Revelations
The road stretched endlessly before us, a ribbon of asphalt snaking through the darkened countryside. The headlights from the van lit the occasional tree or sign, casting passing shadows along the path.
The van was silent. It was a chilling sort of silence that only comes after something major has happened and nobody knows what's left yet.
I sat there, staring at the floor, my mind replaying the things that happened mere moments ago, most especially, the Melbringer. I heard they rarely came into contact with land owned by werewolves, so why was she there?
A warm feeling still crept around in my chest when I thought about her and the image of her gaze searing through me. My heart felt hollow in a way as if it had stopped beating in that instant, yet I was still alive.
I wondered if I was overthinking it—her eyes and the pain in my chest. Was it a coincidence or truly an attempt on my life like I felt? But why would she want to kill me? I'm not particularly anyone interesting enough to spite murder.
A sigh escaped my lips as I rubbed my hands together. Thinking about it, the last two years of my life have been odd.
My parents had kept us on the run for as long as I could remember. Always finding new homes and new packs, searching for something that could give us stability after our pack fell to ruin under strange attacks.
It wasn’t until we reached Springville two years ago that things had finally settled. We’d found a pack large enough to take us in without questioning our backgrounds and a place that felt solid enough to grow normally — Crescent Moon Pack.
But nothing could prepare me for the cold reality that awaited me at Springville.
I’d turned fifteen the summer we arrived. My parents had eagerly awaited my first transformation, but it never came. The thought of shifting into a wolf had always been something I’d dreamed about.
But on that night, when my body didn’t change and when nothing happened... I realized something no one could have warned me about. I was a defect, an omega.
Being omega was the worst thing that could happen. It was a permanent label that I couldn’t ever bring myself to accept. After all, a werewolf unable to transform was the lowest of the low.
Sure, I had all the rest of the heightened senses that came with being a werewolf, but that was about it. I wasn't human, nor was I a full werewolf either. So no matter how much I tried to make myself feel normal, I couldn’t and some members made sure to remind me.
The rejection I felt after the failure to shift was almost worse than the humiliation of being cast aside. And then, to top it all off, my mate, Higan, and the newest alpha rejected me.
The memory of that day still haunts me. The way his eyes had locked onto me like I was some inconvenience he couldn't ever fathom bearing. A dud.
The past six months then became the hardest of my life. I had never felt more alone because being omega had meant being invisible in a pack full of strong, capable wolves. And being rejected by Higan had sealed my fate and my irrelevance in the progress of things.
I had always thought of leaving, of walking away from the life I’d been forced into, of escaping the constant reminder that I wasn’t enough. The idea of living as a human had crossed my mind more times than I cared to admit.
It would be easier than trying to force myself into a mold that wasn’t mine to fit. But somehow, things had changed.
I met Ethan, Abigail, and Khalid, who seemed to know things about me that I didn't. And now I'm on my way to London after my parents thrust me to strangers in the name of prioritizing my safety.
“Top priority,” I scoffed to myself. That made no sense. And what made less sense was an apparent Melbringer who seemed too excited about 'finding me.'
Since when have I been in danger? I needed answers.
We continued in silence for a while, the engine’s hum filling the space between me and the others. But then the van turned, and the ride felt rougher as the sound of tires grinding on gravel cut through the tension.
“Here we are,” Khalid’s voice broke through, and I glanced out the window.
We were pulling into a small warehouse on the outskirts of Springville. The place was almost deserted, save for a few scattered lights.
I turned to Abigail, who was sitting across from me, her dark eyes flickering with some unreadable emotion. I wasn’t sure how to talk to her. I had always felt like she was a part of something bigger, something hidden just beyond my reach.
"Abigail," I began, unsure of what exactly I wanted to say. "The lady? The one we saw outside the hospital? You said she's a Melbringer?"
She turned toward me, a small knowing smile playing at the corner of her lips. "I was wondering when you’d ask," she said softly, her tone laced with something I couldn’t quite place.
I blinked, slightly thrown off by the comment. "What do you mean?"
She shrugged. “Never mind that.”
Abigail’s eyes narrowed, her voice lowering to almost a whisper. "Yes, she's a Melbringer but not just any kind," she added, glancing out the window.
“She’s a pure sorceress of Gaia, the original line of sorcery."
Hearing the name hit me like a slap to the face. My brain froze for a second, trying to process what she’d just said. A sorceress of Gaia like the one mentioned in my dream?
Suddenly, an alarming thought flickered in my mind, like a gust of wind brushing against my face. Could my dream have been… a warning? Were Melbringers and the sorceresses of Gaia related?
The idea struck my nerves with such force that I felt my breath catch in my throat. Was it possible that everything I’d seen from my doppelganger, the wolf, and the forest, was more than just a dream?
Before I could fully grasp the implications of that thought, a voice rang out in my head, loud and clear, as though it was meant to be heard.
Learn more.
The voice seemed to come from nowhere, and yet, it felt like it was inside me. I shuddered, my heart skipping a beat. The voice was my own.
Abigail’s talking snapped me back from my thoughts, her tone shifting to something more serious. "Melbringers in general aren't something we know a lot about. Most of them stay in groups, sisterhoods, and they’ve never really seen eye-to-eye with werewolves. They think of us as... beasts," she said, her eyes reflecting the weight of her words.
”It’s worse with the pure sorceresses…” she suddenly paused.