The days flow past at an extremely slow pace blurring into one and another until I can't tell how many days have passed since the attack but each passing moment has the whole school turning more and more tensed in waiting.

Annie seems older every time I see her, a dark shadow over her face and I know she's overthinking everything happening. I try to stay out of her way, working with Lucian to make anything easier for Annie. I've been focused on the things she can't get around to, looking after the house doing dishes and washing out clothes. Small things I hope at least keep something off of her shoulders for the time being.

Lucian has been focused on the pack, making sure everyone is more prepared with fighting skills along with Mr Hunt and trying to protect the school more because by now we all know that a bigger threat is coming and we need to be prepared for it.

Cedric has been in and out of consciousness, apparently, the school nurse has been keeping him under just to make sure that he heals properly.

One morning, the rain is hitting the cottage harsh by the time I wake up. Annie is in the kitchen already making breakfast.

"Annie, I was going to make breakfast." I give her a fake whine which she laughs and smiles at me for. A kiss on the cheek before she flips a pancake on the pan.

"I know you've been trying to help me, button but let's be honest you suck a cooking." She laughs, a light noise that I feel like I haven't heard in months, I quickly join her.

"Anyway this isn't just for you, Cedric and Lucian will be joining us for his first meal outside of the hospital wing." Annie winks at me and an excited bubble fills my chest.

"He's awake?" I can't keep the excitement from my voice and Annie turns with a knowing smile on her face. I roll my eyes at her, thinking about waiting for the boys outside when a knock at the door sends a smile on my face.

Annie watches me as I spin on my socked feet towards the door. As soon as I open the door a smile spreads on both Lucian and Cedrics faces.

Cedric is leaning ever so slightly into Lucian as they stand there so as much as I want to just tackle them both into a hug I hold the door open and rush them inside.

"Goodmorning, darling." Cedric winks at me, only the slightest limp in his movements as he head right for the kitchen. Lucian winks at me before following him.

"Come in. Come in." Annie yells from the kitchen and when I walk in she's sitting Cedric down in the chair and placing a plate in front of him, she quickly follows it with Lucian's plate before sitting down in front of her own.

I sit beside Cedric and in front of Lucian with my own plate waiting.

"Eat up." Annie smiles from her spot beside Lucian and the boys immediately dig in.

I can't focus instead I turn to Cedric.

"Are you feeling better?" I ask him, he doesn't answer right away just sending me a smile before finishing his mouthful of food.

"Not a hundred percent but definitely ready to get out of that bed and back into the real world."

Lucian laughs from the other side as Annie tuts.

"You will not be getting back into the real world," Annie replies, shaking her head, Cedric just winks at her.

"Come on Annie, I think I can handle it." He says it is slightly cocky but Annie just laughs.

"No. In fact, I will be separating you and Lucian for the day." The boys look at each other with a slight frown before turning back to Annie. The food is all but forgotten already.

Annie gives them a sigh.

"I just want you to have a couple of days out of the bed arrest before we throw you back into the deep end. Anyway, Lucian will be with Mr Hunt all-day training the younger wolves and vampires so it's not like your missing out too much."

Lucian sighs very dramatically but we all smile at him.

"So what will I do for my first day out?" Cedric asks.

Annie sends me a wink.

"Well, I was hoping you might take Morgan out of the school for a while. Maybe go relax in Westtown Peaks? Get a coffee and have fun."

Cedric turns to me with the widest smile I've seen on his face, it is hard not to respond with my own. Also, a day out of school sounds amazing right now. The tension has been giving me a stomach ache lately.

"I'm in if you are?" Cedric says to me and I nod my head.

"Sounds like fun." We let out a little chuckle before Lucian sighs again still in an overdramatic way.

"Man looks I'm the one missing out now." He says a frown on his face making all three of us laugh.

"Don't worry next time you get to come as well," I tell him with a wink and his face breaks into a smile.

"Fine." He laughs.

We all turn back to our slightly cold meals, Cedric telling me the things the town has and honestly, it's not a lot but excitement at spending the day alone with Cedric makes me bounce slightly in my seat.

Eventually, the conversations lull again and Lucian heads to the fridge to get us all some juice. I turn to Annie asking her a question that has been tugging on my mind for the last couple of days.

Three nights ago I woke up early in the morning to hear Nathaniel talking with Annie about leaving in the next couple of hours. I fell back to sleep before their conversation really made sense in my mind and by the time I woke up he was already gone.

"Where has Nathaniel been?" I try to ask nonchalantly but again Annie sends me a knowing smile before answering.

"Things have been slightly tense around the supernatural world right now." She turns serious almost instantly. "Not a lot of people want to work with us to protect the school. Nathaniel has gone with Beatrice to talk with some of the vampire leaders and try to get them to send some people to us. Get them on our side before Austin and his followers do."

I notice Lucian tense ever so slightly at his father's name, I try to focus on that more than the idea of Nathaniel and Beatrice alone on a mission.

"They should be calling me today with the answer of the vampires and then heading home right after."

I nod at her, grabbing my fork to eat another slice of pancake as the others fall into a quick conversation about werewolf packs, I ignore most of it.

As I am scooping up the last of my pancake Annie phone rings from the other room and she rushes off to answer it. I listen carefully and hear her little sigh before she marches off to her room.

"What was that about?" Lucian asks nodding towards Annie. I sigh just like Annie and turn back to him.

"My guess, another parent calling to pull their kids out of school with the threats over them."

"There's been a lot?" Cedric asks, placing his cutlery down and his eyebrows furrowing.

"At least three a day, sometimes it's good news an old student asking her if they need her help to deal with it all but mostly people calling to run away."

Lucian's expression copies Cedric and we stay silent as Lucian and I grab the dishes and begin washing them.

Eventually, Annie comes out again and her frown tells me that it's another worried parent. She mumbles something about Cedric taking her car and that she will be in meetings all day before she leaves again.

I sigh but try to get back into my excited mood, it doesn't take long to get there after getting dressed and finding myself in the car next to Cedric I'm bouncing once again. Cedric smirks at me before pressing the gas and taking off through the double gates.

We spend the day just as Annie told us walking around the scenic town surrounded by mountains and trees until finally finding ourselves inside one of the very few coffee shops drinking coffee by midday.

I try to ignore the eyes watching us with worried glances, Cedric is much better at it than me. A girl only a year or two older than us places our drinks down with a slight clink and a glare. As she walks away I notice Cedric just watching me.

"How do you do it?" I ask him, he gives me a slightly confused look.

"Do what?"

"Ignore the stares and glares around Westtown Peaks?" He sends me a smile immediately after.

"Years of practice." I roll my eyes at him.

"I guess you were born a wolf -" Cedric cuts me off a sad expression passing his face.

"No. There are two ways a werewolf is created. Like vampires, you can either be born into the werewolf gene or survive a werewolf bite. I survived the bite." Cedric looks down at the coffee in his hand not making eye contact with me anymore. I stay silent letting him tell his story like he clearly needs.

"It was late like 9 pm and I was coming home from my friend's place, I was eleven. I shouldn't have been alone but my friend and I had a fight and I didn't want to wake my mother up to come to pick me up when I was just a short walk from home. So I walked. I never should have walked, I should have stopped being a baby and just stayed at his house.

"Anyway, I was young and stupid walking in the dark to my house. I felt him near me more than I heard or saw him. I thought it was just me being childish and imagining the boogeyman following me but then he came out from behind a house. I was in the middle of the suburbs and a wolf came around the corner, I screamed and screamed but no one came out."

I watch on horrified as his expression turns darker.

"He stalked me for blocks just waiting, watching. When he attacked I thought he was just a wolf, a normal wolf. I was bitten and he ran off quickly after and I thought something must have scared him off so I start looking around. I see a young kid hiding behind a garage, it was the friend I was meant to be sleeping over at. He looked horrified so I ran, I ran the rest of the way home.

"My family were all asleep and so I cleaned the bite wound and promised myself if it looked bad in the morning I would tell my mother." He stops talking, choking on his own story for a moment, emotions bubbling inside of him. "The last thing I remember from that night was my little sister crawling into my bed."

Feeling slightly like I was going to regret this answer I whisper.

"What happened when you woke up?"

He doesn't look at me his face turning slightly green.

"There was blood everywhere, I was covered in it, covered in fur. I shifted for the first time in the middle of the night. Killed my sister with the shift, she was too close. My mother must have woken from my sister's screams and came in. I guess the wolf saw her as a threat and when I woke up I was standing over her body, she was dead and I was a wolf."

Cedric had been turned into a werewolf, lost his whole family and everything he thought was a myth in the world was suddenly very real.

"It was Lucian's father that turned me, and my friend from that night was .... Lucian."

My mind draws a blank and Cedric watches my every move.

AUTHOR NOTE

Ahhh as I'm writing this chapter so many people have been adding this book to their reading list and voting and reading the book and it means so much to me. I love every single person that reads this book, it has honestly been fun writing it and watching the reader count raise.

I hope you guys enjoy it please comment all thoughts you have on the book.

As always if you see any spelling, grammar or plot problems please comment so I can edit them in the next edits.

Thank you for reading,

LAURA