Chapter 59 – The Rules and the Proposal
Cristal straightened in her seat, the shadows cast by the fireplace sharpening her features.
"There are rules you must follow," she said, her voice hardening. "And one of them you're not going to like at all."
Walter swallowed but said nothing.
She began to list them, counting on her fingers:
1. Never—EVER—eat human flesh during the full moon while you are transformed. That is the threshold of absolute madness.
2. You can eat anything a human eats. Normal food. Not raw prey meat.
3. You are allowed to hunt your own food. It is part of your instinct.
4. You will need to eat human flesh a couple of times a year. It's a dark biological necessity. If you refuse, the beast will devour you from the inside due to the deficiency. It is a tribute to the wolf to keep it at bay.
5. You cannot tell anyone you are a werewolf, under penalty of death.
6. If anyone discovers it—if a mortal learns the truth—you must eat them. It is the law of secrecy. Their silence must be consumed by you.
Walter interrupted her, his voice hoarse with dread.
"What do you mean human flesh? What are you talking about, Cristal? Humans don't eat human flesh!"
Cristal remained calm. "Yes, you're right. Humans don't eat human flesh."
Walter sighed with false relief. "Ugh, good, I'm glad you understand."
Cristal sliced through his relief with a bitter smile.
"You're absolutely right. Humans don't eat human flesh, but… my dear Walter… you're no longer human. You are a WEREWOLF."
She made a soothing gesture, though her eyes said the opposite.
"Relax. When the time comes, we'll talk about that rule. Before that, we need to discuss what we're going to do about your legs."
Walter felt a chill deeper than the bite itself. "What do you mean my legs?"
Cristal simply repeated with weight: "Your legs."
Titus intervened, panic creeping into his tone. "Oh, I hadn't even thought about that! How do we hide them? Bruno, we need to find a solution!"
Walter stared at his legs, confused by their fear. "I don't understand anything, guys. What's wrong with my legs?"
Titus looked at him with desperation. "You can't go to school walking, Walter! How are you going to explain that to the entire school and worse… to Detective Nash?!"
The Proposal
Bruno, with a calculating glint in his eyes, spoke up. "I have an alibi—a veil of falsehood we can weave. We'll say your recovery is the result of a daring experiment: a vaccine with stem cells and a series of cutting‑edge physical therapies, an ultra‑secret project from our laboratories. A miraculous cure born out of desperation. What do you think of this setup?"
Titus grimaced but admitted, "Hey, Bruno… the lie is cynical enough to work. Not a bad idea."
Cristal, skeptical, crossed her arms. "But that facade will crumble at the first touch of reality. Your parents must notify the school administration. It's a private institution; they know every guardian. How do we infiltrate this farce?"
Walter, clinging to the optimism of his cure and avoiding the darker truth, interrupted with fervor: "Wait! Bruno's idea isn't bad. My parents are perpetually abroad, and my aunt is my legal guardian. I can talk to her."
Cristal let out a short, bitter laugh. "Right, sure. Do you seriously think she'll bless you with such nonsense? It's total ruin if it fails."
Bruno insisted with a hint of coldness: "It's a suicidal idea. Who is going to swallow that story? And who in their right mind would help cover a fraud of that caliber?"
Walter's voice gained conviction, almost desperation: "My aunt will. She comes tomorrow afternoon; it's her usual day. We can talk to her then."
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Hook: Without knowing it, someone was watching him very closely…
Chapter 60 – The Plan and the Visit
Titus asked, the question hanging like a guillotine: "And with what promise or threat are we supposed to bend her will? What the hell are we going to tell her?"
Walter, closing his eyes, articulated hiis sinister plan with blind faith:
"This is the plan. Tomorrow, you'll all be here with me. I will stand up from this wheelchair. The simple sight of me standing, cured of my paralysis, will be enough for her joy to become our weapon. Her emotion will help cement the lie, and when she sees you all, she'll understand we're in the middle of something serious and irreversible."
"That's the plan. I can't wait to see my aunt's face!" Walter spat out, letting a malicious smile escape him.
"One more thing," he continued, his tone turning impatient, "I want to see Sarah. With all these emotions, I completely forgot about her. How is she not here?"
Titus answered promptly: "She's in one of the guest rooms."
Walter declared: "I want to see her."
He didn't wait for a second invitation. He moved with contained urgency, leaving Cristal and the twins in the vast hall. His steps were almost silent on the polished white floor that reflected the high ceiling above, but his mind worked at full speed, replaying every detail of the previous night.
He reached the white door—ultramodern in design, with an elegant handle in silver and white tones—and raised his hand, stopping just centimeters from its cold surface.
The silence on the other side was absolute. No breath. No shifting of sheets. Nothing. A vacuum that forced him to hold his breath.
Walter hesitated, his initial impulse to burst in overtaken by a strange caution. The threshold felt like a barrier thicker than mere wood. No light filtered from underneath. No shadow betrayed movement. Nothing could be seen, and that visual and auditory void filled him with the worst kind of nervousness: fear of the unknown.
He sensed a subtle change in the air's temperature, as if the cold from outside had concentrated right behind that closed door.
Meanwhile — Back in the Main Hall
The tension was palpable in the elegant hall of the twins' mansion. Titus, Cristal, and Bruno—all three werewolves—stood together; only two of them knew the truth of their royal lineage.
Titus broke the silence, his voice barely a whisper: "Cristal, Bruno… how was my transition into a werewolf? Was it painful? Was it like Walter's?"
Cristal stepped forward slightly, expression serious: "No… not entirely. You didn't need to be bitten, because the DNA was already in your body; it only needed activation. It's a ritual we lycans use when transformation hasn't been achieved by other means."
She paused. "Also, the person who performs it must be someone with royal blood."
Titus frowned, confused. "What do you mean, royal blood?"
Cristal straightened her posture, revealing the truth without hesitation.
"Bruno and I are the prince and princess of the Clan of the Two Moons. Our father is the Alpha Elder—the King."
"And what does that have to do with me?" Titus asked, a shiver crawling up his spine.
Bruno, who had remained silent until then, stepped forward, his gaze fixed on Titus.
"The answer is very simple, Titus. You are royalty, just like us."
Titus's face twisted in disbelief and hurt.
"Royalty? No! You're wrong! I'm just a nerd lucky enough to know you guys. What the hell? No, this can't be. This is a joke. Are you trying to be funny? I don't care about the bullying or the jokes—but from you? My friends?"
He took a deep breath—ending in a sigh soaked in pain.
At that moment, the twins exchanged a look. With almost overwhelming solemnity, they positioned themselves before Titus.
Then, in a perfectly synchronized movement—one born from years of tradition—Cristal and Bruno knelt before him.
One knee touched the floor in reverence, the other remained upright, forming a respectful angle. They bowed their heads in perfect unison and, as if one voice resonated in the room, they declared:
"Welcome, our King. The order has finally arrived."
Titus panicked, bringing a hand to his head. "What are you doing? Get up! Please—stop. Don't do that, this isn't funny."
Bruno and Cristal lifted their eyes toward him without rising, maintaining their posture of reverence. Their voices merged again into a solemn echo:
"My King, this is not a joke."
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Hook: And that silence hid a danger that would soon come to light…