Chapter 18 Fractures

Chapter 18 Fractures

Luceila's POV

I wake up human.

It sounds like such a simple thing. Waking up human. But after yesterday, I checked before getting out of bed. I look at my hands, my arms, my reflection in the mirror across the room.

I’m Human. For now.

The memories of yesterday hit me like a wave. The basement. Dr. Chen's calm instructions. The wolf inside me finally breaks free after twenty-two years of sleeping.

The pain.

I press my hand against my chest, where something still aches. Not physically, deeper than that. Like my body hasn't fully decided what it wants to be yet.

My phone was on the nightstand, and I realized with a start that the signal was back. Someone restored it overnight. A peace offering, maybe.

I have seventeen missed messages. Friends from college, wondering why I've gone silent. A former coworker checking in. And three messages from a number I don't recognize.

I open the unknown messages.

Message 1: Luceila. My name is Marcus. I'm a friend of your father's. We need to talk.

Message 2: I know about your emergence. Word travels fast in our world. You need to know the truth about who you are.

Message 3: Don't trust your stepbrothers. They're not what they seem. Call me.

Someone knows about my emergence already. Someone who claims to know my father.

My father, who Mom said she knew nothing about.

I save the number, then hide my phone under my pillow as footsteps approach my door. A knock.

"Luceila?" Silas's voice. "Breakfast is ready."

"I'll be down in a minute."

I dress quickly, my mind racing. Those messages could be a trap, someone trying to exploit a newly emerged wolf, exactly like the brothers warned about. But they could also be genuine. Someone who actually has answers about where I came from, what I am, why my wolf was dormant so long.

I can't tell the brothers. Not yet. Not until I know what those messages mean.

Downstairs, the kitchen feels different. The atmosphere has shifted overnight, less hostile, more uncertain. Like everyone is trying to figure out how to behave around the girl who turned into a wolf in their basement.

Mom is making pancakes. The brothers are seated at the table, quiet.

"How are you feeling?" Mom asks immediately when I appear.

"Strange," I admit, sitting down. "Like I'm wearing someone else's skin."

"That's normal after a first shift," Reis says. He's not looking at me directly, which is unusual for him. "It takes a few days to feel settled again."

"Great," I mutter. "Something to look forward to."

Ruan pushes a plate toward me without being asked. "Eat. You need protein after a shift. Your body burned through everything it had."

I look at the plate; eggs, bacon, toast, then at him. "Thank you."

He nods, looking uncomfortable. "Don't mention it."

We eat in silence for a while, the kind of silence that's heavy with unsaid things. I can feel them watching me, monitoring my reactions, waiting to see how I'll handle the morning after my entire world collapses.

"Dr. Chen called," Silas says finally. "She wants to schedule training sessions. Three times a week, starting next week. Help you learn to control the shift."

"Control it how?" I ask. "Force it? Prevent it?"

"Both," Reis explains. "You need to be able to shift at will, not just when your wolf decides it's ready. And you need to be able to suppress the shift in situations where it would be dangerous. Public places, work environments…"

"Work." The word hits me like a bucket of cold water. "I haven't been to work in weeks. They probably think I'm dead."

"We called them," Mom says quietly. "Told them you had a medical emergency. They've been holding your position."

"You called my workplace?" I stare at her. "Without asking me?"

"Sweetheart, you weren't exactly in a position to…"

"To what? Make my own decisions?" I set down my fork. "That seems to be a thing around here."

"That's not fair," Silas says.

"Isn't it?" I look around the table. "You locked my phone, locked my door, locked my windows. You decided I needed a blood test without my consent. You called my workplace. Has anyone once asked me what I actually want?"

Silence.

"That's what I thought."

"Okay," Reis says carefully. "What do you want, Luceila?"

The question catches me off guard. I wasn't expecting him to actually ask.

"I want answers," I say slowly. "Real ones. About my father. About why my wolf was dormant. About what it means to be what I am."

"We can help with some of that…." Silas starts.

"Can you?" I said.  "Because you've been withholding information from me since the beginning. You knew what I was before I did. You suspected it and said nothing, just watched and tested and accused."

The three of them had a calm countenance on their faces.

"You're right," Ruan says quietly. It's so unexpected that I blink. "We should have handled this differently. When we first suspected, we should have come to you. Explained what we thought was happening. Instead we let fear make our decisions."

"Fear of what?" I ask. "Of me?"

"Of what you might be," Silas admits. "A dormant wolf is rare, Luceila. In our world, rare things are usually dangerous. Or wanted. And both of those make us nervous."

"But I wasn't dangerous," I say. "I was just sick. Lost."

"We know that now," Reis says.

"Do you?" I look at him steadily. "Because knowing and believing are different things. So tell me honestly, do you still think I'm a threat? Even after yesterday?"

The brothers exchange glances, having one of their silent conversations.

"No," Reis finally says. "We don't think you're a threat."

"But someone might," Ruan adds grimly. "Someone who hears about your emergence and decides a newly shifted wolf with dormant heritage is worth pursuing."

"What do you know about my father?" I ask abruptly.

Three pairs of eyes sharpen instantly.

"Nothing," Silas says. "Why?"

"Mom said she barely knew him. But I want to know more. About his heritage, his pack. Whether he was a wolf."

"If he was," Reis says slowly, "it would explain your dormant wolf. Heritage can be suppressed through bloodlines, especially if one parent actively concealed their nature."

"So it's possible my father knew what he was and hid it."

"Very possible," Dr. Chen says, entering the kitchen. I hadn't heard her arrive, which unsettles me. "Good morning, everyone. Luceila, you look better."

"I look confused," I correct.

She smiles. "Same thing, sometimes. It means you're processing." She pours herself coffee, joining us at the table. "We should discuss your training schedule, but first, how are you feeling internally? The wolf, is she settled?"

I paused for a while then continued. "Quieter than yesterday. But still there. Like something's humming just below the surface."

"That's good. That's the merging, in its initial stage." Dr. Chen nods. "It'll take time, but your human and wolf sides are starting to recognize each other. The conflict in your brain that was causing the memory issues should start to ease as that integration progresses."

"So the dementia symptoms will go away?" Mom asks hopefully.

"Gradually, yes. As Luceila learns to control her wolf, her neurological symptoms should improve significantly."

I absorb this. So I was never really sick. I was just broken in a different way than we thought.

I should feel relieved. But mostly I just feel tired.

"I want to find my father," I say suddenly.

The room goes still.

"Luceila…" Mom starts.

"I need to know who he is. What he is. Why he left." I look at her. "And I think you know more than you've told me."

Staring close at mom, I knew that I have asked a difficult question, but I need to get to the root of the matter

No matter how long it takes