Chapter 37: Chapter 37- Unveiled Past II (Tasha)

The fire crackled softly, the only sound breaking the stillness of the night. After Clara and Seth had shared their past, there was a heaviness in the air, the kind that comes when hidden pasts are laid bare.

But we weren’t finished. We had one more person who hadn’t spoken yet. I returned my gaze to Ethan. He sat on the other side of the fire, his hands clasped in front of him as he stared into the flames.

His face was calm, as it always was, but there was a uneasiness in the way he held himself, a tightness in his jaw that told me he was fighting an internal battle.

“We’ve all shared,” I said softly, breaking the silence. “It’s time, Ethan.” His eyes flickered toward me for a moment before returning to the fire. The silence stretched on, thick with anticipation, until finally, he sighed and leaned back against the tree behind him.

“Alright,” he muttered, his voice rough. “I guess it’s only fair.” Ethan was a mystery, even to me. We’d fought together for so long, but he’d always kept himself at a distance, never letting anyone get too close.

I knew bits and pieces of his story, but nothing that explained the man he’d become. And now, as he sat there, staring into the fire, I could tell he was about to reveal something he’d kept buried for a long time.

“My story isn’t like yours,” Ethan began, his voice low and even. “It’s not about magic or betrayal. It’s about revenge.” His words hung in the air like a heavy cloud, and I felt my heart tighten.

Revenge. I hadn’t expected that. Ethan’s eyes darkened as he continued. “I grew up in a small village, much like most of you. My family was everything to me—my father, my mother, my younger sister, Elara. We didn’t have much, but we were happy. And then… they came.” He paused, his jaw clenching.

The fire cast shadows across his face, highlighting the hardened lines etched into his features. This wasn’t a story he wanted to tell, but something told me it was one he needed to.

“They came in the middle of the night. The werewolves.” A chill ran down my spine, and I felt Jacob shift uneasily beside me.

We all knew the brutality of the werewolves, but hearing it from Ethan’s perspective, from someone who had lived through it, made it feel real in a way it hadn’t before.

“They tore through our village like it was nothing,” Ethan continued, his voice cold and detached, as if he was forcing himself to recount the events without letting the emotions overwhelm him. “Killing everything in sight. My father fought, but he didn’t stand a chance. Neither did my mother.” He paused again, and I saw his hands tighten into fists. “Elara… she was just a kid. They took her.” The words were barely a whisper, but they hit like a punch to the gut.

My breath caught in my throat, and I could see the same reaction rippling through the others. Clara’s hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with horror. Seth looked away, unable to meet Ethan’s gaze. Even Mascot, who rarely showed emotion, looked deeply troubled.

“They didn’t kill her,” Ethan said, his voice barely above a growl now. “They took her, turned her into one of them. I tried to save her, but I was too late. She was… gone. The sister I knew was gone, replaced by something else.”

He fell silent for a moment, and the fire crackled louder in the quiet. I could feel the anger radiating off him, the deep, simmering rage that had clearly been burning inside him for years.

“That’s why I became a hunter,” he said finally. “To track them down. Every last one of them. I dedicated my life to it. I trained, I hunted, and I killed. I’ve killed more werewolves than I can count. But I never found her.” His voice broke slightly, and for the first time, I saw a crack in Ethan’s otherwise impenetrable armor. He wasn’t just a warrior. He was a man who had lost everything. “I thought… maybe if I killed enough of them, I’d eventually find the ones who took her. But it didn’t matter. It never brought her back.”

The fire flickered, casting shadows across his face. His eyes were distant now, lost in memories that clearly haunted him.

“I joined this fight because I thought it would help. That maybe, somehow, I could redeem myself. But the truth is…” He trailed off, his voice barely audible now. “The truth is, I’m just running. Running from the fact that I failed her.”

Silence fell over the group like a heavy blanket. No one knew what to say. What could we say? We had all lost people, all suffered in our own ways, but Ethan’s pain was different. It wasn’t just about losing someone he loved—it was about losing himself.

“I’m sorry,” I said softly, though I knew it wasn’t enough.

No words could ease the pain he was carrying. Ethan shook his head, a bitter smile tugging at his lips. “Don’t be. I made my choices. I chose this life.” He looked up then, his eyes meeting mine. “But I’ll tell you this—I won’t stop. Not until Eden is dead, and every last dark werewolf is wiped off the face of the earth.” There was a cold, hard finality in his words, and I knew he meant every word. Ethan wasn’t just fighting to stop Eden.

He was fighting for revenge, and nothing would stand in his way. Clara shifted beside Seth, her voice hesitant. “Do you think… there’s any chance your sister is still out there? Maybe she could be saved?”

Ethan’s eyes darkened, and he looked away. “No. She’s gone. She’s been gone for a long time.” His words hung in the air, and I could feel the gravity of them pressing down on all of us. This was the truth Ethan had been hiding all along—the reason he fought with such unrelenting fury, the reason he never let anyone get too close. He was a man consumed by vengeance, and nothing else mattered.

I guess it's a good thing that Clara was finally getting to him the way none of us could. I glanced around the circle, my heart heavy with the knowledge that we were all carrying our own burdens, our own pain.

But as I looked at Mascot, Jacob, Clara, Seth, and finally back at Ethan, I realized something else. We were in this together. No matter how broken or damaged we were, we had each other. And maybe, just maybe, that was enough.

“Ethan,” I said softly, my voice barely above a whisper, “you’re not alone in this. None of us are. We’ve all lost people. We’ve all suffered. But we have each other now. We can fight together.” He didn’t respond at first, his eyes still focused on the flames.

After a long moment, he nodded, just once. It wasn’t much, but it was something. A small step toward healing, or at least, toward acceptance. “We’ll stop Eden,” I said, my voice stronger now. “Together.” Ethan’s gaze finally met mine, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of something other than anger in his eyes. It wasn’t hope, exactly, but it was close.

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Together.”