Reading Between the Lines

Chapter 26: Rigid

My jaw is on the floor as I realize the true gravity of the situation. His reaction's violent, for sure. The others take their Soulstones off for sports, but even when they put them back on, their eyes just glow for a bit. They don't look like they're having a mini heart attack!

Now that I think about it, how long has it been since he's even touched his Soulstone? He kept it in a frickin' dresser of all places. It does explain... well, whatever is happening right now.

I hear Mridula atte suddenly run and ask if he's ok. But with a deep, guttural voice, which I immediately recognize, he says, "I'm okay. Show her."

A deep, guttural voice. That means a wolf is talking. HIS wolf is talking.

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" I yell, loudly enough for the others to look over and wonder what's going on. Mridula atte comes back and picks up the phone before showing my uncle. Serafina tiptoes to my side before she sees what's going on. And we both have the same reaction.

All I see is red. A large lotus tattoo runs across his arm and chest, having some other words that are unreadable. He's wearing a shirt, so I can't see all of them, but from what I can see, they seem all too familiar. All I know is, he didn't have tattoos before. And in 10 seconds, he's covered in ink.

My uncle has just confirmed everything I've suspected all along.

He's from the Netherworld. He is a werewolf, after all.

"Vani, there's something you must know."

And...

"It's time you know the truth about who you are."

"Yeah. CLEARLY! What is happening right now? Why did you look like you were having a seizure?" I straight-up yell at this point, but I don't care. Situations like this guarantee some screaming.

"Let me just do something important first." He gives Mridula atte a little smirk, which makes both of us confused. But out of nowhere, his body starts twisting and turning. His nails turn into claws, his face and ears get longer, all of his teeth start becoming jagged, and ivory fur sprouts all over his body. All while his limbs start turning into shorter, muscular legs. Soon enough, he's now a shining wolf with red eyes, red eyes that stare directly at me with a mischievous smile.

Wolves can actually smile, after all. Well, Naishal already showed me that. But then again, I'm refinding out a lot of things these days.

"Vinod! Stop, we just renovated the living room!" she berates him to no avail. His wolf suddenly barks before he blitzes out of the closet at inhuman speed.

I'm not even gonna pretend like I didn't hear my aunt calling him a different name.

Suddenly, I realize that we're not in the closet anymore. We're back in the living room within 2 seconds. Yeah, she definitely blitzed too.

The camera is still flipped as my uncle, as a wolf, runs around the house. Despite no furniture left unscathed, he barely leaves a scratch. His wolf howls and growls as if it's the end of the world, and I'm pretty sure it's louder on their end. He looks as if he has no care in the world. It makes me wonder how long it's been since his wolf has actually been on a run. Or even how long it's been since his wolf was hidden.

"Uh, Mridula atte? Are you-"

"I'm one of them too, kuttu." Like I said. I'm a massive idiot for not figuring this out sooner.

"How long? How long have you guys hidden this?" I try and shout due to the noise on their end.

She sighs, flipping the camera back to face her. She gives me a pursed smile, probably because she's giving her secret away while her goofball husband is running around their small yet very expensive house.