"Those werewolves are innocent," I slowly said, my mind immediately finding the familiar faces I had come to know and love after leaving my father’s pack. "Not everyone is a piece of shit like Dad was."

"Your father was truly an exceptionally revolting piece of shit, that is true," my mother said without a moment’s worth of hesitation, nodding agreeably. She turned back and took a seat on the armchair, gesturing for me to sit on the couch.

I didn’t move, and she didn’t insist.

"But I see now. My family had always been right― werewolves and humans were never meant to coexist in harmony. They’re the predator, while we are the prey," she said. "We either snuff them out, or we will end up killed by them."

"So this is why you didn’t bring me home after all these years," I said softly. "You weren’t just recovering. You were plotting revenge."

She looked at me, shocked. A dash of hurt flitted through her features as she pursed her lips, her eyebrows wrinkling as she silently watched me.

I couldn’t claim I didn’t understand. If I were her, perhaps I would’ve done the same. She betrayed her entire family, only to receive not the love she was promised, but a knife to her back.

"I have hurt you," she said softly. "Not like your father did, but arguably much worse. But I couldn’t have come for you back then. I wasn’t capable enough to keep you safe."

"And now you are?" I asked, scoffing, gesturing to the door. "By working with vampires?"

My mother’s face slowly melted into one of indifference. She watched calmly as I shook my head, bordering insanity as I paced back and forth.

I was torn between wanting to believe her and also, unable to understand what went through her mind. This thinking process was wild beyond any imagination― how could she join forces with a fox to get rid of a house cat?

"If your family consisted of generations of hunters, then you should also know that vampires aren’t sunshine and daisies either," I said through gritted teeth, frustrated. "If anything, they are even more dangerous than werewolves. Not all of them are vulnerable to silver, and they can’t be affected by simple herbs like wolfsbane."

"You are uneducated in myths and legends," my mother said. "Stormclaw has kept you too out of touch with the real world. But it’s alright, that’s understandable, considering how horribly they treated you."

She stood up from her seat, making her way to the tall windows on the other end of the room.

"A wooden stake driven into a vampire’s heart is enough to kill them," she said plainly. "That is arguably easier to obtain than silver. Besides, every supermarket sells garlic by the bunches now, costing no more than a dollar or two. If the vampires dared to do anything, I have as many humans willing to deal with them as they have high-ranking vampires who can fight back."

"Your human soldiers will be nothing but fodder," I said, immediately thinking back to how difficult it had been for even skilled fighters like Damon and Blaise when it came to an army of vampires, led by Petral and Ariana.

"You will be surprised what humans can do when they’re driven to the extremes," my mother said with a shrug. "Come," she beckoned. "Look at this world I’ve created."

I didn’t dare to stand too close to her, but curiosity bled within me. I ached to know what it was she wished to say. Thus, even though I approached where she stood by the window, I chose a spot furthest away from my mother, peering down at where she gestured to.

The view wasn’t nearly as high up as it was from the room I woke up in, but it was beautiful all the same. There were vehicles racing down the roads, and the lights of the city were bright and alive. This was nothing I could’ve ever seen in the countryside or in the forests where the werewolf packs were mainly located.

This was a human city, away from the world of the supernatural.

But these monsters lurked amongst us still. I didn’t know if the woman in front of me was one of them.

"There is strength in numbers," my mother said, her eyes glued to the city lights beneath us. "The entire city of Upper Lumen is filled with skilled hunters, outnumbering the normal civilians three to one. Here, we are surrounded by our kind. No vampire or werewolf would dare attempt anything."

Slowly, she peeled her eyes away from the glass windows. From its reflection, it felt as though I could see two sides of her― the woman whom I remembered as my mother, and the woman who was betrayed by my father. She had split into two, and one side seemed to overpower the other.

I was almost very sure that right now, she was more of a ruthless hunter than a loving mother.

"Have you never wondered why is it that you aren’t able to shift even though you’re part werewolf?" my mother asked.

"I did," I answered warily. "I assumed that I was more human than werewolf, or that as a hybrid, it’s impossible for me to shift."

"That is possible, but unlikely," my mother said with a laugh. "Throughout time immemorial, there have been many documented cases of werewolves finding their other halves in humans, producing half-breed children. Yet, from what I know, all of them have successfully shifted, forming families in the werewolf community, eventually forgetting their human roots."

"Seems like humans lived just fine with the werewolves, then," I said. "Co-existence is definitely possible." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"Perhaps," my mother replied. "But how many others have been left undocumented? How many of them throughout history have been murdered in cold blood, mate or not? Not to mention, you still haven’t gotten your wolf. Harper, my dear, you’re more human than wolf― and it’s time for you to pick the right side."

The smile on my mother’s face was unsettling in every imaginable way. My skin crawled just by watching her smile, even though any onlooker wouldn’t have thought any different of her from ordinary. She looked just as she did when I entered the room, but now that I had heard all these words spew from her lips, I couldn’t see her in the same light as I did in my memories.

I was in disbelief that she was alive. Then, a part of me rejoiced to be back here with her. But now, after all she said, I was afraid of what she would do to the people I loved.