It was just a little noise. But it was enough to send me shooting out of bed.
I turned to my side and saw Kat fast asleep next to me. She hadn't even flinched and I wondered how that was possible.
Falling asleep back home after the incident had been just as difficult.
The smallest thing from Kat snoring to Parker dropping a Lego woke me up.
But it had gotten easier as time passed by.
But now we were in a new house. A house that I hadn't come to know like the back of my hand.
I heard the shuffling again and my heart started to beat faster.
I thought about the panic buttons all over the house, strategically placed. I thought about the dozens of cameras and I thought about the trained soldiers standing outside.
The point of a safe house was that it was supposed to be... safe.
So why did I still feel on edge?
Why did I think someone could still have broken in with the soldiers that were guarding us standing just outside.
Oh that's right, because it hadn't stopped Roman last time.
I carefully got out of bed even though I knew Kat wouldn't budge.
There were five bedrooms in this place and we could have each gotten our own. And you would think Kat would have rushed to pick the biggest and claim it. She never felt shy to tell me how much she had enjoyed having her own room before I came about.
I knew it wasn't coming from a bad place. She had just enjoyed having her own space.
But when we got here, she moved into the room I chose and now we were back to sharing a bed.
I guess she still believed I needed comfort after all that had happened. And honestly. I agreed.
I slipped on my slippers and slowly headed out of the room.
The shuffling was still there alright.
Maybe I should have just moved aside the painting on the wall and pressed the panic button there but I didn't.
I really don't know why I didn't. After spending so much time contemplating what I should have done differently with Roman to prevent so much disaster, you would think I would be smarter. But no. I was going head first into danger.
All I could think about was the Bensons safely tucked away in their beds slumbering.
If someone was here. I needed to make sure that they would take me. Not them.
I established that the sound was coming from the kitchen.
I walked thorough down the stairs and went down the hallway.
Now I was sure that someone was moving in there.
I leaned over the door frame and peeked in.
I sighed in relief when I saw Aunt Sarah's blonde locs.
"Hey." I greeted.
She spun around from where she had been rummaging through a cupboard.
"Oh! Crystal. Baby, I didn't hear you come down." She spoke.
"Sorry for scaring you." I apologised as I slid into a stool at the island table. "Couldn't sleep either?"
Aunt Sarah ran her hand through her hair. She walked around the island and slid into a stool beside me.
"No." She admitted with a sigh. I guess I'm just to used to our house.
I looked at the cupboard she had open and smiled to myself.
"So you came down here to organise?"
I saw her cheeks tint pink.
"Well I had to do something or I was going to go crazy just sitting up in that room awake all night." She spoke sounding a little defensive.
I laughed and she smiled at me.
"How are you holding up, kiddo?"
It was a question I had been receiving on the daily from her. And I knew she didn't want the typical answer.
"I feel like everything is just... floating. And I just can't grasp any of it." I told her.
Everything that was happening just felt so out of my control. I couldn't talk sense into Roman like I had wanted, Ornyx was another untouchable story and now Tristan wanted to run into fire and there was nothing I could say to stop him.
"Does this have something to do with that argument you had with Tristan?" She asked gently.
Of course they had all heard. Werewolf hearing.
"Ornyx will kill him." I told Aunt Sarah.
I hadn't even met Ornyx but I saw his soldiers, I saw Roman and I saw that Vanessa girl and I saw how they didn't hesitate. How lighting fast their actions were. How lethal.
If they were that dangerous... what more their alpha?
"You don't know that." Aunt Sarah spoke as she reached out to place her hand on mine.
â
"Yes I do. Ornyx is a cold blooded killer and Tristan... he's kind and he's honourable and noble. That's not a fair fight. The person playing dirty always wins." I told her.
"I think you're forgetting something very important, sweetie."
I looked up at her in confusion and she took my hand in both of hers.
"At the end of the day, Ornyx and Tristan will fight for power. But there is something way bigger than both Ornyx and Tristan. Someone actually."
I sighed when I realised what she was talking about. "God."
"You know in the holy scriptures, it says; Fret not thyself because of evil men, Neither be thou envious at the wicked; For there shall be no reward to the evil man; The candle of the wicked shall be put out." She recited. "I know you're worried that Tristan will get hurt but at the end of the day, truth, justice, love - all these things lie in a light that can never be put out."
"The light shines in the darkness and the darkness cannot fathom." I spoke.
Aunt Sarah smiled proudly. She patted my hand.
"Everything will be okay. You just have to have a little faith."
I didn't know what to say.
Sitting back and doing nothing was difficult. I wanted to help. To do something to save Tristan myself.
I fingered my necklace and I saw Aunt Sarah's eyes dart to it.
"Crystal, I've been meaning to talk to you about that necklace." She spoke.
I dropped my hand and looked up at her thinking back to the argument with Tristan.
"I know, you think I should take it off."
Aunt Sarah frowned. "Why haven't you."
I thought about the first time I had put it on. What it symbolised.
"I can't seem to bring myself to do it." I admitted to her. "I feel like once I finally have it off - the connection I have with my mother will be severed."
"Baby, I did not meet your mother and I can't speak to what kind of woman she was but I've heard so much from your father. She seems like she is a very protective woman."
I nodded. "That's exactly who she is or was... She was always there for me and my dad."
Aunt Sarah smiled slightly.
"You really miss them, don't you?"
I felt my eyes get watery. "I do. And... I just think about how things will never be the same with us..."
"I'm truly sorry about that, baby. But I'm not sorry that your mother brought you here to be with us. Your uncle always believed she decided to bring you here for a reason. Maybe it's not what we thought but you are a blessing to this family. And we all love you dearly."
I smiled at her.
"And I love you all too, I just hate the problems that I brought upon everyone."
"Oh hush. Every family has problems Crystal. You just have to figure out how to deal with them. Together."
I sighed and looked out the window. The moon was partially hidden behind some clouds.
"Hazel's gonna miss the changing ceremony."
Tomorrow, there would be a full moon.
Full moons were a time of celebration for werewolves. Most of our ceremonies were celebrated on the nights of full moons.
Hazel looked like she was on the brink of completing the ceremony.
All she needed was tomorrow night to trigger it.
"Then we'll do it here. The four of us." Aunt Sarah spoke. And I knew that she meant Kat, Hazel, herself and I.
I hadn't attended the Silvercrest changing ceremony during my first change.
It felt awkward. I wasn't one of them and that was evident.
Besides, I had seen Uncle Victor's wolf and I knew that mine wouldn't be the same brown coat as the other Silvercrest wolves.
I would stick out like a sore thumb.
That's why I had gone through it with Aunt Sarah to guide me in the privacy of our own backyard. And the night had been magnificent. I had never in my life felt so... free.
"Do you think I changed so late because of this?" I asked gesturing to my necklace.
Aunt Sarah frowned.
"I don't know much about Amrodia. But my mother used to work with herbs. I do think it can delay your changes as well." She spoke softly.
I thought back to my fainting spells in high school.
I always wondered why Kat described her changing in a way that was so different to hers. She had always talked of the process as effortlessly. I had to push to get my wolf out. I always thought it was because I was half human.
"I don't know what's going to happen, dear. Tomorrow is a mystery to me. But I do know that I have hope. And I trust that God will take care of everything. We need just to be still. Now come on, we should get some rest."
I looked out at the hidden moon.
Be still?
Have trust?
God, I don't want to lose Tristan. Please, please help me.
"Crystal look! Look! I'm the king of the world!"
I smiled at the sight of Parker as he ran up the hill.
"I am definitely not looking forward to his changing ceremony." Aunt Sarah spoke, sighing as she came up behind me.
"Hurry up slow pokes!"
Parker held up his hands as if he was flying as he ran in circles.
"None of us are." I muttered.
I turned around and could see our 'safe house' in the distance.
It was pretty far off from town so the area was secluded enough.
Aunt Sarah and I were just scouting it out on order to ensure that we would have a nice private area for Hazel's shift tonight.
It was so quiet and peaceful out here that you would even be convinced that the rest of the world didn't exist.
That no one was trying to kill anyone and that there was no threat of war.
"Mummy! Mummy! Look! Cars!" Parker screamed.
I looked down the mountain and surely, in the distance, I could see familiar black vehicles approaching.
The safe hose was deep enough in the thick of the woods that vehicles couldn't get through if they tried.
So they had to park out in the distance and navigate on foot.
It was secluded and hidden.
"Probably Tristan." Aunt Sarah spoke when she saw the look on my face.
I nodded even though I was still on edge.
I thought about how Roman and his friends had acquired Silvercrest pack uniforms.
What would stop them from acquiring their vehicles.
I tried to put my mind at ease by telling myself that there were highly trained soldiers all around the house.
We headed down the hill, going back to the house, Parker treating it as a race of course.
When we were close, I urged myself to relax when I heard Tristan's voice. But it wasn't the only one.
I heard a light feminine laugh that I knew definitely didn't belong to Tristan.
I looked at Aunt Sarah in confusion and she seemed just as clueless.
When we got to the front, I immediately spotted two unfamiliar faces in a uniform that definitely didn't belong to the Silvercrest pack talking to Rick.
I immediately felt my guard go up.
"Uncle Rick!"
Parker ran towards the guard.
I almost reached out to grab him and pull him back but Aunt Sarah placed a hand on my shoulder before I could.
"It's okay, that's the Calhoun pack uniform." She spoke as way of explanation.
I focused on the badges on their uniforms and realised that it was the Calhoun pack symbol.
"Crystal, Mrs Benson." May spoke coming up behind us and offering a kind smile.
She looked up at the two soldiers.
"Sorry for barging in like this but you have a visitor, Crystal." May spoke.
I furrowed my brows. A visitor?
"Someone who very much wanted to meet you." May spoke as if that explained everything.
Without another word, she walked into the house.
I gave Aunt Sarah a confused look and glanced at the Calhoun Park soldiers before following May inside.
She walked into the kitchen.
Kat rushed up to me from where she had been seated in the living room with Hazel.
"Dude. You'll never believe who's here." She whispered quickly. She seemed too giddy.
"Crystal Swan."
I spun around at the unfamiliar voice only to see a face that I did in fact recognise.
Jasmine Stone. Daughter of the alpha of the Calhoun pack.
And she knew my name?
Tristan came up behind her.
And my mind was instantly taken back to the night of the AAP ball last year when she came as Tristan's date.
I hadn't even spoken to her then. Just stared and envied from afar.
"Crystal this is Jasmine, she's-"
"I know who she is." I spoke cutting him off.
The real question was why was she here?
Tristan looked somewhat shocked. "Okay... Um, Jazz wanted to meet you."
Jazz...
The beautiful dark haired lady smiled at me.
"I'm in town for the full moon festival tomorrow." She explained. "And of course the Union meetings."
"Union meetings?" I asked in confusion.
"The Alphas of the Werewolf Union are convening here for an emergency meeting." Tristan explained.
'Jazz' turned to look at Tristan with a frown. "I thought you would have told her."
Tristan didn't meet my eyes. "I already explained the situation to you, Jazz."
Jasmine turned to look at me. She was so pretty.
"Oh right. That. Well I'd like to say I've heard a lot Crystal but in all honesty, I don't think I've heard as much as I would have liked." She smiled as if it was meant to be a joke.
What did she want to hear? Why was Jasmine Stone even interested in me? What was this about?
I looked at Tristan, hoping for answers but if he had them, he didn't show.
She suddenly looked behind me. "Hi," she outstretched her hand to Aunt Sarah. "I'm Jasmine, you must be Kat and Hazel's mum."
"Yes I am and it's so lovely to meet you, Jasmine. I've heard so much." Aunt Sarah spoke.
I looked at her in confusion. She had?
"Okay." Tristan spoke. "Now that you've all met, we can leave." He told Jasmine, giving her a pointed look.
I frowned. So this is what it had come to? Him just popping in and out. We couldn't even be in the same room anymore.
"Not yet." Jasmine spoke. She turned her attention on me. "I would like to talk to Crystal."
Tristan looked uncomfortable. "Well she's right here."
"Alone." Jasmine spoke giving me a smile.
Okay, what had I done now?