The Star Moon *SECOND IN THE MOON SERIES*

Twenty-Eight|| Heritage

"Don't mind me, I'll just finish up your work for you again." Orion teased, laughing. Evan rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly, taking my hand in his and pulling me out into the hall.

-----------------

I waited in Isabella's lab with the others, leaning against the wall. Evan had his arm slung around my shoulders and was hugging me to his body. He was nervous every time I came here. He didn't like the idea of them getting a mission and me wanting to go out into the field.

He wanted to shield me from any action.

"So, what's the verdict?" Ariel entered the room, and Isabella looked up from her laptop.

"Just... just watch," she said with a sigh, plugging the USB drive into her laptop. It appeared on the large plasma in front of us.

The screen loaded, and a dark skinned man's face appeared.

Who's that? I asked Evan through our link.

Dr. Brown. Everyone called him Doc.

The one who died when Ariel shifted that one time when we-

Yeah. Evan nodded slightly.

"I'm not really sure if I'll be able to explain this in person," Doc started. "But I might as well just start at the beginning."

He slapped the monitor he was on suddenly. "Damn technology. How do I work this? Zoe!" Doc turned, and I watched Zoe and Kylee lean into their Dad, sniffling.

On the screen Zoe appeared, and she moved the mouse around, typing. "Hitting it won't make it better, Gramps." On screen Zoe scolded.

"Thank you sweetheart." Zoe left, and Doc was alone.

"I was young and searching for the next scientific breakthrough," Doc started. "I'd heard of a civilization that could potentially have the answers I need.

"I went in search of this civilization. Now, I can't say much for safety's sake, in case this drive falls into the wrong hands. I found something that shocked me down deep to the core.

"The argument in question has always been whether or not the Gifted are wolves. They shift like wolves, they belong in packs, they act like wolves, and they heal and bleed like them too.

"That is because the Gifted are wolves."

"What did I say?" Lance spoke up. "Wolves."

"But they're also not." Doc continued shocking us all.

"You were saying?" Camila asked wryly from beside me.

Not wolves?

"The Gifted are hybrids with a blood running through their veins that runs through many of us. The Gifted can just tap into that dominant gene." Doc explained.

"You see... the Gifted have Elven blood in them."

"Elves?" Garrett turned to Ariel, eyes wide. "Like, pointy ears, live a thousand years elves?" my eyes were glued to the screen. Elves?

"Yes, I did say elves," the recording continued. "Elves are an extinct race, but they were once very powerful beings. What you called natural powers was you receiving the dominant Elven gene, allowing you to harness your powers.

"The world nearly ended when the Light and Dark elves clashed in their civil war. The King had to decide what was best for the entire planet. This brought upon the mass extinction of the elves, and ripped a whole in our world that took centuries to recover from.