Chapter 3: When Innocence and Monsters Collide

He turned to her after he had locked the doors and then pulled her over to the bed forcing her to sit. He then lifted her chin to gaze up at him. His eyes were cold as ice now as he spoke to her. His hand held her hand tightly as he made sure that she would not pull away until he was done talking.

"Rowan, you and I need to talk. I know that what I am about to say will be hard for you to accept and hard for you to understand. But with the way things have turned out, I have a few confessions to make and I need to let you know why this all happened the way it did. First of all, I had a hand in your parents' deaths. I know you have suspected this and I won't lie to you this late in the game. Though, your parents had lied to you for some time."

He paused a moment as he waited for Rowan to respond, but she was in a state of shock and just stared at him. Though she had heard everything he had said.

"There is a reason I did what I did, though at this point in time you will not understand, not agree with what has already been done. You were adopted at six months of age. Your own biological parents had to give you up to save your life. They died shortly afterward. You see, you are a shifter. A wolf shifter. Those stories that you have heard about werewolves are true. All of them. The reason you do not remember is because your adopted parents had kept you drugged. Made you think that you had a mental illness of sorts. Though, you didn't, and you functioned normally in society. You have been shifting every full moon since you were six years old. Your parents were able to handle you because you were so young. But, as you got older they lost that control. I knew about six months ago that the animal killings on the farm were you. Though, you have not harmed a human yet. The reason that Ryder doesn't know about this is because he is the biological son of your parents. I couldn't take his life as well. But, one of two things will need to be done. No one here knows of him nor will they know that Ryder ever existed as a human."

Rowan's eyes only seemed to widen at his words, to the point that she was nearly googly-eyed as she stared at him. He was not saying this. She would wake up tomorrow morning and find out it was just a dream. She would run downstairs for breakfast. A breakfast that was prepared by her mother. Her father, as usual, would be reading his paper. Ryder always beat her downstairs in the morning and he was usually found playing with his micro machines at the table while his their mom was fixing their meal. He was her brother and she had been told many times that she looked like her mother. How could any of this be true? She lowered her head now as she shook in frustration. He had to be lying.

"You see, I am the alpha in the pack. You are supposed to be my Luna. I know that you are confused and upset right now. I am sorry about that. But you need to understand. Ryder is an outsider. Unless he is turned, the pack will kill him on sight. That is just how it works. If they smell human scents on you as part of your scent and your brother's they will kill you both. I won't let that happen. There is going to be a full moon tonight. You, tell me what you want to do? I will kill him or I will bite him and change him. He may die anyway. Your brother is not a strong child. But he has a better chance that way. Becoming a wolf may save his life. If he lives he will become strong like the other bitten ones. Those of us that are pure-born are stronger, but we can protect him better if he was a wolf instead of being human."

Rowan was still not buying any of this, but then something caught her eye. On the doorframe in the doorway between her room and his, she saw it. The claw marks. Only a humanoid creature could have made them as bears do not have thumbs. Her eyes met his once more.

"You killed grandma and grandpa didn't you?"

Her words were innocent enough and Chace had known that she was not stupid. But he knew that this was the calm before the storm. She would eventually freak out and then he would have to calm her. A fact that he was not savoring one bit. Since he had known her, he had loved her, but she was always forbidden to touch.

She knew now that they were not aunt and uncle and that he had been adopted as well. Though she knew beforehand that he had been adopted, she had not known that he was not in any way shape or form related to her. Until now. She cringed at the words he spoke as she began to struggle to pull herself away. But, she ended up on his lap. He was going to make her make that decision before he let her go. As far as the other one, when she was to become his Luna, she knew that was not up for debate. Somehow, the wolf in her sensed the wolf in him pull the wildcard. He was making her bow down to him. It was then that she realized the wolf part was true.

"Do not kill my brother. If he is to be bitten, do it quickly while he sleeps, just get it over with."

The tears forming in her eyes told him that she still considered him her baby brother and that she would always take care of him. Though, this was not in the cards when she made him that promise. She knew she had no choice and that he would have to be changed.

When Chace went to kiss her lips she turned her head and he got her cheek again. He would have to wait until she was ready to be with him in such an intimate manner. She was still young and she was not ready for such intimacy. She had to learn to trust him first. Let alone, learn to love him.

Chace nodded and left the room, locking the door behind him. She glared at the lock. Was this going to be her life now? Being locked into her bedroom.

She stood and went to unpack her clothes. She knew her other things would be here at the end of the week. Once her clothes were unpacked, she sat on her bed and waited. The time seemed to pass slowly and she knew that Chace was taking care of loose ends with Ryder. He would never be an alpha. But he would hold a higher position in the pack than he normally would have. He was her brother and Chace was the Alpha. Problem was, she was not one to take orders and she liked to do her own thing. This would not sit well with Chace and she knew it.

It was then that she noticed the backyard from another window. She went over and realized that it was really glass doors and she was able to step out on a balcony. She was on the second floor or she would have jumped. Wait. If she was a wolf. Did she have superpowers? Looking down over the edge, she could see a soft patch of grass below in the starlight. There was not a full moon out tonight and it would not be out for another week.

She bit her bottom lip and then took a deep breath. Swinging her legs over the balustrade she let herself drop to the ground. Instinctively, she landed in a crouch with her head down. She had not hurt herself and now she truly wondered more about this wolf thing. Standing up, she looked around.

There was no fence and the backyard led into a wooded area. Trees as far as the eye could see. The view from the other window had not given her any idea about the dense woods.

She glanced up at where her room was and then back at the yard. She had recalled hearing wolves earlier, but she had not stopped to think that they could be human in nature. Nor did she realize that the more experienced wolves were able to shift at will. If she had should might not have jumped of the balcony and onto the grass.

She walked toward the woods and stood at the edge of them now as she was a bit nervous to go into them. She knew Chace would not be happy she was out of her room. But at least she was not interfering with him and Ryder.

It was then that she saw the eyes shining back at her and heard the half growl, half whimper. When they came closer, she began to back up. She was not sure about this and was now wishing she had stayed in her room. She didn't remember shifting as she had been on drugs to cover up her memories, so she did not realize that this was not just a regular wolf. Feeling herself bump into the tree behind her, she stood mesmerized as the wolf came out of the trees and she was able to get a look at it.

The wolf was larger than a regular wolf. It's eyes green and it's coat brown and gray. It came toward her cautiously. She didn't know that Chace had left his scent on her and the wolf was sniffing the air trying to figure things out. Once it reached her it began to sniff her and she closed her eyes not wanted to get bit.

But just as quickly as the sniffing had started, it stopped and the wolf sat on its haunches and howled. Opening her eyes she bit her bottom lip and turned to run. Bad idea. The wolf pounced on her and knocked her down as it stuck his snout in her neck to inhale the scent.

It didn't last long as she heard a low growl and the wolf immediately got off of her. She stood and gasped. In front of her was the biggest black wolf that she had ever seen and it was snarling at the wolf behind her. The smaller wolf turned and dashed off into the woods and she turned back to the larger one.

"Chace?"