The Past Unveiled

*Lyric* (Edmund)

Rayne sat with Parker on the couch across from him, Arabella stood behind his chair with her hands on both temples, her voice soothing yet unnerving. She was trying to calm his nerves, open his mind to help ease the way for her magic to work. He was nervous about what this would lead to. What his mind held in its dark grip. What would he be like once she put his memories back together?

Would he remember everything? Would there still be missing pieces? The questions swirled around his mind as she concentrated on her spell, on calming the turmoil of his broken soul. If this worked and she made him whole again, he would owe Arabella a great debt, one he wasn’t sure he could ever repay.

“Are you ready, Edmund?”

He merely nodded his head. He couldn’t find the words to tell her how nervous he was, yet in the next instant a calm settled over him. Then darkness descended, blanketing him as what felt like silk slid across his mind.


*Flashback*
*Fourteen years ago*

The war had been raging for three months now. There didn’t seem to be any end in sight as every day he lost more warriors. Wilson was no help at all, spent almost all day and night drunk while his children stayed with Mia and Rayne in the bunker under the mansion. All the elders, children, and unshifted wolves were safely down in the bunker as the war crept closer and closer to their borders. Edmund was doing everything that he could to keep his pack together despite their failing Alpha. He was tired, wounded from a skirmish a few nights ago, and running a pack alone while Wilson drowned himself in booze.

Their gamma David died in the fight a few nights ago when three wolves from another pack attacked him at the same time. By the time Edmund could break free of his fight, David was dead. They brought their dead home for their families to mourn, only to go back out the next night to aid their neighbors as they too were raided. Wilson was again missing in action, no doubt buried in his bottle of gin, drowning out the memory of his dead mate.

While Edmund could understand Wilson’s pain, losing one’s soul mate was unimaginable for many. If he ever lost Mia, how Wilson had lost Kara, he was sure he would lose his mind too. Alec and Bridgette lost their mother and father the same day Kara died, Wilson was alive, but was a ghost of who he once was. A once powerful, gentle Alpha that the pack was proud to stand behind. Now he was a drunk who hid from the world, while his children and his pack suffered.

Tonight, Edmund was hoping to have a few hours of peace, to spend it with his mate and his daughter. He missed their faces. When he made his way down into the bunker, he found them curled up on a bed fast asleep, so with a soft sigh, he climbed in with them, held his family tight for a few hours of sleep. If only he knew that it was the last time, he would see his mate, or hold his daughter while she slept.

He was woken up by the screaming of women and children, the growls of his warriors as they were trying to protect the bunker. From the sounds coming from above them, he knew that they had breached the mansion. The war was now on their doorstep, his fear level spiked for his family, for his pack. He jumped up from the bed, pulling Mia and Rayne up with him.

“Rayne, baby, I needed you to go find Alec and Bridgette. Take them to your fort by the Glenn, stay there until I come for you. Do you understand?” Her pale green eyes looked up at him, fear written all over her little face.

“Yes, Papa,” Her little voice squeaked out as he knelt to wrap her in a tight hug.

“Now go, fast and silent as I taught you, through the back tunnel.” He turned her around, gave her back a little pat to get her moving.

As she ran away, his eyes watered. His breath hitched before he stood and turned to face Mia. “You ready for this, my love? They are here and are not backing down. I need you to fight with me. We have to take this fight to them so that Gavin and Terry can get the rest of our pack to safety.”

“I got this Eddie, I was a warrior before Rayne was born, I can fight.” She rolled her shoulders as she got into her fighting stance, the fire in her heart igniting behind her eyes.

“Then let’s go help our warriors fight.”

The night wore on as they fought for the survival of their pack members, for their children. Every warrior he had was weary, wounded from previous fights, but they trudged on, launched back into the fray to protect what was theirs. At some point, he lost sight of Mia, but he knew she was a powerful fighter and could hold her own, though he would feel better if he knew she was still doing fine.

He saw her wolf off to his left, streaking through the woods. She launched into the air onto the back of a wolf going in for the kill on one of their fellow warriors. Mia bit into the neck, snapping it to the side, killing the wolf instantly, then streaked off to find another fight. The warrior she saved rolled over, shook off the near-death, then followed her. His mate was amazing.

A low growl to his right forced his attention back to the fight. Out of the trees, a dark brown wolf stalked towards him. A scar across its snout made him frown. Why was Wilson out here fighting? If he was sober, that would be a helpful addition to their battle. From what Edmund had seen of the man from earlier that morning, there was no way he was sober. Wilson was in stalker mode as he circled Edmund. This would not be good.

*What are you doing, Wilson? The fight is out there in the forest, not here with me* He said through their mindlink.

*You have it all, don’t you, Eddie? *

What the fuck was he talking about? They were at war, for Goddess’s sake.

*You have a warrior goddess as a mate. An amazing daughter. *

*Kara was not your fault, Wilson. She died in childbirth. *

*You have it all..... and I HAVE NOTHING!!!* With the last part, Wilson launched himself at Edmund.

The last shred of his Alpha’s sanity had snapped, Edmund pivoted as to his left as Wilson flew at him, turning as he went past him. He faced his best friend with determination. He didn’t want to kill him, but would if it meant protecting his pack. He rushed forward, snapping his canines at Wilson as the fight began. They were both powerful fighters; they knew each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and fighting styles. They had never defeated one another in the past when they sparred. This fight would be different, Wilson was sluggish because of the alcohol, but he was still strong.

Edmund growled out in pain as Wilson swiped his back with his claws. He spun around, bitting onto Wilson’s front paw as he tried to move away. They went back and forth clawing, bitting, and snapping at each other. One minute he had the upper hand, the next Wilson was in control, then the horrible pain he felt sear across his gut. It was not his pain; he was feeling Mia’s as she took a claw across her abdomen. He took his focus off Wilson, which was all he needed.

Wilson swiped his right front claws across Edmunds’s face, tearing a line down the left side of his face, then kicked him off with his back paws. It sent Edmund flying a few feet away, landing against the base of a tree, pain searing through his head as it bounced off the trunk of the tree. His vision blurred as he fought against the pain. He would not go out like this, he had to finish this fight and get to his mate.

As he struggled to his feet, he saw her. She came limping out of the trees behind Wilson, her canines bared as she growled loudly to get his attention. Wilson swung his head around as she stalked forward to join the fight. He growled loudly as his rage spiked at seeing his Beta’s mate alive. He turned back around, ran towards Edmund, with the obvious intention of ending the fight.

“Papa!!” Rayne’s voice came out of the darkness.

Edmund lifted his head to look to where he knew with a sinking heart that his little girl stood, struggled to stand as he saw Wilson swing his head in Rayne’s direction. Mia saw it too, dashing forward to put herself between Wilson and her daughter, which to Edmund’s utter horror was where Wilson was now moving to.

His best friend was now going to hurt his child.

Edmund struggled to his feet, darkness blurring his vision as he gained his feet, as it cleared the sight before his eyes made him falter. Wilson had Mia by the throat, his teeth embedded deep, blood staining her fur. With one final powerful move, he ripped her throat out, and Mia fell lifeless to the forest floor.

“Mama!!!!” Rayne screamed, backing away, her eyes filling with tears, fear wafting off her in waves.

Edmund rushed forward, launched himself onto Wilson’s back, snapping his teeth into the fur at the back of his neck until blood flowed freely. Wilson roared in pain, bucked trying to get Edmund off him, he succeeded by flinging him to the ground. Growling loudly, Wilson turned and fled into the woods, leaving Edmund bleeding on the ground next to his dead mate.

He jumped up as Rayne fell over her mother’s body, then he raced after Wilson to put an end to the man that just brutally murdered his mate. He found him a few miles away from pack borders, whimpering in pain, Edmund launched himself at Wilson full-on as he took him by surprise. With the upper hand, he went for the throat to rip it out as Wilson had with Mia, but Wilson got out of his grip. His rage was overwhelming as he fought viciously to kill Edmund. They both were now suffering the loss of their soul mates.

Yet Edmund now fought for his daughter, for Rayne was all that was important to him now.

Wilson had to die for her to be safe. She was a witness to the horrible crime her Alpha had committed; he knew Wilson would try to kill her too. Pain exploded in his back as he was kicked away, hitting the ground hard. Before he could regain his feet Wilson was above him. He slammed his head into Edmund’s over and over, then swiped his from left paw down his chest, blood spewing from the jagged tears in his flesh. With one last swipe of his claws, Wilson stepped back and fled.

Darkness dotted Edmunds’s vision as he felt his life drain out of him as he bled out. All he could think of was Rayne, how he had left her behind instead of staying to protect her. His vision narrowed to a pinpoint of silvery moonlight. He prayed to the Moon Goddess to protect his daughter where he had failed. Then everything went dark as he faded away.

*End Flashback*

Lyric took a gasping breath as the silk slid free of his mind, leaving him staring across at Rayne who had tears streaking down her face. Her hand was tightly gripping Parker’s, his arms wrapped around her as she cried. Arabella had linked them together so she could help Rayne unlock her memories of that night as she pieced him together. Arabella took a step back as he stood from the chair, he walked across the small space the separated him from Rayne.

He went down on his knees in front of her, reached his shaky hands up to cup her face, “Ray, baby, I am so sorry that I left you. I should have stayed with you. I am so sorry”

Rayne launched herself out of Parker’s arms to tackle Edmund in a long-overdue hug, her arms wrapped around his neck as she held onto him and sobbed out her pain. “It wasn’t your fault, Papa. He killed her because she was protecting me. It wasn’t your fault.”

“I left you alone, Ray, because of that he hurt you in more ways. I saw in your mind what he did to you.”

She flinched at his words, pulled back from him, “No, that was not what we saw tonight. No.” She scooted away from him as fresh tears streaked down her face.

“I saw it yesterday. I was here in the morning before I met you in the bar.”

“What?”

“I was walking by on the beach yesterday morning, I was humming to the birds, then I felt this intense wave of pain wash over me, then I looked up and saw you rocking back and forth with a blank look on your face.”

“You were who I chased into the woods when I got back from the bar,” Parker spoke for the first time since they began the spell.

“All I did was soothe her with my song, pick her, put her on the couch. I covered her with that blanket, then left after I fought the feeling that I knew her somehow. I did not know she owned that bar that I would later walk into for a meal.”

“I would have chased you more if I had sensed any ill intent, but when I lost you in the woods, Rayne was my only priority.”

“For how you love her I will forever be grateful you.”

Rayne let out a soft sob, “Papa...”

“Come here, I will let no one hurt you ever again.” When she came into his embrace, he shared a look with Parker. They nodded to each other.

They made an unspoken pact between the two of them to protect the one woman that they both loved. He knew that if Wilson ever crossed their path; he was a dead wolf. That thought gave him more comfort than anything else had so far today. Edmund would make him pay for Mia’s life, for the abuse he put Rayne through, and most of all for taking away her innocence in the brutal way he had.

For Rayne, he would rip Wilson’s head clean off.


*Rayne*

Hours later, she sat in her room as she was still processing the memories that were revealed today. She finally had answers to why Wilson had treated her so horribly, why he had beat her into what he thought was submission. He wanted to keep her afraid, to keep her memory of that night locked in her mind. He was afraid of her nightmares more than she was.

Afraid that Rayne would remember the way he had murdered her mother as she tried to protect her mate and her child. He would lose the position of Alpha and be killed for his crime, not banished, but he would face death for the murder of a pack mate. His crime was not one of self-defense, but of cold-blooded murder.

Oh, how Rayne wished she would have remembered years ago what he had done that night.

Her father had left shortly after to go for a run after Arabella had helped him connect with his wolf Maxwell. Parker had helped talk him through the transformation, then went with him for the first thirty minutes, then left him to connect with nature and his wolf. Parker was in the space above the garage, taking measurements on what they would need to do to get it in shape for Edmund to live there.

Between the two of them, they had convinced her father it was a good fit. He balked, but caved, saying that it would only be temporary until he found a job and a place of his own. Telling him that there was no need for any of that was met with a stony look, then silence. She knew he would stay.

They had so much time to make up for. She would make that time count for everything she had to give. After fourteen years, she had her father back. The man who taught her to be stealthy like that night, to run like the wind, and sang her to sleep every night. Her papa was alive and she would help them live their best lives possible.

As soon as she dealt with Morty and his demon problem later today. Arabella agreed to talk to him, unsure if she could do a spell of that magnitude, but she will try. Now all they could do was wait while she prepared what she needed for the spell. She had gone back to her house in Paris, saying that she would be back before sundown.

So with any luck at all ninety percent of her stress level would be solved by tonight.

The thought of the unknown danger that Jazmine mentioned still lingered in her mind. Who could the man be that wanted to hurt her? She already knew who the guilty man was, Sebastion. Would he be the next person from her past to just suddenly pop back into her life? How would she handle that? How would Parker handle meeting Sebastion?

They had only met briefly that one night, but he had left a poor impression on her, cementing in her mind at the time that she never wanted a mate. How would that affect her now that she and Parker were in this new stage of their relationship? She hoped she was wrong, that Sebastion was not the guilt-ridden man in Jazmine’s vision.

He was not wanted in her life.

Not then.

Not now.

Never.