Becoming the Luna

I frown, confused. "What are those?"

"It's a little hard to explain." She says vaguely. "When a Werewolf goes rogue, they give in to their instincts and basically become wild animals, losing their abilities to shift and all consciousness."

"Was that why Virgil got hurt?" I blurt out, the truth is, I've been looking for a reason to ask about him but I wasn't about to break out of character.

"Yes, he was um…" Shana trails of looking around to Mae and my mom for assistance.

"He was patrolling around your house, the Werewolves have been doing that ever since the first rogue Weres made their appearance."

"That doesn't sound very safe, do you go on patrols too?" I ask in worry, biting my lower lip.

"Nah, it's just the guys, the grown-up ones at least."

I heave a sigh of relief at this. "Will Virgil be okay?" I try to ask as nonchalantly as I can but it just comes out pinched and drenched in worry.

Shana and Mae share a glance. "You should ask him that yourself." Mae finally says and I roll my eyes, having no intention of seeing Virgil anytime soon.

I had gotten answers and even though there was still a lot I didn't know yet, I wasn't overly eager to find out.

"Will it be safe to stay here?" I ask, unable to get those dangerous-looking Werewolves' eyes out of my head.

They share another glance again like they're not sure how much to tell me.

"Unbelievable!" I throw my hands up, getting up in a fit.

"We will be." My mom says bravely, calming down the oncoming rant that was about to break free.

"Oh." I deflate. "T-That's good news I guess, thanks for the info, I'm going up to my room." I say blankly, darting out towards the stairs before they recover.

What did I think? That because I knew what they were now there wouldn't be any more secrets?

Strangely enough, I totally understand why they would keep things from me and it's probably - actually scratch that definitely the wisest thing to do - but I keep getting ticked off, which is ridiculous because I've always been aware that there were things kept hidden from me and I didn't mind but recently…

Recently I've been blowing up, like with the case of the town being deserted and the wolves which are now apparently rogue Werewolves.

I had gotten really upset about that too even though now I'm not going to sleep well anymore because I'm anxious and I keep worrying about the town's population.

It's a little bit strange to be so upset, I rarely got angry because there wasn't any need to be so my frequent episodes were starting to bother me.

I flop on the bed with my arms and legs stretched out like I'm making a snow angel, I'm exhausted even though I just woke up from a nap.

How was Virgil? Was he okay? Would he get in trouble because I found out? I mean that is also a possibility.

I sit upright in shock, my worry mounting.

My mom had probably known because My Aunt Candy is also one but what if there was some penalty to revealing their secret then that would make me really selfish.

I fall back on the bed rolling over to my side to wrap my arms and legs around a pillow, thoughts like these are tiring.

A knock sounds on the door and I immediately go on high alert, raising my head up slightly.

"Hayden? Can I come in?" Dale asks from the other side of the door and I heave a sigh of relief - wait!!! What if Virgil was with him??

I couldn't ask and I also couldn't leave Dale standing outside, I wasn't really angry at him and now that I think about it, I wasn't even angry with Virgil anymore, now nothing but worry tickles at the forefront of my mind.

I get off the bed and pad over to the door to unlock it another new habit that I was going to stop, I never locked my door because that meant I trusted everyone.

The door slowly slides open and my heart gets lodged in my throat as I wait patiently to find out if he was all alone.

"You look disappointed to see me." Dale says with a twinkle in his eyes, he leans against the door jamb and I have to crane my head up to talk to him.

"N-No…" I stutter, my hands unconsciously moving up to hide my ears. "I-I'm n-not." I mutter, turning my face away with a flash with how intensely he's staring at me.

"I know." He smiles, stepping in when I move out of the way, inviting him in. "Renee said I should come check up on you that you're not eating or talking…" He tilts his head slightly to the side, asking for confirmation even though there's expressive worry in his eyes.

I groan and throw a hand over my face, it's just exactly like my mom to overreact. "That's not true." I murmur in mortification, standing awkwardly in front of Dale.

"Well, it's too late now, there's a feast waiting downstairs in the kitchen and I'm supposed to come get you." He says good-naturedly.

I blink up at him in surprise, I couldn't possibly eat right now, not when all I can see are bloody claws all over Virgil.

"I'll pass." I gulp, feeling a little green.

"Are you okay?" He asks, stepping closer. "You look a little bit pasty."

I swallow down my nausea. "Yeah, I'm fine." I whisper in a tiny voice, going to sit slowly on the bed. "She didn't need to bother herself. I would have definitely come down for dinner."

He shrugs, sitting beside me and I'm relieved that I hadn't scared him away enough that he would need to ask before doing that, my mom and Shana probably would now, and it wasn't fun to see them so unsure.

"That's good to hear, I'll tell that to Renee."

We go quiet for a while and I wonder why Virgil isn't here yet? Was he that badly hurt?

"He'll be here soon." Dale says quietly like he can read my mind and I have a brief moment of internal panic before I realize that there's no way Werewolves could read minds at least not that of humans.

"Huh?" I blink, still surprised that he had guessed exactly what I was thinking.

"He's the Alpha's son after all, he just can't walk out of important meetings."

I frown, remembering that Shana had said the same thing. "But isn't he hurt?" I complain unhappily.

"Nah, he's fine, Werewolves heal fast but that idiot's ability to patch himself up is almost scary." 

I rest my elbows on my knees at this series of events and missing information clicking into place, Dale's knuckles, the knife cut on Virgil's palm, Shana cutting her knee open back at the beach house… how did all these not seem weird before?

"Do you have your own pack?" I blurt out of the blue, peeking up at him. "I-I mean, since y-you moved here recently, so...so you do have another…"

"It's fine Hay and I don't think Virgil's in trouble because you found out, honestly, everyone is shocked how he managed to keep it hidden from you long enough."

"What?" I sit up straighter.

"Although you should probably hear this from him and yes, I did have a pack, my dad was the Pack Alpha of the Werewolves in the city but city Werewolves tend to stay all by themselves in an effort to blend in so he was more a figurehead than anything else." He sobers up and my radar starts beeping, the rest of the story definitely has to do with Jade.

"But we left." He says simply.

I frown, the Alpha was very important so… "Didn't it affect your pack?" I ask, very interested in his story.

"It must have but they didn't feel it as hard as they would have if we were as close-knitted as the Werewolves in Pine Creek."

"Will you go back?" I ask in a small voice.

"I don't think so, the city isn't safe for Werewolves anymore, there's really nothing to go back to."

His words make me sad and I give him a hug which he returns with a cheeky grin. "The country is way cooler though." His canines get slightly longer at this. "Because you can get away with lots of things."

I flinch back. "You better not be thinking of biting me." I warn him suspiciously.

"I'm still too young to get into a death fight and that's what is going to happen if I do, I guess it's just me relaxing around you, do you find us weird?" He asks seriously.

I don't even need to think about my answer, leaning forward to poke his teeth - and wow! They're sharp. "Nope, you guys are still the same people I've always known."