Blair POV.
I collapsed onto my bed with a sigh. My mind was overloaded with everything that I’d seen and heard today. Watching Johnny turn into a Werewolf had been a rather shocking experience. Despite everything that everyone had told me, I still wasn’t convinced that a person could turn into a wolf. Not only did Johnny turn into a wolf, but he turned into a giant wolf, almost identical to the ones that I’d seen in my dreams with the strange woman. It was the simultaneously the worst and most fascinating thing that I’d ever seen.

I stood by the pool, staring at Zacky with wide eyes as Johnny stripped down to, well, nothing, next to him.
“Is this really necessary?” I protested.
“You’re not going to fully believe us until you see the proof for yourself, no matter what you say to us, or how hard you try to convince us otherwise. So yes, this is necessary.” I sighed and stared pointedly at the floor. Zacky sighed as well. “You’re not going to see this by staring at the floor Blair.” I didn’t reply, but I could feel the blush creeping up my cheeks and neck. He seriously wanted me to actually watch his friend get naked? He sighed again. “Andrea did nothing for you by keeping you so sheltered.” He muttered. “Christ. Start shifting.” I stayed staring at the floor until I heard a grunt of pain. Unable to withstand my curiosity, I looked up. What I saw made my stomach heave. Johnny’s body was contorting and changing. His head was starting to elongate into what I assumed would be a muzzle, his arms and legs shortening and changing shape, his fingers shrinking and withdrawing into the rest of his hand. The same was happening with his feet. His finger and toe nails were sharpening and growing into claws. He opened his mouth, revealing that his teeth were changing as well, becoming sharper and longer. I think I could have managed to watch it without reliving breakfast if it wasn’t for the sounds. I could hear every one of his joints and bones popping and cracking as he changed shape. On top of that his grunts of pain made it all unbearable. I spun around, rushing for the nearest bush. Zacky held my hair back out of my face as I emptied my breakfast into the garden. I gasped down air as quickly as I could while Zacky rubbed my back, trying to be soothing. It was a while after the noises had stopped before I was able to form a sentence.
“Th…that’s going to happen to me?” Zacky didn’t answer until I turned to look at him. He seemed to be regretting his choice to get Johnny to shift in front of me.
“Yes. Once you go through the Change.” I forced myself not to throw up again. “Look, I know that this is a lot to take in, but there are some things that I really need to talk to you about.”
“Starting with why you brought me here, right?” Zacky nodded.
“I’ll tell you everything that you want to know.”

He’d told me more than I’d ever wanted to know. He told me everything. Starting with how my ‘mother’ had kidnapped me when I was a few weeks old, to what would have happened to me if they hadn’t found me. And the scariest part was that I believed him.

I sat at the kitchen island, my hands clenched tightly around a glass of water.
“You grip that much harder and it’ll break.” Commented Zacky opposite me. I ignored his attempt at humour and continued to stare at my hands. I still felt sick to the stomach, but this time it wasn’t from watching someone Shift into a Werewolf. It was from the truth. Zacky was talking again, but I wasn’t paying attention. My mind seemed to be stuck on one thing.
“So who is my mother?” Zacky got to his feet.
“Wait here.” He walked out of the room, leaving me with my thoughts. How could the woman I’d always thought was my mother have lied to me for 19 years? A few weeks ago I’d have thought all of this to be impossible and walked out if someone had tried to tell me that my mom had kidnapped me when I was a baby, but now, I was sat here listening to it and believing it. What had changed?

Before I could answer my internal monologue, Zacky came back into the room holding a picture frame. He set it down on the counter between us and sighed.
“This” He swivelled the picture round so that I could see it properly. “is our Mom.” I stared in disbelief at him.
“Our…our Mom?” He nodded.
“You’re my half-sister Blair.” I looked down at the picture between us. Zacky was stood in between two women, one older, one younger. The elder one looked scarily like me, but older, obviously. The younger woman looked more like Zacky, she couldn’t have been much older than me.
“What’s her name?” My voice was barely a whisper. I felt like I didn’t know who I was anymore. Everything that I had known my whole life had been stripped away.
“Maria. This is Suzanna, she’s our sister.” It felt like the whole world was being turned upside down. My Mom wasn’t my Mom and I had a half-brother and a half-sister. I just couldn’t believe it. I looked up from the picture meeting Zacky’s worried gaze. “Tell me.” He frowned, obviously not quite understanding my emotion-filled request. “Tell me what happened.” He nodded and began to explain.

“My father died twenty years ago. Well more accurately he was killed twenty years ago by another vampire. I was three, Suzanna was one. A year and a half afterwards, mom met a young werewolf called Lucian. Neither of them expected the relationship to last, and to be honest, I don’t think that either of them wanted it to last.” He smiled. “What neither of them expected was you. Mom was thrilled, she never thought that she’d have another kid after dad died.”
“Were they soul mates?” He nodded.
“Most soul mates won’t survive the others death, but having me and Suzanna to look after pulled Mom through. She hired a nanny to look after me and Suzanna while she worked night shifts. Andrea knew nothing about the Otherworld until she started working for Mom. She figured it out slowly. It didn’t seem to bother her. She was always kind to both me and Suzy. We didn’t realise anything was wrong until she kidnapped you when you were three weeks old.” I shook my head, unable to believe him.
“This is impossible.” He sighed.
“You’ve got to believe me Blair. It broke mom’s heart when she took you. She searched and searched for you. I’m not kidding. She tried everything. No-one could find you. It was like you’d just vanished off the face of the earth or something. Best anyone could figure was that Andrea had hired a Fae illusionist, maybe a Coblynau or a bannick to conceal you.”
“Then how did you find me?”
“The illusion faded with time. The spell may have been just a one-off designed to hide you just to get away or for a few years, or it could have just weakened with time. Whatever she was thinking when she took you, Andrea obviously wasn’t thinking about the future, otherwise she’d have known that your life was at risk from the moment you turned 18.” I blinked.
“Say what?”
“In our world, the children of Vampires and Weres live essentially as humans until they hit roughly 18. Around that time they go through The Change, a series of genetic and physical changes that leaves you as what you were meant to be. For Weres that’s their first Shift, it all happens in one go at a full moon. For Vampires it’s different. It’s like a sickness. Without the proper care, expertise and a present Vampire, it can kill.”

I froze as the meaning of his words began to sink in. “In all likelihood Blair, either change could have killed you. If the Were Shift came first, the shock alone may have killed you, but without an Alpha to guide you through it, the chances of moon madness skyrocket. If it had been the Vampire Change, then your chances were just as bad. I was unable to process what he was telling me.
“Are you saying that I’m going to die?” He shook his head.
“No. You could have, if we hadn’t found you. With us, you will survive.”
“But this should have happened when I was 18. I’m 19.”
“It’s different for every person. 18 is the rough guide.” I ran a hand through my hair, still shocked. Zacky continued. “It’s ok. We got to you in time. Blair.” I looked at him. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. We’re going to help you through this, all of this. That I promise.”

I stared at the ceiling of my room, my mind still reeling. They’d been tracking me down for over six years. Apparently Mom had hidden us well. It had been the mysterious Danger that had located us in the end. I’d never even met the guy, and I already owed him my life. That was a humbling feeling.

“So how did you find me?”
“That was Danger’s doing. You’ve heard us mention Danger’s visions before, like when we arrived here?” I nodded wordlessly. “One of them showed you and a couple of landmarks from your local town. It’s how we were able to find you.”
“Who is Danger? I mean, what’s he like? He’s Fae right?”
“You’ll meet Danger soon enough. For now you should eat and get some rest. It’s been a long day,”

That had been the end of our conversation and Zacky had refused to restart it again, no matter how hard I’d tried. He’d cooked me pasta, made sure that I ate it, before saying that I should get some sleep and leaving me alone in the kitchen. Eventually, I did sleep, despite all of the questions running around my brain. Why was everyone so elusive about Danger? If Mom had hidden this from me, just what else had she hidden? Did I really know her like I thought that I did? And most of all I was starting to wonder just what Zacky and the others had yet to tell me. What were they hiding?