Chapter 71 We will do this carefully

Chapter 71 We will do this carefully
“We will do this carefully,” her aunt said.

The words settled into the small room like a quiet agreement between two women who understood what was at stake. Outside, the wind brushed against the wooden walls, making a soft creaking sound that Selene remembered from her childhood. The house had always made that sound during cold afternoons. It used to comfort her. Now it felt like a witness to something important.

Selene let out a slow breath she did not realize she had been holding. For the first time since she stepped inside, the air did not feel suffocating. It was still heavy, still full of grief and anger, but it no longer felt lonely.

Her aunt moved toward the window and pulled the thin curtain aside slightly. The gray light outside made the neglected garden look even sadder. The once-bright flowers were now dry stems bending toward the ground.

“I stopped watering them,” her aunt admitted quietly without turning around. “After you disappeared, I could not find the reason.”

Selene walked toward her slowly. She stood beside her and looked at the garden too.

“You can start again,” Selene said softly.

Her aunt gave a small nod.

Silence returned, but this time it was thoughtful rather than painful. Selene could feel her aunt thinking, calculating, trying to understand the depth of what had been hidden under her own roof for months.

“You said you will pretend you lost your memories,” her aunt said after a moment.

“Yes,” Selene replied calmly. “If they think I do not remember the garden or the cliff, they will relax. They will think they are safe.”

Her aunt turned to look at her carefully.

“And if they test you?” she asked.

Selene expected that question.

“They will,” she answered. “Kai will try to measure my reactions. Christopher will watch my face closely. They will look for fear or anger.”

Her aunt’s expression darkened.

“And you can hide it?” she asked.

Selene held her gaze steadily.

“I learned how.”

Her aunt studied her longer this time, as if trying to see what exactly had changed in her. There was no trembling in Selene’s hands now. No hesitation in her voice. The girl who used to cry in her lap over small betrayals was not standing here anymore.

Her aunt sighed quietly.

“You came back different,” she said.

Selene did not deny it.

“I came back alive,” she replied. “And I will stay that way. I am also forever grateful to those people in Montclair pack who never let me feel I am alone.”

Her aunt stepped closer and placed her palm gently against Selene’s cheek, the same way she had done when Selene was a child.

“You are still my child,” she whispered.

Selene leaned into the touch for a moment. She allowed herself that softness. Then she straightened slightly.

“We need to talk about timing,” Selene said.

Her aunt nodded and walked back to the small table near the bed. They both sat down across from each other.

“When will you appear in public?” her aunt asked.

“Tomorrow,” Selene answered.

Her aunt’s eyes widened. “That soon?”

“Yes. If I wait too long, rumors will build before I control the story.”

Her aunt folded her hands together.

“What will you say?” she asked.

“I will say I was injured,” Selene replied calmly. “That I lost parts of my memory. That I was confused and wandered outside the territory.”

Her aunt looked uncomfortable.

“They will question it,” she said.

“They can,” Selene replied. “But they cannot prove otherwise.”

Her aunt was silent for a moment.

“And Kai?” she asked carefully.

Selene’s eyes shifted slightly, but her voice remained steady.

“I will treat her the same as before,” she said. “Friendly. Calm. I will ask simple questions. I will not accuse.”

Her aunt frowned.

“That will be difficult,” she admitted.

“Yes,” Selene agreed quietly.

The room felt smaller again as they both thought of Kai’s face, her smile, the way she used to sit at this very table and laugh like nothing in the world could ever be wrong.

“I want to watch how she reacts when she sees me,” Selene continued. “That will tell us everything.”

Her aunt nodded slowly.

“And Christopher?” she asked.

Selene’s lips pressed into a thin line.

“He is more careful,” she said. “He hides his emotions better. But he underestimates me. He thinks I am naive.”

Her aunt leaned back slightly.

“They both underestimated you,” she murmured.

Selene gave a faint smile.

“That will be their mistake.”

Outside, a bird landed briefly on the fence before flying away again. The small sound reminded Selene of the ordinary world continuing around them. Life had not paused just because she almost died.

Her aunt suddenly stood up and walked toward the small cabinet near the corner. She opened it and took out a small wooden box. Selene recognized it immediately. It was where her aunt kept important documents and old letters.

Her aunt placed it on the table and opened it slowly.

“If we are doing this,” she said carefully, “we do it with preparation.”

Selene leaned forward slightly.

Her aunt pulled out a folded paper.

“This is the written report Christopher submitted after you disappeared,” she explained.

Selene felt her chest tighten.

Her aunt handed it to her.

Selene unfolded it carefully. The paper was slightly wrinkled from being opened too many times. She read the familiar lies in calm silence.

Christopher had written that Selene showed signs of instability. That she spoke about leaving the pack. That she ran toward the forest after an argument.

Selene did not react outwardly, but something inside her turned colder.

“He painted you as confused,” her aunt said quietly. “He used concern as a weapon.”

Selene folded the paper neatly again.

“Good,” she said.

Her aunt blinked. “Good?”

“Yes,” Selene replied. “If I pretend to have lost memory, his story supports mine.”

Her aunt stared at her for a moment, then slowly nodded.

“You are thinking three steps ahead,” she said.

Selene’s gaze softened slightly.

“I had time to think,” she replied.

Her aunt closed the box again.

“We must be careful about who we trust,” she added.

Selene nodded.

“There are still elders who respect you,” her aunt continued. “And some who dislike Christopher.”

“That helps,” Selene said.

They both fell silent again, this time not because of grief but because of calculation.

After a while, her aunt stood up and walked toward the kitchen area.

“You have not eaten,” she said firmly.

Selene almost smiled.

“I forgot,” she admitted.

Her aunt shook her head lightly and began preparing something simple. The familiar sound of a knife against wood and water boiling filled the house. It felt strangely normal.

Selene sat at the table and watched her aunt move around the small kitchen. The rhythm of her movements was slower than before, but steady. There was strength in it.

“Aunt,” Selene said softly.

Her aunt glanced at her.

“Are you afraid?” Selene asked.

Her aunt paused for a second.

“Yes,” she answered honestly. “But I am more angry than afraid.”

Selene nodded slowly.

“I am not afraid anymore,” she said quietly.

Her aunt looked at her carefully.

“That worries me more,” she admitted.

Selene understood why.

Fear keeps people cautious. A lack of fear can lead to recklessness. But what she felt was not recklessness. It was clarity.

“I am careful,” Selene assured her.

Her aunt gave a small nod and returned to cooking.

The sky outside darkened slowly as evening approached. The gray light turned blue, and the small house grew dimmer. Selene stood up and walked toward the front door.

“I want to see the garden,” she said.

Her aunt hesitated for a second but then nodded.

They stepped outside together.

The air was cooler now. The soil beneath Selene’s shoes felt uneven and dry. She knelt beside the flower bed and touched one of the brittle stems gently.

“We will fix this,” she murmured.

Her aunt stood behind her, watching quietly.

“You came back to fight,” her aunt said softly.

Selene shook her head slightly.

“I came back to finish what they started.”

The wind brushed through her hair, and for a brief second she remembered the cliff again. The cold water. The shock. The betrayal.

Her hand instinctively moved toward her neck where the faint mark rested beneath her collar.

She straightened slowly.

“I am not the girl they pushed,” she said quietly.

Her aunt stepped closer.

“No,” she agreed. “You are not.”

They stood side by side in the fading light.

The pack territory around them was quiet for now. No one had seen her yet. No one knew she was here.

Tomorrow would be different.

Tomorrow, the whispers would begin.

Selene turned back toward the house and looked at the worn wooden door. It had once been her safe place. Then it became a house filled with grief. Now it felt like a starting point.

“Aunt,” she said gently.

“Yes?”

“If something goes wrong, promise me you will not step in too early.”

Her aunt’s jaw tightened.

“I cannot promise that,” she said honestly.

Selene gave a small smile.

“I thought so.”

They went back inside as the first stars began to appear in the sky.

That night, Selene lay in her old bed. The mattress felt thinner than she remembered. The ceiling looked lower. The shadows in the corners were familiar.

She stared at the wooden beams above her and listened to the quiet breathing of her aunt in the next room.