Crystal's POV
The threemen's words haunted me for days.
"Afraid of what you might become."
What was I supposed to become in a pack when I am low-classed?
How could I be someone or something that people would fear?
It didn't make any sense to my own hearing. I was totally nothing in this new pack. Just a nobody wolf that everyone either ignored or despised.
But now? Now they looked at me with suspicion, that was totally unreadable.
Even more than before.
The confrontation in the hallway had been the tipping point. The pack knew something was going on between we four, even if they couldn't quite figure it out by themselves. And neither could I.
*****
A few days had passed since the incident with Cole and his lackeys, but the tension within the pack was thicker than ever and the tension here was also high.
The whispers had intensified, rumors swirling around me like a dark storm of the day.
It just felt as if, everyone was watching me, waiting for something to happen before they can strike, though I had no idea what.
I stayed in the hidden shadows, as I always had, doing my best to avoid unnecessary attention from other pack bully.
But there was no avoiding it now. No matter where I went to, I could feel their eyes on me, some curious, some accusatory, some waiting for me to make a silly mistake to strike.
No one confronted me again, but that didn't make the stares any easier to handle.
I had hoped that keeping my head down would let things blow over like the air, that eventually, the pack would forget about the strange events of the last few days. But it was clear now that wasn't going to happen, they weren't ready to forget anything.
Something had shifted.
*****
Late one evening, after most of the pack had settled down for the night moon, I sat outside in the packhouse courtyard, the cool air brushing against my skin as I tried to clear my mind on almost everything that have been happening to me over the few weeks.
The quiet was a welcome escape from the suffocating atmosphere inside of the pack house.
It was one of the few moments I could own to myself without feeling like I was under constant scrutiny of the whole pack.
But tonight, even the silence felt heavy on me.
I couldn't shake the feeling that I was being watched by people from behind.
My senses had been heightened since the three men had arrived to the pack, and now, more than ever, my instincts were screaming at me to be cautious of everything I ever do.
I wrapped my arms around myself, taking a deep breath, trying to calm the anxiety that seemed to cling to me like a second skin.
But then, I heard it, a soft rustling in the bushes nearby. My body tensed, my heart racing with anxiety, and many other thoughts crawling into my head.
Slowly, I turned toward the sound, my breath caught in my throat and the sound of my heart beat louder than ever.
From the shadows of the wall, a figure stepped forward, his eyes glowing softly in the dim light, with fear crawling into my heart.
It was actually him, the gray-eyed leader of the three men gang.
"Can't sleep?" he asked, his voice calm as he moved closer to my sitting spot, his presence as commanding as ever.
I shook my head, unsure of what to say to the young man.
I wasn't sure how I felt about him, or any of them being around.
They had saved me from the pack, but they were just strangers from another pack.
And the way they watched me every time… It unsettled me.
He stopped a few feet away from me, his gaze never leaving mine also.
"You're troubled aren't you."
I didn't respond at first to his question, but the silence stretched between us both, thick with unspoken questions.
Finally, I found my voice return back to me, though it was quiet and uncertain.
"Why did you say that?"
He raised an eyebrow, giving me a close look.
"Say what?"
"About them being afraid of what I might become in the nearest future," I whispered, with my voice low.
"What did you mean about that?"
He watched me for a long moment, as if considering whether to answer the question or not.
The intensity of his gaze made my skin prickle up, and I couldn't shake the feeling that whatever he was about to say would change everything.
"You've always felt different, haven't you?" he said finally, his voice low just like mine.
I frowned up my face, not expecting that question of his.
"I… I actually don't know."
"You do," he insisted, his tone unwavering and sending curiosity.
"You've known it for a long time, haven't you. You've always been more than what this pack sees, Crystal."
His words sent a chill through me at once.
How could he know that about me? How could he know that deep down, I had always felt like something was missing within me that no one had told me? Like I didn't truly belong here at all?
"You're not like the others," he continued, still with same tone.
"That's why they fear you a lot."
I shook my head, disbelief tightening in my chest.
"That's actually impossible. I'm nothing special in this pack. I'm barely even considered a part of the pack, but considered as a slave."
"You're more than you realize of yourself, " he said, stepping closer to me, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight.
"There's a power inside of you, Crystal. A power you've never been taught to harness, but it's there, deep down in you. And it's waking up at every single pace you make."
His words echoed in my mind, sending an unusual curiousity, a strange mixture of excitement and fear twisting inside me.
A power? Me? No, that was an open lie.
That didn't make sense to me at all.
I had never been powerful all of my life, as a wolf. I had never been anything but weak and pathetic.
"I still don't understand," I said, my voice shaky.
"Why would I have any power within myself? Why would anyone fear me, despite I'm weak?"
The gray-eyed man, Alpha, I realized I had begun to think of him as, studied me for a moment before answering.
"Because you are the heir to a legacy that your pack has long since forgotten and thrown away. A legacy of strength and leadership. A legacy of strength."
A legacy? My heart raced in confusion of what he was talking about.
He was talking in riddles that confused me, and I didn't have the pieces to make sense of it all.
"I'm… I'm not from any powerful family or something," I said, shaking my head, still trying to recall my past.
"I was abandoned, left here with no one to call family."
His gaze softened at me, but the intensity remained high.
"You were hidden for a reason, Crystal. Your true heritage was concealed to protect you. But it won't stay hidden much longer, while we are here. They fear you because they can sense it faster than they expected. They can sense who you're destined to become..." he stopped his words.
I took a step back, overwhelmed by his words and his riddles.
This couldn't be true, it was just a lie to make me feel better.
I wasn't some powerful heir or leader to anyone in his pack.
I wasn't destined for anything great. I was just a nobody, an outcast and a weak wolf.
How could any of this be real at all?
"What are you saying?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He stepped closer to me, his expression serious and stern, almost reverent.
"You are more than just a weak wolf, Crystal. You are a queen. The Lycan Queen."
My breath caught in my throat with his false statement, my entire body going numb as his words sank into my mind.
The Lycan Queen? No, it's just another lie.
That was impossible and unreal. Those were just stories from the past, legends passed down from generation to generation. There hadn't been a Lycan Queen in centuries of the moon.
And yet… something deep inside me stirred at his words, like a forgotten part of myself was waking up as soon as I got the words.