26. Voices

Mia Miller

The silence that followed was unbearable. Amber hesitated for a moment, but her face was burning with embarrassment and anger, though she knew she had no choice. Without saying another word, she turned and left, the door slamming behind us.

The room felt heavier after she left... I took a deep breath because I didn’t want to get upset. Ethan turned to me, his expression no less severe. "Are you okay?"

I wanted to scream at him, ask why he always did this—made decisions for me, put me in impossible situations, and expected me to just accept it. But instead, I just nodded. I was tired of fighting. Lorenzo was with me, and that was all that mattered at that moment.

"Is this going to happen often?" I asked, trying to keep calm. "People from your pack hating me just because I’m human?"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"There will be resistance, yes. They're not used to this. But I’ll make it clear that you and Lorenzo are part of my life now. They'll have to accept it."

"You could have told me you had a wolf, at least I wouldn’t have given myself to you all night yesterday."

"I don’t have..." he stopped the sentence and looked at me. "Amber and I have nothing, she’s just—"

"One night?" I interrupted him. "Just like I was to you that night at the bar? Looks like you're already used to it."

I shook my head, trying to process everything. I never asked for this—this world, this pack, this confusion. I just wanted to protect my son and find some normalcy. But somehow, it seemed like normalcy was something I would never have again.

"We’ll stay here for the night," Ethan suddenly said, pulling me from my thoughts. "The storm is too strong to go back to the city."

I looked out the window. The rain was pouring heavily, and the wind was howling around the cabin. It felt like the whole world was falling apart outside.

"You can stay here with Lorenzo," Ethan said, pointing to a room at the back. "I’ll take care of some things with the pack. Try to rest."

"Is it safe, or will your wolf try to kill us?" I asked ironically.

"She won’t mess with you."

I just nodded and went to the room, Lorenzo still nestled in my arms. I laid him down on the bed and carefully covered him with a blanket. He was sleeping deeply, oblivious to all the madness around us.

So beautiful… How could the person I loved most in this world have the face of the dumbest man I’d ever known?

I think Ethan only lost to Collin, who was the worst jerk in the world for cheating on me with my best friend.

I sat beside him and closed my eyes, trying to control the whirlwind of emotions inside me. But then I heard it. A faint sound, like a whisper.

"Mia…"

My breath caught for a second. I opened my eyes, but the room was empty. The only sound was the storm outside. Then, again, the voice.

"Mia… you don’t belong to them..."

My heart started to race. Who was speaking? And why did it sound so... familiar? I slowly got up, looking around the room. I looked out the windows, and nothing seemed out of place, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was there. Something I didn’t understand.

And then, one last time, the whisper. Clearer. Closer.

"Your true place is not here, but with your pack..."

A chill ran down my spine, and I hugged Lorenzo, quickly turning around, expecting to see someone there. But there was no one. Just the feeling that something bigger was happening. Something I still didn’t understand, but that was about to be revealed.

I was losing my mind. Maybe it was the exhaustion, or the confusing emotions of being in a completely different world than I ever imagined. The fact that I was immersed in this world of werewolves was already enough to make me question everything. Maybe the storm, the tensions with a possessive wolf, and my exhaustion were just playing tricks on me.

The next morning, during breakfast, I still felt disturbed. Ethan immediately noticed that I was distant. He’d always been observant, but this time his gaze seemed even more focused.

"What happened, human?" he asked.

I shook my head, not really knowing how to explain what happened the night before. "I don’t know." I turned to him. "It’s like... something was calling me. Something strange happened last night. I heard voices."

His expression changed instantly. He narrowed his eyes as if he knew more than he was willing to say. That made me even more uneasy.

"These lands are ancient. Sometimes, spirits speak," he said, straightforward.

"Spirits?" I frowned, trying to understand what he was implying. "Does this have to do with you being a werewolf? Is this kind of thing normal here?"

He looked at me for a moment, as if carefully choosing his words. "Not just that," he replied, evasive as always. "The supernatural world is much bigger than you think. And you’re a part of it more than you realize."

A chill ran over my skin at his words. The tone he used wasn’t casual, and the way he looked away only made me believe he knew more about me than I did. There were secrets there, secrets about me, about my connection to this world that he wasn’t ready to reveal.

I swallowed hard and refused to press further. I knew Ethan was hiding something, but I also knew that I wouldn’t get any answers from him at that moment. The mystery surrounding my own identity, something I had never questioned before, seemed to be growing darker and deeper every day.

I needed to find out the truth.

"I’ll fix the car so we can head back to the city. I’ll need your help with the administrative side of the bar," he said, and I nodded.

The bar...

That bar where I gave myself to Ethan like I’d never given myself to anyone.

But in my mind, all I could hear was that damn voice.