Chapter 35 Aria
I barely slept and every time I closed my eyes, Luca’s voice replayed in my head, steady and terrified at the same time, telling me that werewolves were real. Not the metaphorical kind or the "I am a lone wolf in a leather jacket" kind but actual creatures that belonged in folklore and monster documentaries.
I kept expecting to wake up and realize it had been some weird half-dream brought on by too much caffeine and not enough sleep but morning came and nothing felt less impossible. If anything, the certainty that he had been telling the truth made my heart skip harder.
So, obviously, I did what any reasonable teenager would do the moment she reached school. I grabbed Sienna the second I saw her, dragged her behind the theater building, and practically threw her against the wall like I was making a citizen’s arrest.
She blinked rapidly. “Aria, are you okay? You look like you spent the night fighting ghosts with a spatula.”
“I might as well have,” I said. My voice sounded high and thin, which was concerning even for me. “I have huge information and one that could rearrange the entire world.”
Sienna perked up instantly. She loved drama more than actual classes. “Finally, I was getting bored. Tell me something I don’t know.”
I inhaled sharply, trying to slow down the pounding in my chest. “Luca told me that he is a werewolf.”
She stared at me in absolute silence. Then her grin took over her entire face. “Oh, come on! Like a mascot? Cause every frickin' person on planet earth knows werewolves don’t exist.”
“No, Si. He meant really meant it.”
I was beginning to feel guilty and traitorous now cause Luca had confided to me in secret but every Tom, Dick, and Harry’s gonna hear it now.
“How?” she asked in a careful tone, like she was afraid to encourage my spiraling.
“He said that werewolves exist,” I whispered.
Sienna blinked at me twice. Then burst out laughing again so hard she bent at the waist.
“Oh my Gosh, Aria. This boy is hilarious and too deep in morbid things.”
“Sienna,” I insisted, grabbing her arms.
Her laughter faded a little replaced by mild concern. She placed her hands on my shoulders. “Okay. But you do not actually believe him, right?”
I opened my mouth, but the words got tangled. I did not know how to explain what I had seen in Luca’s eyes. It had not been dramatics or manipulation or some teenage attempt at mystery. It had been raw truth.
“I do not know what I believe,” I said truthfully.
Sienna sighed and pulled me forward so she could examine my face. “Aria, you have liked this boy since the day he growled at the vending machine maybe you are misreading.”
“I am telling you he was serious.”
“Did he show you any proof? Did he pull out a magical wolf passport or transform in front of you?”
“No.”
“Did his house suddenly shift into some supernatural lair while you watched?”
“No,” I muttered again.
“Then he is probably dealing with some emotional wound and said something dramatic. Boys with trauma love metaphors.”
I groaned but allowed her to loop her arm through mine as we walked toward the courtyard, where Nora sat sipping an iced latte like a tiny caffeinated forest creature.
She waved dramatically. “Hello, Why do you both look like you survived a thriller movie?”
Sienna grinned. “Aria thinks her almost-boyfriend is a literal werewolf.”
“NICE,” Nora said immediately, brightening like this was fantastic news. “Honestly, that is a vibe. I always wanted to date someone supernatural. It is convenient and they do not text back often but they appear dramatically at night.”
I covered my face with both hands. “Please stop and he’s not my boyfriend.”
Nora leaned forward like she was preparing to hear gossip of the century. “Tell me everything.”
Sienna answered for me. “He told her he is not human.”
Nora’s eyebrows shot up. “And you do not think he meant it literally?”
“That is my point,” I said quickly. “He did mean it. He was not joking and everything about him makes more sense now.”
Nora tapped her straw against her cup thoughtfully. “Honestly, Silverpine has always given strange energy.”
Sienna side-eyed her. “Please do not encourage her.”
“No, seriously,” Nora said. “There are stories. My grandma used to say the woods at night were never empty. She swore there were sounds that did not belong to any known animal.”
“That is not comforting, Nora,” I said.
“Oh, and there was that rumor years ago,” Nora added casually. “The one about the enormous wolf that animal control tried to track. They said it vanished like smoke.”
Sienna groaned loudly. “Fantastic! Now you are both in delusion mode.”
Nora shrugged. “I am just saying this town has secrets. Maybe Luca is one of them.”
Something in her tone made the hairs on my arms rise. She sounded playful but also like she knew more than she was saying.
I swallowed. “You really believe something could be out there?”
“I believe that not everything is as boring as people pretend,” Nora said. She sipped her latte and gave me a tiny knowing smile. “And Luca Hale has big not-normal energy.”
Sienna nudged me. “Do not spiral. You do not have enough sleep in your system to handle supernatural theories.”
“I know,” I said, though my voice felt small.
The truth was that my brain would not shut up. If Luca really was something not human then everything I thought I knew about the human world was wrong but if he was lying, I would have to accept that he trusted me enough to share something vulnerable, but not enough to tell me the real reason behind it.
And I never knew which option scared me more. Whether I believed him or not, one thing was certain. Something had changed forever.
And I was not sure I wanted things to go back to the way they were.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Aria is unraveling and honestly it is beautiful to watch. Sienna is trying to keep her grounded while Nora is just casually tossing supernatural hints like it is her part-time job. The girls are finally connecting the dots, even if they do not realize how close they are getting to the truth. Buckle up because things are about to shift quickly.