Chapter 6 The truth that found me
Luna's pov
I couldn’t move.
My feet were planted to the forest floor as the roots had claimed me, it was as if the earth itself had decided I didn’t deserve to run anymore.
Kai stood in front of me.
It wasn't the monster.
Not the thing with deep red eyes and claws that had filled my lungs with terror.
It was Kai.
His chest rose and fell too fast, his hands held up slightly, and his palms were open. It was not threatening, and it was not defensive; it was careful. Like one wrong move might shatter me completely.
“Luna,” he said again, softer this time.
My name sounded different coming from him, it was heavy and loaded.
“No,” I whispered, shaking my head. “No, no, no.”
I stumbled backward, my boots slidding over dirt and leaves. My heart slammed so hard it hurt. Everything inside me screamed danger, it screamed run, it screamed that nothing about this was okay.
“You…” My voice cracked. “You were…”
“I know,” he said quickly. “I know how it looks.”
Looks?
I laughed, it sounded broken, and hollow like it didn’t belong to me. “You were a monster.”
The word tasted bitter; it burst out of my mouth sharply.
Pain flashed across his face, quick and raw before he masked it. “I would never hurt you.”
“You sprang at me,” I yelled back. “You chased me.”
He flinched. “I was trying to stop you from crossing the boundary.”
“The boundary?” My hands shook as I clenched them into fists. “You think that makes this better?”
The memory hit me all at once, the fear, the sound of bones cracking, and the way the ground had answered my scream. My stomach twisted violently.
“I did something,” I whispered. “I felt it.”
Kai’s eyes darkened, but not with fear, it was with recognition.
“That wasn’t an accident,” he said quietly.
My breath caught. “What?”
“You didn’t just react,” he continued. “You commanded it.”
The forest felt too close suddenly, and too alive. Leaves whispered overhead, and branches creaked like they were listening.
“I didn’t mean to,” I said. “I didn’t even know I could…”
“I know,” he said again, gentler. “That’s why I’m here.”
The words sent a chill down my spine.
“Why?” I demanded. “Why me?”
Silence stretched between us. It was loaded with things he wasn’t saying.
Kai looked away, with his jaw tightening, like he was fighting something inside himself. When he met my gaze again, his expression was painfully controlled.
“Because you’re not human,” he said.
The world tilted around me.
I laughed again, sharp and hysterical. “That’s not funny.”
“I’m not joking.” He spat.
Something inside me cracked.
“My parents were human,” I snapped. “They died human, I grew up human, and I bleed, I even bruise, I…”
“You survived,” he interrupted.
The word landed wrong.
“People don’t survive what you did,” he continued softly. “Not without help, not without something dormant waking up.”
The memory of my parents' death surged through me, like twisted metal. I thought lightly about the rain that soaked the road, the scream cut short. The way the world had gone silent afterward.
My knees buckled.
Kai was there instantly, catching me before I hit the ground. His hands were warm, steady, and grounding.
I pushed him weakly. “Don’t touch me.”
He let go immediately, stepping back, and giving me space.
“I didn’t know,” I whispered. “All this time… I didn’t know.”
“That wasn’t your fault,” he said. “You were hidden and protected.”
“By who?” I demanded.
Instead, his silence answered me.
My chest tightened painfully. “You knew. At school. Every time you looked at me…you knew.”
“Yes.” He muttered.
The honesty hurt more than a lie would have.
“And you didn’t think I deserved the truth?” I asked.
“I didn’t think you were ready.” He replied
Anger flared in me, it was hot and sudden. “You don’t get to decide that.”
His voice dropped. “I do when your life is at risk.”
I froze. “What does that mean?”
Kai took a slow breath. “What you are… It’s rare. Powerful. And dangerous.”
“To whom?”
“To everyone who would want to control you.”
The forest shifted. A branch snapped somewhere in the distance.
Kai stiffened.
“We’re not alone,” he murmured.
Fear crawled up my spine. “Who’s we?”
Before he could answer, the air changed, it was heavy, sharp, and wrong. A presence pressed in from all sides, it felt suffocating.
Shadows moved between the trees.
Figures emerged one by one, they looked tall, they were silent, and their eyes were glowing faintly in the dark.
Werewolves.
My heart skipped.
Kai stepped in front of me again without hesitation, with his shoulders squared, and his body tense.
“Stay behind me,” he ordered.
“Don’t,” I snapped. “I’m done being protected like I’m fragile.”
His head turned slightly. “This isn’t about pride, Luna.”
One of the figures stepped forward, it was a woman. Her smile was cold, and cruel.
“So this is her,” she said, with her eyes raking over me. “She doesn’t look like much.”
Something inside me stirred angrily, and it was awake.
“Back away,” Kai growled.
The woman laughed softly. “You don’t get to command us anymore.”
My pulse thrummed violently. “Kai… who are they?”
He didn’t look at me. “My pack.”
The word hit like a punch.
“And they’re here,” he added quietly, “to take you.”
A low growl rose from my chest before I could stop it.
Take me?
The ground under my feet tremored, not violently this time, but deliberately and controlled.
Every eye snapped to me.
The woman’s smile widened. “Oh,” she murmured. “She’s already waking up.”
I looked at my hands as power pulsed under my skin, it was bright, furious, and alive.
Fear and clarity collided inside me.
“No one,” I said, my voice shaking but still sounding strong, “is taking me anywhere.”
Kai glanced back at me, with shock and something like pride flickering in his eyes.
“Luna,” he warned softly.
I stepped forward anyway. The forest felt like it held its breath.
And in that moment, I knew one thing with terrifying certainty, that there was no going back to the life I’ve been pretending like everything was normal.