Chapter 33 Chapter 33
Suki was spiralling.
Ever since she and Reynard returned from their visit to the Silver Moon pack, she had been avoiding him, not knowing what to say. How could she? Everything she was thinking was speculation at best, and if she were wrong, it would ruin Brendan.
But if she were right…
She had taken it into her own hands and began researching shadow magic in her town’s library, trying to find any information she could to see if what she was suspicious of could be true.
Her research was running thin. Most information on the Shadow pack was useless; they were all practically savages and thrived off of chaos. What she was looking for had to be from Nighttide; she needed information from, but she couldn’t find anything yet.
Scouring the online database for any form of information that could help her, she came up short. Nighttide was known for being extra secretive and protective; all that was known about them was that their army and warriors were mighty, and they were ones every pack – neighbouring or afar – wanted an alliance with them.
Though their preservative instincts kept them hidden within the shadows, literally.
Clicking through pages and pages of historical articles, Suki finally came across a picture – no, a painting – of a forest. It looked as if whoever created the image had done so from the sky, perhaps being up in the mountains. The painting itself presented a beautifully open forest, lit by the sun, but there was a patch that wasn’t catching any rays – a small, misshapen oval completely engulfed in shadows and absorbing almost all sources of light.
To anyone else, this painting would look like a cloud shielding the forest, but Suki knew better. She knew to trust her gut.
She sent the image to the printer and made a couple of notes in her notepad before grabbing the picture and sliding it into her notebook. She slapped a sticky note on top of the image and scribbled a note to herself on there: Nighttide?
After a while, she checked the time on her phone and realised she’d gotten too caught up in her research, not to mention she had also received numerous text messages from Rey.
REY: I haven’t heard from you in days. Everything alright?
REY: Can you at least tell me you’re okay? I’m getting worried.
There were even messages from Brendan checking in on her.
BRENDAN: Any reason why you’re avoiding us, love?
BRENDAN: You know this won’t last long.
All messages she would continue to ignore until she knew what to say to either of them.
Suki carefully placed everything into her bag apart from her notebook, which she kept open to stare at the image of the painting more. She didn’t know what to expect, but she hoped that something would stand out to her.
Walking home, her eyes barely even lifted from the picture. She was heavily engrossed by it.
“Up to no good, love?” Brendan’s voice startled Suki.
She slammed her notebook shut and held it to her chest as she turned towards him. “What makes you say that?” she asked, sounding more annoyed than she meant to.
He arched a brow. “You must be if Mr Perfect doesn’t even know where you are.”
Her eyes flickered wider slightly, struggling to get a sound out of her, barely even a squeak.
“I bumped into him while he was still on his shift at the border, on my way back to my place. He asked me if I had seen you, and when I told him I hadn’t, he seemed even more worried. So, what are you up to that’s preventing you from replying to everyone’s messages?”
She stayed quiet for a moment. “Am I not allowed to have a day of peace all to myself and ignore all the current chaos in my life?” she asked in a huff before continuing to walk towards her home, slipping through the forest away from prying eyes and the bonus of it being a shortcut home.
Brendan rolled his eyes and followed behind her sluggishly, “Well, yeah, but come on, love.” He grabbed her shoulder, stopping her and making her face him, “I know how close you are with him, so why are you avoiding him?”
Swallowing thickly, Suki said nothing.
He towered over her intimidatingly, “Unless you are hiding something from him…?” He chuckled, “No, there is no way. You tell him everything.” He stepped closer to her, forcing her back to meet a tree behind her.
Suki’s grip on her notebook tightened as she stuttered, “I-I was just doing some research. I get invested in my research and lose track of time.”
“What kind of research?” Brendan asked, slipping his fingers towards the notebook and pinching it to take it away, but she kept a stubborn hold onto it.
“Mind your business,” she hissed.
He smirked, “Oh, I do love it when you’re feisty with me, love.” He looked down at her lips and leaned in closer, inching his mouth closer to hers.
Flustered by his flirtatiousness, for a split second, she loosened her grip, allowing him the perfect opportunity to snatch her notebook. “Hey! Give that back, Brendan.” She lunged for the book, but he kept moving swiftly, dodging her.
“Oh, settle down, love. All I want is to see what you’re–” Brendan’s speech came to a sudden halt when he opened her notebook and saw the picture. He grabbed hold of the picture and dropped the notebook.
Suki’s heart thudded hard in her chest. “Brendan, wait…”
“What the fuck is this?” He looked at her in disgust. “Why do you have this?”
“It’s…just a picture of a cool painting I found. Why? What is it?” Suki asked, holding her breath.
Brendan growled, “Don’t fucking lie to me, you know what this is, don’t you?” When Suki didn’t reply, he pinned her back against the tree. “You have a note on here saying ‘Nighttide’ with a question mark. What do you know?”
Trying to hold a brave face, Suki swallowed the fearful lump growing in her throat. “Actually, I don’t know anything, but you seem to. So why don’t you enlighten me?”
“Why are you looking into Nighttide?”
“I don’t know what you’re–” she gasped and shuddered as Brendan slammed his fist against the tree.
Baring his teeth at her. “Answer me!”
Her breathing stuttered as she tried to focus on where to start. “I asked the Alpha of Silver Moon to connect with the spirits and try to get an answer for why I have two mates. She has a vision and witnessed three things: a forest shielded in shadows, someone screaming ‘traitor’ and a young werewolf’s family being brutally murdered by masked men right in front of them.”
She was careful with her words, but she also knew she couldn’t stop there.
“What did you just…?” He blinked, shocked.
“Do any of those visions there sound familiar to you, Brendan?”
His face softened, and he stepped back. The anger turned into concern and worry in his eyes.
Suki stood straight and held her chin up, forcing herself to be brave when, in this moment, what she was about to say could result in a bad ending for her. “I wanted to question you when I first heard about the powers of that pack, and the similarities of your power. The people of Nighttide, specifically the higher ranks, can wield the shadows; those who wield the power are so skilled with it, in fact, that they use the shadows to protect their borders, preventing any trespassers from entering.”
Shaking his head slowly, Brendan clenched his jaw, furious at what he was hearing.
But Suki continued. “I also discovered that powerful younglings can present these powers before their own werewolf abilities break through…”
“Stop it.”
“…as young as 14 years old, the same age you were banished from your pack,” she added with bitterness. Suki stepped closer to him bravely, but being cautious of any sudden movements and, with a shaky breath, spoke slowly, “You were from there, Nighttide, weren’t you?”
“Enough,” he muttered through gritted teeth.
“You got your powers over the shadows as a youngling, and you did something terrible with those powers, and then you were banished because you were too young to be sentenced to death. You are the traitor in that vision, aren’t you?”
Brendan grabbed her shoulders and yelled, “I said stop it!”
She was taking a risk, and she was afraid, but she didn’t care. She needed answers. “Who the hell are you, Brendan?”
“I’m not a monster,” he said, hurt. “I’m not… I didn’t…”
“You didn’t what?”
“It wasn’t my fault. I didn’t mean for them to die.”