I made a new cover but I don't know if I like it. The old one is... familiar. Like it's mine, ya know? It's been there for so long. I kept the wolf and the fonts, it's just the background has changed a little. The new one is more... eye catching? Thoughts?

No matter how tight I squeezed my eyes, Arlis still flashed in my head. No matter how distracted I tried to make myself, he was my most prominent thought. It was a bad loop of trying not to think about him, only to think about him more.

Arlis. I turned in my bed, looking at my old bedroom. I had slept in this room every day for nineteen years. It was familiar.

But it wasn't home. It wasn't... right. It felt wrong. I felt like an animal that had been stripped from its natural habitat and placed in something fake.

And even if I went back to Sovereign... I still wouldn't be comfortable. My home wasn't a bed or a house.

My home was a pair of warm brown eyes that watched mine with love. My home was dark brown hair that glinted in certain lighting. My home was what made every dark night a little brighter. Arlis. My Arlis.

"Baby girl?" Mom knocked on my door and stepped into the room, the hallway light illuminating the pictures on my desk. The ones of me and Chance, of Vix, of my old life. That life felt so far away now, so unreachable.

I looked up at her, the darkness in my room wasn't so deep. Dogs always did see better in the night. Great. That wasn't even an upside. I liked sleeping in pitch black.

"Yeah?"

Mom came in and sat on the side of my bed, gripping the edge of it. "I'm so sorry." She whispered.

"For what?" I asked, sitting up,

She was trying not to cry, trying not to let everything go. But she was failing. Her dams were cracking. "I should've... told you about this world. I should've.." She trailed off, cupping her face in her hands. "Now you're in danger and you can't protect yourself."

I slid closer and hugged her. While I didn't miss home, I did miss her. "Mom, everything will be alright." I wasn't sure how true that statement was. Even as I said it, I didn't believe it.

"I'm afraid that it won't." She pulled away from me and stood up. "Vix is still missing, did you know that? They can't find her... her body. That could've been you." She threw her hands up and let them fall back down to her side. "That could've been you." She repeated.

I stood up and walked to her. The news about Vix didn't shock me. Arlis told me he'd tell me if they found Vix and... considering I haven't gotten any news. I'd been pushing her out of my thoughts. It was a terrible and selfish thing to do but I didn't know what else to do. I didn't want to think of my best friend being dead. I couldn't. So I didn't. I thought of her as being out there somewhere, maybe having been rescued by a hot lumberjack.

"But it wasn't me." I assured. "I'm right here."

"I tried to spell find her, Kate. I tried. It was the first time I pulled out magic in years. Years." Her tears fell through her lashes, creating little mirrors on her face, glinting in the moonlight that pooled through my window. "I couldn't find her. She's dead, Kate."

I knew. Deep down, I already knew. Mom wrapped her arms around me, nuzzling her head in my shoulder.

We stood there for what felt like hours before anything happened. And when something finally did happen, it brightened my mood tenfold.

Kate? The thought blew into my mind like a leaf falling to the ground in Autumn.

Arlis! I screamed back. I nearly fell to the ground but my mom caught my elbow, holding me up. If it weren't for her I would've lost my balance. I felt the anxiety and fear from Arlis. He felt tense and rushed.

I don't have a lot of time, I just wanted to say that I love you. And you're safe. You need to run, find Everly Dawn. You're gunna be-

He was cut off. In the midst of his panic and trepidation, in the middle of his instructions, he was gone. I didn't even get to say that I loved him. Didn't get to tell him what I had done, what I had discovered. I reached out for a lifeline that wasn't there. I started to question if I had even heard his voice in the first place.

No, of course I did. I couldn't conjure up those feeling of fear. Not in my worst nightmares.

"Kadelyn?" Mom asked worriedly, helping me to the bed so I could sit down.

Dad came into the room, watching me with careful eyes. "Whats wrong with her, Lin?"

My mom frantically looked at him and back to me. "I don't know."

"Arlis talked to me." I began crying, letting every tear release a gallon of pain. "He's okay."

Dad rolled his eyes. "Yay." He said sarcastically, but I could tell he was a little glad deep down.

Chleo swung around the corner, barreling into my room. He had knocked my dad to the side and, without an apology, asked what Arlis said.

I relayed it to them, every part. Even about finding Everly, no matter how much I didn't exactly want to do that. If Arlis needed me to, I would. I had already let him down once by giving Konrad the notebook, I wouldn't do it again.

Chleo looked back to my mom with a blank expression. "Why didn't he have time? He must not have escaped but then how did he get the message out? You're not safe. Do you think he made a deal? Why Everly?"

Chleo asked the questions we were all thinking inside. My dad glared at Chleo and then fixed his focus on me. "I don't know much about this whole world—"

"Are you not a witch?" Chleo asked, tilting his head. "What about the prophesy?"

My mom tilted her head. "The one Leslie made?" Mom asked.

Chleo nodded his head. "Two different species... being together... bad bad bad."

Mom laughed so hard her eyes started to water. "The fake one?"

I looked at Chleo with my eyes narrowed. "What do you mean fake?" I snapped. "Me and Arlis—"

"No no no, sweetheart. That's just a distraction. The prophesy itself is just a tension giver. If people think it'll cause a war, then it'll cause a war. Your father is a human, yes. But... I'm a forgotten witch so... There's thousands of couples with mixed species and you think..." she paused to laugh even harder. "Sweetheart. My mom told me the prophesy was fake the moment she found out about it."

Sisca. My grandmother. Not a Salem Of The Old Witch, but very close to one. "Oh."

A giant bombshell was dropped on me, and my mother had nothing to do but laugh.

"And to think I hated you for a while there over that prophesy, Kate. To think that Myshayla almost killed you over it." Chleo thought out loud. He was trying to make a joke out of it, but it just came out sad.

Mom pointed at Chleo. "That's exactly what it's supposed to do. Boil and stir the pot."

I wondered if Arlis and Everly knew. Something told me Everly did. Considering, she apparently knew a lot more than I did.

My dad cleared his throat and glared at all of us. We had completely interrupted what he was going to say. My dad hated that. "As I was saying... I don't know much about this world, but I do know that safe is never safe. Even as a human."

He had a strong point. "You're right. But if Arlis made me safe then... I'll take it. I need to find Everly."

I looked at mom, frowning. She knew what I was going to ask.

She shook her head at me. "I don't practice magic unless it's an emergency and—"

"Mom please." This was an emergency. This was one of the biggest emergencies of my life. Arlis needed me to do something and I was not going to let him down again. I couldn't let myself let him down again. It would crush me, especially after me going against what he said the first time. "This is an emergency."

She sighed out a long breath and then rolled her eyes, giving in. I knew her and every facial expression she had. "Fine... but I'm not happy about it."

That was okay.

***

Mom had shed some blood on an old looking parchment paper. Various flowers were spread around the living room, the only light was coming from a small candle on the floor next to her feet.

Chleo was staring blankly at a flower, his eyes glassy. He must've been talking to someone in his head. A sentence that had I believed before meeting Arlis, would've made me think I was crazy. I wonder if he was talking to Jonas or Leif. We hadn't told anyone we were leaving, which was bad on our part. Especially with everything happening. I wonder if Chleo could contact my brother, who was probably confused and worried.

Dad was watching mom with intent interest, also worry. He looked ready to catch her if she fell. And, considering how she was swaying side to side, he just might have too.

Mom was muttering words in a language I didn't know. I thought it was latin at first... but then I realized it wasn't.

Mom stopped and opened her eyes, blinking confusedly at the paper.

"Did you do it?" I asked.

Mom took a step back. "Yes, that's why I'm confused."

I tilted my head at her, furrowing my brows. "Where is she?"

Mom licked her lips. "Either dead or someone is hiding her from the Witches' maps."

I had a hard time believing she was dead. With all the witches she probably knew, it was more likely that one of them had hid her from the maps.

"How do we find her?" I asked.

Chleo jolted back to us. "Jonah is watching over the pack with Melloni and Dalia. Leif and his parents and all pack warriors are on constant Guard around the boundary. Jonah has halted all leaving of the pack."

I sighed with relief. "Apparently Jonah can run a pack better than Arlis."

Chleo looked at me and then through one of the windows. "He only upped security because we were missing. I told him to leave it like that. And Jonah isn't a better leader."

I hummed quietly. "I didn't mean that. I just meant he acts quickly."

"Jonah is rash, that's why. A smart person would've tried to mind link me or you. Arlis would have. Jonah went straight to the worst. If Jonah were smart, he should have sent pack trackers after us since he thought we were missing. He shouldn't of been watching borders, because the people after us don't go through borders and it'll take longer for pack warriors to get to the actual dangers." Chleo relaxed after his spiel and scratched his head. "Dalia should be in charge."

I huffed out a long breath. "The pack will be fine."

"With their Alpha gone? Their Luna gone? And their Beta? The next highest in rank is Electra, Leif's mom. Not Jonah. But of course, Electra isn't going to point that out to him. Although I guess technically the next in charge wouldn't even be Electra, because I don't have a mate so my dad is still Beta. But he's old. Electra is a better fighter. But that doesn't matter, because whatever Jonah wants, Jonah gets. And what about Lilly and Jake?" It didn't sound like he was even answering my questions anymore, it felt more like I was Chloe's diary and Chleo was emptying out his rants to me.

It was fine, I was learning about the pack through it.

"Chleo." I walked to him and put my hand on his shoulder. "The pack will be fine."

"Don't make a promise you can't keep." He whispered and walked out of the room.

"So what do we do about finding Everly?" I asked.

"We don't." Mom walked out the room, Dad following her footsteps.

I sat down in the kitchen chair and leaned my head on the table. "Please come home, Arlis. Please come home."

I picked my head up and looked at the calendar, my body shaking. It was the 29th. Tomorrow was the 30th. And then the 31st. And finally, at 2:07 in the morning on January 1st, I'd be a full blooded werewolf.

SORRY this chapter is short and slow. I think we all needed a short and slow chapter compared to everything that we all just went through in the past couple chapters. Plus, the upcoming chapters are sure to be long and action filled and— I don't want to give any more details away so I'm gunna shut up. LOVE YOU GUYS hope you all have a fantastic day.