15

Jackie looked at me sadly, and I could see the worry in her eyes, so I took a deep breath and smiled at her genuinely. "You know me, Jackie, if this is true, I'm sure I can handle it" I assured her. Truthfully, my main concern was my innocent little sister. Why did she have to get caught up in this?

Jackie raised her eyebrows, but didn't question me. I handed the slip of paper back to her, and she placed it back in its hiding place.

We went back to the kitchen, where Hayden was waiting. When I saw him, I couldn't help but smile, even though I was a little bit annoyed with him for not divulging everything I needed to know about Sid and the Prophecy.

"Hayden, why didn't you tell the poor girl everything?" Jackie scolded.

His eyes darkened, "I didn't think she could handle it straight away."

"I needed to know, Hayden," I told him.

He looked down at his feet and sighed. "I know, I'm sorry," he muttered. I walked over to him and embraced him gently.

"Are you worried about the Prophecy?" I asked softly. He nodded and hugged my tighter.

"We'll all make sure Dawn is looked after," Jackie assured him.

"I just want to keep her safe, Mum," he whispered back. She patted his arm before leaving the room, Hayden and I still wrapped in each other's arms.

A deep voice spilled into the room from the hall, "Hayden?" I recognised the voice as Harvey, who was calling for my mate.

My mate.

"In the kitchen, Dad!" Hayden replied, not releasing me. I heard more than one set of footsteps approach the kitchen, and I frowned. Who was with Harvey?

I broke away from Hayden's hold when Harvey walked in, followed by an attractive boy with blue eyes and light brown hair. Without realising, I stared at him, wondering if I'd ever seen him before. He looked to be my age, yet I'd never seen him at school. It puzzled me why he looked so familiar. Hayden noticed my stare and growled protectively, pulling me to his chest.

"Hey, Hayden," the boy greeted. Hayden nodded and smiled at him in response.

Harvey grinned when he looked as us, "So, I see we have some lovebirds on our hands." I blushed while Hayden smirked and set a feathery kiss on the top of my head.

Behind him, someone else familiar suddenly walked in.

"Dr. Carmon?" tumbled out of my open mouth. He smiled at me and shook my hand, enthusing about how good it was to see me.

"Dr. Carmon is a family friend, as we told you before, Dawn. But he is also Beta of this pack. I'm assuming you know what a Beta is...?" Harvey said to me.

"Second in command," Hayden discreetly whispered in my ear.

"It's your second in command," I repeated to his father, earning an appraising smile.

"And this is Michael, his son." Harvey told me. "He would be Beta to Hayden, but Michael's twin sister was born two minutes before him and that makes her older, therefore Hayden's future Beta," he explained. I looked up at Hayden, who was sending his dad panicked looks, while Harvey seemed confused. As I was studying Hayden's expression, I heard footsteps in the room.

"Ah, here she is," Harvey commented.

"Sorry, I was just taking a phone ca-" No. Her eyes widened when she realised I was in the room, stopping her mid-sentence, and my jaw fell open in shock.

"Indie?" I squeaked in disbelief. She nibbled her lip nervously, fidgeting.

"Um, yeah, hi Dawn," she mumbled, ducking her head. Indie was a werewolf? And Beta?!

Anger consumed me as I stormed up to her and grabbed her wrist, yanking her out of the room. I took her out into the sun-lounge, where the sunlight streaming through the glass ceiling calmed my rage a little bit.

"Explain," I ordered.

"...Um, well, see, I... Okay, here it is. My dad is the Alpha's Beta, so I was born in the community behind this house-"

"Wait, what community?" I questioned, interrupting her nervous explanation.

"Behind this house is the Pack Village, where the rest of the pack lives. I was born there, along with my twin Michael— who you just met —and, because I'm two minutes older than him, the role of Beta falls to me. I have to protect and serve Hayden and his Luna— that's you. That's why I've never brought you to my house. I wanted to tell you a long time ago, but you know I couldn't do that. I'm just glad that you're Hayden's mate, so I can be honest with you," she finished.

"So your name isn't really Indie Layman?"

"No, it's Indie Carmon."

"And you really have a twin brother?"

"Yeah."

I remained silent, then exclaimed, "I can't believe this! Why is everything so goddamn complicated?" A guilty look passed over my friend's face, and I felt a little bit bad.

Although she had lied and hidden huge secrets from me, it wasn't her fault. She did what she had to do to protect her people, her family, her friends. I suppose that in the same situation, I would've done the same. And how did I know that Indie wanted to keep secrets from me? How did I know that she wasn't dying to tell me but had been restrained by her pack, her Alpha? Processing this, I sighed and pulled her into a hug. "I guess I understand," I muttered.

As soon as I uttered those words, she exhaled in relief and gripped me tightly. "I'm so glad. I'd hate it if you didn't forgive me."

All of a sudden, something clicked together in the back of my mind. "It was you! You were the voice I recognised! And...and Michael! He saved me and asked me if I had a death wish!" I said excitedly.

"You remember that?"

I scoffed, "Of course I do, Indie. I thought I heard someone's voice that I knew but I couldn't figure out who. And Jackie said that one of Hayden's friends goes to school with me, which is how she knew my name when I woke up that night. It was all you!"

She fidgeted nervously and ducked her head. "Are you angry?"

I laughed, making her perk up a bit. "Of course not, you didn't do anything wrong."

Once again, she exhaled in relief, patting her chest, "Thank the Goddess. Um, can we go back to the meeting now?" I nodded and we headed back to the kitchen, where the guys were laughing.

"All okay?" Hayden asked when he noticed me. Nodding, I retreated to his warm arms. He tightened them around me and leaned his chin on my head as Indie sat at the counter beside her brother. Now I understood why he looked familiar: the resemblance between the two siblings was uncanny.

"I still can't believe you didn't tell me you have a brother," I said to Indie.

She shrugged, "He chose to go to the Pack School, so it was easier if you and the girls didn't know." I understood; since Michael didn't go to the human school, we would wonder why he didn't attend the only school around with his twin sister, which would only complicate things.

"Right," Harvey announced, "There's a reason we're all here. The half moon is rolling around and we need to come up with some sort of plan. If the Prophecy is true, we need to figure out who those particular Bear Shifters are and how to stop them." Everyone nodded in agreement, and I noticed Indie and Hayden sharing a knowing look.

"What?" I questioned them. Hayden looked at his feet, fiddling with my hair.

"Well..." he gulped.

"Denny, if there's something you're not saying that could be useful I'd appreciate it if you told us now," Harvey commanded. Hayden turned to me and took a deep breath.

"Dawn, do you remember when that weird thing happened with your necklace and the tooth fell out?"

I frowned, I'd forgotten about that. "Yeah...?"

"Well, Indie and I found the tooth," he glanced at Indie, "and we found something inside it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the missing part of my pendant. Turning it over, he pulled a tiny scroll out of the top. I gasped in disbelief, wondering how long this rolled up piece of paper had been tucked inside my necklace. Swallowing, he handed it to me, and I stared at it in my palm.

"Read it," Harvey instructed curiously. I did as he said and unrolled the scroll, turning it around so I could read it.

A power within her, hidden but true.

Human by birth, she must be Shifted by her fated mate to become the Catalyst.

The first Sign will be in her possession, the only other will be hidden.

To find the final sign, first discover the Luna birthmark imprinted on her body.

I repeated this aloud, dumbfounded. My mouth didn't seem to work after that. All through the argument that followed between Hayden and Harvey about Hayden keeping this to himself, I stood silent. I didn't know what to say; I didn't know how to say anything. I was completely shocked.

My necklace was a family heirloom, meaning that my family knew something about Wolf Shifters, or, at least, my ancestor did. Luna birthmark echoed through my mind. Surely... Could it...?

"Dawn, are you okay?" Hayden asked in concern. I clung to his arm to steady myself.

"I feel...dizzy..." Instantly Dr. Carmon jumped out of his seat, and guided me to sit down in it.

"What's wrong, Dawn?" Harvey questioned worriedly.

"You need to look at my...ankle..." I got out, dazed. Hayden crouched on the floor beside me and pulled the bottom of my skinny jeans up, revealing a birth mark. It was a spiral with a long, bent line crossing right through it vertically. It kind of resembled a power button on a computer.

He brushed his thumb over it, and as soon as it touched the mark, heated electricity jumped in my skin.

Sensing this, Hayden placed his forefinger directly on it, and pressed down gently. As if by magic, the mark glowed white and the boy at my feet jumped back, cradling his finger like it was burnt.

Suddenly, a debilitating pain shocked through my body, making me cry out and leaving me trembling. My mate leaped forward, trying to soothe my agony, but it was to no avail. Through my hazy vision, I saw helpless tears form in his eyes as he started to take it out angrily on the people surrounding him, trying to help.

My back arched and I was on my feet, not in control of my body anymore. My chest felt heavy yet it was drifting upwards; with some uncertainty I wondered if I was imagining my feet hovering off the floor. Pain slashed through me again, clenching my teeth together and forcing a long, agonised wail out of my mouth. My torso felt like it was being pulled upwards by some unseen force, my head hung back, exposing my neck.

The ceiling was coming closer, I knew it was, meaning that either the house was falling on top of me or I was floating up, away from the ground. I couldn't hear Hayden's yells anymore, all that filled my ears was a sharp ringing sound. My body felt like it was being torn apart from the inside-out, and I could feel something hot pouring out of my nose as a salty, metallic substance filled my mouth, dribbling out of my lips.

Then an intense burning sizzled through my veins, melting my insides in a bloody, fleshy mess. I could feel it so strongly that water leaked out of my eyes heavily, although now I made no sound; my mouth was clamped shut unwillingly, and my limbs were glued in place— but not by me. My vision was impaired by a blinding light that stung my eyes and sliced through my head.

"Complete the marking," a loud female voice boomed into my skull. I wanted to respond but I couldn't. "If you do not, you will die," she yelled.

And just like that, it was over.

I fell to the floor, slipping through the air towards nothingness. Panic came over me, I was scared that I would hit the ground and shatter my bones. And then I felt it; strong arms caught me and held me close as someone else's tears splattered on my face. My eyelids came loose and I managed to find my vision, locating Hayden's face directly in front of mine with water streaming down his cheeks, mingling with droplets of blood that seeped down his skin from his forehead.

My blood.

"You...need..." I croaked, trying to calm my heartbeat, "to...mark, me."

"No, D-Dawn, why?" Hayden shook his head shakily, in obvious panic and confusion. I placed a trembling hand on his cheek.

"I-If you...don't, sh—she said I'll...die..." I choked out.

"Who? Who said that?" he demanded, but I couldn't answer. His eyes widened and he looked to the others for help.

They all nodded solemnly at him, then left the room as he looked back down at me. He pressed his lips to my jaw, kissing lightly down my neck as his tears soaked his lips. At my neck, he planted a long, lingering kiss before opening his mouth and releasing his canines into my flesh. A sharp stinging flashed on my skin for a split second, and then all I felt was a warm, soothing pleasure that coursed through my body in soft waves. My fragile form slumped in his arms— I felt my racing heart relax and the last remnants of pain ceased to exist. A satisfied moan escaped my lips at the relief the mark brought.

As I spiralled toward darkness, all I felt was peace.