Chapter 124

Twelve years ago, age 9.

It was dark. I didn’t know where I was. Tears kept trying to burn their way out of my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them. I hated the dark. I didn’t used to hate it. Dark meant the moon was out. It meant the pack would gather, and my mom, dad, and grandpa would lead them in a run or on a hunt for deer. I couldn’t wait until I got a little older. Then I’d get my wolf, and I would run with them. One day, Grandpa said, my dad would lead the pack. Then it would be my turn. But if I wanted to lead the pack, I had to be brave.

The door slammed open, and light hit my eyes. After so long in the dark, it hurt. I closed them and turned away, but not fast enough. “Look at the boy,” the Luna of Broken Forest mocked. She was a mean woman with an angry face. “Crying.” The Alpha of Broken Forest snorted. Then the side of my head exploded in pain, and I yelped. I couldn’t help it. More tears…

“Stop crying, boy.” He hit me again. He kept hitting me and telling me to stop while his Luna laughed. I tried to stop. I tried, but I couldn’t. Finally, he stopped. I felt blood trickling out of my hair. The Luna, Esther Reed, made the Alpha stop. She crouched down. I pulled away from her, and this time she smacked me. I bit my lip, so I didn’t make a sound. Crying meant pain. Moving meant pain. I couldn’t do either of those things. The only way to keep the pain away was to stay in control. I always, always had to be in control.

Esther ran her fingers through my blood and held it up to her face. She sniffed it. Then she licked it. My stomach lurched, and I had to fight not to throw up. That would mean pain, too. “That’s it?” Waylon Reed asked. “That’s the blood that’s going to open the gate?” “That’s it,” the evil Luna agreed. “Can’t you just bottle it up and save it?” asked Waylon. “Now that we’ve got Celeste out of the way, we can take her daughter’s blood anytime we want.”

Esther shook her head. They both turned away from me, like they forgot I was there. “Has to be fresh.” I was shaking. I didn’t want them to close the door again and leave me in the dark. Then I heard other wolves. Another kid. It sounded like they were crying, too. “Toss her in here until we decide what to do,” Esther said. “No! Wait!” screamed a little girl. They didn’t wait. They practically threw her on top of me. “Some company for you,” Waylon sneered.

Then they slammed the door again and were gone. The little girl pushed off of me. A little bit of light still came from the crack beneath the door, but I knew it wouldn’t last. “Wait!” the little girl shouted. She had a funny accent. “Momma? Where are you? Let me out!” She banged against the door. I stood up and grabbed her. Even though she looked my age, I was bigger than her, and my arms went all the way around her. “Don’t,” I whispered. “They’ll come back. You don’t want them to come back.” “Get off me!” she pushed me. I stepped back. I heard her take a shaky breath.

Then the light under the door went out, and it was all the way dark. I closed my eyes, counted to ten. Control. A second later, I heard her take a stumbling step toward me. “Wh–where are you?” I could have stayed quiet and let her feel around. She’d pushed me. My head still hurt from the beating. But after who knew how many days in the dark, I wasn’t alone. I reached out. “I’m right here.” Her hands closed over mine. They were small, too. Like the rest of her.

As soon as she touched me, a light flickered on her arm. We both gasped in surprise and pulled apart. The light went out. “What was that?” I asked. “I don’t know.” She sniffled. “You can’t cry,” I whispered. “They’ll hit you if you cry. They don’t like it. You have to not feel anything.” She made a sound like I was being silly. “I can’t not feel anything. That would make me a robot.” “It’s easier,” I said.

She made the sound again. Then she said, “What’s your name?” “Dane Montague. I’m nine. What’s your name?” I heard her take in a breath. Then she sounded scared and said, “I… I don’t know, I can’t remember! But my mom… I think they took her away from me…”

I reached out again. This time, I touched her shoulder. She was still crying, but it was quiet. Suddenly, I felt braver than I had in a long time. “It’s going to be okay. Maybe now we’re together, we can get out. We can find your mom.” “I don’t know. They have these shadows, and…” the girl reached up and touched her hand to mine. When my hand was on her shoulder, I was just touching her shirt, not her skin. But when she touched my hand, the light started to glow again. We both gasped, but this time we didn’t move. There was a crescent moon on her arm. When I touched her, it glowed with a sliver light. I could finally see her face.