Separating my hand from the mirror, the thick, moonlit forest transforms back into my familiar and comforting bedroom.

"My eyes," the burning sun within them dims, fading until the gold shifts until they're once again forest green. "How?" How are they normal again?

"With the beginning of acceptance comes control. Your control over the wolf inside until you are no longer separate beings at odds, but one creature in complete unison," he pauses as I take in seeing myself in the mirror again. My normal self. "You have lived your life oblivious to the truth. A truth that everyone else refuses," Caesar speaks with a normal voice. "People have stopped believing in us. To them, we are fairy tales, but the wolves are real. The beasts are real. You are one of them."

My chest constricts as I hear his words, but locking eyes with Caesar's, his stare steadies my racing heart.

"How does no one know? How did I not know? All this time..." I stammer, the words flowing out of me.

"You may have heard of 'werewolves,'" he begins and I nod. "That's not what we are. We call ourselves Nocte Venandi, or Night Hunters. Lupi works too. 'Night Hunters' is our particular pack, but Lupi is what we are. For as bright as the moon shines, the wolves shall shadow."

Spoken words fail, but my thoughts journey all across my brain. And my mother knew about them? My father?

Caesar, as if reading my thoughts, responds. "Yes, your mother knew. And yes, your father is one. That is why you can never be normal. You are part Lupi and part human."

"Did my dad... is he?" My voice shakes as I speak. Is he dead? My thoughts finish my question.

"No," Caesar answers in a swift moment. "Your father, Serelia, he is our Alpha. Our leader. He left only because it was his duty, but his heart showed his true desires. Your mother. You. Nonetheless, he did what he had to and now he is growing in age. Soon the wolf will leave him and his reign will come to an end. Because you are the daughter of an alpha, it is you who must take his place."

"What does that mean?" I ask, trying to register what he tells me. "The wolf is leaving him?"

"Quite literally as it sounds. The spirit of the wolf will no longer reside in him. He won't have the power to continue leading our pack. Though he can still transform, he won't have the abilities to be a leader. And when he falls, so shall the rest of our pack. That is why it is up to you to save us. You are, or at least will be, our alpha."

Unable to process all of this information, more questions are all that I can form. "Meg, she mentioned a spell..." I trail off, narrowing my eyes at Caesar.

"Meg," Caesar lets out a soft simper. "Do you know she is one of the oldest of our kind? One of the originals of our pack in this town," he pauses. "She has been watching over you, Serelia, longer than you can ever imagine. You have never been alone. She is why no one has been able to harm you. Until now."

"How come now, then? Why are they getting close now, the other wolves?"

"For as long as she could, Meg has covered your scent," Caesar continues to answer my questions with ease, as if this was the most standard topic in the human race. Though, I guess if this is all true, he isn't human. "She made you appear as a mere human to any mystical beast so they were unable to locate you. Now, your transformation, it is unstoppable and that scent can no longer be concealed."

"The spell..." my words once again trail out unfinished. "She told me it prevented my transformation, but who placed it in the first place? My parents? Why? Why would they put it on me in the first place?" If it wasn't for Caesar placing his hands up to interrupt me, I would have spouted out the million other questions rummaging my brain.

"Take a breath, Doll. I don't know who placed the spell. If I am correct, your father once mentioned a witch, though I can't be sure. Though, I do know it was for you... so you can live a normal life, a perfect life, until the time came."

"Perfect life," I mumble. There has been no such thing as perfect for as long as I can remember. Guess we don't always get what we want, right dad? Ignoring the matter of my past, I ask the next question hanging at the tip of my tongue. "How did you visit me? In my dreams, I mean. Why do I hear these whispers everywhere I go?" I go on to ask more, but manage to stop myself so I can ensure I get all of the answers I need.

"Wolves are pack animals, as I'm sure you know. We howl at the moon as a signal. It's the same as that. You hear the other wolves, but because you are one, you hear their words rather than mere bellows. Our power intertwines us. In dreams, whispers, hearing what is said in the silence of our minds..." his eyebrows lift to confirm that he can indeed hear my thoughts. "They are all connected to the heart of being a wolf, of being in a pack."

"If my father never visited me, why did you? Why not him?"

"I can't speak for your father, but I do know all he wanted was to visit you. But if he did, because he is the alpha, he'd have put you at risk of being found. I visited because I was sent to protect you. Your mother did what she could to stop me, to prevent me from being near, so I did what I could. Your dreams," he stops before his playful smirk returns. "You must admit, though, you loved my visits. Didn't you?"

Rolling my eyes at his sudden liveliness, I ask the million dollar question that is the reason behind all of this. "So what's next? You told me to save you, save you from what?"

His smirk wipes from existence as his lips part. "A wolf, stronger than any of our kind has ever seen. One you have seen before." The blue-eyed wolf who attacked me. "No," Caesar breaks my thoughts, "that was a pup compared to what we are up against. Her minion. But she... she is so much more."

The white wolf. The one with the red eyes.

"Who- who is she?" Confusion fills my voice as my eyebrow lifts ever so slightly.

"That, we're unsure of. All we know is her motive. To eradicate our pack. To kill you. And to ensure that nothing will stop her from doing so." Though his words never waver, I can hear the fear inside of them. The same fear that shivers within me as he says them.

"How do you know it is a she then?" I falter out, wanting for this to be simply another dream. Maybe if I tried pinching myself-

A grin curls across Caesar's face, "please don't do that. I know how dire this all sounds, but it is real, I assure you that. The scent," he goes back to my previous question. "That's how we know it's a she. Once you finally shift, you will understand all that I tell you. But what is important is that you know everything, or at least all that you need to for now."

"What I don't understand is if you can't stop her, how do you expect me to?"

"Well that's why I am here, to help you tame the beast within and understand it. Only then, once you are ready, you will take over as alpha. Alpha's are the strongest and most valiant in any pack, that is how you will stop her." A shaky breath releases past my lips, but my eyes remain on his. "Serelia, you have always thought you were weak because you are different. In truth, you are the only one strong enough to help us. We need you."

Tears flood in my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. My mother wasn't crazy. My father didn't abandon me, or not in the way I always believed. The whispers are real, they mean something. Everything I ever believed, about the world, my family, myself, it's all different now.

Caesar extends his hand and brushes my arm, his touch tingling against my skin. The stories, the dreams I have denied for so long. They're real. Not only are they real, but I stand within them. All the questions I've been asking all this time, or at least a part of them, I'm finally getting the answers I have been waiting for.

He gives me a moment, silent so I can process everything I've heard these last few minutes. Shutting my eyes, I hold back the tears that so desperately want to release. Though I can have my wishes of not having to leave or fight or face any of this, I know I have to. Apparently dreams are only made for sleeping.

Sucking in one more breath, I nod softly in acceptance. "I'm ready."

-

"Will I survive this," my pace slows as a nervous sigh breathes from my lips. "The fight, the pack... will I make it home?"

Caesar shifts my duffle bag in an awkward motion while I lug the other, traipsing through the hushed streets of Lupa Valley. After our conversation back in my bedroom, he helped me back my belongings into a couple of duffle bags and I left a note for grandma saying I'd be at Levana's. Then I texted her to cover for me before hiding my phone in my bedroom after Caesar informed me to in order to not be traced. Besides, it's not like enchanted werewolf forests have good wifi.

Though Caesar says it's only a bit past ten at night, the sky holds so much more darkness. The stars beam overhead, snow-white torches spread across a blackened canvas.

I look at him, still anticipating his response, but all I get is his eyes shadowed ahead and a clenched jaw. I guess he can't easily say, No, but that doesn't get you out of fighting for your pack.

"I wasn't going to say that," his voice reassures, causing me to freeze, still startled that he can hear what goes on inside my head. "I don't know what will happen, that's a fate no one can predict. All I know is we'll train you so that we can at least try to ensure the best outcome."

Pursing my lips tight, I bite down onto my tongue to hold in the anxiety forming. When that doesn't work, I change the subject. "You say you can hear my thoughts because you are a part of my pack," I begin and he nods in agreement. "Then why can't I hear yours?"

"As I've said, once you shift, this world and the life awaiting within will begin to make sense. That handy little spell placed upon you put a hold on your tricks, but once it wears off, your senses will surface." As he speaks, my feet begin to deceive me and my body trembles in fatigue the more we walk. Caesar must sense my weariness as he stops in his tracks, his nose twitching as he broods. "We can rest for the night, finish our journey in daylight."

"Where? We're too far from my house to go back, and we're not stashing hundreds in these bags for a hotel. Not that Lupa Valley has many of those either way," I say, glancing at the soundless road. Shop lights dulled for the night, only a few lone stragglers passing by. Caesar mentioned the forest being a bit more than a day's walk, and by now it's only been a bit longer than a few hours since leaving home.

"Perhaps not a hotel, but no one said the building had to be in use," Caesar eyes a few buildings down, his gaze landing on one covered in boards and fallen bricks.

"When I agreed to go with you, the deal didn't include breaking and entering," I try to sound bold, as if I had any say in what we did. But my voice fails me as the words break in my attempts.

"Would you prefer a tall tree or maybe a nice cave? I don't believe the rats and spiders will be welcoming company, however," he sneers in a sarcastic remark. My lack of protest must be enough of an answer for him as he begins to saunter towards the abandoned building.

It's for one night. I think as my eyelids are already near closed and it's a struggle to drag myself much further. We don't have many options regardless, at least this way you can sleep for a few moments.

In the midst of my thoughts, Caesar manages to find a few boards with a slight opening to them, with ease removing another two so we can climb in the already broken window.

"After you," he gestures towards the gap and despite a complaining groan, I comply.

Splintering wood pushes into my palms, not fully breaking the skin and sinking in, but still as painful. The hole is precisely wide enough to where I can climb through without much struggle, though I remain careful of any shattered glass and nails.

Nearly plummeting forward, I regain my balance and pretzel my body to land upright. From the moonlit town and graveled concrete, I now stand in what appears to be a darkened lobby with torn acrylic flooring and graying couches. Caesar lands besides me, his weight causing a thunderous echo across the large room. The lobby, clouded with a thick layer of dust, seems to have been part of an apartment complex that hasn't held a sign of life in decades.

"I guess this is what can be considered cheap real estate," I say while pushing against one of the longer couches, another wave of dust jumping from the cushion. The arenose of dirt particles wheezes a hoarse cough scratching against my throat.

The walls uncover what once looked to have been intricate murals, now reduced to faded paint colors and details now chipped to appear like abstract artistry. A whirring buzz of flies draws my eyes to a pot of brittle and decaying flowers, petals fusing to the archaic desk beneath that also holds aging light fixtures with bug-chewed base and lampshades.

Stepping away from the couch, I ascend up the thin staircase, the floorboards crying beneath my pressure. I'm met with a line of doors at the top, a few revealing bedrooms as forsaken as the lobby. Well, it's not five stars, but it is a place to sleep.

"We have only a few hours to rest, we should set back out before dawn strikes," Caesar approaches behind me, entering the bedroom and setting my bag on the wrinkled leather chair.

After a dozen attempts at dusting the bed off until I feel comfortable enough to lie down on it, I bunch up one of my hoodies as a makeshift pillow. In spite of how drained my body is, sinking into the mattress and rusted springs prodding against my sides, sleep does not come naturally tonight.

"I thought you were tired," Caesar mocks from the doorway, removing his jacket and placing it with my bags, exposing his muscular bare arms.

"I am," I grumble out, letting out a deep huff and shuffling for a more comfortable position in this bed. It squeaks as my body shifts and I fear it'll buckle if I were to move much more. "It's just- there's so much..." I try to explain but the words in my brain struggle to match with what comes out of my mouth. "I can't."

"It's okay to be scared, you know. Fear is what drives us to become stronger, without it, we can never push further as people," Caesar slides down the wall and sits on the floor opposite of my bedside.

"Okay, 'person,'" I say, bringing myself up to lean against my arms. "Tell me something about yourself. All I know about you is that you are a werewo-" I pause as his nose crunches at the word. "Lupi and that you have been dream-stalking me for years."

"Werewolves are monsters," he lectures. "We are hunters of the night. Far from mundane, sure, but monsters?" His head shakes as he pauses and exhales. "What do you want to know? I'll give you one question, anything you want to ask."

Struggling to think, the first thing I can think of blurts out before processing. "Tell me about your family," I begin stammering over my words, my voice lowering before finishing. "What were they like?"

Caesar's face flattens, all joking banter leaves his eyes as they close. "Not much to tell. Mother and father were killed when I was young, leaving me with a sister to raise as I searched for help. That's how I found the pack, your father. He rescued us. Raising us as his own for the next eleven years, ensuring our survival. My sister, Verena, is not much younger than you. She is my family."

Caesar's eyes, though looking in my direction, were unfocused as he spoke. A sadness on his face, one that I'm more than familiar with, and we both take a moment to sit in silence. We have both lost loved ones, family that were taken in ways beyond our control, and leaving us to fight life's harsh battles alone.

Though the two words 'I'm sorry,' nearly spill past my lips, I know more than anyone they're no help. Two words that sting rather than soothe.

"You should get some sleep," Caesar speaks out, keeping still in his position on the floor.

"Are you not tired?"

The woeful look on his face masks behind one of stone, a smirk hiding the grief in his eyes. "As you would say, 'werewolves' don't sleep much. Nights for us are spent running free, being nocturnal predators of the night. Soon you will join us, but for now, you remain more to your Maleo parts than the Virunis."

"Huh? What's that?" I ask, pulling my arms down from under me and lying my head back down onto my jacket, keeping my eyes on Caesar.

"Maleos are what we Virunis creatures call those who are mundane, human."

"So Virunis," the word doesn't flow as easily from my mouth as it does his. "Those are what, magical beings? Does that mean there's more than wolves?"

"All those tales you've heard in stories are true. Over time, Maleos lost their belief in us and saw us as monsters or legends. Though, it is the Maleos who have acted the most cruel than any Virunus being, so we went into hiding. Fatals, Lupi, Divines, Lamias— all of the creatures who conceal their existence beneath the moon's graces. I'll explain it all when the time comes, but for now, regain your strength, we must leave soon."

***

Until then,

-Xxx