Wolf's Moon --- ONC 2022 (LONGLIST)

Chapter 11

The threat was real, Callista and everyone around could hear it within the man's voice as he spoke. Was he really threatening a pack of wolves, Delta and her uncle with only two wolves by his side? It was pure insanity to even do so when you were clearly outnumbered greatly. Then again, she found all this rather strange and didn't understand anything that was happening around her. All that was said --minus the threat-- was thoroughly confusing her, making the want for answers that much greater. She wanted them. . . and she wanted them now. 

While still holding onto Delta's hand tightly, Callista spun around to face him and her Uncle Connor. Her features held all the seriousness that had been building up deep within her. She was two seconds from completely losing her cool --and mind-- if she didn't get what she wanted that moment. She wasn't certain how well the pack would respond to her frustrated outbursts, but it probably wouldn't go over too well if they felt threatened by her as well. 

"I want to know what the hell is going on here and I want to know now! Also, who in the freaking world is that guy and what does he want with me!?" 

"That would be Raksha, leader to a pack that has caused nothing but trouble in their quest for power and control. For years we have kept this pack at bay, that is, until he took a deep dive into our local legends." 

"You mean the one about the Luna?" 

"Yes, that one precisely." 

Nodding slowly while trying to process everything her uncle was currently explaining to her, Callista tried to organize the questions building rapidly within her mind. She felt as if it would be far more beneficial than asking the most random or most obvious of questions. She would get nowhere asking stuff like that. 

Callista was quickly brought back to the present when the chocolate brown wolfe that had been standing nearby brushed against her hand that wasn't holding Delta's. Her eyes dropped to the female wolf, its blue eyes raising a sense of familiarity within her that she didn't quite understand. It was a strange feeling since she would have remembered meeting a wolf at any given time, but she hadn't, not until that very moment. 

Regardless of the wolf being so close, Callista didn't show any fear or hesitancy towards it. Instead, she turned her attention back to the two males standing before her. 

"What does any of this have to do with me?" 

"I'm not going to try and sugarcoat this to ease you in, we don't have that kind of time." 

Relieved her uncle wasn't going to beat around the bush with his explanation, Callista only wished he would hurry up and explain to her what she had to do with all that was going on. Her nervousness showed in the way she tightened her grip on Delta's hand and combed her fingers through the brown wolf's fur with her other hand. 

"Then please, explain to me what I have to do with all of this. The longer you stall, the more anxious I'm becoming." 

Callista urged her uncle on, wanting the explanation that moment. The wait was becoming far too much to bare and she wanted to find out if there was some way to get the focus off of her. She didn't want to be anyone's target, but the look her uncle was giving her told her that would not be an option. 

"Callie, you are the Luna he speaks of from the legend. It was the reason your mother decided to move you further from here, to get you far from Eptonas Woods as possible. You are no mere human, you are of our wolf shifter blood, part of the pack by birth and the one to keep peace between us all in a time of need." 

It was official, Callista's brain had finally stopped working. What her uncle had said sounded like something out of a movie or some strange romance novel. This wasn't something you were told in real life. . . by your uncle nonetheless. It was absurd and made no sense, no matter which way you looked at it.