CHAPTER 3.

I must still be stuck in last night’s dream.

“What do you mean my father?” I asked loudly, my voice sharp. “Take me away to where? You’re not making any sense, mum.”

“Astra.”

The man spoke, moving towards me. I flinched, taking a step back. I looked from him to my mother, then back to him. He had black hair and blue eyes, similar to mine. His intense eyes on me made my insides turn.

What exactly was going on? Who is this man and why was he in my house, calling my name as if we knew each other?

“Astra….honey….please.” My mother forced out, staggering to my side. She took my hand and looked me in the eye. “I need to tell you something.”

She went ahead and explained the situation. About twenty years ago, in Delaware, she had gone camping in the woods with a few friends. Everything was going well, until the sun set and her friends began to disappear one after the other. Suddenly everyone was gone and she was the only one left, waiting to die.

“But then, Julian showed up. He saved me.” She concluded, still holding my hands.

I stared at her, more confused than ever. “I don’t understand. Your friends can’t just up and disappear, mum. Also, what was a random guy doing in the woods? How do you know he didn’t take your friends?”

“I didn’t.” The man my mother referred to as Julian spoke up.

“I was talking to my mother!” I yelled at him.

“Don’t yell at your father, Astra.” My mother scolded me.

“Why do you keep calling him my father? My father is dead!”

“I only told you that to protect you.”

“Protect me from what?” I asked, now hyperventilating.

I couldn’t understand what I was hearing, nothing made sense. My mother was saying a lot of words, but none of it was putting me at ease. Today was supposed to be fun, it was supposed to be about me. So why was a strange man standing in my house? And why did he give off a familiar scent? Like I knew him, but not really.

Julian stepped forward, careful not to get too close to where I stood. “I can tell you about the voice you’ve been hearing in your head.”

My breath caught. How did he know about Lola?

“I can explain all the strange things that’s been happening to you since this morning,” he continued. “I just need you to trust me, and if you can’t do that, at least trust your mother.”

I swallowed, looking away. He was right. I was almost ashamed of myself for screaming at my mum, I had to trust her. I did trust her. Everything was just a little too much for me to handle right now, but I was willing to listen with an open mind.

I turned to my mum. “Tell me everything.”

They led me to the couch, where I sat silently and listened to what either of them had to say. Apparently, my mum had been sending Julian pictures of me since I was a baby. He always made sure to show up on important events, like my birthdays and so on, even though he kept his distance. He was also the one that bought us this house and my car, I had an account which he put money into weekly for my upkeep and future needs.

“I don’t understand why you had to do all that in secret though,” I said, fidgeting with my finger nails. “Why couldn’t you be in my life? Why did I have to grow up without a father?”

“Honey….” He paused cautiously, unsure if I’d be comfortable with him using an endearment. “I so badly wanted to be there for you, but I didn’t know if you were like me? I didn’t want to have to disrupt your life.”

“Like you?”

He exhaled. “I have a voice in my head too, his name is Rogue.”

“Rogue?” I let out a small laugh.

Julian growled, startling me. “Sorry about that, he doesn’t like when people laugh at him.”

“You talk about him like he’s a person.”

“He is. They all are.”

My eyes went wide. “They? They’re more? Is this an illness that runs in your family or something?”

Julian looked at my mum, and she nodded for him to go on. He looked back at me. “Something like that, except it’s so much more. It could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on who. Astra…..I’m a werewolf.”

He paused to take in my reaction, but when I didn’t act surprised or anything, he went on.

“You already know this?”

I licked my lips. “Well, Lola did tell me I’m a werewolf, but I just thought I was going crazy. So hearing that word for the second time today is just kind of boring.”

“You don’t believe?”

“No offense, Mr Julian. I swear you had me until that.” I turned towards my mum. “Is this all part of your surprise?”

“Now you’re just in denial,” Lola finally made an entrance, speaking softly. “He knew about me, Astra.”

I shook her away even though I knew she was right. This man sitting in front of me knows about the voice in my head, what are the chances that everyone in his family had voices in their head with names, telling them they’re wolves?

I sighed. “I really am a werewolf.”

My mum and Julian nodded, and my heart sank. I didn’t ask for this, I didn’t want this. What exactly was going to happen now? What did this mean for me?

Julian dragged up his sleeve and drew out his hand, hair started to form slowly around his wrist until it was completely covered. Then, he whipped out his fingers and revealed a set of claws. I gasped, but didn’t get up. He smiled at me, and I could have sworn I noticed fangs.

“Neat trick,” I commented. “Can I do that?”

He shook his head. “Not yet. But with training, you will.”

An hour later, he was putting my packed bags in the trunk of his car. It didn’t take much to convince me, after hearing how dangerous it could be for me to stick around, I decided it was best I left. Of course, I was sad I didn’t get the chance to tell Shawn and Ella goodbye in person, but I explained via text that I had to go out of town for a while, for a family matter.

However, I didn’t take the news well when I heard my mum wouldn’t be coming with us. She was human, it wouldn’t be safe. After much tears and hugs, I finally let her go and jumped into the front seat.

“I’ll miss you,” I called out to her as we began to drive away. “I love you.”

“I love you more!” She yelled back.

This was the first time I was going to be away from her, I hated it. I was nervous and excited about what was to come. All I had to do was follow my dad to Delaware and train enough to be able to control myself, then I could come back.

I could come back to Maine in a couple of weeks, how hard could it be to learn all the basic werewolf instincts?

We were on the road for more than ten hours, the whole time Julian and I tried to get to know each other better. He told me about how he and my mum fell in love after he rescued her, how he was heartbroken and devastated when they had to part ways for her own safety. I also found out that the things that killed her friends that night were vampires, but at this point, nothing surprised me anymore.

I found myself telling him about my life, how popular and well liked I was in school, how I was cheer captain. Excitedly, I mentioned Shawn and how much he meant to me. Julian did not receive the news well, it almost looked like he was biting his tongue to prevent making any comment.

I didn’t think much about it. No dad was ever comfortable with their daughter having a boyfriend.

The whole ride, I felt uncomfortable as I slipped in and out of naps. I could feel Lola in me, aggressively trying to burst out. She seemed rattled, less talkative but very angry.

Something was wrong, I just didn’t know what. All this was still pretty new to me.

It was already past two in the morning when we came to a halt in front of what looked like a mountain, more like a dead end really. Julian stepped out of the car, took out a knife and used it to cut across his palm. I winced where I sat, reacting to his pain. He, however, did not seem phased.

He smeared his blood over the rocks and before my eyes, it began to fade, getting transparent by the second until it was completely gone.

“Welcome home, Astra.” My father said as he returned to the car and drove us in.

I turned around, watching as the rocks organized themselves to once more block the path.

“Only a wolf from the tribe of Moondew can open the path,” he explained, watching the fascinated expression on my face.

“Moondew?” I looked at him, confused.

“This is Moondew,” he said, using his eyes to indicate the mass of land surrounding us. “Our pack is protected by magic, to keep others away.”

“The vampires?” I asked.

“And other rival packs,” he focused his gaze on me. “There are much more scarier things out there, Astra. The magic that protects us is strong and ancient though, done by our ancestors to guarantee our safety, so you have nothing to fear.”

But I wasn’t afraid. It was easier to convince myself that the other creatures weren’t real. I was more afraid of being stuck here forever, never seeing my mum and friends ever again.

Finally, we rolled into the driveway of what looked like a country house, it was large and traditional. There were no other houses nearby, it almost looked haunted just standing there on its own. Julian stopped the car in front of the entrance door and immediately, a boy popped out.

He also had black hair and blue eyes with a captivating smile. As he got closer, I could tell he was older than I was. He had this mature look on his face that was both scary and intriguing, but friendly.

“Welcome home, dad.” He said, giving Julian a hug before turning to me. “You must be Astra, my little sister.”

I swallowed. “Little sister?”

The charming boy I’d only just met flashed me a warm smile. “I’m Jerry Masters. Julian is my dad, so that makes you—”

“Your sister,” I blurted out before he could finish the sentence. “Got it.”

“You must be tired,” he said, lifting my bags like they were nothing. “I’ll take you to your room so you can wash up and rest, today’s a busy day.”

I followed Jerry willingly, quietly, not really knowing how to interact with him since I’ve been an only child all my life. He said today was going to be busy, did he mean with training and shit? Was I going to start learning how to control what I am?

I told Jerry goodnight, and got into bed without taking a shower. I was exhausted, all I wanted was to drift off to sleep and not dream about the mysterious boy.

“I like it here,” Lola whispered, hearing her voice made me feel safe as I dozed off on the soft comfortable bed.