Reveals

Jude cursed again as he walked farther into the bushes, Anne laughed behind him not caring that she's attracting wild animals. She was scolded by Lucas and Malick but only toned her voice down a little. Grace glanced at the two before watching Mathew start to ease a little. They're gone up by a lot, she could start to feel the pressure, only a little though. The team had bread for lunch and caught fish to roast. It was the uniformed meal since they'd entered the mountains. It wasn't necessary, but the men were stubborn as a baby and demanded that they wanted some kind of meat since Grace didn't allow them to hunt animals.

The team had turned back into the forest once the afternoon started to fade. The woods made Grace feel safe and warm, even in the cool breeze. Everyone else seemed to agree with her and wandered around, sightseeing a few dears here and there. Grace only saw a few since Fred made it his job to scare them away.

Mathew had color in his skin again and was relieved that they'd gone away from the cliffs and into the woods. He kept close to Grace, making sure that she didn't wonder off or get herself into trouble. Fred, eyed the guy for a while, following behind and thought about how he really needed to have a chat with the London werewolf.

"Did you know that wolves have a high chance of dying due to sunflowers?" Jude asked the gang as he made through the leaves and Anne shook her head in amusement. "We don't usually talk about it, but it's true. Well, that's what dad used to say anyways. Sunflowers emit a scent that muddles up their brain, it causes them to become weak and they eventually die of pain."

"Well, we'd be lucky if we find the flowers." Grace commented from behind. "If we saw wolves at the edge of the mountains then there's definitely a chance for more deep in. We could protect ourselves with the flowers."

There was a big pause on words among the group and Grace could only guess why they didn't agree with her; maybe they did, inside their heads.

"We should really think of another way for transport." It was Mathew, who'd finally spoke. Malick stopped walking, and turned to give the boy a curious look. Soon, it turned into a glare. "So," the young adult dragged the word indicated that he was changing the subject. "Grace, have you ever felt as if there's something missing in you?"

Grace frowned, she didn't understand what Mathew was trying to imply. But, as she thought more of it, she started to realize that he was right. She'd felt it a few hours ago, at the cliff and during the storm or when she's stressed with work.

"What Mathew was trying to ask, was that how are you coping well in the mountains when all you've done in your life was sit at a desk?" Jude interrupted her thoughts, "don't you miss your work place and the papers?"

"Don't you miss the tables and the annoying teacher?" Grace couldn't help but retort back. She let go of her lip when the boy only grinned back.

"Not at all."

Grace sighed, thinking again, "to be true, I actually like it here. I've never felt so much alive before, the thrill and the peaceful space."

"Don't let the mountains deceive you." Her uncle reminded her and she hesitated a nod; he talked to her.

Lucas scoffed, "stop trying to scare her away. If she feels safe, then she probably is."

No one spoke after that, and the team continued their way through the forest. They are yet to meet a predator animal other than the wolves yesterday. Grace spotted a few rabbits and dears, but other than that, she didn't spot any lions or tigers like she'd thought they would've.

The sound of machines interrupted their walk and startled poor Anne. Malick soon realized that it was his walkie talkie and hurriedly took it out just as he heard Ryne's voice from the other side.

"Beta Malick, report, I repeat, Beta Malick: report." She repeated the sentence a few times and once she was finished, Malick placed the device near his mouth.

"Beta Malick reporting, what's the problem Ryne? Are you all safe? Over." Malick gave Lucas a worried glance as they waited for a response. A few seconds later, Jude let out a sigh of relief near Grace when Ryne spoke again.

"Yes, we are for now." There was a pause, "the members from the cities are here, they arrived early. We had a situation before though, the wolves you were talking about attacked us this morning.

"Their leader was someone I wasn't familiar with, but I feel like I've seen him before. He looked so familiar yet a stranger; he's tall and young. I noticed one thing though, him and all his pack members, they were all black when they were in their wolf form. No other color, just black.

"Then Jake and Sarah arrive; they were out numbered. They fled before we could do something about it but one of our warriors caught a wolf. He's too young, but strong and smart. I don't think that we'll be attacked again for a few days, but I'm worried that if they do, we won't be able to match up to them. They seemed powerful and dark, I don't even know why they're here. The boy is not opening his mouth at all. Over." Grace's ears perked up when her mother's name was mentioned.

The team looked at each other before Lucas walked near Malick and grabbed his shoulder. "She said the guy's tall and young? I don't know, there are many wolves, tall and strong."

"Alright, we aren't at the borders yet, but close. Try to keep the pack safe, and don't do anything rash. The boy you've captured, try to be gentle with him. From what you've said, he might not even like his own pack. Try to melt him and get the information out. Lucas also asked if you could give more information on how the leader looked, over." Malick glanced at his friend and sighed. "We've got to get a move on, quick, at this pace, we might not even make it to the top in a week."

Before the companion replies, another ear-hurting noise came out of the walkie-talkie. "Alright, we'll see. I'm sorry, but I couldn't really go through on how he looked, everything happened so fast. And you're behind schedule, you were supposed to make it to the border by lunch. Over."

"I know, we're trying. Over and out."

"If the pack that attacked have retreated into the mountains, then they'll have to pass us. We won't be able to stand against them, even on all fours." Fred added gathering everyone close to each other.

"I say, take the trees. Not a comfortable spot for us, but it will give us a warning ahead of what comes against us." This time it was Anne and Grace nodded, that sounded like a good idea.

"No, it's a good view, but it'll slow us down." Mathew rubbed his face to clear his thoughts. "There's only one way," everyone waited for him to continue. "If we want to make it up in time with foot, we need a good clearing. We only get a good clearing at cliffs."

"But it's a round up. Wouldn't it be easier just to walk through the woods?" Jude asked bringing Anne close to him.

There was another pause as everyone was in deep thought. Lucas pursed his lips together and tightened his fist. Fred played with his thumb before glancing at Malick.

"Shouldn't you be the one to give out advices and strategies?"

"Shut up Fred," Malick responded turning away from the group. "I'm trying, can't you see?" He let a deep breath before silently thinking again. "Mathew's right, we take the cliff. It's easier for us to use it than weave our way through the forest."

"But-"

"It's the only way."

"What about Grace?" Fred asked before pausing. He stopped to turn around. Everyone's eyes snapped to her, Lucas tapped Malick's back slowly to grab his attention.

"What-" he didn't need an explanation when he turned to see what the team was thinking.

'Shit, we forgot about her.' Jude mumbled into their mind link.

Grace raised an eyebrow, questioning why everyone was looking at her like the way they are. They were staring at her as if she would run away any second. Even though the situation was too serious, she couldn't help but feel a smirk coming out to her lips when she realized that they've finally understood their slip up.

"Got anything to say?"

The team members looked at each other warily, glancing at each other through their eyelashes, getting someone to talk their way out of it. No one spoke, and Grace didn't expect them to.

"What? So now all of you guys are some weird supernaturals who have these wolves that you've all been talking about?" She asked annoyed, "that's what you've all been hiding from me? You guys are like these wolves that we saw before? What is going on?!"

Malick hesitated to speak and tried to reach out to his niece instead, but she stepped away.

"No," she spoke calm again, "you'll tell me everything I want to hear, and then only will we be moving. Who are you all? Why am I here and where have you hid my father?"

Anne's eyes widen as she shook her head, Jude grabbing onto her so she doesn't do anything rash. Mathew rubbed his face again, starting to think that he should've just stayed in town. Lucas stepped forward, making sure to show everyone that he's powerful.

"Look Grace," he started, "this all might seem crazy to you, but you need to have an open mind about this. Don't go assuming things that are not true."

"I wouldn't be assuming anything if you didn't hide anything away from me. What is it? Has my whole life been lied to? I've been living with monsters my whole life and now I'm stuck with them in a goddamn forest?! If only my dad knew about this…"

"Don't you dare!" Mathew started, glaring at her for referring them as monsters.

"Or what?!" She screamed giving a piercing glare in return. "What will you do Mathew? Or, is that even your real name?" She paused giving a few second for Mathew to correct her, he didn't. She scoffed and turned to her supposed uncle, "I'm guessing you're not even my uncle?"

She sounded so heart broken that all Mathew wanted was to wrap himself around her body and make her feel save. But he knew that it would only make things worse, so he stepped forward, slowly, since he was the closest to her.

"My real name is Mathew Troy Johnson."

Grace eyed him as he took another step, "and we're not lying to you. We never did. Might've hide a few things to keep you safe, but never lied about your past."

Lucas glanced at Mathew and frowned a little, he'd known the boy since he was a baby, just as small as Grace had been, but he'd never seen him so composed and mature. He could feel the slight feeling of being proud that he'd been there to help him grow into someone so tough and smart.

"We need you to relax and be patient as we explain ourselves, and why we hide our identity from you."

After a few seconds, Grace nodded, somehow believing that Mathew wasn't going to betray her. All five men and the one girl released a relief breath, finally breathing in again.

Malick nodded to himself and stepped in front of Grace, and he didn't go unnoticed of how she flinched a little.

"Alright, I'll explain." He paused and glanced around the trees. "But we better get a move on before the wolves catch up to us. We should get to the cliffs but stay close to the trees."

Everyone else nodded and started to move away slowly, they were a still unsure of the discussions in the future. As they walked in silence, they gave each other looks and Grace gave a sad sigh.

"Can you all not do that thing you do with your eyes?" She asked slowing down, "is that normal or is it something only creatures like you can do?" She heard Mathew scoff again behind her but she ignored.

Fred gave her an apologetical glance and tucked his arms inside his pockets. He was a powerful person, the reason why he was carrying everyone's tent equipment and his own things. He could start to feel his shoulders slump in exhaustion, and wondered how Grace was holding herself up.

"Sorry," he answered her. "We were just discussing about how we're going to tell you everything."

"With you eyes?"

"No… with our mind." He watched Grace try to understand what he was trying to say.

"With… With your mind?"

Fred nodded, "we can talk to each other, with our mind." He slowly spoke, as if it would help her follow better. "We call it mind link."

Everyone waited for her response, and slowly took each step towards the cliff area. They could see the start of the clear area ahead. But they can also see that the sun was starting to go down, getting dark for the night.

"Oh…"

Fred nodded, taking the response as a positive sign. They finally reached the edge of the mountain and stopped near the barrier off trees. Malick suggested to stay near them so no one else could see them from any other cliffs. As they walked, Grace realized that Mathew was starting to slow down and was falling behind. She stopped and glanced behind to see him give a few glances to the open drop.

She looked forward again to see that the rest of the team were walking ahead, not noticing the other two and waited for Mathew to close up on her. Once he did, Grace cleared her throat.

Mathew was in deep thought, the things that he was told in London came back to him, almost hauntingly. When Grace coughed near him, he jumped a little, coming back to reality. He looked at her, wondering why she was walking with him.

"Are you okay?" She asked confused at his behavior. He nodded and peered through his eyelashes at the team in front.

'Everything okay?' Lucas's voice invaded his brain. Mathew glanced at the man in front, but he just walked on, as if he didn't speak to him.

'Yeah, fine. Grace's just asking if we'd get there on time.'

'You know, I do have very sensitive ears.'

Mathew rolled his eyes, only to find Grace staring at him, more confused. Mathew would kill to know what was going on inside that little brain of hers, but stayed silent, watching her look back.

Grace was still trying to figure him out, so she didn't see the root of a tree and tripped forward, loosing balance. She sucked in a breath, getting ready to feel the impact. But it never came; instead, she felt warm arms grab securely onto her waist and held her from facing the earth.

Grace slowly opened her eyes to see that she had barely moved, but her legs were not in balance. Thanks to Mathew for holding her up, she was quickly able to regain her balance and wipe her sweaty hands on her trackers.

"Thanks," she whispered not looking his way. She felt him nod from the corner of his eye and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "So," she started walking, faster a little trying to catch up with the gang. They'd walked far, having not notice her little stumble. "What's your problem?"

Mathew knew he had to answer, even if it wasn't for her, for the team that was walking ahead. They had told him to openly talk to Grace on whatever she asks, since he was the only person she was talking to after the reveal.

"Um…" he started before sighing again. He rubbed his face to clear his thoughts and grabbed onto Grace's arm to slow her down. He didn't want the team to hear what he was about to say. "Wait, let them walk a little more."

So they waited, Grace wondering why they'd stopped and separated. Was he going to kill her? But then she doubted it, if he wanted her dead, then he wouldn't have saved her last night. Maybe he wanted to do it in the evening.

"I…" Mathew hesitated, then giving Grace a glance, he breathed in deep. "When I went to London, not for myself, but for something uncle Malick asked," he waited her to be surprised. But she didn't, if she did, she hid it well and let him continue. "I also found out about something, and… it scared the crap out of me, for sure."

"What is it?"

"I found out the core reason for my death."

There was a pause.

"What?"

Mathew started to increase his pace, "I found out how I'll die, in the future."

"How?" Grace was confused and she had every right to be. She had just found out, or confirmed that her uncle was not her uncle but a supernatural wolf-person. Then she realized that everyone she's been with was not like her and she was kept in the dark since birth. Now, Mathew's telling her that he knew how he was going to die.

"Cliffs."

Grace didn't understand and her expression was good enough to pass the message to the boy. Mathew sighed.

"I'll die on a cliff, like, I'll fall off or get pushed. I don't know, but it'll be a cliff."

Grace thought it through, he wasn't lying, as far as she knew. So she decided to give him her best. "That's why you're freaked out about it? Before, you looked as if you were sick and you kept yourself to the trees." Mathew nodded. "Oh…" she was not understanding how one would come to know how they are to die, but she respected that. She was in no place to say that he was not going to die by a cliff, especially when all their surroundings were cliffs. "But last night, I was near a cliff and you seemed to have no problem then."

"Oh, believe me. I was terrified of the chances of me dying, but your life was more important at that time."

Grace couldn't help the butterflies that formed at the pit of her belly. She could feel her cheeks start to heat and decided that it was time for them to not be alone.

"Well, if you start to fear again, just talk to me." She said not looking his way. Grace knew that Mathew was watching her every move. All she asked the gods was that he didn't notice her blush. "Let's catch up for now, we don't want to get lost."

She heard him chuckle but pretended not to and rushed to the team. No one asked the two on what they had conversed about and kept walking. As they walked further, Grace couldn't help but feel something tingle through her skin. Without thinking of what she was doing, she sniffed the air before moaning softly at how the smell was delightful.

"What's that smell?" She asked as she sniffed on it more. When she realized that she was being weird, she stopped herself before someone noticed. Jude looked up at her answering, "snow." He said it so simply that it made Grace wonder why it felt so foreign to her.

"You can smell the snow?" Mathew asked with a curious voice and Grace nodded.

"Why, can't you?" Mathew only nodded before falling back into silence.

Soon, the sky darkened and fog formed near the cliffs. Mathew stayed near Grace and no one questioned his behavior. Malick and Fred gave them a few glances but didn't comment while the other three were casual about it.

"We should stop for the night." Fred dropped his bag and rolled his shoulders, the ache was too much.

"Yes," Grace implied. "So, you guys can start speaking." Everyone turned to her with a frown.

"No," Malick opposed. "So we can rest."

"No."

"Yes."

"I'm not resting until you tell me everything."

"No."

"Yes."

"Fine." Grace was surprised that her 'uncle' agreed. She nodded at him and followed the group to the trees, away from the cliffs. Once the tents were up and everyone was settled, Grace plopped down in front of her and Anne's tent. Anne was inside, with Jude talking about whatever teenagers talk about. Fred sat in front of his own tent, glancing at Grace from time to time. Malick soon realized that his niece was not going to let it go and sat himself near her, not worrying about the dirt underneath.

"Lucas, sit." He called his friend out. If he was going to do this, he was not going to do it alone.

'Don't tell her about me or her father when we came to you.' He heard Lucas say and gave a curt nod.

"So, what do you want to hear?"

Grace glanced around, but couldn't find Mathew anywhere. For some reason, that ticked her off but didn't express that feeling. "Start from what kind of monster you are."

A pause from everyone indicated that she must've said something wrong.

"Well," Malick started, wondering how his wife would take in the news that he's spilling the secrets that they hid for more than two years. "For starters, we are not monsters."

"Yes, well, you are people-looking-creatures with wolves."

"Don't interrupt if you want me to talk." Malick gave her a glare and waited for her to nod. "Okay, so, we're not monsters. We're werewolves.

"We are born like how humans are, but we have special blood that allows us to shift into wolves. Werewolves are all around the world, good and bad. We are good. If you learned your town history properly, then you would know that wolves travel in packs. The pack we are in is called LightMoon Pack. Are you with me so far?"

Grace nodded slowly, "you said that I learnt this is history. How? I would've known about this then, but I can't recall talking or thinking about something so absurd."

"That's because you don't remember. You can't remember. That part of your memory was erased."

"What? How the hell did-"

"We have people for that. Not the memory erasing part, the hiding it away from you part. We scheduled everything so it doesn't disturb your activities."

Grace didn't know what to feel about that, it's not everyday your uncle reveals that someone's erased your memory and everyone's been acting to hide something from her. But then again, Grace should know, hiking the mountains to find mysterious answers was out of ordinary too.

"How?"

"I'll get to that soon," he looked at Lucas and then back at Grace. "Our pack is not a famous pack, not a lot of others know of our pack. It's also the reason why we've always been safe. You asked me if I was your uncle, and my answer is yes. I am your uncle, I will always be."

"But," Grace stopped him from speaking. "But that means, that we're blood related. That means I'm…" she paused, she couldn't believe that she was going to say it. "I'm a werewolf too."

"Werewolves can be mated with humans, and their children can either be wolves themselves, or humans. There's a fifty-fifty chance for it."

"Right." She felt relieved, Grace didn't know what she would go through if she was one. "Mated?"

"Us werewolves have mates. It's someone that's special to each and every one of us. We get a mate each, specifically made for us. We can identify them from their smell. When we look into their eyes, everything else won't matter and when our skins touch, the feeling is indescribable. Like soulmates."

"So, I'm guessing Susan's your soulmate?"

"Yes, took a lot to persuade her though." He laughed and the other two men joined in as if going through memory lane. "She's a human, and human's don't really feel the connection like we do."

"So, she's like my mum and dad?"

Malick took in a breath, "darling, you parents, they're both werewolves."