"A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept."
~Carlos Ruis Zafon

___________________________

Hunter

Caleb changed after his little run that one afternoon. He acted lighter, happier, and he smelled ever so slightly of a girl's perfume. He blamed it on some flowers he walked through, but I knew better, as did Josie. We kept quiet for him, though. Our family had gone through enough trouble of someone being with a person they shouldn't, and if Caleb wanted to have some fun, then he should have it.

At the moment, Mom, Dad, and Ember were all at the hotel. Caleb, Josie, and I had the day off, and we were using it to relax and unwind after a stressful week by watching movies in our theater room. My girlfriend sat between us, a massive tub of popcorn in her lab.

While Josie and I were engrossed in the film, Caleb remained on his phone, only periodically glancing up at the screen. Finally, I asked him, "What's so fascinating on your phone?"

"Nothing. Viktor is texting me about some work things," Caleb responded, although his heart sped up ever so slightly, informing me of the fact he wasn't telling me the whole truth. "I had him print some files for me. He's just asking for clarification of what I want him to do with them."

Viktor, a young employee at our hotel, had risen through the ranks from a maintenance man to Caleb's assistant. From what we could get out of him, he was a Ukrainian orphan who left an abusive home with his adopted siblings. He lived with them in a small place outside of Estes, and a couple of them got jobs with us after he did too.

"Uh-huh," I said, popping a piece of popcorn into my mouth. "So it's not the girl you've been screwing?"

Josilyn whacked me on the arm. "Hunter!"

"What? You and I both know it's true!"

"Who else knows?" Caleb asked in a deathly quiet voice. His seriousness caught my attention, and a tiny bubble of dread started bubbling in my stomach.

"No one that I know of outside me and Josie." I shifted my body to face him. "Why?"

My brother visibly relaxed. "Nothing. I don't want people getting the wrong idea, that's all."

"Is it an employee?" With mock sternness, I placed my hands on my hip and said, "Are we going to have to get HR involved?"

Caleb narrowed his eyes at me. "Are you threatening me with Mom and Josie?"

"If you don't tell me about your lady love, then yes."

"No, it's not an employee. It's someone I met in town."

"Where at it town?"

"Why does it matter?"

"I'm curious."

Caleb rolled his eyes. "In the park on one of my hikes."

"Since when do you go hiking alone?" I countered. Something about his story, along with his short answers, wasn't sitting right with me. "What are you hiding from us, Caleb?"

"Nothing. It's-" he halted when a phone, not the one in his hand, buzzed. Josilyn and I stared at him expectantly, waiting for him to answer it. Realizing he couldn't escape our questions now, Caleb grimaced and answered it. On the other end, I heard a familiar voice, but I couldn't place who it was. "Hey, what's up... I'm at home watching a movie with Hunter and Josie... uh, I think they're about to. You okay? You sound weird..."

In the illumination of the screen, I watched the color drain out of my brother's face. Josie reached over and grasped his arm. His eyes met hers, and I saw a flood of different emotions in them: astonishment, disbelief, and a dash of hope. What could this person be telling him?

"We'll be right there," Caleb said, his voice barely above a whisper. He hung up and stared at the blank screen, his thumb running across the glass. Josie and I waited for him to speak with bated breath. Finally, he told us, "That was Lily."

"Lily? As in Lily Stark?" I demanded, leaning forward indignantly. "Please, for the love of- oh my God! That's who you've been seeing, isn't it?!"

Caleb nodded, seemingly immune to my outburst and shock. "She just received a text."

"What's so important about a text that she had to call you about it?"

"It's from-" Caleb shook his head, finally looking up and meeting my gaze. The vulnerability in his eyes took me aback. "It was from Spencer and Elsa's burn phone."

"Wh-what do you mean?" Josie stammered. Her heart sped up to a dangerous tempo. I slipped my hand into hers, hoping it would help calm it down. It didn't.

"Lily's continued texting it since they died because... because she said it made her feel close to her brothers. Of course, she never expected any response because, well, they're dead, but someone did. Someone has their phone."

"How do we know the number hasn't simply been reused?" I inquired, unwilling to believe that my sisters were alive after all this time. They couldn't be. How could they do that to us?

"That's why she reached out to me. Lily wants to call the number, but she doesn't want to do it alone. She wants me to meet her at the neutral territory."

"You're sure as hell not going alone. We're going with you."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that," Caleb mumbled, turning off the TV screen. The three of us hastily made our way out of the house and, without trying to look suspicious, shifted into wolves and walked into the woods. Once out of sight of our compound, we broke out into a run. Caleb and I held back for Josie's sake since she struggled with her heart condition, but we weren't doing this without her, and she pushed herself to her limit, only slowing down when we did because we could hear her heavy breathing.

Finally, we reached the neutral territory. By the lake, Lily paced up and down, clearly agitated. She only stopped when the dry snow crunched under our feet, alerting her to our presence. Wholly unaffected by the fact Josie and I accompanied Caleb, Lily enveloped my brother in a tight hug, and when she pulled away, I could see the Stark alpha shaking.

"What happened?" Josilyn inquired quietly.

Lily ran a hand through her chocolate hair. "I-I texted the burn phone because it's made me feel closer to Spencer and Dom even though I know they're dead, and I told them a secret because I needed to tell someone, and they responded."

"What did you text them, and what did they respond with?" I prodded, already having a sneaking suspicion of the former.

Lily's gaze flicked over to Caleb, and a silent understanding passed between them. She said, "That Caleb and I are seeing each other?"

Although I'd already expected the news, hearing it still sent a wave of shock and dread. Forbidden love had gotten Elsa and Anna killed. I couldn't lose another sibling. It would destroy me.

"And what did they respond with?" Caleb asked eagerly.

"If the Controllers knew. I responded with the question: how do I know you're not the Controllers? And they told me to call them. That's when I called you."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Josie held out her hand, wiggling her fingers for Lily to give it to her, and when the Stark alpha didn't, Josie snatched the device up and hit the video call button before any of us could stop her. It rang once, then twice, then a third. I began to lose hope, thinking it'd been a sick prank on us by someone who had Elsa's old number, but how would they have known about the Controllers? Unless it was the Controllers themselves? The only issue with that is that the phone burned with my sister in the plane crash... or did it?

"Was wondering when you were going to call," came Spencer's familiar voice. He jokingly added, "Although I did think it was Lily seeing Caleb, not you, Josilyn."

Lily, just out of sight of the camera, all but crumpled into Caleb's arms, relieved, silent tears welling in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Josie and I stared at the former Stark alpha, speechless. My mouth opened and closed a few times in an attempt to say something, but everything died in my throat.

Caleb found his voice first, albeit barely. He shuffled closer in to bring Lily into view as he stammered, "H-how are you-"

"Alive?" Spencer finished knowingly. "Secret to be revealed another day, although I'm sure you're figuring out by now that we faked our deaths."

"A-all of you?" I asked, not daring to believe that my sisters were alive.

"Yeah, all of us. Anna and Dom are here. Elsa is on a call, but she should be here in a sec. Here."

Spencer handed the phone off, and in the blink of an eye, the welcome, familiar faces of Anna and Dom were on screen, their expressions betraying their nerves. It was my sister who said, "Hey, everyone."

"I can't believe you're alive," Josie said, her voice cracking. I slipped a comforting arm around her waist, if not as a way to steady myself too. Seeing Anna, and knowing Elsa was alive as well, was a lot to take in. This only happened in books, not in real life.

"We're sorry for any grief we may have put you through," Anna said sincerely, "but it had to be done in order to get the Controllers off our backs and to give us breathing room for what we needed to do."

"Did you succeed in whatever you were doing before your deaths were faked?"

"Yes, but there's one last thing we need for it to succeed. We're waiting for our allies to get it to us. It's been difficult," Spencer admitted, coming to stand behind Anna and Dom. He braced himself on the back of the chair. "We'll get it though."

"Can we do anything to help?" I queried.

"No, our allies are on it. We-" Spencer stopped midsentence, glancing at someone behind the camera. My heart stopped when I heard Elsa's voice say, "The kids are almost done with it."

"Kids?" Lily squeaked. "You have kids?"

Spencer laughed good-naturedly. "No. We're not planning on starting a family until the Controllers are gone and dead. The Kids are our allies."

"But why call them Kids?"

"Because they are. Most are our age or younger. Unnaturally intelligent people we're definitely glad to have on our side. They've been instrumental in keeping us hidden and alive."

"Then send them our utmost gratitude," Lily replied, wiping a tear off her cheeks.

"We will."

"Elsa?" Caleb's voice was hoarse. He stared down at the screen, unblinking. "You there?"

Spencer, Anna, and Dom flicked their gaze to a presence behind the camera. I could see their eyes trailing the person. Spencer moved over, and Elsa sidled up beside him. The sight of her caused my heart to jump into my throat. Although she'd barely changed physically, something in her eyes seemed different. They were... haunted. What exactly had my sister been through since she left?

"Caleb, Hunter, Lily," Elsa said, shifting uneasily on her feet. She only cracked a smile when she added, "Josie."

My girlfriend waved, unable to speak through her tears. Meanwhile, Caleb said, "It's... it's really good to see you, Ice Princess."

Elsa offered another small smile but said nothing. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out she wasn't near as happy to see us as we were her. I could think of a million reasons why.

"Listen-" Spencer said, wrapping an arm around Elsa's waist and tugging her closer to him- "we should get going. I know this probably goes without saying, but don't tell anyone we're alive. A war is coming, and we want to have the upper hand if possible. I know it'll be difficult, but try not to contact us unless it's an emergency. I'm sure we'll see you soon, though. It's inevitable at this point."

Lily nodded. "I know it won't be for a happy reason that we'll probably reunite for, but I'm still looking forward to seeing both of you."

"Us too. Love you, Lils." Dom echoed the sentiment. Caleb, Josie, and I gave our love to Elsa and Anna, but only the latter responded before they hung up. The four of us stared at the empty screen, processing the information we'd just received. None of us spoke for a solid two or three minutes until Josie finally broke the silence with a tearful, "She hates us."

"No," Caleb replied, reaching over and squeezing Josie's shoulder. "She hates me and Hunter, not you. You're the only one who got a smile out of her."

"The war," Lily said, "when do you think it'll be here?"

"Once the Controllers suspect something is going on between you and Caleb," I answered, rubbing the back of my neck. "It's not going to be pretty. Someone else will die if that's the case, and if they're not sure it's you, they'll probably threaten someone else's life to get it out of us."

Caleb shook his head. "I won't let anyone die because of me. If the Controllers arrive, I'll leave, so they'll automatically assume it was me. I won't tell anyone where I'm going either, so they won't be able to give the Controllers any information."

"You'll be telling me because I'll be going with you. We start this together, we finish this together," Lily declared.

"Hopefully alive," Josie added.

I nodded. "That'll be the second biggest challenge."

"What's the first?"

"Keeping the status of our deceased siblings a secret. Mom and Dad were devastated, no matter what they said or did. If they knew the twins were alive-"

"They'd stop at nothing to find them again," Caleb finished.

I nodded. "If we need to talk about them, we come to each other. It'll be the only way for us to keep our sanity until we don't have to keep it a secret anymore. Agreed?"

I placed my hand in the middle of our tiny circle. Josie placed her hand atop mine and said, "Agreed."

Caleb and Lily followed suit, and just like that, another Laroche-Stark alliance was born.