Chapter 40

I nearly fainted. Brianna had an adult daughter? When? How? That was impossible, wasn’t it? My dead cousin was only a year older than me, so how could she have birthed a fully grown woman like this one?
“I don’t understand,” I said.
“My mother was Brianna Miner, from the Moon Pack,” she said. “She lived in the mountains where everyone called her Nana.”
I exhaled loudly with relief. “Good gracious, you almost scared me,” I said.
“Do you know of another Brianna?” She asked.
“Yeah, but she’s dead now. Thankfully.”
“Wow…”
“I know how that sounds, but trust me, she was a bad person,” I assured her. “The world is a better place without her.”
She smiled in response.
“I didn’t know Nana had a daughter,” I said. “She never mentioned you when I was with her.”
“I’m sure she didn’t,” said the woman. “My name is Freya, by the way.”
“Another By-the-way?” I laughed, remembering Albert.
“What?”
“Never mind. Inside joke,” I said. “So, tell me, why didn’t Nana ever talk about you? Where have you been?”
Freya sighed. “My mother thought I was a disgrace.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Because she thought I was betraying the order of the Moon Pack. We are all gifted with different powers. Some with healing powers, some with the gift of sorcery and others with the power to read minds.”
“Wow… I’ve never heard of your pack before.”
“Yes. We live among other packs and serve them with our gifts. That was how the Moon Goddess designed it. We are hardly ever together in the same place because we are scattered across various territories.”
“That’s interesting,” I said, enjoying her story.
“Unfortunately, we are not treated with the kind of respect we deserve,” said Freya bitterly. “We are practically at the mercy of our host packs. They provide us with our food and shelter and if they don’t, we are left to starve and live under the sky like wild animals.”
“That’s sad.”
“It is. I got tired of living like that and decided to start charging money or tributes from my host packs. When my mother heard about it, she was mad at me. Said I was going against the laws of the Moon Goddess. She told me to stop but I didn’t. Instead, I left her and started to tour different territories. It was a good time for me.”
The sad smile on her face told me that there was more to the story that she hadn’t yet mentioned.
“Why are you travelling in a rickety wagon like this now?” I asked point blank. “Shouldn’t you be riding on a grand caravan or a stallion like a rich woman?”
She chuckled. “I lost everything,” she said plainly. “I fell in love with a rogue who nearly robbed me blind and disappeared into thin air.”
My heart skipped. “Was he a Lycan?”
Freya stared at me. “Was that a lucky guess or do you already know who I am talking about?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” I said playfully. I was trying to lighten the mood because I could see the tension on her shoulders as she continued to stare at me.
“Well…” she continued. “He was – is a Lycan. Said his name was Hazim.”
“Phew! At least he told you his real name,” I chuckled.
“He robbed you too?”
“No,” I laughed and told her about him and Sasha.
“The bastard…” Freya muttered. “He was always so charming.”
“Still is. Is he the one you’re going to look for in the east?”
“No. I’ve made my peace with the mistakes of my past,” she said. “I’m heading east for a fresh start.”
Mariah began to fuss because she was sleepy. I cradled her in my arms and rocked her to sleep. I noticed that her nappy was soiled too and that was probably another reason why she was uncomfortable.
“Let me help you with that,” said Freya. She took Mariah from me and replaced her messy nappy with a thick scarf from her bag.
Once she was done cleaning up Mariah, she handed the sleeping toddler back to me tenderly, with a smile on her face.
“Do you have kids?” I asked.
“No,” she replied sadly. “I was never blessed with one.”
“Sorry,” I said.
“Is she yours?” She asked me, nodding at Mariah.
“Uh, yes. She’s my… stepdaughter. We’re going to the east to reunite with her family.”
“Her family?”
I sighed. “It’s a long story.”
“I know,” she replied softly. “You’re on a journey and the east is your next stop.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. You are searching for something that has eluded you all of your life. You will find it eventually, but not without struggles.”
“I see you and your mother have that thing in common,” I remarked dryly.
“What thing?”
“Speaking in riddles. Why don’t you just talk plainly and let me know what you mean?”
“I can only tell you what I know,” she said defensively. “That was how the vision came to me.”
“Well, didn’t the vision show you when this so-called journey will end? Haven’t I suffered enough?”
Freya smiled patiently. “There’s a lesson to learn from all of this, you know.”
“I don’t want to learn any lesson. I just want to be happy,” I said with a pout.
“And you will be, eventually.”
“Right.”
“This necklace isn’t a good thing to carry around though.”
“I knew it!” I said and yanked it off my neck. “It has never brought me any good thing. It’s like a symbol of bad luck.”
“The one who formed it made it out of deep sorrow. We never found out how Alpha Vin came by it.”
“Who’s Alpha Vin?”
“The triplet’s father. He gifted it to his mate, Luna Riya. She used her Moon Pack power of sorcery to enchant it, binding her sons together with it and tying them to one mate.
“It wasn’t supposed to be so by fate. They will love you and hate you in equal measure because they were all not supposed to be yours in the first place. Only the one who found you first should have been your mate alone.”
Freya’s words sent chills down my spine. I was totally speechless. So, Dominic was supposed to be my only mate among the triplets. Was that why he was more lenient towards me when I returned to the castle?
“Just like Riya, you shall be mated three times in this lifetime and your happiness will always come at a price,” she added.
“Riya had three mates too?”
“Yes. Alpha Vin was her third and final mate. When she recreated this necklace, she left some of her essence in it. Her aura of sorrow follows you everywhere because of it.”
“You mean it’s cursed?” I asked fearfully. I flung the necklace away quickly and it landed on the dirt ground behind us as the wagon drove on.
“Why did you do that?” Freya asked me with wide eyes.
“Why not? You said it was cursed. What else do I need it for if all it ever brings is bad luck?”
“Throwing it away isn’t the solution. We have to destroy it properly.”
“Well, you can get down and go after it. I don’t ever want to see that damned thing again.”
“I understand, but – “
“No buts, Freya. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
“Fine,” she said and kept quiet.
The ride continued for several hours and I finally fell asleep. I later woke up to the voice of the wagon driver announcing to us that we had arrived in the east.
“This is where we part ways,” said Freya, rising to her feet. “You never told me your name.”
“Jade,” I replied. “Will I see you again?”
“I think so,” she said with a smile. “Try to enjoy your time here, Jade. When the storm comes, it will be huge but you will survive it. Your journey doesn’t end here.”
“What storm?” I asked her but she was already getting off the wagon with the other passengers.
I watched her leave without sparing another glance in my direction. Why would she leave me with the most unsettling riddle ever? How annoying!
“Are you going to get down or what?” The driver asked me with a frown.
Everyone else had already left and it was just me and Mariah remaining in the wagon. She was awake and looking around curiously.
“Do you by any chance know where the Gypsy camp might be around here?” I asked him.
He shrugged. “Not really but Gypsies are fond of camping on the outskirts of any territory they visit. Now, get off. I need to go home and rest after that long ride.”
“Sure,” I said and got off the wagon with Mariah in my arms.