She woke up from the sunlight that entered the room through the open window and irritated her eyes. The bedsheet was around their naked bodies, half-covering them as if a typhoon had passed and let it swirled like that. Her left leg was on top of his, her head above his arm. One of her arms was barely touching his chest, and the other was lightly around his head. She didn't want to move, in case she woke him up, so she stood like that, looking at his calm face and absorbing every little detail.

It was the first night in years that she had no nightmares. No screams, no dead people coming at her, no tortured souls asking for revenge. She felt relaxed and peaceful and tried to remember every detail to never forget this morning. James stirred a little and tightened his grip around her waist. He smiled and opened his spring-green eyes.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said and kissed her.

"Good morning," she answered, biting her lower lip. "Did you sleep well?"

"Best sleep ever!" he answered, smirking and hugged her. "I love you, Laurel Creed. My heart is yours." He touched a strand of her champagne brown hair that lightly touched her cheek and put it behind her ear.

"I love you, James Campbell. You make me feel born again. The world seems to take a new meaning."

She moved her body closer to his and diminished the distance between their lips. Rays of sunlight filled the room and made their sweaty, naked bodies glow above the wrinkled sheets.

An hour later, they entered the dining room, where Max and Lucy were already eating. They barely had time to shower and clean themselves.

"Sorry, for making you wait," Laurel said apologetically, though she didn't regret any of her actions with James the past hour. She took the seat next to Lucy while her sister filled her glass with grapefruit juice.

"No worries. I hope you slept well," Max teased them while they started eating.

"I slept amazing!" Lucy answered instead, and James felt grateful for not having to answer.

"We are leaving after breakfast," Laurel announced after a while. "There are things we need to arrange."

"And I need to return to my pack. I have a meeting that I can't postpone."

Lucy put a sad face and looked across the table, toward James with an accusing look.

"Hey, we talked about that," murmured Laurel as she tried to make her sister look at her. "This time it won't be for long. You will look at the stars every night like we used to do with dad. I'll look at them too, and we will know that we are always only a star away. We'll be looking at the same stars, and their light will remind us that we will soon be together again," she concluded.

Max promised to take care of Lucy and informed Laurel that if she ever needed an army, his men were available, and she shouldn't hesitate to call him. He exchanged some business advice with James and left with a goodbye. Lucy hugged them and gave a small painting of hers.

"Don't forget me."

"How could I?" He hugged her hard and let her small hands, compared to his, to hold on to him tightly.

Lucy had stolen his heart, and she had given all her love to him. She was young, but Max had taught her well. She knew everything about mates, even though chances were that she wouldn't have one. It was rare for werewolves and witches to be mates, and the moon goddess had only blessed the werewolves with that gift.

She could see how her sister reacted next to him and how her eyes brightened when he was near. He made her happy, and that was enough for Lucy.

Laurel's heart couldn't leave her sister, but she knew that with Max she was safe and happy. Everything would come to an end, and after that, she wouldn't leave her sister alone again. As she was seeing the girl she lost five years ago, right before they teleported back home, she promised herself that she would do anything to stay alive and not leave her alone in this cruel world.

By returning home, James left immediately for his pack, and she went to campus. She needed to have a solemn conversation with Sara. It was the end of the era of lies, and Sara deserved to know the truth, too. She hoped that her friend would understand eventually and wouldn't freak out.

Asher texted her that they were in the common room with their other friends. She went directly there, greeted everyone, and after some friendly chit chat, she asked Sara to come with her in the pretense of needing fashion advice. However, instead of getting in their dorm, she took a confused Sara straight to the woods. She made sure no one was around to see or hear her and stood opposite her friend.

"I have so much to tell you, but I think I should show you something first," she said hesitantly.

She closed her eyes for a second, and when she opened them again, they were shining like gold.

Sara took a step back in surprise.

"How did you do that?"

"I can do more than that," she stated and let her body leave the ground and float as if power was dragging her from the sky.

"Whoa! What the hell?" Sara asked with wide-opened eyes and an open mouth.

"I have powers. I am a tribrid. Will you let me explain? All I want is that you listen to me. Then, you can leave and never talk to me," she informed her and got back in the ground while her eyes returned to their usual color.

"Why would I leave?"

"I'm going to tell you a crazy story, and I won't blame you if you want to get away from me. I mean, I'm not human, and I'm far from normal."

"Laurel Creed, I never thought you were normal. No one thinks you are normal. You were always unique. These powers only make you more badass."

Laurel felt her heart getting lighter and more confident by these words, but there was a lot to talk about. However, she was now positive that Sara was a true friend, and she wouldn't run. Her heart was pure and innocent, and Laurel hoped she could see into her own heart and understand that there was nothing to be afraid of her.

"So, what else can you do? Can you throw lasers out of your eyes? Can you run super-fast?" Sara asked after Laurel finished her story, like a child guessing the Christmas gifts.

"No, I'm not Supergirl or the Flash. Though I do run very fast," she answered, laughing.

"It's a shame, but I guess your powers are good, too."

"Thank you for your kind words. Aren't you freaked out?"

"Well, to be honest, I could never imagine any of it, but somehow they make sense. I mean, I understand now why you couldn't sleep or why you didn't talk much about your past, except when you were a toddler. And the whole thing about avoiding someone. . . It was him, wasn't it? I'm so glad you have someone like him. He sounds dreamy." She clasped her hands.

"He's more than I could ask for. I wronged him at first, and I won't forget it. But he is there for me, and he supports me. He's great with his people. You should see him how he treats his pack, and my friends have accepted him, too. You should come to meet them. Asher wants to talk to you."

"Don't tell me he is a werewolf, too?" she asked and put her hands on her mouth.

Asher's story was one thing she left out. He wanted to tell it himself to Sara, and Laurel had no right to overcome his choice.

"No, he is not. But there are things he needs to tell you. He must be at Thomas' house now. Do you want me to drop you over?"

"Okay, I want to meet your friends, too."

They got into Laurel's car, and she started driving in bliss. Everything seemed to unfold well. "What could go wrong?" she wondered. Sara met everyone, and she followed Asher to one of the rooms to talk. Zach was scrolling through the internet with Chloe at his side, who was too excited to see Tyler. Lena was cooking, and Thomas was teasing her and pretended to be her judge even though he knew nothing of cooking.

Laurel eavesdropped and heard a squeak coming out of Sara's mouth, but Asher's reassuring words and the heartbeat of Sara indicated no imminent danger, and she calmed down.

She went upstairs to change into more comfortable clothes when her head started aching hard and made her fall to her knees. The aura of the room changed immediately, and she had enough seconds to see her mother standing in front of her before blacking out and falling unconscious on the wooden floor.