I got home late, the house quiet as I walked in. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in her hands.
“You’re late,” she said, her eyes concerned but tired.
“Yeah, sorry. Things at school got a bit… complicated.”
She nodded, not pushing for more details. “Dinner’s in the fridge. Heat it up if you’re hungry.”
“Where’s Logan?” I asked.
“He should be upstairs,” mom replied.
I nodded and made my way upstairs. Logan’s door was slightly open, and I could hear faint music playing inside. I knocked lightly before stepping in.
Logan was sitting on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor, deep in thought. He glanced up when he saw me.
“Hey,” I said softly.
“Hey,” he replied, his voice flat.
I walked over and sat next to him. “Rough day?”
“Yeah I had detention but there’s something we need to talk about.”
“What’s that?”
“Well Mal knows about us and we saw a dead wolf today apparently it was the one that chased Mal yesterday. I saved her but I swear I did not kill the wolf.” I said.
Logan looked at me, his brow furrowed. “If you didn’t kill the wolf, then what did?”
I shook my head, still confused. “I don’t know. It was already dead when we found it. But it looked like something attacked it.”
Logan stood up, pacing the room. “That doesn’t make sense. Wolves don’t just get taken down like that, not by anything around here.”
I watched him, feeling uneasy. “What do you think could’ve done it?”
He stopped and looked at me, his face serious. “Something more dangerous than us.”
“That’s what Warwick said.”
“You still hang out with him? I have warned you to stay away from him. Warwick is bad news. He is a werewolf.”
“Warwick isn’t , Logan,” I said, cutting him off. “I’ve seen him. I’ve been around him. He’s… different, but not like you.”
Logan stopped pacing, his eyes narrowing at me. “Then what is he?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know exactly, but he’s not a werewolf. He’s something else.”
Logan’s jaw tightened. “And you’re just trusting him? You have no idea what he’s capable of.”
“He’s helped me, Logan.”
Logan shook his head, his frustration evident. “You don’t get it. Warwick is playing some kind of game, and you’re caught in the middle. I don’t care what he says or how he’s helped you, he’s dangerous.”
“Maybe. But so are we, Logan.”
Logan paused, taking a deep breath. “Yeah, we are. But we know what we are. I don’t like you getting involved with someone we don’t understand.”
I crossed my arms. “You think I don’t know that? I’m being careful. ”
“Yeah careful by giving him green flag that he can flirt with you. Audrey don’t you forget we are mated.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Logan, I’m not some trophy to be claimed. Just because we’re mated doesn’t mean I can’t have friends.”
“Yeah sure friends.” Logan rolled his eyes.
I sighed, trying to keep my voice calm. “Logan, I care about you. But I also care about understanding everything around us. I can’t just shut myself off from people because they make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s not about me being…….”
I cut him off before he could finish his statement. “Can we skip the whole Warwick conversation. I came to meet you about the wolf I saw dead not Warwick.”
Logan crossed his arms, clearly still upset. “Fine.”
“Good.”
Logan ran a hand through his hair. “So, what do we do about the dead wolf?”
“I casted a spell on it to make it invisible. We can’t let the mundane see it and know things like that are real.”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “You did what? You can’t just make it invisible like that. What if someone finds it later?”
“I know, but it was the only way to keep it hidden for now. We can’t let anyone know there’s a dead wolf lying around,” I said.
He shook his head, pacing again. “This is getting more complicated. We need to figure out what killed it.”
“I agree. But if we go digging around, it could attract attention. We don’t want to bring more trouble to our doorstep.”
Logan stopped and looked at me, his expression serious. “We need to talk to the pack. They need to know what’s going on.”
I hesitated. “You think they’ll listen? They might not take us seriously.”
“What the hell Audrey! I am their Alpha you are their Luna of course they would.”
I took a deep breath, realizing the weight of Logan’s words. “Okay. You’re right. If you think they’ll listen, then we should tell them.”
Logan nodded, his expression softening slightly. “We have to approach this carefully. I don’t want to cause panic, but we can’t ignore it either.”
“Agreed. So how do you want to do this?” I asked.
“Let’s gather everyone tomorrow night. I’ll call a meeting,” he said.
“Alright. But we need to have a plan in place first. I don’t want it to turn into chaos.”
Logan rubbed the back of his neck, considering. “We should have some ideas about how to investigate the wolf’s death. Maybe we can do a little research on what could’ve attacked it.”
“Good idea. I can look into it tonight and see if there’s anything that fits,” I said.
“Okay, let’s do that. But first, I need to clear my head a bit.”
“Yeah, I need to freshen up too. I’ll go to my room and take a bath.”
“Sounds good. We can regroup afterward.”
I walked to my room, closing the door behind me. I turned on the water and let it run while I took a moment to gather my thoughts.
Once I was in the bath, I felt a bit more relaxed. After soaking for a while, I remembered the Eternity Book. It could hold answers about our situation. I quickly dried off, threw on some comfortable clothes, and grabbed the book from my desk.
I settled on my bed and opened it, eager to see what insights it might offer. As I flipped through the pages, I noticed the text was written in a language I couldn’t even understand. I squinted at the symbols, frustration bubbling up inside me.
I turned to a page that had a few words in English. It seemed to tell a story, but it was vague and unhelpful.
I murmured to myself, “This isn’t what I was hoping for.”
I flipped through more pages, hoping for something clearer, but it was the same cryptic script everywhere.
I tossed the book onto the bed, frustration boiling over. “Ugh! This is useless,” I muttered, running my hands through my hair. The Eternity Book, the one thing that might have answers, was written in a language I couldn’t even begin to understand.
In a sudden fit of anger, I grabbed the book and hurled it across the room. It hit the wall with a dull thud before landing on the floor, face down. I sat on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands, trying to calm myself.
Then, out of nowhere, a soft glow filled the room.
I looked up, confused. The book was glowing, a pale light seeping from its pages. My heart skipped a beat. Slowly, I got up and walked over to it, picking it up carefully. The light intensified as I opened it to the page where it had fallen.
There, in the middle of the cryptic symbols, was a single phrase written clearly in English:
“Someone you trust will betray you.”
My breath caught in my throat as I stared at the words. Betrayal? Who?
Before I could dwell on it any further, a blood-curdling scream tore through the quiet of the house.
It came from the living room.
I froze, the book slipping from my hands as my heart pounded in my chest.