AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Date 4-2-17
This is the final chapter everyone! I'm so glad that I decided to start this story, and I absolutely loved writing it.
A big thanks to everyone who read, voted, and commented on this story. It really means a lot to me.
Thank you to the ones who cheered me on. My best friends Bailey, Miley, and Tori were a big help with encouraging words, along with all of my followers.
But this chapter is dedicated to my Nana who's currently reading this story. Every time we talk she praises my work, saying that I will make it far with my stories one day. Thank you so much Nana! I love you :)
I was very reluctant to finish The Wolves of Cain, but I did it.
This chapter is longer than any other in this story because it's the last. You're welcome! :)
-------------------------------------
Chapter 67: Running Forward and Looking Back
The night of the full moon arrives faster than anyone is ready for. But no one admits that out loud.
Mason tells himself that he's fine with being human. But really, Mason isn't sure.
He doesn't miss the control issues that were going on, or the constant fighting every night with vine girl.
But Mason does miss being in the loop. He had been part of the center of the supernatural situation. Now no one will talk about anything that isn't mundane around him. To sum it all up, it sucks.
~*~
Once again, Ivie did not leave her room that night after falling into bed. She slept like she has for weeks, full of dreams of being vine girl. It seems like there's a new memory to remember every night.
But this time Ivie gets a sense of how vine girl controls the vines.
Ivie wakes up the next morning and remembers the weird feeling she got in the dream, the feeling that she was filled with hidden power. She just needs to unlock it.
So Ivie lets that feeling overwhelm her, pulling on the spark of magic she senses in her veins. Ivie opens her blue eyes that are identical to Lena's.
Ivie doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she has to figure out what she can do. Ivie needs to know if she can control her powers. So she tries.
Ivie wills vines to her, following the feeling she got in the dream. Ivie has no clue where the vines come from, but she assumes that whatever magic inside of her creates them.
Ivie knows it's working when there's a surge of power throughout her. So Ivie pushes on, wanting the vines to come faster.
Then Ivie hits a mental barrier that she feels is blocking the vines. What the...?
Ivie looks around in confusion. No one is in the room to ruin her concentration. So what could it be?
Ivie shoves at the barrier, much harder this time. There's a crack and a shattering noise. With a yelp of surprise, Ivie lands on the floor in protection mode, hands covering her head.
Ivie doesn't dare move from her frightened crouch on the floor until she hears her door fling open.
The first thing Lena sees when she rushes in a minute later is Ivie staring at her from the floor with wide eyes.
Lena's gaze travels to the broken window which was the cause of all the ruckus. "Ivie?" Is all Lena says, demanding an explanation.
"The window broke." Ivie answers lamely. She's always been an awful liar, so she goes with the obvious. Bad choice.
Lena's eyes narrow at the window in disbelief, knowing it didn't just break on its own.
But Lena hurries over to Ivie, grabbing her hand to pull her up. "What were you doing?" Lena asks, her tone accusatory.
"Practicing magic." Ivie admits with a shrug, her voice slightly higher pitched than normal. This usually happens to Ivie. At least it did before she became vine girl.
Lena sighs, knowing it won't do any good to lecture Ivie about breaking her window. Lena wouldn't want to be patronizing like their mom.
Lena shocks Ivie by replying, "Then let me get in some practice too." Before Ivie can respond to that, Lena turns and reaches her hands out to the glass but stays in place.
A soft glow appears around Lena's hands, but Ivie doesn't see it with her normal eyes.
Lena lifts her hand up slightly, barely enough to notice, and the glass lifts up about an inch off of the ground.
Ivie stares with her eyes practically popping out of her head at the glass that's now floating. Ivie is flabbergasted at the sight of her sister making things float.
The glass comes together in the air right above the floor as Lena makes imperceptible movements with her hands. Lena seems almost like a choral director at a concert, calm and steady in their precise way.
Then the glass drops into a neat pile a few feet from the window, causing Lena to smile at her efforts.
"Lena..." Ivie's jaw is flopping like a fish, unsure of what to say to her younger sister.
"I know! I'm getting good at the small stuff." Lena's grin grows bigger at this.
"Yeah, you are." Ivie finally responds.
"You should clean this up before mom and dad see it. You're lucky they're working in the basement today." Lena says with a smirk, loving that she shocked Ivie so badly.
Then Ivie blinks and Lena is gone, having glided out the door on pure happiness at her success.
Ivie walks over to the window to knock away the pieces of glass clinging to the window frame.
On some impulse that goes unexplained, Ivie turns her head to look at the wall outside next to the window. There are vines sticking to the wall there, snaking upwards like they climbed up there. And Ivie is sure they weren't there before.
The window must've been the barrier. So it worked. Ivie can control vines now without turning into vine girl!
"But will that last?" A nagging voice in Ivie's head asks that sounds vaguely familiar.
Ivie pulls away from the window while shoving that voice deep into a huge vault in the back of her mind.
~*~
Adrian can feel the full moon gaining power over its people. It might not pull at Adrian like it does for a werewolf, but Adrian can still feel it.
Adrian hasn't seen Lucas or Mason today, and neither has Monique. That's odd because Adrian recalls that Monique has been spending a lot of time with the newly transformed human.
Monique said she had to go to work and took off to who knows where. Monique is always hunting in different places for the Cloud World, like Adrian does. Adrian didn't ask because he doesn't want to become a pushy older brother that his sister won't like.
Despite everything, Adrian respects his sister and trusts that she's not going to get herself killed.
Adrian decides to visit Lucas and Mason before night falls. They might be angry or confused that he shows any sign of caring, but Adrian knows it would be worse if he didn't come at all.
So Adrian knocks at the door politely, even though he can get in the house whenever he wants because they invited him in.
Vampires have to be invited into someone's home, besides one exception. Adrian can get into a vampire's home without an invitation.
So when Mason opens the door, Adrian walks right in. Mason frowns but closes the door behind Adrian.
Adrian turns to Mason and asks the question he came to ask. "How are you doing, Mason?"
"I'm good. At least on human standards, I'm fine." Mason replies with a shrug.
Mason's eyes roam the house, avoiding Adrian in a distracted way. Adrian wonders what's up with him.
Is Mason feeling the powerful effect of the moon? Is he shifting inside, back into a werewolf? Adrian decides to ask.
"Can you feel the moon?" Adrian questions, even though it's bound to upset Mason.
"No, I don't feel the moon. Am I supposed to?" Mason responds just as Lucas walks in.
Lucas' jaw is clenched and his fists held tight at his sides. Adrian even notes that Lucas is standing taller, his gait longer as he holds his chin up. Lucas probably doesn't even realize that he's doing all of this.
"Lucas does." Adrian says to Mason with a smirk. "But then again, he is a werewolf. Werewolves are supposed to feel the moon."
"Well, that explains why I don't." Mason replies, looking down at the hardwood floor. Mason notices that someone swept the living room recently.
"Why would you say that I'm feeling it?" Lucas demands to know, gritting his teeth in annoyance. Adrian always butts into everyone's business.
Adrian rolls his eyes at Lucas' obvious anger. Why do newborns always have to be so stubborn? Like they know everything.
"The way you're standing. The way you're talking. Everything about you, really." Adrian replies condescendingly with a dismissive wave of his hand. Adrian is already tired of conversing with the young werewolf.
Lucas growls low and threateningly, feeling like striking back at Adrian for once. "If a werewolf bit you would you die? Since you've already been bitten before..." Lucas trails off in a way that suggests he would like to be that werewolf.
Adrian narrows his eyes. "I wouldn't try that if I were you."
"Good thing you're not me then." Lucas responds, turning around and walking away before he does something he may or may not regret.
"What's up with him?" Mason asks Adrian.
"I don't know. He's your brother." Adrian responds instantly with a logically sarcastic reply. Mason gives him a look, causing Adrian to sigh and give a real answer.
"He's getting sick of me. Isn't that obvious?" Mason only stares blankly at Adrian, like he didn't even hear Adrian.
"Or he's jealous of me." Adrian adds, not bothering to lower his voice. Lucas will hear either way.
Lucas does hear from his seat in the kitchen. Lucas can feel a strange pull coming from the moon, different from the night he first shifted. That's what's causing this anger.
Lucas focuses on breathing regularly, but thinking of tonight has his heart speeding up. Without anyone to fight with, Lucas will be free to run in the woods as a wolf. But he'll be free alone.
Lucas shoves the hurt away but it's quickly replaced by rage. Why does something always have to go wrong?
Lucas suddenly finds the apple in his hand very appealing, wanting to rip into it to let out his anger. So he does.
~*~
Adrian finally decides to leave after it becomes dark, to Lucas' annoyance.
"Bye Lucas!" Adrian calls as he steps out the front door. Lucas grumbles inaudibly under his breath. It comes out a stream of useless words that no one could decipher. Lucas is feeling spiteful.
Lucas feels his phone vibrating in his pocket. Pulling it out with super speed that he doesn't mean to use, Lucas sees it's a message from Lena.
"Good luck tonight. Wish I could be there."
"Thanks. But you know why you can't." Lucas texts back. They talked about this earlier. Lucas didn't know how in control he would be, if he retained any control at all. Lucas doesn't want to take the chance of Lena getting hurt.
"Maybe next time." Lucas texts Lena before she replies to the first message to soften the blow. Although Lucas doesn't think next time will be an option either.
"Sigh. Next time."
Lucas moves to the couch in the living room to get more comfortable. Not that it helps.
Mason has disappeared to his room, obviously not wanting to witness whatever Lucas is about to go through.
Lucas couldn't blame Mason, but could he have at least said something before he took off?
Lucas lets it slide this one time. But only because Mason's had at rough these past few weeks. His hope has been crushed. Mason believes that he'll never be a werewolf again.
Even if Mason chose to get the bite again, there isn't an Alpha around to do it for him.
If Adrian hadn't been lying about being an Alpha...
Lucas shakes that thought off. They were past that already. Adrian lied, but he came clean. It's actually better with Adrian being a vampire. This way, Lucas no longer believes that Adrian has any power over him.
Lucas suddenly feels his eyes start their familiar burn. When they the color changes, it's like the gold is waiting beneath the brown and emerges in an instant, like it pushes forward in one movement.
Lucas gazes up at the moon from his sitting position on the couch. The moon is calling to Lucas. Practically saying it's safe to come out and play. And that's all Lucas wants to do.
Lucas jumps up from his seat, no longer able to sit idly and wait for the pull to be unbearable. Where's the good in that?
Lucas stops feeling sorry for himself. Mason can't come, so Lucas needs to pull himself together.
Lucas walks out the back door, locking it behind him and putting the key in his pocket.
Lucas vaguely remembers during his first shift, and he's pretty sure his clothes were intact when he shifted back. Of course they were! They were on in the hospital.
Lucas wonders for a moment if the key will fall out on his run as a wolf. Nothing else is in his pockets. Lucas left his phone in his room.
Lucas has no clue where his clothes go when he shifts, but he forgot to ask Adrian. Some magic voodoo stuff.
Lucas forgets about his key when the moon beams down on him. Lucas breathes in deep, feeling more powerful with every step.
Lucas shivers slightly from the need to shift into a wolf. But Lucas resists the urge so he can do one last thing.
Lucas whispers to the empty air beside him. "Goodbye Mason." Then Lucas runs off, still on human legs.
Lucas decides to shift when he's further in the woods, but that proves to be much more difficult than Lucas imagined.
Lucas fights his primal instincts and keeps going, shoving branches aside to get where he needs to be. Lucas isn't sure where that is, he's just following his gut.
~*~
Lucas isn't surprised when he arrives at the place he always seems to end up at. The spot where he was bitten.
For the first time, Lucas wonders why this place. Why not where Mason was attacked? Is it because Lucas was hurt first? A "first blood" sort of thing? Like in a video game?
Lucas snaps out of his thoughts to see that he is on his knees. Lucas stares through the canopy of leaves above to the sky, where the moon seems to shine brighter than the sun ever could.
It's time.
This thought causes Lucas to remember his first shift. Not all the painful fighting, but the actual shifting into a wolf.
Lucas lets go, allowing the wolf inside of him to take over. Lucas feels his bones moving, contorting into something new. But it's like Lucas is watching this happen, because he feels no pain. Just a weird feeling of finally being free.
Lucas' eyesight sharpens and his eyes are now much closer to the ground. Light brown fur bursts free, covering his whole body. Lucas shakes, stretching and adjusting to his new body. Much better.
Lucas is surprised that he feels the same, but in wolf form. No other consciousness has taken over Lucas. It's still him.
Lucas digs his claws into the earth as he runs faster than he has before. Not even the wind slows him down.
Lucas leaps over everything in his way, not pausing for a beat. It's like he's flying, and Lucas never wants to come down from the clouds.
Lucas must've ran for miles, until he stops on a hilltop overlooking the river.
Everything was a blur getting here, but Lucas doesn't care. Lucas basks in his freedom under the light of the full moon.
But something isn't right. Lucas senses something off. Not dangerous exactly. More like... something is missing.
Lucas thinks back to Mason, sitting inside at home, probably as lonely as Lucas feels right now.
Lucas feels an ache for Mason. An ache for his twin brother, the other half of him. The other werewolf in his pack. He's supposed to be here.
Lucas lets loose a mournful howl, his nose pointed at the moon as he calls out. Lucas sits back feeling slightly better, but not quite. Lucas still feels a bit empty inside with no one by his side.
~*~
Adrian hears the awfully upsetting howl that he knows is coming from Lucas.
Adrian feels so bad that if he was a werewolf, he'd run out there to help ease Lucas' pain. Lucas lost a member of his pack.
But Adrian shakes his head and walks to his room to get ready for bed. There's nothing Adrian can do for Lucas, so he ignores the echoing howl in his head.
But Adrian can't get it out of his head. Adrian sits on his bed with his head in his heads, still dressed in his day clothes. Why won't the noise go away?
Then Adrian lifts his head up, realizing why he's still hearing it. This is a different howl, not the depressed one. And Adrian can tell that the howl is coming from a different wolf. But who-?
Adrian gasps and rushes to the window, looking out as if he could see the werewolf. Adrian's eyes burn red, but he knows he can't see all the way to Lucas and Mason's house, even with his super sight.
The werewolf is Mason. Or someone else entirely.
Adrian calls Ivie. "Hello?" She answers in a tired tone.
"Ivie! I need Jerica's number. Now." Adrian says urgently.
"What? Why?"
"Please just do it. I need to ask her something." Adrian responds impatiently. Adrian may be falling in love with Ivie, but that doesn't mean he can't get annoyed by her.
"Fine." Ivie says before hanging up.
Adrian is confused until a minute later when Ivie texts Adrian, telling him Jerica's number.
Adrian immediately calls Jerica. "Jerica, it's Adrian." Adrian says into the phone as soon as Jerica answers.
"What is it? Do you know what time it is?" Jerica asks, but Adrian ignores that last part.
"I need you to check to see if Mason is in the house. Go check!" Adrian emphasizes his words to show his urgency.
Adrian hears a door opening. "You better explain yourself." Jerica says stubbornly.
"I think Mason shifted." Adrian tells Jerica to make her hurry. Maybe Adrian should've just ran over there to check for himself. That would be faster.
"He's not in his room." Jerica says with a hint of excitement in her now wide-awake voice.
"Check the whole house." Adrian responds, wanting to know if he's right about Mason.
Jerica rushes around the house. "He's not here, Adrian." Jerica says, her voice higher pitched than normal.
"Then it's true. I heard two wolves howling in the woods." Adrian explains to Jerica.
"YES! Mason's a werewolf again!" Jerica shouts into the phone.
"Ouch. Watch the eardrums. I'm kind of sensitive." Adrian replies, not able to help the smile that's forming on his lips.
"You? Sensitive? As if!" Jerica laughs before hanging up, probably to call Lena to tell her the good news.
So, Mason is a werewolf again.
Ivie is once again, only Ivie.
Lena and Jerica seem to not be going crazy with their new powers.
Lucas and Lena seem secure in their relationship.
Adrian and Ivie... well, they're getting there.
Matthew Ellington, the Alpha, is dead, so Adrian got paid for doing that job.
Monique came home earlier, so she fortunately survived whatever job she set out to do.
And Adrian and Monique's stalker hasn't shown up yet.
Everything seems to be going well for everyone.
But Adrian has a feeling that this is only the beginning of the struggles that go along with living in Cain.
~*~
A wolf with blond fur runs alongside Lucas. They're racing each other to nowhere in particular.
Lucas is perfectly content, nipping at his brother to get on his nerves. But Mason is in too good of a mood to be mad. So he bites back playfully.
Mason is joyful beyond compare to be a werewolf again. Mason can't imagine a life where he's not in the woods at his brother's side.
Mason can feel the leader vibe coming from Lucas, and Mason doesn't mind. He believes Lucas will be a great leader one day, if they ever get a real wolf pack.
But Mason thinks back to the months of fighting through these supernatural struggles. Looking back, Mason realizes Lucas has been a leader. He's helped solve everything that comes their way, as much as Lucas can.
Summer is almost over, and because of Lucas constantly fighting alongside everyone, they've survived.
This is almost like a new beginning to Mason, since he's back to being a werewolf but better than before. Mason finally went through his first shift into a wolf!
Mason decides that's enough critical thinking for the night.
So Mason pushes on to get slightly ahead of Lucas as they run together through unknown territory, starting up their race once again.