Chapter : 880
I paused, letting my gaze sweep over every face.
“But I did grow up fighting for People who didn’t have a voice. I grew up protecting
those who couldn’t protect themselves. And I didn’t cheat to get here.”
The power inside me shifted; it was almost as if it was listening to me and responding.
“I won that competition because I earned it,” I said. “Every bruise. Every broken bone. Every hour of training. And if you actually see the footage instead of believing gossip, you’d already know that.”
A low hum rolled through the air.
Some swallowed hard, and others stepped back without realizing they were doing it.
“I’m not perfect,” I went on. “I don’t know everything, and I won’t pretend I do. But I will learn. I will listen. And I will protect this pack with everything I have. Some of you know me… I grew up with you, and you know that I’m not deceitful and I never have been.”
Mouths dropped, and phones were capturing pictures and videos; all I could see were flashes and dropped jaws.
“Holy shit… what the hell are you?” Olivia asked as she stepped back, her eyes wide as she stared at me. Without waiting for a reply, she quickly turned to the shocked crowd. “And this is another reason why Judy shouldn’t be our Luna… because look at her! She’s a freak. We deserve someone more deserving like Lila Blackwell!!!!”
Wait… what??
Nan rushed towards me before I could even grasp what was even said; in her hands, she held a long, dark coat that I knew belonged to Gavin. Confusion swept over me, and I turned to look at Gavin, but he was no longer standing where he was, and neither were Irene and Matt.
Nan draped the coat around my shoulders and turned me away from the onlooking crowd.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You are glowing,” she whispered.
I frowned.
“Probably my pregnancy,” I told her, glancing at my rounded belly.
She rolled her eyes and grabbed my arm, lifting it so I could see what she was talking about, and then my jaw dropped.
She was right… I was glowing like literally glowing.
“Oh my god,” I whispered hoarsely. “Did everybody see?”
Suddenly, I was mortified. I already knew the answer to that question: if Nan saw… then everybody saw, and it explained the dropped jaws and the sudden need to take pictures instead of video.
“Uh, yeah… just about,” she said, biting her lower lip, “Gavin’s already trying to get every video of that pulled, and he’s locking down the pack so nobody can go off and spread misinformation. He put me in charge of getting you out of here.”
“Getting me out of here? He wants me to run?”
“He just wants you to stay low for a few minutes,” she admitted as she tugged me away from the onlooking crowd.
Irene was already waiting for us further inside the packhouse, pacing back and forth.
“Okay… this might be bad,” she said, turning to look at me.
“What?” I asked, desperate for any information. “What’s going on?”
“You are trending,” she said, holding up her phone for me to see. “There are already articles about you glowing. Now they think you are some magical being… or alien. They are wondering even more now if you are fit to be a luna.”
My heart cracked at her words.
This wasn’t fair. Why was this suddenly happening to me?
“Judy!” I heard my name from a close distance, and when I turned, I saw Selene rushing towards me with Esme right behind her. Trance ass soon as I saw the headlines,” she said, grabbing onto my arms. “I don’t believe for a second that you cheated.”
“Did you see the newest headline?” Irene asked, holding up her phone.
Selene took her phone, and I watched her eyes scan the screen, her brows pinched together.
“What does this mean?” Selene asked. “You were glowing?”
I stared down at my body and saw that I was no longer glowing, and I let out a breath of relief.
“It stopped,” Nan said, almost just as shocked as I felt.
“I don’t understand,” Selene said, shaking her head. “What does this even mean? What’s going on with my daughter??”
“Her magic had been unlocked,” Esme said, her eyes wide as she stepped forward.
I was still getting used to the fact that she was now walking and talking.
“What do you mean it’s been unlocked?” Selene asked, turning to face her mother- in-law.
“I mean just as said…” she said, her eyes fixed on me as she spoke. “Magic has a mind of its own on most days. It won’t tolerate a host
that can’t even stand on its own two feet. It’ll remain locked away inside of a person until they feel they are worthy or they feel they can mord them into someone that can be worthy.”
She paused as she stared around at the small group that surrounded me, all looking warily at one another.
“In other words… something Judy
had said made the magic inside of
her trust her enough to be unlocked. Her magic might not have affected her too much before but now it will hope you are ready, Judy Montague. Your life is about to get more complicated.”