The Genesis of Evangeline (The Lost Royals Saga Book 1)

by Rachel Jonas

  “So, I guess they kept you all in the dark, too, at eighteen?”

  The question seemed simple enough when I asked it, but you wouldn’t have guessed it by the expressions I stared at around the table.

  Ben’s eyes settled on me and he shrugged, giving a response that confused the heck out of me. “None of us shifted until we were twenty.”

  Just like that, bits and pieces from Saturday night flooded my memory, hearing someone state that it was ‘too soon’.

  I was so confused. “Then… why did I… how is it that…”

  “Because you’re different,” Richie said point blank. “And we’d be lying if we said we knew the extent of that, because… being completely honest, we don’t.”

  “No one does,” Kyle added.

  My shoulders hit the back of the chair when I leaned into it. My eyes searched theirs for answers, but they simply stared back, not adding anything more.

  “Different how?” I asked, trying not to panic, but the three sitting around me right now, and maybe my parents, were the only lifeline I had as I got through this. How was I supposed to feel knowing things about me were perplexing even to them?

  Ben rested his elbows on the table and his look softened. “You’re rare,” he started. “So rare that no lycan living, that we know, can tell us much. Only that you’ll probably be stronger than any we’ve seen, which would mean you’re likely going to become our pack’s alpha.”

  Now, I know I based a lot of what I assumed about this whole thing on what I’ve seen on television, but wasn’t the alpha usually the oldest of the pack?

  “But, Dad… isn’t he…?”

  Richie shook his head before I finished asking. “It’s about strength. Not age,” he explained. “As it stands, for now, I’ve held rank since my twenty-second birthday.”

  I didn’t know what to say. About any of it, really.

  “You were born on a very specific day. At a very specific time. Under a very specific moon,” Ben explained. “Making you a very rare wolf.”

  The day and time I knew—Midnight, September twenty-third—but none of this other stuff made sense. “Please, explain,” I exhaled, squeezing that spot on my neck even harder.

  “You were born at midnight under a super harvest moon.” Ben stopped speaking, as if what he just said explained it all. Unfortunately, the rest of us weren’t quite as smart as him. I think the blank look on my face made it clear I wasn’t following. “It’s rare for the harvest moon to rise mere hours after the autumnal equinox, but, when it does, it’s called a super harvest moon. Something about you being born at the stroke of midnight on that day… it made you different.”

  Different… there was that word again.

  “I, personally, think it’s more than coincidence,” Kyle chimed in. “I think you were meant to be born when you were, for a purpose. Heck, you came a whole month early,” he added. “And, if you ask me, I think it was all just for you to come into the world on that date.”

  Ben, being a man of logic, rolled his eyes. “Well… I don’t know about all that, but I do know you’ve always been bigger than any of us were at any given age. And, at the risk of sounding like I’m buying into Kyle’s theory, even with you being born early, you were a pretty large kid from the beginning. Photos don’t lie. And now, you’re quicker, sharper. And… your fur,” he added.

  My brow knitted together. “What about it?”

  “The color,” he said. “Ours is all brown. Like our hair.”

  I hadn’t even paid much attention to that detail until be brought it up. When I shifted the other night, there were so many bigger things for me to focus on—the pain, the fatigue, trying to control myself—the finer details escaped me. Until now.

  I recalled glancing down at myself. An image of it popped into my head again and they were right.

  My fur was gray.

  “But other than that, we don’t know what to expect because we’ve never known another like you,” Ben concluded.

  “Ever?” I asked.

  An answer spoken in unison by all three of my brothers hit my ears like a bomb exploding in the room. “Ever.”

  I had to let that sink in. What if… what if this one thing made all the prepping my brothers had just done go right out the window? What if none of it applied to me because, what they were saying meant they had no idea how any of this would go for me. Already, according to them, my experience had been different from theirs. What if I was dangerous? What if I was some kind of genetic freak?

  They must’ve seen me spiraling because they all got quiet.

  “Relax,” Richie said, using that unnerving, television psychiatrist voice he does when he thinks someone is overreacting. But I wasn’t overreacting. Not at all.

  They had each other and their shared, identical experiences to ease their minds when they first started going through changes. Even our father’s experience was likely just like theirs. But here I was, now technically a member of the pack… and I was still on my own.

  I stood from my seat, letting it hit the wall when I shoved it back. To me, it didn’t make sense to continue this conversation, considering we couldn’t even be sure these same rules applied to me.

  “You’re taking off?” Richie seemed surprised.

  “I’ve gotta get to school.”

  “But there’s a ton more we need to go over,” Ben cut in.

  I stopped in the doorway with my back to the three of them, feeling more alone than I think I ever had. As determined as I believed my brothers were to help me through this, I had the sinking feeling they wouldn’t be able to.

  This, like everything else, was something I’d have to get through on my own.

  —

  Chapter Seventeen —

  Evie

  The distance between Nick and I grew as he walked away from the door to my first-hour classroom. He was quiet today. Almost too quiet. So many times during our walk this morning, I started to ask if he wanted to talk, but the serious look on his face changed my mind. I’d never seen him angry, but I was sure it looked at least a little like what I saw in him today.

  He was kind and sweet to me as usual, but there was something else there, an undertone of frustration I couldn’t place.

  When he rounded the corner and I lost sight of him, I took my seat, smack-dab in the middle of the classroom. Mrs. Ingles sat at her desk, silently taking attendance as light chatter went on all around the room. This was usually the time when I finished up the last few questions of whatever assignment she’d given for homework, but, seeing as how I got it all done over the weekend, I pulled out my phone.

  I’d gotten a notification at midnight for a blog update from Behind the Falls. I was in the middle of dozing when it came through, so it went unchecked. Now seemed like the perfect time to read it. Today’s post was short, but the title intrigued me.

  *

  “Things That Go Bump in the Night

  Or should I say things that roar in the night?

  There are no bears in Seaton Falls. Nope. No lions or tigers either. So, this brings me to my next question: What in the world was that sound? Late Saturday night, reports began to flood the police station as residents spoke of loud roar-like sounds coming from deep within the woods. One witness described the sound as ‘otherworldly’ while another advised parents to keep their children out of the area until it’s decided what, exactly, made the noise.

  But I, for one, think people are asking the wrong question.

  What if it’s not ‘what’ made the creepy noise, but… ‘who’?

  I know what you’re all thinking: ‘Chad, you’re reaching on this one’, but am I? If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ve heard the stories—strange shadows seen darting through the woods, moving at speeds no human could possibly ever achieve—just to name a few of the strange things people have reported around here. I’m not trying to paint myself as a conspiracy theorist, but facts are facts.

  Strange things happen here
in Seaton Falls: FACT!

  At least a dozen residents reported the strange sound in the woods Saturday: FACT!

  Our weather, our world in general, is upside down: FACT!

  I can’t make you swallow the truth, but you better believe I’ll always offer it to you.

  Signing off for now, but, as always… Be safe. Be aware. Be uncensored.

  —ChadTheUnscensoredOne”

  *

  I shoved my phone back inside my purse when Mrs. Ingles assigned the text we were to read for the hour. I did as I was told, but the only words in my mind were Chad’s, about the strange sounds. I’d been alone in those very woods just the day before. I wasn’t one to believe everything I heard, but this was one theory I wasn’t willing to test.

  By lunch, the blog post had kind of gone viral around school. I got the impression that most didn’t even follow it, but, because of the one or two students who actually witnessed the sounds coming from the woods, Seaton Prep had an invested, mutual interest in searching out the facts.

  If I had to guess, the little blog Nick introduced me to early last week had just gained a ton of new followers.

  The table was abuzz with words like “monsters” and “creatures”. It was uncanny to me how quickly they bought into it being something of the sort. My initial thought was honestly a wild animal, not anything… supernatural.

  Beside me, amidst the loud conversation and manufactured fear of the collective student body, sat the quietest person in the room. Nick. He’d barely said one word since we made it to the lunchroom and now I watched him pick over his food long after everyone else had finished.

  “Is everything okay?” I finally asked. Holding it in was driving me crazy. Especially seeing as how I cared about him.

  A somber look was passed my way, one he tried to mask with a smile. “Yeah, everything’s good.”

  Beneath the table, my interlocked fingers were pulled apart where they rested in my lap. Nick’s hand had wandered over to steal one of mine. Our palms warmed together and the sensation spread all through me. This, the contact, felt so comfortable now. Ever since the falls. It was like touching one another had always been a part of our friendship, bypassing the awkward ‘can I hold your hand’ phase I suffered through with other boys I liked in the past.

  In so many ways, Nick was unlike anyone else I’d ever met before.

  A few took notice of our fingers knitted together, but it seemed like we were less of a sideshow than the week before. They were getting used to us being together.

  Together.

  The word made me smile on the inside for no apparent reason.

  Even the negative attention from many of the girls was dying down some. Not completely, but enough that I didn’t feel them stabbing me with mental daggers when I passed them in the halls. It was a start.

  “Have you read the blog post everyone’s talking about?” I asked when I couldn’t think of anything else to say.

  Nick’s eyes observed all the phones out as we sat—more than usual. I assumed he guessed the same thing I did; that they were all reading and researching the incident right then, as we spoke.

  He gave a slow nod. “I skimmed it.”

  Conversing with him in this mood was a bit of a push. “Do you think there’s anything to it?”

  His broad shoulders lifted into the air with a shrug. “I think it’s possible that they heard something, but there’s no way it was any of the things I’ve heard circulating around this table.”

  I nodded. He and I were on the same page. Yes, there was probably something out there, but it wasn’t Big Foot or aliens or a chupacabra. Seemed like everyone was having fun believing it was, though.

  The bell rang and I honestly felt kind of relieved. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to be with Nick, but I got the feeling he needed space.

  Our hands stayed locked on the way to my locker to grab my books, and again when he walked me to fourth-hour. We lingered there outside the door for a moment and the hard look he’d been wearing on his face all morning faded.

  Deep, blue eyes shifted down toward the floor. “Sorry if I seem kind of… off today. I’ve just got stuff on my mind,” he shared. “Things I need to deal with.”

  I nodded, understanding. “It’s cool. It’s one of those moody, teenage things. I get it.”

  That made him smile, which was what I hoped for. “Something like that.”

  My fingers squeezed his. “As long as you know I’m here if you need me.”

  His chin dipped once. “I do.”

  It seemed like he felt guilty for not being himself today, but I hoped he didn’t. All my days weren’t good ones either. Things happen. Life happens. And when it does, all you can do is shift and adjust right along with it. Looked to me like Nick was just adjusting.

  “I’ll be back at the end of the hour to walk you,” he said, taking a step back, in the direction of his own locker.

  “Actually, don’t worry about it. I have to go to C-Building to finish a chemistry project I’m late turning in. I got permission to work on it today and tomorrow.”

  Nick’s brow quirked and he gave a half-smile. “C-Building? Alone?” I nearly missed the question because I wasn’t listening, instead thinking how cute he was.

  Cute and perfect.

  Cute and perfect and kind of mine.

  Kind of.

  Maybe not quite yet.

  “Uh… yeah. Why? Is that weird?”

  His smile grew. “Because there’s hardly anyone over there. Unless someone, or usually a class, has to use one of the labs for the hour. And because it’s old and mildly creepy,” he added with a laugh. “I just… you sure you’re cool heading over alone?”

  I was flattered that he was so concerned. “I’m a big girl. Pretty sure the Boogie Man only comes out at night, so…”

  Nick’s smile grew and I just about melted at his feet when it did. “I’ll find you at the end of the day before practice, then,” he promised.

  I nodded, inching my way inside the classroom. “I’ll be waiting.”

  *****

  Nick

  “Roz! Wait up!”

  If looks could kill, the one she cast over her shoulder would’ve laid me to rest right there in the hallway. She didn’t slow down, so I hustled to catch up. I only had about a minute and a half to get to class, but, today, talking to her was more important.

  Because I needed answers and had a feeling she’d know where to find them.

  But, to start, an apology.

  “Slow down a sec.” She stopped when I gently grabbed her arm. Her eyes flitted up toward the ceiling like she didn’t want to be bothered.

  “What could I possibly do for you, Prince Nick?” The Biology and You textbook she carried was clutched to her chest.

  Again with the Seaton Falls royalty crap...

  I ignored it because matching her attitude would be incredibly counterproductive and I didn’t have much time.

  “Listen, I know I came off harsh the other day, but I wasn’t in the best mood, and I was on edge about the first game and—”

  “Is there a condensed version of this sad, sad story? Cliff’s Notes maybe? Because I have someplace to be.” She aimed her thumb over her shoulder, toward the classroom where she’d been headed before I stopped her.

  I took a breath. Should’ve known she wouldn’t make this easy. I hurt her feelings, was a little meaner to her than she may have deserved, but still, she was being childish.

  Then I remembered she was only a sophomore and her behavior made sense again.

  “Just wanted to say I’m sorry,” I sighed. “You caught the brunt of everything I had going on and I shouldn’t have dumped on you like I did.”

  Her eyes searched my face. It felt like she was gaging whether I had earned her forgiveness or not. The hard look she wore made it difficult to tell what conclusion she reached.

  “Okay… I suppose you’ve groveled enough,” she mumbled. “Apology accepted.”

  I
smiled a little. “Cool.”

  We walked together since we were headed the same way, giving ourselves a fighting chance to make it to our classes on time.

  There was, of course, something I needed to say; something I needed to ask, but I wasn’t sure this was a good time. Asking for favors after apologizing to someone can make it seem kind of disingenuous, but for me, time was of the essence. The best I could hope was that Roz would understand I couldn’t afford to put any of this off. Not even at the risk of undoing the work I’d just done to get back in her good graces.

  “So, I know my timing might not be ideal, but… any chance you’d be willing to help me with something?”

  She glanced at me from the corner of her eye. “Depends on what it is.”

  “I have questions,” I replied. “You know… about the stuff you brought up Friday.”

  “Oh, you mean the stuff you did with the truck? The stuff you made me think I was crazy for mentioning? Stuff like that?” She laid the sarcasm on super thick. At least she kept her voice down so no one could hear but us.

  I sighed. “Yeah… stuff like that. Can you help me or not?”

  We reached an intersection in the hallway and stopped where our paths had to diverge. She glanced at me, narrowing her eyes. If she agreed to do this, I knew it wasn’t so much because she wanted to help me, per se, but had more to do with how incredibly nosey she was. She wanted answers as badly as I did.

  You might say we had a mutual interest.

  “Okay, I’ll bite,” she conceded, turning over the stack of books in her hand to use as a writing surface. She snatched a sheet of lined paper from her notebook and scribbled her phone number on it before handing it to me.

  “I need to know something, though,” she said, her gaze scanning me with blatant suspicion.

  I stared, waiting for her to continue.

  “What changed your mind?”

  I couldn’t tell her what happened to me, but I could tell her our thoughts weren’t as different as she once thought.

  “My eyes are just open now,” was the answer I gave and that seemed to be enough for her.