Chapter 42 They’re here
Chapter 42 They’re here
The white wolf spoke with me for the first time outside of my dream the night of the fire, I explained. I continued explaining how I think she might have helped me get to my house so quickly. I figured it was like adrenaline from fear, like when a kid is hurt, and a mom could lift a car.
“You know. I think you're right. The Holloways were so confused about how you got there so fast. It caused a lot of arguments among the 3 of them.” Luka mused.
“And you?” I asked. What did he think of it?
“I honestly didn’t care how you got there so fast. I was more concerned about you. Especially when I saw you drop. I handed your mother over to a paramedic for care. And took you from the paramedics who tried to take you.” I watched Luka’s jaw ticking when speaking about that night.
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Something came over me. I wouldn’t let anyone take you from my arms. I had to hand you over to the doctor.” Thankfully, Phil knew the lead man. And promised that they would take me to take you to the doctors.
“Wow…. Thank you for making sure I was okay.”
I tell him.
“I will always make sure you're okay. It’s all I want.”
I sat there slightly uncomfortably. Unsure how to process this. I knew he cared for me, it was clear, but why? I had nothing. Life has been so hectic since he came into my life. I wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Was it always going to be like this?”
“What is going on in that beautiful mind of yours?”
“I am just trying to take it all in.”
“It seems to be more than that but, I won't push if you don't want to talk about it
I hesitated, chewing on the inside of my cheek. He wasn’t wrong. There was more—I just didn’t know how to put it into words without sounding completely unhinged.
“I just…” I exhaled slowly. “Everything feels bigger now. Like I’ve been living in a tiny box my whole life, and suddenly someone ripped the lid off.” I let out a shaky laugh. “Wolves. Voices in my head. People trying to kill me. I don’t even know what’s normal anymore.”
Luka didn’t smile this time.
His gaze shifted slightly, not away from me—but past me, like he was weighing something. Deciding.
“That’s because,” he said quietly, “what you thought was normal… isn’t the full picture.”
Something in his tone made my stomach tighten.
“What does that mean?”
He didn’t answer right away. His jaw ticked, that same tension from earlier creeping back in. I watched his fingers curl slightly against his leg, like he was holding something back.
“When the fire happened,” Luka started slowly, “it wasn’t just chaos and panic like everyone thinks.”
I stilled. “What do you mean?”
“There were things that didn’t add up.” His voice dropped lower. “People who should’ve been worse off… weren’t. Burns that didn’t behave like burns. And…” He paused, brows pulling together. “Some of the responders said the air felt wrong. Cold in places it shouldn’t have been.”
A chill slid down my spine.
“Cold?” I repeated.
Luka nodded once. “Not like weather. Like…” He searched for the word. “Like something was there that didn’t belong.”
I swallowed. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I know.” His eyes flicked back to mine, sharp and intense. “That’s the problem.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and uneasy.
Without meaning to, I shifted slightly and froze.
There it was again.
That same strange sensation from earlier. Faint, but unmistakable.
My stomach twisted.
“What?” Luka’s head snapped toward me instantly. “What is it?”
“I… don’t know.” My voice came out quieter than I meant it to. “It’s just… a feeling.”
His expression hardened. “What kind of feeling?”
I struggled to explain it. “Like…” I shook my head. “Like something’s off. Not like your scent, or… the wolf. This is different. It feels…” I hesitated. “Empty. Cold.”
Luka went completely still.
The shift in him was immediate.
Subtle—but terrifying.
Every muscle in his body seemed to lock into place, his attention sharpening into something predatory.
“Danni,” he said carefully, “have you felt that before?”
I thought back. The hotel. The hallway. The chaos.
A flicker of something brushed the edge of my memory.
“…maybe,” I admitted. “When everything was happening earlier. I thought it was just fear.”
Luka exhaled slowly through his nose.
“Damn it.”
My heart started to race. “What? Luka—what is it?”
He ran a hand through his hair, pacing once before stopping in front of me again. He looked like he was trying to decide how much to say—and how fast.
“There are rules,” he said finally. “Laws that keep everything… balanced. Shifters follow them. We have to.”
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Joel mentioned that. About not killing on neutral ground.”
“Right.” Luka nodded. “But we’re not the only ones those laws apply to.”
A beat passed.
Then another.
And something in my chest dropped.
“…What do you mean we’re not the only ones?”
His gaze locked onto mine.
“There are other species, Danni.”
The room suddenly felt too small.
“Other…” I swallowed. “Like what?”
He didn’t sugarcoat it.
“Vampires.”
The word hit the air like a stone dropped into still water. Everything went quiet.
I stared at him, waiting for the punchline. For the part where he smirked and said he was joking.
He didn’t.
“You’re serious,” I said faintly.
“Yes.”
I let out a short, breathless laugh that held zero humor. “So let me get this straight—wolves are real, I’m apparently one of them, I can talk to voices in my head, someone tried to kill me… and now you’re telling me vampires are just… out there too?”
Luka didn’t react to my spiraling. He just watched me carefully.
“They don’t play by the same rules we do,” he said. “Some of them follow the laws. Most don’t.”
A cold knot formed in my stomach.
“And Chad?” I asked quietly. “What does this have to do with him?”
Luka’s expression darkened.
“That’s what I don’t like,” he admitted. “Chad wants power, yeah—but this?” He shook his head slightly. “This feels bigger than him. Too Smart for even him.”
A pause.
Then, more quietly:
“Like someone pointed him in the right direction.”
My pulse thudded in my ears.
“You think he’s working with them?”
“I don’t know,” Luka said honestly. “But if he is…” His jaw tightened. “Then this isn’t just a pack issue anymore.”
Silence settled over us again—but this time it wasn’t just heavy.
It was waiting.
Like the world had shifted, just slightly off balance.
And then—
A distant sound echoed faintly through the house.
A car door.
Luka’s head snapped toward the window, every ounce of warmth gone from his expression in an instant.
“They’re here,” he said.