Chapter 107 Family Connections
POV: Luna
Three days after the attack, campus is still recovering.
Buildings are being repaired. Wards reinforced. Students treated for injuries both physical and psychological.
Classes are suspended. Everyone confined to dorms unless absolutely necessary.
I'm in my room, staring at the ceiling, when Nova hands me an envelope.
"This came for you. From the human world. Your family."
My heart clenches. I haven't thought about my parents in weeks. Haven't had time between trials and attacks and everything else.
I open it carefully.
Inside is a letter. Handwritten by my mom. And a small flash drive.
"Dear Luna," the letter begins. "We haven't heard from you in so long. We're worried. Your father and I know you're busy with school, but please, just send us something. Let us know you're okay. Your brother asks about you constantly. He misses his big sister. We all do. Love, Mom."
The words hit harder than they should.
I plug the flash drive into Lyric's laptop. A video file loads.
My family. Sitting in our living room. Looking directly at the camera.
My mom speaks first. "Hi, sweetheart. We made this video hoping you'd watch it. We miss you so much."
My dad adds, "We know Silverwood is different. Special. But you're still our daughter. Still part of this family."
Then my little brother appears. He's ten. Gap-toothed. Holding a drawing.
"Luna, when are you coming home? I made this for you. It's you and me and Mom and Dad. See? We're all together. Like we used to be."
He holds up the drawing. Crude stick figures. But so full of love it makes my chest ache.
The video ends.
I'm crying before I realize it. Big, ugly sobs I can't control.
Nova sits beside me. Not saying anything. Just being there.
When I finally stop, she asks gently, "Do you ever regret being marked?"
"Sometimes. When I think about everything I've lost. Everything I can't have anymore."
"Like a normal family relationship?"
"Like any relationship with my family at all. They don't understand this world. Can't understand. And I can't explain it without breaking about a hundred laws."
We sit in silence for a while.
Then Aria and Sienna arrive. They must have felt my distress through the pack bond.
"What's wrong?" Aria asks immediately.
I show them the letter. The video.
They watch quietly.
"I need to write back," I say. "But I don't know what to say. How do I explain where I am? What I'm doing? What I've become?"
"You tell them what you can," Sienna suggests. "The truth, but filtered. Safe truth."
"Is there such a thing?"
"For families who don't know about our world? Yes. You tell them you're at a special boarding school. That you're learning valuable skills. That you're safe and happy and thinking of them."
"But I'm not safe. I'm constantly under attack. Being threatened by the Council. Fighting for my life."
"They don't need to know that. What they need is to know you love them. That you haven't forgotten them. That you're still their daughter even if you're also something more now."
Nova speaks up. "Do you think family can ever really understand this life? The wolf part? The magic part? Everything we deal with?"
"Mine doesn't," Aria says quietly. "My family disowned me when I presented as omega. Said I was an embarrassment to the bloodline. That I should have been alpha or at least beta. But omega? Unacceptable."
I stare at her. "I didn't know that."
"I don't talk about it much. But yeah. My parents basically erased me from family records. My siblings aren't allowed to contact me. I'm dead to them."
"Aria, I'm so sorry."
"It's fine. I've made peace with it. My pack is here now. You guys. People who don't judge me based on biological designation." She looks at me seriously. "But that's why I think writing to your family is important. Because you still have that connection. Don't waste it by cutting them off completely."
Sienna nods. "My family knows about my powers. About what I am. But they don't really understand. They're scared of me sometimes. Especially after what happened with my grandmother. The prophecies. The visions. They love me, but they also keep me at arm's length."
"So none of us have perfect family situations," I say.
"No. But we have each other. Pack. And that's something." Nova smiles sadly. "My parents are supportive. They try to understand. But they're terrified every time I come home for breaks. Afraid I'll do something magical and expose our world. So our relationship is built on me constantly censoring myself. Being less than I am. It's exhausting."
We're all carrying this. The weight of living in two worlds. Being both human and wolf. Both normal and extraordinary.
And the impossibility of truly belonging to either.
"I'm going to write back," I decide. "Tell them I love them. That I miss them. That school is challenging but good. That I'm making friends and learning things."
"All true," Aria points out. "Just not the whole truth."
"Never the whole truth."
I spend the next hour drafting a letter. Choosing words carefully. Balancing honesty with safety.
"Dear Mom, Dad, and Alex,
I'm sorry I haven't written sooner. School has been intense. The curriculum is challenging, but I'm learning so much. I've made incredible friends who support me through everything.
I miss you all terribly. Alex, I love your drawing. I'm going to hang it in my room where I can see it every day. You've gotten so much better at art!
Things are different here. I'm different here. But I'm still me. Still your daughter. Still Alex's sister. That hasn't changed and never will.
I can't come home for breaks as often as I'd like. The school has specific attendance requirements. But I think about you constantly. Dream about being home.
Please know that I'm safe. I'm cared for. And I'm becoming someone I think you'll be proud of.
Love always, Luna"
I read it aloud to my friends.
"Perfect," Nova says. "Honest but safe."
"Your parents will appreciate it," Sienna adds.
I seal the letter in an envelope. Address it carefully.
"I'll take it to the mail room tomorrow," I say.
But that night, I can't sleep. Again.
I keep thinking about my family. About the life I left behind. About the impossibility of ever really going back.
I'm Eclipse now. Marked. Changed. Forever different.
And they're human. Normal. Living in a world that doesn't know monsters are real.
The distance between us isn't just physical. It's fundamental. Existential.
And I don't know how to bridge it.
The next morning, I take the letter to the campus mail room.
It's in the administrative building. Supervised by faculty to ensure no student accidentally exposes the supernatural world.
I hand my letter to the clerk. A older woman who's worked here for decades.
"To the human world," I say. "My family."
She takes it. Examines the address. Nods.
"I'll process this through the appropriate channels. Should reach them in a few days."
"Thank you."
I turn to leave. But something feels wrong.
I glance back.
The clerk is reading my letter. Actually opening it. Reading the contents.
"Hey! That's private!"
"All correspondence to the human world must be screened for security," she says calmly. "Academy policy."
"Since when?"
"Since the Council mandated increased monitoring of Eclipse-marked students. For everyone's safety."
My blood runs cold. "The Council is reading my mail?"
"The Council ensures nothing compromising leaves campus. This letter is fine. Generic. Safe. It will be sent."
She reseals it. Places it in the outgoing pile.
But the damage is done.
They're monitoring me. Reading my private communications. Watching everything I do.
The Council's surveillance is more invasive than I thought.
I leave the mail room feeling violated. Exposed.
Even my family connections aren't private anymore. Aren't safe.
Everything I do. Everything I say. Everything I write.
It's all being watched. Recorded. Assessed.
And I have no privacy. No autonomy. No freedom.
I'm back in my dorm, telling Nova what happened, when there's a knock.
Professor Cael enters. Looking serious.
"Miss Eclipse. I need to speak with you."
"About what?"
"Your letter. The one you just submitted to the mail room."
"What about it? The clerk said it was fine. Safe."
"It is. But the Council has requested a meeting. They want to discuss your continued contact with the human world. Whether it poses a security risk."
"My family poses a security risk?"
"Your connection to them does. The Council believes you may be vulnerable to manipulation through them. That enemies could use your family as leverage."
"So what? They want me to cut off all contact?"
"They want to... regulate it. Supervise it. Ensure no harm comes to you or them through the connection."
"That's code for controlling it. For deciding when and how I can talk to my own family."
Professor Cael doesn't deny it. "The Council is concerned. You're high-value. High-risk. They're taking precautions."
"By isolating me from everyone I love?"
"By protecting you from potential threats."
"This is insane. I haven't done anything wrong!"
"You're Eclipse. That's enough to warrant extraordinary measures." He looks genuinely sympathetic. "I'm sorry, Luna. I know this is difficult. But the Council has final authority on matters of security."
He leaves.
And I'm left standing there. Shaking with rage and fear and helplessness.
They're not just monitoring me. They're actively isolating me.
Cutting me off from my family. From my human connections. From anything that might anchor me to a life outside their control.
This isn't protection. This is imprisonment.
And I don't know how to fight it.
Because fighting the Council means risking everything. Binding Protocol. Expulsion. Worse.
But accepting it means losing the last pieces of my human life.
Losing my family. My identity. Myself.
I sink onto my bed. Head in my hands.
"What do I do?" I ask Nova.
"You survive. Like you always do. And you find ways to maintain connections even when they try to cut them."
"How?"
"I don't know yet. But we'll figure it out. Together."
My pack gathers around me. Offering silent support.
But for the first time since arriving at Silverwood, I feel truly alone.
Because my family can't help me. Can't even know what I'm facing.
And the people who could help are the ones trying to control me.
I'm trapped. Between worlds. Between identities. Between impossible choices.
And I don't see a way out.