chapter 5: library

"Where is it? Where the hell is that book?" Gift screamed in an alpha tone, the sound echoing through the space in her mind.

"Emily, please let me out!" she cried, frustration boiling over as she banged against the invisible walls of her consciousness.

A soft chuckle reverberated through her mind. "What's this?" Emily's voice was amused. She picked up something from the floor, and Gift could feel a sharp shift in the energy around them. "Ah, here it is."

The pressure inside Gift's head lifted as Emily released her hold, allowing her control again.

"What? I'm at the school?" Gift mumbled, disoriented. "I thought... well, whatever. Great job, Emily. Sorry, Miss Wolf Emily," she muttered angrily to herself as she began to pace, confusion and irritation flooding her.

"Just read the book," Emily's voice cried out again, a touch of exasperation creeping through.

"Fine, fine," Gift snapped. She glanced down at the book that now sat in her hands, its weight strange and unnerving. "But what is this thing? Some kind of cryptic nonsense... Is this me?" She flipped the cover open, reluctant but curious.

"IT IS YOU, GIFT."

Gift blinked, her stomach flipping as she stared at the words, the air around her suddenly charged with a thick energy. "What the hell is happening here, Emily?" she demanded, her voice sharp, almost frantic.

"It's the Book of One's Self," Emily replied, her tone more serious now. "It tells you who and what you are. The truth."

"The Book of what now?" Gift couldn't hide the skepticism in her voice. "So, what, do you want me to... say hi to it?"

"Yeah," Emily replied, somewhat impatient, "say 'hi' to ONE... the book."

Gift stared at the pages for a moment, then muttered under her breath, "Hello, ONE," her voice dripping with disinterest, though she couldn't shake the unsettling sense that this moment was far more important than she realized.

The book pulsed with energy, and then, the words appeared on the page:

"HELLO, MOON WOLF."

"Moon wolf?" Gift's brows furrowed, her tone growing more confused. "What do you mean by that?"

The book responded in its calm, almost detached manner, "Where do I start? Beginning or ending?"

"Both, I think," Gift replied, her voice now edged with urgency. "And how are you in the human library without being seen or even known of?"

"Well," the book replied smoothly, "in the eyes of humans, I am simply a book. I move from library to library, and I do not speak unless spoken to."

Gift stared at the book, trying to process its strange reply. A book that can move? A book that speaks? What the hell am I getting myself into? She bit her lip, forcing herself to focus. "Okay, fine. Start talking. I've got little time left."

The words on the page shifted again, glowing faintly with an almost ethereal light:

"Moon Wolf, tell me what you want to know about yourself."

Gift inhaled sharply, the weight of everything she had been feeling crashing down on her. "Everything," she whispered. "I need to know everything about me."

The book seemed to pause for a moment, as if gathering its words, before it spoke again, its voice now almost reverberating through Gift's very soul:

"You were born on the Day of the White Moon, and the goddess Selena has shown her favor upon you. For you are a female born under the rarest of celestial alignments, in the city of Moon Day."

Gift felt a sudden sharp pain in her chest-like an ancient memory trying to resurface. She had always known she was different, but this... this revelation made the truth sink deeper than anything she could have anticipated.

The book continued, its voice echoing through the air: "On the day of your birth, a great war raged between the White Lake Pack and the Silver Moon Pack. Your parents died protecting you, ensuring you would live to fulfill your destiny."

Her breath hitched, a tight knot of grief settling in her throat. She had never known the full story of her parents' death-only the fragments she had been told. But this... this was a truth far heavier than she had ever imagined.

"Your aunt and uncle, from the Shining Jade Pack, took you in, raising you as their own. They have loved you as their own daughter ever since."

Gift's heart ached at the thought of her aunt and uncle, who had given her everything after the loss of her parents.

"But listen, Moon Wolf," the book's voice grew softer, yet more insistent. "Before you can truly change into your wolf, before you can shift in full, you must return to Moon Day City. You must go to your birthplace, the White Lake Pack, and find your mate."

Gift felt her blood run cold. Mate? The word echoed in her mind, but she couldn't understand what it meant. How could that be true?

"Only when you meet your destined mate will you unlock your true form, your full power. Then, and only then, will you become who you were always meant to be. The Moon Wolf."

The words hung in the air for a moment, thick with the weight of destiny. "It was my pleasure meeting you, Moon Wolf. Remember, follow your voice. It will guide you."

And just like that, the book vanished.

The room around Gift felt suddenly silent, as if the entire world had paused, waiting for her next move. Her fingers tightened around the now-blank pages. Follow my voice? she thought, trembling. What did it all mean? What was she supposed to do with this?

She could feel Emily's presence once again in her mind, gentle but insistent.

"Now you know, Gift. You're no longer just Gift Hunter. You're Gift, the Moon Wolf. And your journey... has only just begun."