302
Lucy
My heart lurched into my throat. I almost jumped from the table. What was she doing here? Was she going to tell me to go back to them? Was all of this just a trick by Selene?
Eve's expression remained calm as she met my gaze. There was none of the malic I was used to from Selene in her gaze, but that could just be a trick. I couldn't put it past Selene to be using all of this against me, to be watching.
"I'm not going back," I said stiffly. "I—"
"You misunderstand," Eve said gently.
I went still meeting her gaze, and there was a flicker of something in her eyes that made me stay silent.
"If any of us has reason to want Oren and that bitch dead more than anything, it's me and you."
I frowned, searching her gaze for a lie, but she wasn't lying.
"Your mother was murdered. Your will-be mother-in-law gave her life to thwart Selene, and I..." Eve swallowed and dropped her gaze. "Endured... The four of us are the most recent and most direct victims of her schemes."
Eve looked back at me. "And with any luck and a bit of planning, you will be the last."
"The last?"
They looked at each other like they were having a silent conversation. "The last woman to be branded by that vicious curse."
She took a deep breath. "One day... One day, I hope they will apologize, but an apology for their actions from me would be meaningless." Her jaw trembled. "Being under Selene's spell or under Oren's influence is no excuse for what they did to you, and if I had known that my being alive could have prevented it, I would have kept searching for a different path forward."
She closed her eyes. "At the least, I would be berating if I could reach their minds."
She shook her head. "But none of that is important right now."
"What do you mean?" My stomach turned to lead. "I-Isn't that why you're here?"
Allison shook her head. "We're here to warn you about what's to come."
Delilah shook her head. "I wish there was more time to prepare, you, but there's really no other option. It has to be at the Crescent Festival. That's when Selene is going to make her move, and if she wins, it will only make things harder."
"Harder how?"
"She'll have control of a real wolf shifter," Eve said stiffly, gripping her fists. "And she'll have a body."
She looked at me. "Yours."
I shuddered. "So... that wasn't just... a potential."
"No," she said. "That's the plan. It's always been the plan. We thwarted her attempts before. Allison was a candidate, but Oren wanted to Delilah..."
Her lips twitched. "It warmed my heart to see her on Xavier's arm every year I was dragged there. Oren knew that if he tried to face Xavier in combat, he'd end up dead, but..." She sighed. "Never mind. You need training. We will do what we can to help you, but none of that will matter if you have no strength of your own."
I shuddered and nodded. "I understand... F-For what it's worth, I know that it... That they could have been much worse."
"That's not--"
"I know it's not the same as not doing it all, but maybe you should take... some solace in knowing that they aren't their father."
Eve's eyes glossed over. Delilah put her hand on Eve's shoulder. "You did your best, Eve. Selene has... Centuries of knowledge on you, time, and planning. He's more than safe now, you know that. Even given the situation, they both are."
She nodded. "I know... But to have them all so scarred, tainted, by her machinations. To know that even if I had remained alive, almost nothing would have changed..."
She growled, and her eyes flashed. "To know that monster did this to my sons..."
"I'm healing," I said slowly. "And... maybe they'll, and you'll heal from it too one day."
Her lips trembled, and she dabbed at her eyes. "I can only hope... a shifter of their lineage can live a long life."
"It's... very nice to meet you in any case," I eyed her. "You're... a White Moon wolf, right?"
"My father," Eve said. "Was a White Moon shifter proper. My mother is a witch. In some ways, that makes us pack."
I nodded. "I think... David plans to kill Oren at the Crescent Festival."
Delilah chuckled. "There is no need to think about it, dear. That, too, is the plan. I have a feeling that my Xavier is training him for it as we speak. Avenging one's father and all of his ancestors is no easy feat and a matter of honor."
As she spoke, the wind outside the cottage picked up, howling like a banshee. Shadows flickered across the windows, casting ominous shapes on the walls. Eve stood, her eyes fierce.
"We're out of time." She vanished in a whirl of darkness. The cottage room started to fade.
Delilah smiled. "She'll give me just enough time, I think."
She cupped my cheeks in her hands and placed her head against mine. Lighting shot through me, tingling and hot, before she vanished. I blinked away the sensation.
Allison sniffled, and she wrapped her arms around me. "Be strong, darling. You are so much more than you can even imagine, and I am so proud of the young woman you've become and the queen you will be."
Queen?
"I don't know how much you'll remember after this or how much you can shield your mind from her." She pulled back and met my gaze. "If you must remember anything from this dream if you must hold anything from her, dear. Remember this: do not put on the crystal necklace."
And then, she too was gone, leaving me alone in the cottage as it started to fad and vanish. My whole body felt cold as I realized something. All three of them had been in that circle. Were they all still bound to Selene? Even now? My stomach lurched.
The cottage vanished, and I landed in the same moonlit clearing I always saw Selene in, yet she wasn't there.
In her place, there was a lone wolf with fur the color of moonlight lying, seeming sleeping, in a bed of lush grass. Part of me felt this wolf was familiar.
Then, there was a howl in the distance. The wolf shot to its feet in a moment and swayed. There was a gash running through its pelt. It was bleeding.
He was bleeding.
I looked around and heard the sound of waves nearby.
That had to be Shell Cove—David!
"Come with me!"
The wolf looked at me and then back at the sound of howling. He seemed indecisive.
"Come with me, and you'll be safe." I swallowed, listening to the howling getting closer. "Please?"
He looked back and stepped back away from me. He looked wary and unsure. The words rushed out of me before I could think about it.
"Your mother would want you to come with me."
His eyes widened, and he trotted towards me. He looked up at me, and there was something uncannily familiar about this wolf. Something about his eyes.
We ran through the forest until we could no longer hear the sound of howling. Soon, the forest gave way to the beach, and I could look out into the sunset.
David wasn't there, but when I turned around, the wolf was no longer there either.
It was a man lying in the surf with a long trail of blood behind us. I approached the man carefully. As I touched him, his wounds started to stitch closed. He groaned and opened his eyes.
"Trent?" I asked, looking down at him. "What—"
The man's eyes widened, bulging out of his face. He jerked away from me, looking at once surprised and terrified.
"Lucy?"
I went still. I recognized that voice and jumped away from him with a scream.
* * *
I shot upright, gasping for air. My heart pounded against my ribs. What had Matt been doing there? With a new face that looked like Trent?
I swallowed. If he was injured in the dream, if he was there with me, then who was chasing us? Tony? Oren? Why did he look so different?
I shook my head, trying to push that thought away. If I went back to sleep, would I see him again? I frowned. Hadn't I known, somehow, that the wolf had been either Matt or Tony? I'd mentioned Eve, after all. I shuddered and hoped that dreams like that wouldn't be happening again any time soon. I hoped that it was just a dream more than anything, but given the way things were turning out, it probably wasn't.
Then, I heard the ring of my alarm. I picked it up, ready to hit snooze, until I saw the time.
I was late.
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