by Jayme Morse
Although there were some books from the human world, a lot of the sections were specific to werewolves only. They were either by werewolf authors or books about werewolves. There were a ton of werewolf history books. I picked out two books about the Ancients in particular: The Ancients: A Complete History and The Ancients and the Vampires, the War That Never Ended.
I planned to dive into those books to learn more about the Ancients whenever I had a chance, but it wasn’t actually the reason I had come to the library today. I was only here for one reason only: to use the computers.
I had a computer in my dorm room, but it wasn’t connected to the internet. Headmaster Black was supposed to send out a computer tech, but nothing had happened yet.
Well, I was tired of waiting. I needed information now.
In the werewolf world, there was something called Woogle. It was basically the werewolf version of Google.
I was sort of hoping that I might be able to dig up something about Milos on it.
As I sat down in a computer, I opened the search engine and typed in “Milos Santorini.” The search engine suggestions came up with “Milos Santorini murdered Marie and Kevin Gallagher.”
I pulled up an article about it, shocked to find that it was there on the werewolf internet, clear as day. No wonder so many werewolves at the Academy had seemed to know that my parents had died. It was right here for anyone to see.
Aug. 11, 2019
Marie and Kevin Gallagher passed away tragically in their family home in the United States on August 10th, 2019.
It is believed that Milos Santorini is behind the couple’s murders. It is a well-known fact that Santorini, who is the Alpha of the Tigre pack, asked the Gallagher’s repeatedly for their daughter’s hand in marriage, but was given a ‘no’ each and every time. It’s theorized that Santorini murdered the couple in hopes of wedding their daughter, anyway.
I clicked off the article. I didn’t like the tone of it. It just made me feel like the writer believed that if my parents had agreed to let Milos marry me, they would still be alive. And while that was probably true, it still really sucked to read.
The truth is that, if I had known, I would have married Milos. I would have done anything if it meant keeping my parents alive—even if they weren’t my real parents, even if they had lied to me my entire life… or during the life that I remembered.
Sighing, I went back to the search engine. I hadn’t come here to read news articles about my parents’ deaths.
So, I wanted to see if I could try and figure out Milos Santorini’s address on my own. I had asked Aiden if you could find a werewolf’s address on Woogle, so why would Milos be any different—aside from the fact that he was Milos Santorini, which meant he was both powerful and good at staying in hiding, apparently.
A lot of results came up. Apparently, Milos Santorini was a fairly common name in the werewolf world. There were at least ten of them.
Now I just had to narrow it down to try and figure out which of these Milos Santorini’s were the Milos Santorini… if any. I knew it was always possible that with his power and money, he might have had his location removed from Woogle. He might have also been using an alias.
But then one of the search results caught my eye. I wasn’t sure what it was, but the address just stood out to me for some reason.
I wasn’t sure why, but I just had a gut feeling about it.
Milos Santorini
12 Ocean Road
Nocturne Island
Was it possible that Milos lived—or had once lived—on Nocturne Island? It was one of the only things that could have somehow tied us together.
I was an Ancient. I mean, we didn’t know this yet for sure, but I was probably an Ancient. That meant that I had once lived on Nocturne Island.
My parents hadn’t been my real parents, so why would they have not allowed me to marry Milos? Was it possible that this whole time they may have been trying to protect me from him for some reason?
I knew that seemed like a stretch, and it was just a theory at this point. But if this Milos Santorini who lived on Nocturne Island was the Milos I was looking for, it would have tied my theory together in a way. What if my parents had somehow helped me escape the island to get away from him?
I was probably getting too far ahead of myself, but still. I had a feeling about this address, for sure, so I wrote it down.
I was about to pick up my books to check-out and leave the library when a thought occurred to me since I was using the internet. I wasn’t sure if it would work, though.
I went to Facebook. It surprised me when I was successful.
Why had no one ever mentioned that I could access my Facebook account while I was in the werewolf world?
As I logged onto my account, I was surprised to find that my inbox had been completely flooded with messages.
I also had a million notifications. Most of them were tags. People had been tagging my profile like crazy to get the word out that I was missing.
Ignoring all of the tags, notifications, and messages, I opened a message to Maddie.
Hey. I just want to let you know that I’m okay. I am alive. I wasn’t kidnapped and no one has hurt me. I guess you can say I ran away, but the reason is crazy. I found out my parents were murdered and their killer wants to get to me next, so I had to go into hiding. I have no way to get in touch with my uncle right now, but can you just tell him: Milos Santorini? I hope he will understand. You can also tell him “the Darken” and that I’m going to an elite boarding school called W. Academy.
I’m sorry I can’t explain more to you right now, but I will when I eventually see you again.
I promise.
Love and miss you like crazy.
I stared at the message for a long, hard moment. I thought about erasing every word of it. I knew Maddie. She would think this message sounded crazy, to say the least. There was a chance that she might not even believe it was me.
But I knew it was worth the risk. I just hoped she would pass the message along to my uncle and that he would understand it. I wanted him to know that I was safe… ish. I also wanted him to know that Milos Santorini was a real threat. I wasn’t sure if Milos would hurt Uncle Ryan, but who knew what he would do in order to get to me?
At least if Uncle Ryan new my real location, he would have a fighting chance if Milos ever tried to get it out of him.
So, without giving it another thought, I hit “send.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
One Saturday afternoon in February, I was hanging out at the Darken’s house.
I was watching TV while the guys were off doing whatever they were doing when Aiden headed in the living room with me.
“Hey, you,” he said with a grin.
“Hey.” I smiled back at him. “I have a question for you.”
He rested on the arm of the sofa. “Alright, hit me.”
“I was just wondering… have you figured out who I might have been yet?” I asked. “You know. Of the Ancients, I mean.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I asked with raised eyebrows. A little bit of excitement came over me, though. The fact that he might have figured it out had me feeling a little optimistic—even if it was just a maybe at this point.
“So, I was up the other night researching and thinking about this, and I do have a theory as to who you could be,” Aiden said. “But I need to do a little more research to see if it could be possible.”
“Who is it?” I was curious about my old life in general, but mostly, I was curious to know what my real name was—the name that had been given to me at birth, I mean. We were already fairly certain that I wasn’t truly a Gallagher, but what if my name wasn’t even Raven?
My name was just another one of the pieces of the puzzle I wanted to solve.
“Well, do you remember the story I told you on the first day of your class with me? About the feud between the vampires and the werewolves?” Aiden asked.
I nodded. “Yeah
. That story was so interesting—possibly the most interesting story you’ve told us so far. There’s no way I could never forget it.”
His eyes locked on mine. “I wonder if the reason you’re so interested in this story is because you have a personal connection to it.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, curious to find out what his theory was.
“I have this theory that you might be Princess Fallyn, the King and Queen’s only child—the one that the vampires drank from, allegedly killing.”
“But how could I be Princess Fallyn if she died when the vampires drank from her?” I questioned. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
“Well, you have to remember that this was all according to legend,” Aiden reminded me. “I’ve been doing a lot of research in the school’s library, and I’m finding a lot of conflicting information. Although some believe that Princess Fallyn died, other accounts from the Ancients claim that the Princess’s body was never officially found. In fact, some claim that Princess Fallyn’s disappearance was the real cause of the war.”
“Didn’t you live on Nocturne Island with the other Ancients when this whole war happened?” I asked. “Do you remember if a body was ever found?”
Aiden shook his head. “We actually had gone off the island, to the human realm, when this was taking place. But even if we hadn’t been, the King and Queen were always very private. All royal secrets were kept under lock and key. They didn’t want the commoners to know the truth about how flawed their family was and their daughter’s alleged death was no different.”
“Wow,” I murmured, trying to imagine a world where a death was seen as a flaw. Were those the parents who had once raised me?
“One of the reasons I think you could possibly be Princess Fallyn is because she was one of the very few Ancients who I never had the opportunity of meeting. Nocturne Island was fairly small when we lived there, but the castle was pretty much off-limits to all of us. No one entered unless they were invited. I met the King and Queen of the wolves, but I never met Princess Fallyn—partly because she was kept under lock and key. The King and Queen allegedly kept her in a tower, sheltered from the rest of the world.”
I thought about it for a moment. What if everything he was saying was true? What if I was Princess Fallyn? If he was right, then I would have been able to put a name to myself.
Fallyn.
I could kind of see it. To be honest, it felt way more fitting than Raven did.
I had never really thought my name fit me. When I thought of people named Raven, I always saw someone with black hair, just like the bird. But I was the total opposite. I’d even asked my mom—or the woman who I’d believe was my mom—about it at point. She had just said that she’d thought it was a pretty name, an answer I had accepted at the time. But now I just wondered.
“If your theory is right, though, I just have to wonder how my parents—the parents I knew in this life—came across me,” I said.
“That’s one of the parts that I haven’t been able to figure out yet,” Aiden said, shaking his head. “Like I said, this is all just a theory at this point. I need to do a lot more research on this. I’ve spending more hours than you realize in the library every day after school.”
I paused for a moment. “What if the answer can’t be found in the library?” I questioned.
“What do you mean?” Aiden asked.
“Well, what if the only place to find the answer for sure is Nocturne Island?”
His honey brown eyes locked on mine. “I think that’s a great idea.” He paused for a moment. “I have an idea.”
“What?” I asked.
“I’m taking my History of Werewolves classes on a field trip next week.” He rose to his feet. “I’m going to call the Headmaster to get his permission.”
As he walked out of the study, all I could think about was what a good idea this was. Even if he was wrong and I really wasn’t Princess Fallyn, what if going to Nocturne Island triggered some sort of memory for me? What if simply being in the place where I once lived helped me figure out my own identity?
There was another benefit of going to Nocturne Island, too, something I had forgotten until right now.
Nocturne Island was where Milos lived.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Aiden managed to get permission from Headmaster Black to take a field trip to Nocturne Island, except it turned into more than just a class trip. It was going to be a school trip. All of the professors were coming with us for additional chaperoning, which did make me feel slightly relieved about all of this.
At least the entire Darken pack was going to be there, which was good news. If—and I knew it was probably a really big if—I came face-to-face with Milos Santorini while we were on the island, I was going to need all of the protection from the Darken that I could get.
The last thing I wanted was to face Milos Santorini alone, and I was pretty sure that Aiden alone might not have been enough. There was power in numbers; there were four Darken, plus me… and only one Milo.
At least, I hoped that would be the case. I didn’t want us to have a run-in with the entire Tigre pack, but I couldn’t be too sure.
I was relieved that every professor and every student at Werewolf Academy—and even Headmaster Black—were coming on this field trip.
Headmaster Black actually seemed sort of excited about the trip. He wasn’t sure why no one had ever thought about taking a field trip to Nocturne Island before, since it played such an integral role in our history as werewolves.
It turned out that getting to the island wasn’t the easiest thing. Not for me, anyway. My parents had taken me on a few cruises throughout my lifetime. We had gone to the Bahamas, to Alaska, to Bora Bora, and to Norway. Not once during any of those cruises had I ever gotten sea sick.
But I was definitely sea sick right now.
“I mean, it makes sense that the ocean wouldn’t agree with your stomach. Werewolves are land animals,” Vince was saying as we stared out at the pristine blue sea that lay ahead of us.
“But cats are supposed to hate water, not dogs,” I argued, not entirely convinced by his theory.
Thankfully, I hadn’t had sex with any of the Darken yet. It had just been a full moon and with the way I felt right now, I would have been questioning if this was actually morning sickness.
“Maybe the water is just rougher here,” Iris suggested.
“Maybe.” I knew that probably wasn’t the case, either. The water seemed surprisingly calm.
“Students, we have finally arrived at our destination,” Headmaster Black announced into a microphone. He had been acting as our tour guide since we had taken our cruise since our departure from Wolflandia, the mainland where Werewolf Academy was located. “If you look to your left, you’ll see Nocturne Island coming up ahead.”
“Wow, it’s even more beautiful than I thought it would be,” Vince said, glancing out the window. “Look, Raven.”
His voice was droning in the background, though, because my nausea had intensified. I needed to find a bathroom… or something to puke in… before I ended up vomiting on someone’s shoes.
I ran to the back of the ship, relieved to find that there actually was a bathroom. I let myself in and made it to a toilet just in time.
Why had I thought it would be such a good idea to take a field trip to Nocturne Island? Oh. Right. That had been Aiden’s idea, not mine. No, I would have been perfectly happy—and I definitely wouldn’t have been puking in a toilet right now—if we had just taken the Darken’s private jet plane to the island instead.
I was sort of glad that Vince and Iris had gotten to come along for this, though. It felt like I was about to experience a part of me, and I wanted to share it with them.
Once I finished up in the bathroom, I headed off the boat with everyone else. As soon as my feet hit the sand, a weird feeling filled the pit of my stomach—and it was not the sudden and random urge to puke again.
The island we were all stand
ing on was the same island from my dream—the island where I had spoken to my parents.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“Is everything okay?” Iris asked me once my friends relocated me in the crowd. “You seem really shaken up. Are you feeling worse than before?”
“No. I’m okay. I think.” I swallowed hard, glancing around at the beach once more, trying to make sense of this all. “Do you remember my dream I had about seeing my parents when I was in a coma?”
“Yeah. What about it?” Iris asked.
“Well, it took place here. Like, literally, right here.” I pointed to the stretch of sand leading to the boat. Even the water looked the same: a shade of dark blue and cold-looking.
“Whoa.” Iris’s blonde eyebrows knotted together at the center of her forehead. “What do you think that means?”
“I just keep thinking the whole thing was real,” I admitted. “I mean, it felt real at the time.” I paused for a moment. “That or maybe it’s partly from a repressed memory. Maybe while I was in the coma, my mind was able to recall Nocturne Island based on my past experiences.”
“Whoa, that’s deep,” Harley, Iris’s boyfriend, commented.
“And weird. Super weird,” Iris added.
“Weird as fuck,” Vince, who had been walking alongside us, agreed. “Maybe you’re like a prophet or something. Maybe you dreamt it because you knew we would be coming here soon.”
“Maybe. But if I am a prophet, I’m a pretty crappy one,” I said with a sigh. I really wished I could see into the future. I had learned in Lunar Magic 101 that a lot of werewolves had the ability to see into the future, but I, unfortunately, wasn’t one of them.
We followed the rest of the crowd of students as we made our way off the beach and onto a cobblestone street. Headmaster Black and Aiden were leading the way.
