Chapter 9 – The Truth
The bell rang.
But no one moved.
—
The cafeteria was almost empty.
Just them.
And the distant sound of trays being stacked in the kitchen.
—
Mateo and Iván didn't ask.
They knew when not to.
They got up.
Picked up their backpacks.
"See you tomorrow," said Mateo.
His voice was lower than usual.
—
Iván looked at Terry.
A long look.
As if he wanted to say something.
He didn't.
He just nodded.
And they left.
—
Four remained.
—Terry.
Eliza.
Paulina.
Lin Mei.
—
The air weighed heavy.
Like before a thunderclap.
—
"Not here," said Paulina.
Her voice wasn't a suggestion.
—
Eliza stood up.
"Let's go to my car."
—
Terry didn't ask where.
There was no point.
The parking lot was almost empty.
A guard in the booth.
Distracted by his phone.
Not lifting his head.
—
And at the back—
A black car.
Long.
Discreet.Expensive in a way that didn't need to announce itself.
—
A driver opened the door.
He didn't look at them.
Didn't speak.
Just waited.
—
Eliza got in first.
Paulina after.
Lin Mei hesitated.
A second.
Just one.
And got in too.
—
Terry was last.
—
Inside—
Leather.
Cold.
Silence that wasn't silence.
It was tension held in.
—
The car started.
No one spoke for two minutes.
—Lin Mei looked out the window.
Her fingers tapped the bag.
One.
Two.
Three.
—
Paulina watched her.
"Why did you come?"
—
Lin Mei didn't turn her head.
"Because I have a right to know too."
—
"Know what?"
—
"What he is."
—
Silence.
—
Eliza turned slightly toward her.
"Do you know?"
—
Lin Mei finally looked at her.
"No."
Pause.
"But I've felt it since the first time I saw him."
—Eliza didn't answer right away.
Something in her eyes changed.
Not respect.
Not yet.
But not dismissal either.
—
Terry listened.
Without understanding.
Again.
The car stopped.
Not in front of Paulina's mansion.
Somewhere else.
—
A smaller house.
More hidden.
Surrounded by tall trees.
No visible neighbors.
—
Eliza got out first.
"They won't hear us here."
—
Terry frowned.
"Who would hear us?"
—
Paulina looked at him."More people than you think."
Inside—
Dark wood.
Smell of pine.
A cold fireplace.
Large armchairs.
Closed windows.
—
It wasn't a house to live in.
It was a house to hide in.
—
Eliza took off her coat.
Folded it carefully.
As if taking that time helped her think.
—
Paulina didn't sit.
She walked to the window.
Closed the curtain.
—
Lin Mei stayed near the door.
Arms crossed.
Watching.
—
Terry sat down.
More out of habit than decision.—
"What's going on?" he asked.
His voice came out lower than he expected.
—
Eliza looked at him.
Long.
As if measuring how much she could say without breaking him.
—
"That night…"
Pause.
"Do you remember anything?"
—
Terry pressed his lips together.
"Gunshots."
Pause.
"A she-wolf."
Pause.
"After that… nothing."
—
Eliza nodded.
"That's because your body wasn't ready to remember yet."
—
"Ready for what?"
—
Silence.
—Paulina turned from the window.
"To understand what they did to you."
Eliza sat across from him.
Crossed her legs.
Rested her hands on her knees.
As if giving a lesson she had been preparing for years.
—
"The she-wolf that bit you wasn't an animal."
Pause.
"It was my mother."
—
Terry didn't move.
—
"And I was the girl you saw across the street."
—
"…You?"
—
"Yes."
Pause.
"We had been looking for you for a long time."
—
"Why?"
—
Eliza didn't answer right away.
Her eyes drifted to the cold fireplace.—
"Because every generation, one is born."
Pause.
"And this century… it was you."
Terry felt the air heavy in his lungs.
As if something was pressing from inside.
—
"One what?"
—
Eliza looked at him directly.
"An alpha."
—
The word landed.
And something in Terry's chest beat.
Once.
Hard.
As if the mark beneath his shirt had recognized it.
—
"But not just any alpha," Eliza continued.
Pause.
"A broken moon alpha."
—
Lin Mei stepped forward.
"What does that mean?"
—Paulina answered before Eliza.
"It means his blood can create more like him."
Pause.
"Without needing to be born into a pack."
Pause.
"Just with a bite."
The silence sank.
Heavy.
Like dirty water.
—
Terry swallowed.
—
He remembered.
Not with his head.
With his body.
—
The karaoke.
The blood.
His hands weren't his hands.
His mouth wasn't his mouth.
—
And Sebastián.
On the floor.
Looking at him.
Terrified.Alive.
When he shouldn't have been.
—
"I didn't bite him," said Terry.
His voice wasn't sure.
—
Eliza looked at him.
Without blinking.
"Yes."
Pause.
"You did."
—
"I don't remember that."
—
"You don't have to remember it."
Pause.
"Your body did it."
Pause.
"And that's worse."
Paulina walked to the table.
Poured water from a pitcher.
Handed Terry the glass.
—
"Drink."
—Terry took it.
His hands shook more than he wanted to admit.
—
"Why worse?"
—
Paulina looked at him.
"Because it means your wolf decided for you."
Pause.
"And a wolf that decides on its own…"
Pause.
"is a wolf that doesn't have a master yet."
—
"A master?"
—
"You," said Eliza.
Pause.
"You should be its master."
Pause.
"But you aren't yet."
Terry lowered his eyes.
To the glass.
To the water inside.
To the reflection of his face.
—
For an instant—It wasn't his face.
The eyes were darker.
The jaw tighter.
Something deeper inside.
Something older.
—
He blinked.
He was himself again.
—
But he was no longer sure what the difference was.
"And Sebastián?" he asked.
His voice came out broken.
—
Eliza leaned forward.
"Sebastián received your blood."
Pause.
"But he isn't an alpha."
Pause.
"He wasn't born to be one."
—
"Then what is he?"
—
Paulina answered.
Her voice low.
Flat.Without emotion.
"A mistake."
—
Silence.
—
"A wolf without a pack."
Pause.
"Without a moon."
Pause.
"Without a leash."
—
Lin Mei turned her head.
"And what does that mean?"
—
Eliza didn't take her eyes off Terry.
"That he's going to kill."
Pause.
"And once he starts, he won't be able to stop."
Pause.
"Until you stop him."
Terry felt the glass tremble between his fingers.
He set it on the table.
Before he broke it.
—
"Me?"—
"Your blood made him," said Eliza.
Pause.
"Only your blood can contain him."
—
"I don't know how."
—
"You will."
Pause.
"When your wolf wakes up completely."
Pause.
"No longer as a reflex."
Pause.
"As a decision."
Lin Mei stepped closer.
Slowly.
As if she didn't want to startle him.
—
She sat next to Terry.
Not as close as Eliza or Paulina would have.
But close.
—
Her voice was softer than before.
"Did you choose this?"
—Terry looked at her.
"No."
—
"Did you want it?"
—
"No."
—
Lin Mei nodded.
"Then you're not alone in that."
—
Pause.
—
"None of us chose to be here."
—
And for the first time—
Eliza looked at her differently.
Not as a rival.
As something more complicated.
Paulina took out her phone.
Looked at it.
Frowned.
—
"What is it?" asked Eliza.
—
Paulina turned the screen.A notification.
Just a name.
—
Sebastián Blackwood.
—
"He's close," said Paulina.
Pause.
"Very close."
—
Terry felt the mark on his chest.
It pulsed.
Once.
Hard.
—
And somewhere, not too far away—
Another heart pulsed at the same time.
—
The same.
Synchronized.
Alive.
—
Terry stood up slowly.
Without thinking.
—
His eyes changed color for a second.
Just one.—
But the three of them saw it.
—
And they knew.
—
The alpha was waking up.
—
And his mistake…
was already coming for him.