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**The Weight of Secrets**

Mina's dad sat in his dimly lit study, the weight of unspoken truths pressing down on him like an unbearable burden. A glass of whiskey rested on his desk, untouched, the ice melting into watered-down amber. He had spent the past seventeen years keeping the truth from Mina—shielding her from a world she was meant to be a part of.

But time was running out.

In four months, she would turn eighteen.

And when that day came, there would be no more hiding.

Would she shift? Would she remain human? The uncertainty gnawed at him, an ever-present torment that stole his sleep and left his thoughts in turmoil. If she shifted, there would be no way to explain it away, no excuse that could cover up the undeniable truth of what she was.

And if she didn't...

His grip tightened around the armrest of his chair.

What if the prophecy wasn't about Mina at all?

That possibility scared him more than anything.

A heavy sigh left his lips as he picked up his phone, scrolling through his contacts. His thumb hovered over a name he had avoided for days.

Olivia.

She had the right to know. But how could he possibly explain that the daughter she had raised—her last surviving child—might wake up one night as something unrecognizable?

And worse—what if she never did?

His stomach churned at the thought.

Before he could second-guess himself, he pressed the call button.

The line rang twice before she answered.

"It's time.... For 'the' talk," he said.

There was a beat of silence, then a slow, knowing exhale on the other end.

"I know."

**The Call**

Across town, Olivia sat at her kitchen table, gripping her old flip phone so tightly her knuckles turned white. The number she had just dialed stared back at her, glowing in the dim light of the room.

It had been years since she last called.

The witch.

A promise had been made—she would only reach out if it was absolutely necessary and probably urgent.

And now, she wasn't sure if it was or if she was simply desperate.

Something was shifting. She could feel it in the air, in the way the shadows stretched a little too long in the fading daylight, in the way her bones ached with a warning she didn't yet understand.

Tasha was restless.

The dreams. The questions. The feeling of something unseen pulling her toward a destiny she wasn't prepared for. Olivia saw it in her daughter's eyes—the same eyes that had once belonged to someone else, someone lost to time and fate.

She pressed the call button.

The phone barely rang before it was answered.

"I was wondering when you'd reach out," came the voice on the other end.

A chill ran down Olivia's spine. She already knew.

"We need to talk."

A pause. Then—

"Both of you. Bring Mina's father. Tomorrow."

No room for argument.

No more hiding.

**Unanswered Questions**

The next evening, Olivia and Mina's dad stood before a small, secluded cabin deep in the woods. It was hidden from the world, untouched by time, a place where reality seemed to blur at the edges. The scent of burning herbs hung thick in the air, curling around them like unseen fingers.

A single lantern flickered on the porch, casting long shadows against the weathered wood.

Before either of them could knock, the door creaked open.

The witch stood in the doorway, her dark eyes unreadable, her presence ancient and unwavering. She was a woman whose age was impossible to guess—too old for time, too young for reason.

"You both have questions," she said, stepping aside. "Come in."

Inside, the cabin felt like a world apart. The walls were lined with shelves, filled with glass jars of strange substances, dried herbs, and aged parchment. A massive book, its pages worn and ink fading, lay open on a wooden table.

The witch motioned for them to sit.

"I don't have much time," she said, settling into her chair. "So ask."

Mina's dad leaned forward, his voice low, uncertain.

"If Mina shifts... how do I tell her? How do I explain that everything she's ever known has been a lie?"

The witch's gaze lingered on him, her silence stretching unbearably long before she finally spoke.

"You don't."

His body stiffened. "What?"

"She cannot know—not yet."

Olivia frowned. "But if she—"

"If she shifts, she will be overwhelmed. If you force the truth onto her too soon, she will break. And if she does not shift..." The witch turned her gaze to Olivia, her voice heavy with meaning. "Then Tasha must not know until the time is right."

Olivia's fists clenched. "She deserves to know—"

"She is not ready."

The finality in the witch's voice settled over the room like a thick fog.

Olivia's chest ached. Keeping secrets from Tasha had never sat right with her, but she had trusted this woman before—with her family's lives.

And she had been right.

The witch rose from her seat, moving toward a wooden shelf. She plucked two small, black vial from its place, the liquid inside shimmering like trapped starlight.

She handed it to Olivia. "This will keep her from fully understanding if Mina shifts in front of her." And handed the other to Aaron, "it'd help Mina have a less painful experience."

Olivia's fingers curled around the vial. "What do you mean?"

"She will see, but she will not grasp it. Her mind will twist the truth into something she can handle—something her human side will accept. It will buy you time."

Time.

To prepare her. To ease her into the truth without shattering her completely.

Mina's dad ran a hand through his hair. "And what about Mina? If she does shift, do I just... lie to her? About who she has always been?"

The witch's lips curled into something not quite a smile.

"You will tell her not to say a word to Tasha. You will make her swear it. But you will help her control her wolf side, to avoid primal instincts until the time comes for Tasha to know...... it's only a day interval, so fret not."

His hands curled into fists. He hated it. Hated the thought of keeping anything from his daughter.

But what choice did he have?

The witch leaned forward, her dark eyes locking onto his.

"If she is the one," she murmured, "she will understand, in time."

Silence.

No one needed to say what they were all thinking.

If Mina was the true Luna, it would soon become clear.

And if she wasn't...

Then everything they thought they knew about the prophecy would be a lie, if none of the girls had their shift on their eighteen birthday. They were the only girl child births recorded at the exact timing with the prophecy.

**A Deal with Fate**

As Olivia and Mina's dad made their way back to the car, the weight of their decision pressed down on them like an iron chain.

"I don't like this," Olivia murmured, staring ahead. "Keeping things from them."

"Neither do I," he admitted. "But we don't have a choice."

She turned to him, her voice barely above a whisper. "And what if Tasha is the one?"

He exhaled slowly, his grip tightening on the steering wheel.

"Then we prepare her. Carefully. Until the time is right."

The road stretched ahead, dark and endless.

And somewhere, deep in the unseen corners of the world, something was watching.

Waiting.