Chapter 76

(Maya POV)

I knew there was something more the council wasn’t telling us. One thing I was beginning to learn was nothing ever happened by chance, not in this world. Not in the world of the supernatural. The council invited us to sit, and they began to explain what had gone on all those years ago.

“Many years ago, the packs were a mess. Fighting and going to war constantly! There were no allies, there was no peace. Every pack looked for their own way to gain more power, to become stronger in battle. Some turned to witches, others turned to vampires, but your grandfather came to us. He told us that he didn’t want an army, he wanted a legacy. Hi pack had not been taken down and remained as the strongest pack, so he did not ask for immediate help. He wanted to have a long-term plan to stay the strongest pack. So, he came to us, and asked for a girl. A girl he could mate with that would give him an heir that would become the strongest Alpha there ever was.” One of council members begins.

Another continues, “At the time we as the Fae had kept to ourselves, but then there were fewer of our kind. You see, many of our people had died due to a strange illness that affected Fae only. We feared that our kind would soon be lost, so we agreed to his wishes hoping that eventually more of our kind could be mated to members of his pack. So even if we would not continue on, our essence would live on. Even if it was not pure, we didn’t care. However, something like this had never been done before, so we chose one of the strongest and most pure of our kind to be his mate. In hopes that she would be strong enough to create and carry a hybrid child. In a sense it was a test to see if such a thing would be possible. In the meantime, our people searched for a cure, as a plan B you could say.”

“What happened to the girl who was sent to my grandfather?” I asked.

“He mated with her and she soon was carrying his child. However, she died soon after the child was born. The toll it took on her body was too much.” Another member replied.

“Then why would you send my mother to mate with my father if one of your kind had already failed to survive?” I ask feeling my anger growing.

“Because she did not fail. A hybrid child was born, and that was her mission.” The oldest council member answered.

“This agreement, what did you promise my grandfather exactly?” I ask them.

“After your father was born, your grandfather wished to have more of our kind mate with his strongest warriors. But by then we had found a cure for the illness and we had begun to flourish again. So, we denied his request. He was furious of course but we agreed to provide him with 1 of our people for each of his decedents to mate with. This seemed to be enough to satisfy him, so when his son came of age, we fulfilled our deal.” They reply.

“My mother.” I say.

“Yes, your mother was sent to mate with the next Alpha and provide him with an heir. Only when she saw the man this Alpha was, she was afraid of what he would do with their child. She had overheard he speaking to some of his warriors about expanding their territory and killing the alphas of all the surrounding packs and taking over. She was afraid that he would use their child as a weapon to further this agenda. She had fallen in love with another man in the pack, and he was the one who convinced her that she should run. But she knew that your father would not give up his plans, so she wanted to be sure that her child would be strong enough to fight back. That the child would have not only the power but also the army she would need to fight. As a hybrid it was hard to determine what kind of power the child would possess until it was matured enough.” Another pause came, and another member continued the story.

“She knew that mates provide power and strength, so she came to us. She asked us to bond you with another Fae, so that when the time came you would be stronger than even your father. We told her that even if we bonded you to one of the strongest from our land, it would still not be enough. So, she offered an alternative or more like a gamble. There was an ancient ritual done by our kind when supernatural creatures lived among each other. When one group ruled over all supernatural creatures. One person would be mated to a child from each of the supernatural groups. As proof of the unity between all of our kind, and the woman who was chosen to lead would be the most powerful supernatural being alive.” I was beginning to grow frustrated as each member took a turn telling part of the story.

“The peace did not last, and each kind went their own way. So, the practice was never used again. Your mother had read about the ceremony when she was a child and asked if we would perform the ceremony on her child. We had not considered your father a serious threat at the time and did not take her request seriously. So, she left, and went into hiding with the man she loved. A few months passed and your father had torn through four surrounding packs in search of her, killing the alphas and taking over the packs which made his wolf grow stronger. One day an Alpha came to us for help, asking for protection for his pack. A spell, anything we could offer him. Because a dangerous alpha was coming for them. We knew who that alpha was, and that taste of power was making him more ambitious. Clans of vampires were killed or taken hostage, then witches were killed, more and more supernatural creatures were killed or forced to help this dangerous alpha.” Another pause.

“Your father wanted to be the most power supernatural creature in the world, and he was willing to kill anyone to get it. We knew soon he would come for us as well, but we had done well at keeping ourselves hidden. Then we remembered the request your mother had made. So, we reached out to her, and we asked the alpha who requested our help to a meeting. We explained to your mother that bonding you to a Fae would not be enough. That you would need three more mates to complete the ritual. A mate that would represent the four elements of nature, the root of all Fae power. We told this alpha that if he could offer three children to be mated to you, that we would provide him with the spell he needed. He agreed without hesitation! All four mothers were brought before us, and we bonded each child to you. We knew with such a bond you would become far more powerful than your father and have the strength to stand against him.” This sounded insane to me.
“So, the alpha who came to you for help was Tommy’s father?” I ask them.

“Yes, but once the ritual had ended your mother became afraid that your father would somehow find out about you. So, she cut out all communication and disappeared. Alpha Gray, Tommy’s father would reach out to us in hopes that your mother had let us know where you were, but we never heard from her again. We got word that she had sought out help from a witch, to keep you hidden. No one could find you, not us and not your father.” One of them answered.

“I shifted for the first time when one of my father’s men tried to kidnap me.” I tell them. “After that was when strange things started happening.”

“The shift must have jump started your other abilities.” Thomas said suddenly.

“What was the first power that you displayed?” One of the council members asks me.

“I healed a child.” I tell them straight out.

“You healed someone?” They ask with slight surprise.

“The other powers showed up sporadically when I was escaping from my father. But only when me or someone close to me was threatened.” I continue.

“You have far exceeded the expectation we had when we joined you with your four mates. The power to heal is a very rare ability, a limited ability that is not easily passed on but one you must have acquired because of Thomas.” One-woman council member says.

I looked to Thomas. “I am also somewhat of an anomaly. My Fae ability is water manipulation, but I was born with a sub-ability where I can manipulate the body as well. That is how I was able to put you to sleep. My ability must have been passed to you when we were bonded as children.”

This was all too complicated. I wanted to scream because of the way my head hurt trying to understand everything I was being told.

“So, I was bonded to Thomas, Tommy, Eli and Noah so that I would possess the four Fae elemental powers and be strong enough to stop my father from trying to conquer all remaining supernatural creatures. Correct?” I ask hoping for a simple answer.

“Yes, in so many words.” They say.

“But what am I meant to do now? I don’t wish to fight a war! All I want is to get Tommy and Eli back!” I say.

“The only way to do that is to face your father, and end what he has started. This was what you were born to do Maya! This was what your mother wanted. For you to be strong enough to face him.” They tell me.

“But I don’t want to face him or fight him! I don’t want to have anything to do with this! I didn’t ask for any of it!” I was furious and panicked and a lot of other emotions.

I had been sucked into a situation I wanted no part of, and these people were acting as if I had no choice but to take on this impossible task. Because if I went against my father, I would inherit all he had taken. All the power he had would be mine, and I wasn’t ready for that.

In that moment all i wanted to do now was run.