I look at the creature standing in front of me, a flashlight in their hand. They sport a dark velvet cape that veils all their features. The figure is tall, almost in an inch or two taller than me. It exudes a dark shadow in front of me as their gloved hands cover the flashlight. 

"Who are you?" I ask curiously, stepping closer to the figure. I want to touch the cloak to see if it's actually made out of velvet or if it just appears to look like that. My footsteps reverberate with every move I make. 

"You know who I am." With that, the figure removes the hood from their cape and reveals their face. I immediately recognize the umbra by the long onyx braid hanging down her shoulder. It's Keanna. 

I look away. I shouldn't be looking at someone who's been deemed Matchless. She touches my shoulder. "This is Hialeah. Werewolf rules don't apply." Her words breath down my ear canal like a cold drink of water. 

I turn to meet her eyes, shaking my head vigorously. "No. None of this makes sense." I take some deep breaths. Now that Keanna's here, questions have arisen, and now I really need to know the answers. "Why are you here? Why were you happy about being declared Matchless? What the hell is going on?" 

Keanna takes me by the arm and begins pulling me over to a door by the start of the hallway. "B, calm down. All will be answered once we get down into the basement." She gets her hand on the door, and I sigh. Keanna is my best friend. I have to trust her.  

Keanna looks up at me curiously. "You believe me, right?" Peering down at my feet, I nod yes, and I hear her sigh. I honestly do trust her, but now is just the worst time for her to be asking me that question. I need answers, not more questions. 

She opens the door, revealing a curved pathway of carpeted steps with the clay walls lit by candle light. I follow Keanna down the steps, through the tight curves, and the endless echoes of our footsteps bouncing off the walls. She seems to know the pathway like the palm of our her hand, but I have no idea where we're going. 

As we finally make our way to the bottom of the staircase, I'm met by the eyes of many. Eileene and Kyran are in the back of the group, staring into each other's eyes, all lovey-dovey. As usual. Athan is in the front next to the big cauldron of water staring at me with appeased eyes, Aurelia standing next to him. The girl who tried to give the ice pack is in the middle of the room, two guys with the same muddy brown hair color standing next to her. They all wear velvet robes that go down to their feet. 

"Welcome ... " Keanna seems to pause for a minute. I notice Kyran makes gestures with his head, tilting it to the side invariably, but it's not me he's looking at - I look over my shoulder  - it's Keanna. "To the Resistance." 

The Resistance. That should've made sense right from the start. But how could my brother, my best friend, and my brother's wife be in a Resistance against the clan? They're the most loyal wolves in the tribe as far as I know. They'd never betray the trust of the tribe. Apparently, I'm wrong about that. 

"Wait, is that why I was kidnapped?" I ask curiously. I remember kicking and screaming as the two healthy people threw me into the back of a car. I shudder as I brush the thought away. I never want to go through that again. 

"Well, how else were we supposed to get you here?" Keanna asks me. She crosses her arms under her chin. I shrug, and she goes on. "Coming up and asking you to join the Resistance?" 

"The second one seems more reasonable," I answer gruffly. 

"My thoughts exactly," Kyran agrees with me. He looks down at Eileene who nods in agreement while latching onto his arm. Those two make me sick.

"Moving on," I push the conversation aside. It's time for real answers. No one is going to hold me back now. "It's time for answers." I turn to Keanna. "Why are you so overjoyed about being Matchless?"

Keanna bursts out into laughter, holding her stomach. "Oh B. I'm not Matchless. I've been betrothed." 

"To who?" I ask, a feeling of nausea gathering in my abdomen. Maybe it's the idea that a Matchless is actually marrying, or that it's my best friend who'll be marrying. 

"I'm engaged to Caleb." She points over to the guy to the right of the girl with dirty brown hair. He's terribly tall compared to the others in the room, but still, a midget when compared to Kyran, Eileene, Keanna and I's heights. His eyes evoke the color of flames, flushing out any color in his bloodless face. 

She marches right over to Caleb, grabbing him by the face into a deep kiss, her arms trailing down his neck the longer the kiss lasts. I begin gagging. I've witnessed this kind of behavior from Kyran and Eileene, but I've never expected that Keanna might be the same. Sweet and innocent Keanna. 

Keanna pulls back, a chuckle escaping from her mouth. "Oh my gosh, I haven't introduced you to the Wellings yet." 

She points to the dirty brown hair girl who wears her hair like a rat's nest. "This is Calamity." Calamity squints her eyes and bites her lip. "Her name is meant to match her intimidating appearance."  

"Thatis good to know," I say, a crack equivocation shooting up my throat. Calamity's dull red eyes seem to mesmerize me. The way they whirl around in circles, luring me in like a hypnotist. No matter what I do, I can't help myself but keep my eyes locked in her gaze. 

"Moving on," Keanna says, pulling me over to the dirty brown haired boy next to her. He seems to be the shortest of us all here at the surprising stance of four foot nine. His eyes cast distantly over me as his head shifted up from his shoulders. "This is Maxwell. He's ... " She stammers for a moment. "I won't even try to save his feelings. He doesn't deserve his position on the team. He's such a chicken."

"Am not," Maxwell mutters softly under his breath, staring down unpretentiously at his shoes. I nibble at lower lip as Keanna pulls me over to the next person in the line. This somehow is becoming tiresome and overwhelming. 

I pull away from Keanna, my breath hitching. "Stop! I don't need an introduction, I demand answers, NOW!" I huff and puff, clenching my fist into tight balls as I force myself to restrain from morphing into my wolf self. 

"B," Kyran murmurs. He steps forward, Eileene backing away slowly, her brown eyes, sweet as nectar, slowly taking in the gray hues of the walls. "I know this is gonna be hard to process, but you need to know this. Eileene, Keanna, you and I are the offspring of generations of wolves that have tried to bring the Elders to their knees." 

"Then why wasn't I hired earlier?" I ask in testing manner. 

"Because that's the gaffe every one of ancestors have made," Kyran replies curtly, cutting me off before I can utter another sentence. "They've always recruited the offspring the day of their first transformation. If we did the same to you, we could've easily been caught and executed. That's why Mom and Dad faked their demise." 

I look away mouthing the words along in a rude manner. The last sentence makes its way to my brain, and my draw drops wide open. I turn around, staring at my brother with wide eyes. "Excuse me. What did you just say?" 

"You heard me," Kyran says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Mom and Dad are extant and somewhere out in this ginormous world called Earth." He knows I deplore the fact that he tries to tell me important information in such extensive lexicon. He sighs. "B, Mom and Dad are alive." 

~

Hello, everyone. I hoped you enjoyed this chapter. The drama is merely just getting started. 

I'm so excited for what I have in store for chapter 7. It's a total shocker. 

If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment. Thanks. It'd really mean a lot. 

X Shay X