly. “Sometimes it’s about destroying everything those wolves have built.” I swallowed hard. My home. My parents. My pack. Everything I had ever known was behind us. And we were driving away from it. “Where are we going?” Sara didn’t answer immediately. “Where are we going?” I asked again. “I don’t know.” I stared at her. “What?” “Your mother gave me an envelope.” She reached into the console and touched it briefly. “She told me not to open it until we were far enough away.” I looked at the envelope. A strange feeling settled over me. Why hadn’t Mum simply told Sara where to take me? Why had she needed to write it down? “What does it say?” “I don’t know.” “Can we open it now?” “Not yet.” I turned back towards the window. The last glow of fire slowly disappeared behind us. The screams faded. The pack disappeared. And for the first time in my twelve years of life, I was completely alone. I pulled my knees towards my chest and stared into the darkness. There was nothing outside. No trees. No houses. No people. Nothing. Just blackness. I had spent my entire life knowing the night as something peaceful. Something familiar. Something safe. But that night, everything changed. Because for the first time in my life… I was afraid of the dark.