Chapter 48 Luca
I didn’t start the afternoon planning to follow my ex-girlfriend through town like some creep straight out of a late-night crime documentary.
But the second Sienna slipped out the side doors of Silverpine High with her backpack clutched tight and her eyes flicking everywhere except at the people around her, yeah my instincts took over.
Something was wrong with her. No, something was different and nd not in the “I’m stressed about senior year” way. I waited a beat before following her scent trail, lavender shampoo and vanilla lip balm. Yet every time I caught it, my wolf stiffened like it sensed danger woven inside it.
She didn’t look back as she crossed the campus sidewalk, passed the bus loop, and headed toward the quiet gravel road behind the old mill. That road didn’t lead to any houses which wasn’t any normal reason to walk there after school unless she wanted to meet someone privately.
I kept my distance, slipping between trees. Silverpine was half-town and half-forest so it was easy for me to stay out of sight. I’d just ducked behind a cluster of pines when I heard a twig snap behind me. I whirled, ready to fight and nearly growled.
“What?” Lila said, her hands on her hips, chin lifted in pure annoying little sister glory. Her black curls were piled into a messy bun, and she was wearing sunglasses even though the sun was hiding behind clouds. “Did you think I wasn’t going to notice you doing the world’s worst job of sneaking out of school?”
“Go home, Lila.” I kept my voice low.
She scoffed loudly. “Oh, absolutely not. I skipped math for this. I’m not wasting educational rebellion on watching you skulk alone.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “You’re supposed to be in class.”
“And you’re supposed to be in same, yet here we are.”
“Lila.”
“Nope.” She stepped right in front of me, blocking my path, eyes gleaming with mischief and annoyance. “Listen, you’re following Sienna alone which means either you’re being stupid and possibly about to get stabbed.”
“I’m not going to get stabbed, I’m a werewolf for fuck’s sake.”
“People who get stabbed never think they’re going to get stabbed and stop swearing.”
“Lila—”
“Plus,” she continued, brushing an imaginary lint from her jacket, “I still can’t believe you actually dated her. I deserve emotional compensation for having to sit through that era. So let me have this.”
I exhaled through my teeth. There was no winning with her. “Fine,” I muttered. “But stay quiet.”
“Ha! Says the guy who steps like an elephant.”
Before I could respond, Lila elbowed me and pointed ahead. “There,” she whispered. “She’s stopping.”
Sienna had reached the edge of the old mill property—a fenced-off lot with rusted machinery and a clearing just beyond it. She paused, checked her phone, and then walked toward the back path that led deeper into the woods.
“What is she doing out here?” Lila murmured.
“I don’t know,” I replied. “That’s why I’m following.”
“Obviously.” She rolled her eyes, but her tone softened slightly. “You really think she’s mixed up in all this hunter stuff?”
“I don’t know,” I repeated. And I hated that I didn’t. “But she’s involved in something.”
Lila snorted. “Well, she was always good at acting like she wasn’t. Remember when she pretended she didn’t know you hated oatmeal cookies? You looked like a hostage every time she handed you one.”
“I’m trying to focus.”
“Exactly why I’m talking. You get too quiet, you start doing reckless stuff, like following mysterious humans into creepy woods.”
A figure stepped out from behind an oak tree at the edge of the clearing. He was tall, broad-shouldered with a face shadowed by a hood.
A quick sniff showed he was human but masked beneath it, was a metallic and unnatural scent.
My wolf snarled. Lila grabbed my arm. “Holy crap! Who is that?”
“I don’t know.”
We crouched lower. Sienna didn’t look afraid when she approached him. That chilled me more than anything else today. She stood closer than you would with a stranger and handed over something small.
“What is that?” Lila whispered.
I heightened my hearing, filtering out the wind and rustling leaves.
“…couldn’t get more yet,” Sienna said quietly. “There are too many eyes now.”
“I don’t care about your excuses,” the man replied. His voice was low and intimidating in a way that had nothing to do with physical strength. “You were chosen for a reason, Sienna. Don’t make me question it.”
My stomach twisted. Lila’s nails dug into my sleeve. “Luca. That sounds… bad.”
“Yeah,” I said softly.
The man tucked whatever Sienna gave him into his jacket.
“How close is he to figuring it out?” the man asked.
Sienna bit her lip. “Close. Luca isn’t stupid.”
Lila mouthed, “Wow,” like she couldn’t believe Sienna had dared to say it. I barely heard them. My heartbeat thundered in my ears. They were talking about me.
“We move soon,” the man said. “Be ready.”
Sienna nodded and for a second, her face tightened with guilt and something like pressure. But then she smiled. The kind of smile she always used when she needed people to underestimate her. A familiar ache tugged at my chest. I’d fallen for that smile once. The man melted back into the trees, vanishing into shadows like he’d never been there.
Sienna stayed still for a moment, breathing deeply, then turned and hurried back down the path. Lila didn’t speak until Sienna was long gone.
“Well,” she whispered, “I don’t know what she’s doing, but it smells like a conspiracy.”
“Yeah,” I said, jaw tight. “And she’s right about one thing.”
“What?”
“I am close.”
Lila smacked my shoulder lightly. “Then let me help.”
“No.”
“Luca.” She glared, poking my chest. “You’re not doing this alone. Especially not when Miss Human Conspiracy Barbie is running little secret missions. Try and ditch me and I swear I’ll tell Dad you’ve been sneaking out to kiss our next door neighbour.”
I groaned. “You’re impossible.”
“And you love me,” she said with a smug grin. “Now move before Sienna gets too far ahead. If she’s planning something, I want front row tickets.”
I shouldn’t have let her come but she matched my pace immediately with shoulders squared and eyes sharp. Lila was stubborn, annoying, and brave. A Hale through and through. As we followed Sienna’s trail back toward town, each of us sinking deeper into whatever trap she was caught in or building I realized something else, the hunters weren’t hiding anymore.
They were moving and Sienna was part of it or trapped in it. Either way, I had to get to the truth before she drowned in it and before the shadows swallowed Silverpine whole.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
Okay LOVELIES, the plot is officially UNHINGED. Luca tailing Sienna? Lila crashing the mission with full sass? A mysterious man who knows way too much?? We are SO deep into the danger zone and I LOVE IT.
Tell me your theories cause I’m eating them like popcorn. 🍿🔥