Chapter 58 Chapter 58
Chapter 58 Chapter 58
Luci
The silence didn’t last.
It never does.
It started small, just a few voices at the back of the crowd, low and uncertain. But it spread quickly. Not loud enough to lose control, but enough to shift the atmosphere again.
This wasn’t over.
Not even close.
I stepped forward slightly, placing myself just ahead of Yulia again without thinking. The movement was small, but it was enough. Enough to remind everyone exactly where I stood.
One of the elders exchanged a glance with the others before speaking.
“If what she’s saying is true,” he began, “then we’re dealing with something far more dangerous than we thought.”
I didn’t like the way he said that.
“Dangerous doesn’t mean uncontrollable,” I replied.
“That’s exactly what it means if we don’t understand it,” another elder said.
A few people in the crowd nodded at that.
Of course they did. Fear always finds agreement faster than reason.
Elisse’s father stepped forward again, seizing the moment like I knew he would.
“And that’s the problem,” he said. “We don’t understand it. And yet we’re expected to simply accept it and move on?”
His gaze shifted toward the crowd, not me.
Smart.
He wasn’t talking to me anymore.
He was talking to them.
“What happens the next time something like that occurs?” he continued. “What happens if those creatures don’t disappear? If they attack the pack instead?”
The murmurs grew louder.
Doubt spreading again.
I was about to cut him off—
“Then we prepare.”
The words didn’t come from me.
They came from Yulia.
My head turned slightly toward her.
She didn’t hesitate.
Didn’t look unsure.
“If you’re afraid of what might happen next,” she continued, her voice steady, “then we don’t sit here arguing about it. We get ready for it.”
That caught their attention.
Even the elders.
“Prepare how?” one of them asked.
Yulia didn’t look away.
“We train,” she said. “We strengthen the pack. We figure out exactly what those things were and why they came.”
“And you think that’s enough?” Elisse’s father asked.
“No,” she replied. “But it’s better than pretending fear is a solution.”
That landed.
I could see it.
Not everyone agreed but not everyone disagreed either.
That was the shift.
Small.
But important.
One of the elders frowned slightly. “And what role do you play in this?”
Yulia held his gaze.
“I’m the reason they came,” she said. “So I’ll be the reason they don’t come back.”
A murmur moved through the crowd again.
Different this time.
Less certain.
More divided.
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?” he pressed.
Yulia paused.
Just for a second.
Then—
“I’ll figure out what was sealed inside me,” she said. “And I’ll control it before it becomes a problem.”
I felt something in my chest tighten slightly at that.
Not doubt.
Just awareness.
Because that wasn’t something you “figure out” overnight.
But she said it like it was.
And somehow, they listened.
Rhys stepped forward then, breaking the moment.
“If we’re being practical,” he said, “we don’t have the luxury of waiting.”
That drew attention back to him.
“The borders aren’t as quiet as they should be,” he continued. “Other packs are already watching us.”
That changed everything.
The reaction was immediate.
“What do you mean watching?”
“They’re waiting,” Rhys said. “Waiting to see if we’re weak enough to take advantage of.”
The tension snapped tighter.
Because this, this was real.
Not speculation.
Not fear.
A threat.
One of the elders swore under his breath.
“So we’re exposed,” another said.
“For now,” Rhys replied.
That was enough.
The entire conversation shifted instantly.
From fear of Yulia to survival.
I stepped forward again.
“Then we don’t give them that chance,” I said.
All eyes turned to me.
“We reinforce the borders,” I continued. “Double patrols. No gaps. No hesitation.”
Rhys nodded slightly.
“Already started,” he said.
Good.
“And if they test us,” I added, my voice dropping slightly, “we respond immediately.”
No one argued that.
They couldn’t.
Because this was something they understood.
Something they trusted me to handle.
Elisse’s father went quiet.
Not because he agreed.
Because he knew this wasn’t the moment to push.
Smart.
But temporary.
One of the elders looked between Yulia and me.
“And her?” he asked.
I didn’t hesitate.
“She stays.”
There was a pause.
Then—
“And trains,” I added.
That got their attention again.
Not suspicion this time.
Interest.
“If she’s the reason those things came,” I continued, “then she’s also the key to understanding them.”
Silence followed.
Not hostile.
Thinking.
Weighing.
And then—
A slow nod from one of the elders.
“…Fine.”
That was all it took.
Not full agreement.
But enough.
The rest followed.
Not all of them, but enough.
The crowd didn’t disperse immediately, but the tension shifted again.
Less confrontation.
More unease.
More preparation.
More uncertainty about what came next.
I turned slightly toward Yulia once it was clear the worst of it had passed.
“You just made things harder for yourself,” I said quietly.
She let out a small breath.
“I know.”
“You’re going to have every eye on you now.”
“I already did.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
A brief pause settled between us.
Then—
“You don’t have to do this alone,” I said.
Her gaze flicked to mine.
“I know,” she replied.
But something about the way she said it told me she was already preparing to.
And that…
was going to be a problem.
Because whatever was coming next wasn’t going to wait for her to be ready.