Chapter 1: Mark of Return
477words
I stand before my mother's gravestone, taking a deep breath as if trying to inhale this last connection into my lungs. For the first time in seventeen years, I feel utterly alone.
"Time to go, Val," the social worker says softly behind me. "Your father is waiting."
Father. The word rolls on my tongue, strange like an unmelted ice cube. Rafael McCall, a name that exists on my birth certificate, a shadow that never appeared for seventeen years. And now, I must live with this shadow and his other child—my half-brother.
The sky over Beacon Hills is as gloomy as if it might collapse at any moment. I stare at the rapidly receding tree shadows outside the car window, my fingers unconsciously rubbing the silver pendant my mother left me. It's my only heirloom, a wolf-shaped pendant with ancient runes engraved on the back.
"You'll like it here," the social worker tries to liven the atmosphere. "Beacon Hills is a quiet town."
I don't answer. I know what quiet is—it's the sound of my mother teaching me how to hold a knife in the dead of night, the sound of our footsteps tracking in the forest, the words my mother whispered to me on her deathbed: "Return to Beacon Hills, find your true bloodline."
The car stops in front of an ordinary two-story house. The door opens, and a middle-aged man walks out, his expression somewhere between awkward and concerned. Behind him stands a boy who doesn't look much older than me, curiously yet warily sizing me up.
"Valerie," Rafael McCall steps forward, hesitating whether to hug me, ultimately just extending his hand, "welcome home."
Home? I laugh coldly inside. This place was never my home.
"I'm Scott," the boy steps forward, showing a friendly but obviously nervous smile, "your... uh, brother."
I notice Scott's eyes flickering unnaturally, his breathing slightly rapid, as if he just finished a marathon. Something's not right. My mother taught me how to observe the subtle changes in prey.
"Nice to meet you, Scott," I say calmly, my eyes scanning every detail of him.
That night, I lie in a strange bed, staring at the ceiling. From the next room comes Scott's whispering voice; he seems to be on the phone with someone.
"...no, Stiles, I don't know how much she knows... yes, she is my half-sister... no, Derek said there's been no new hunter activity lately..."
Hunter? My body instantly tenses. My mother was a hunter, but she never explained in detail what exactly they hunted.
Outside, the full moon is about to rise. I feel a strange restlessness, something in my blood seems to be awakening. I grip the wolf pendant, feeling its unusual warmth.
Tomorrow, I'll report to Beacon Hills High School. And I know it will be the beginning of uncovering all secrets.
