The Twelfth Moon || ✔️

69. The Resistance

The hole soon turned into a tunnel, and I heard Benjamin slide the wooden panel back into its place before he caught up with me.

The tunnels were small, but still comfortable to walk in. Not at all like the tunnel in Apicya - a comparison that made my heart ache, longing to go back there, to live my life in better days.

I silently followed the group into the tunnels, taking whatever path they followed at an intersection.

Were they headed somewhere? Where did these tunnels lead to? They seemed endless.

"Vi, I'll catch up with you," Benjamin finally said, after the eighth intersection. Perhaps it had been more, I couldn't recall if I had lost count or not.

"Don't wait too long," she said, but she took both the children with her and disappeared in the underground hallways.

"I think I owe you an explanation," Benjamin said, hesitantly, once his family was out of earshot.

"You think?" My tone was bitter, but at this point, I didn't have it in me to care about it.

My eyes found his - expecting to see coldness lurking somewhere, but I found nothing but guilt and desperation.

"I'm so sorry, Sari. I wanted to tell you years ago. But they didn't let me."

"Who's they?"

Benjamin breathed in before he found the courage to answer. "The Resistance. There are some of us here that know about your secret - and we know how that only amplifies the horrors Beckett has committed."

"How long have you known?" I couldn't even find the tremble in my voice.

He sighed before he looked down. He felt ashamed for whatever it was he was about to say. "Since long before you were born. I've known most of my life," he said silently.

I copied his sigh - detecting that tremble that had found its way to my lungs. "Okay," I decided. "Tell me everything."

"We don't have a lot of time," he warned. "But I'll tell you as much as I can."

I subtly nodded my head, a clear signal that I was listening to whatever he would uncover now.

"As I said, we're a small group of humans. We have a few wolves on our side, but not enough to make a difference against Beckett. He's been on our case for years, desperately trying to uncover us and take us down. That's why he was so harsh on you and your parents-"

"My parents were involved in this?" I asked, baffled.

"Not at first, no," he admitted. "It all changed when you were born-"

"How did that change anything?" I interrupted him.

He sighed again, clasping his hands. "Your parents wanted to be the ones to tell you this story. They were planning to wait until you were old enough, but-"

"I'm old enough now." I had been old enough for a while.

Benjamin nodded again, though it seemed to be more to himself than to me. "Your parents worked for Beckett. With Beckett, even. Quite closely."

"No," I protested.

"I wish it were different, Sari. But they regretted it. All of it. But that doesn't change the fact that they belonged to his inner pack at first. They were feared by a lot of wolves, even if they weren't necessarily powerful, they were in Beckett's graces, and that made all the difference. And then your mother got pregnant, around the night of the Life Moon. They didn't expect you to come until the Seeing Moon arrived, and everyone - even Beckett - gladly awaited your birth.