Bullied Once, Loved Twice

Chapter 23 - The wolf is out of the bag

Liam looked over to Narcia. Her eyes looked terrified. He didn't know her next words were going to be heavy. Her chest was rising and falling in quick succession, a clear sign of stress formed on her forehead. He could also tell she was starting to sweat by the droplets that formed near her temples.

"I know what I am about to say sounds crazy... I can't tell if you will even believe me, but with what you saw tonight, this isn't the craziest thing you will have heard." She said, taking another deep breath. Liam wasn't comfortable, hands were sweating, and his mouth was dry. He tried to gulp, the feeling leaving a bitter taste in the back of his throat.

"I won't get mad if that's what you fear. Like I said, I came for answers, and I want the whole truth."

"I'm not sure you know what that truly means, young man." Her father said before she sent a glare at him, making her father huff and release his arms to rest them on his hips.

"We're... not human." Narcia started, eyes growing wide as he slowly turned pale. Did she mean they were in some way related to that monster?

"W-What are you then? Because you look human to me." Liam said, making her chuckle a bit.

"We are wolf shifters... Half human, half wolf. We have a pack, and it is ruled by an Alpha that is helped by its Luna." Narcia said as she sat down and gently put her hand on Liam's shoulder. His eyes blinked a few times in shock. He had a feeling about the whole werewolf thing, but he had tried not to believe it.

"So like... What exactly is an Alpha... and what's a Luna?" He asked, trying to focus on one question at a time as they now swarmed his brain.

"I'm the alpha of the pack currently. My mate, Mary, is the Luna of this pack. We make sure the pack is safe, healthy, and fed properly. My daughter here will be the future alpha of this pack. It's normally given to the first son of the alpha, but I only have a daughter, so she will rule with her mate." Narcia's father said as Liam frowned and looked at Narcia.

"So... How do you make a mate? Is it like a marriage thing or..?"

"No... It's not that simple, unfortunately..." Narcia said, a sad chuckle leaving her lips.

"A mate is given to you at birth by the moon Goddess. Once you reach 18, the bond begins forming so both parties can find each other." Tammy said with a smile, seemingly excited. Liam nodded in understanding, which meant that somewhere out there, Narcia had a man just for her that would make her grow a family and rule this pack. He didn't understand why deep inside him, that thought made him very sad.

"We aren't the only shifters, however." Mary said with a light chuckle, trying to loosen the tension that had built in the room.

"What others are there? Is that cannibal thing one of them?" Liam asked with a grimace, hating the imagery that had reappeared in his mind.

"Unfortunately, yes. Like I mentioned earlier, these creatures used to be a proper animal shifter. They become this awful thing by either consuming another shifter or being born under already cannibalistic parents. As for your other question, we have a few other shifters that exist in this world. We wolves are the third strongest species if you do not count cannibals. Feline shifters are the second. They turn into all sorts of huge felines like tigers, panthers, and even lions. The strongest used to be Kitsunes. They had enormous magic energy and quick movement. Unfortunately, they went extinct a good decade ago." Her father explained before he continued on listing all different types of shifter. Liam was almost fascinated by this, despite how scared he felt inside.

"So dragons and phoenixes were real at one point?" Liam said in pure shock, making them all chuckle a bit.

"As all legends say, yes. But even I never saw either." Narcia said with a shrug, making Liam's face fall a bit. He figured it would be cool to see one, in theory, at least. But clearly, that would never happen if even they had never even seen one.