When we’d arrived back at the coven house, my aunt was once again waiting in the window. As I glared up at her, she looked angry until she caught sight of my hair then her expression changed to a look of disgust before she turned away and disappeared.

“God, I hope she isn’t waiting at the top of the stairs for me when I go to my room” I thought as I walked towards the front door. Heading inside, the group broke apart as usual going about our afternoon routines. As I walked up the stairs, I was surprised to find the hallway strangely vacant. Choosing to ignore that oddity, I headed to my room to find my mother waiting on my bed when I went inside.

“Hi?” I asked confused as I closed the door behind me.

“Hi sweetie. I need to apologize for how I behaved this morning. I know it probably freaked you out but I was just surprised. I shouldn’t have said anything” she said and I cut her off before she could say more.

“No, that’s exactly what you shouldn’t have done mom. You should’ve told me what all this was about the minute you realized I knew there was something different about me that made people, aunt Clarissa in particular, hate me. You should’ve told me what was happening when you saw my hair this morning instead of freaking out and running off leaving me to figure it out for myself” I all but yelled at her. As I watched her sitting there, tears began to form in her eyes before she patted the bed and reluctantly said “you’re right. I shouldn’t have put all this on you. I should’ve come clean with you about who and what you are a long time ago.” Taking a seat next to her, I asked “what I am?” now thoroughly confused.

“Yes, what you are. You aren’t fully a warlock but so too you aren’t fully a Were either. As I am a witch and your father was a werewolf, you are the strongest halves of both worlds. A hybrid” she explained making my head hurt.

“So, you’re telling me that weird dream I had last night wasn’t really a dream and that silver wolf I saw was really... me?” I asked thoroughly lost now.

“Yes, it wasn’t a dream and yes, that wolf really was you. It’s what’s known as a dream walk. It’s a place where you can learn things not only about yourself but about others around you. Your father used to tell me about his often before his death” she said looking sad now.

“Is that why aunt Clarissa hates me? Because she’s known what I was all my life?” I asked.

“Not entirely. Yes, she knows you are half werewolf and that it would only trigger close to your seventeenth birthday. However, she doesn’t know the most important detail about who you truly are as I never told anyone after promising your father that you would be the first and only person I told” she said. Starting to cry, I asked “then who am I? Am I even your son?”

“Yes, you are my son but you are also the rightful Alpha of the Midnight Sun pack and the next High Priest of the Earnest Hearts coven” she explained.

“Midnight sun? I thought the closest pack was the Autumn Shadows pack and what about Senan? Is he part wolf too?” I said confused.

“No, your brother is fully a warlock as was his father. Autumn Shadows is the closest however, that wasn’t always the case” she explained before taking a deep breath then continuing “a few years before you were born, a war broke out between the Autumn Shadows pack and the Midnight Sun pack that lasted up until the year you were born. Both sides fought hard but eventually all the high ranking wolves of Midnight Sun were wiped out, including the soon to be leadership which unfortunately included your father. As such the rest of their pack was absorbed into Autumn Shadows making it so there was only one pack left here. After the pack was absorbed though, a few members broke away and began another pack not too far from here under the banner of the Midnight Sun as they knew their Alpha to be had met his mate and that she was pregnant at the time of his death. They knew they’d have to wait seventeen years to have their Alpha but they were willing to build everything up while they waited. So, technically while your father’s pack was wiped out all those years ago, your pack still lives on and is waiting for their leader... You. Should you chose to take that path, I can make your brother High Priest instead giving you the opportunity to do that. If you need some time to think about it then I will give you that. I want you to know this doesn’t change how I feel about you though. I am still and will always be your mother and I love you.” Kissing my head, she got up and left my room closing the door behind her as I sat there in shock. Needing to release some of my stress and energy, I quickly changed into my running gear grabbed my headphones and bolted out the door before anyone could stop me. As I ran, I put in my headphones and blasted my music trying unsuccessfully to get lost in anything other than my own mind. Eventually, I ended up at the waterfall at the base of the mountain that bordered both the covens’ land and the Autumn Shadows pack lands. Quickly stripping, I put my phone and headphones inside one shoe before plunging naked into the dark pool surrounding the waterfall only coming up for air when my lungs cried out for it. As I broke the surface, I quickly realized I wasn’t alone when I saw a dark figure sitting on a rock with its back to me. Being as quiet as possible, I slowly moved towards the side of the pool where I’d left my clothes when the figure spoke.

“You know, it’s not really safe to be skinny dipping in the woods. You never know who might be lurking around” the stranger said as I immediately recognized Skys’ voice.

“I thought you weren’t talking to me and besides, I wasn’t really thinking clearly when I decided to take the plunge” I said irritably my voice trailing off by the end.

“I wasn’t not talking to you, I just needed to figure out what the likely answer was for you having information you shouldn’t. Wanna talk about what had you so messed up that you didn’t check your surroundings first?” he asked still not turning around to look at me.

“Well, since in a way the answers you were looking for and my distraction are the same. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to talk it out” I shrugged climbing out of the pool to lazily lounge on a rock as my body dried.

“I’m not sure if I should be comforted by that fact or more scared” Sky said hugging his knees and still refusing to look at me.

“I honestly don’t either. I guess a little of both though. Apparently, my dream wasn’t really a dream like you guessed. According to my mom, it was what’s known as a dream walk and is usually used to learn things about yourself and those around you” I explained and then paused to let that sink in.

“I’ve heard of those but to my knowledge only werewolves have the ability to dream walk” he said confused.

“I’m sure that’s true since my brother hasn’t experienced anything like that” I said leaving it in the air for a moment as I worked through it.

“Are you telling me you’re part werewolf?” Sky asked finally turning to look at me in the darkness and his vibrant purple eyes continued to glow faintly. Taking a deep breath, I breathed “apparently.”

“Wait, are you serious?” he asked sounding shocked as his eyes faded back to their usual violet.

“First, let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of a pack called Midnight Sun?” I asked wanting to verify my mothers’ information.

“Yes and no. I’ve heard it mentioned but only so far as it was a pack we went to war with before I was born. Maybe my brother Arthur would know something. Why?” he asked.

“That much is true at least. According to my mom, yes there was a war between Midnight Sun and Autumn Shadows that killed off all the leadership and soon to be leaders of Midnight Sun causing them to be absorbed into your pack. She said that when that happened, my dad was amongst the dead as he was their soon to be Alpha. According to her, a few of the pack members from Midnight Sun split off and restarted my pack knowing she was pregnant at the time and survived meaning they still had an Alpha. They knew they’d have to wait seventeen years before their Alpha would know who and what he was to finally have him back. Mom said if I wanted to explore that possibility, she’d give Senan the position of High Priest so I could go run my pack” I said as a tear slid down my cheek. We sat there in silence for a while before Sky finally spoke.

“Wow, I can see why you were distracted. That’s a hell of a lot to take in all at once. Wait, so that silver wolf really was you? And his name is Talon?” he asked as he put the pieces together.

“Yeap, guess so. Honestly, I’m still struggling with all of this” I said pulling my knees up to my chest too.

“Yeah, I would be too” he chuckled before going still for a minute. Then aloud he said “shit. I really am starting to hate him.”

“I take it Declan is at it again?” I asked.

“Yeah, he’s noticed I’m not at home and is out looking for me” he said as the sound of feet on the earth could be heard from a ways away. Lowering my voice, I said “if you get in the water, it’ll dilute your scent and you can circle back around him before heading home.”

“Yeah, I’m just not ready to go home yet but I guess I have no choice since he’s not gonna leave me alone. Sorry for bolting like this” he said getting up then turning to plunge into the pond. A few seconds later, he popped back up squirting water at me making me laugh before he got out and quickly shifted. Glancing back at me one last time, he winked making me shake my head at his silliness and bolted five minutes before Declan came out of the trees in wolf form. In that five minutes, I quickly dressed before retaking a seat back on the rock toying with my headphone as he stepped into view. Shifting back, he growled “what are you doing here?”