Chapter 61 - Night and day in purgatory.

They had to cover quite a distance before they finally reached the new shelter, and as Lena had expected, there wasn’t much. They were deeper in the forest this time, and there was nothing in the cave her mother picked out. Lena’s mind was still reeling after what her mother told her about purgatory when she realized why the furniture in the old place looked so rickety.

“How long did you stay there?” She groaned as her mother helped her to sit down on the ground. She literally only had water and the ground was freezing against her back.

“I don’t know.” Her mom shrugged. “You will soon find out, but time here moves differently than out there in the world. A day can last for months and a night for mere hours or, as you might have noticed, it can also be the other way around. You can’t really tell time here, and I think it’s part of the punishment you have to deal with.” Her mother sighed and Lena saw the pain flash in her eyes before she looked away. “Why did you use the death spell?”

“To protect my family and my pack.” She didn’t look at her mother as she answered without hesitating.

“Oh my! You have a family? That is amazing news! It means some of us survived.” Her mother breathed a sigh of relief, but a frown started to form. “Wait, did you say pack?” Anger started to form in her eyes.

“I think you had better sit down.” There was no better time than the present to tell her mother everything. Only the goddess knew how much time they would have before those damn hounds came after them again. Lena took a deep breath and she told her mother everything. From when she was captured up to the day she died. It had become clear she had died … She would have had to if she was in purgatory.

“I can’t believe this!” Her mom jumped up and took a couple of steps away. For a moment the darkness hid her face from Lena, but as soon as Lena saw her face, she was shocked. “You mated with a wolf! You have … I can’t even say it! It’s disgusting! How could you?! You turned your back on our people!” Before Lena could say anything else, her mother stormed out of the cave and she was left all on her own.

She was probably in just as much shock as her mother was, if not more. How could her mother have said those things? They always taught her to respect others … Then again, she never knew that her parents were assassins either! Now she was stuck in purgatory with a woman who clearly disapproved of her life and she would never see her family again!

That thought was enough to force her to find a way out. After the way her mother reacted, she wasn’t entirely sure if she should take her along when she left, but she was sure that she had to get out of there and fast. Lena got up and carefully made her way out of the cave. She couldn’t go in the same direction because the hounds would probably have found their burned-out shelter by now.

From what Lena knew about hell hounds, they only came after those they were specifically looking for and it was clear that they were now looking for her mother. Her heart ached to think of what her mom would go through if the hounds found her, but she couldn’t think about that now. She had to get herself out of there and she would only be able to do that if she was alive.

Lena looked around her, but everything looked the same as when she first arrived. The stars hadn’t moved and she was beginning to wonder if they ever did in this place. Deciding she needed to get as far away from the hounds as possible, she started to run in the opposite direction to the one they came from. There had to be someone else around that could tell her what to do or where to go.

If there were hounds, there had to be others. She couldn’t imagine that purgatory had only her parents there. All she had to do was find the others. After running for what felt like hours, Lena found a cave and she carefully made her way inside. It was empty and cold, but she found a spot in the back and curled up. Her mind didn’t want to let her sleep, but her body was so tired that it shut down as soon as she closed her eyes.

“Lena!” Someone shoved her slightly and she opened her eyes to find her mother glaring at her. It was daylight outside, but it was still freezing inside the cave. “I have been looking everywhere for you!” Her mother shouted as Lena slowly sat up. Every muscle in her body was acing because of the cold and she got up slowly not entirely sure what to tell the woman who was glaring at her. “Why did you leave the cave?”

“For starters, I thought you weren’t coming back. You were so angry when I told you … What I told you.” Lena sighed and she avoided referring directly to her family and her pack.

“Oh, honey, I will admit that it was a shock, but I would never leave you. You are my daughter.” Her mother stroked her cheek and Lena felt how cold her hands were. They needed to build a fire or something. “We can stay here, if you like.” Her mother smiled and Lena noticed that her beautiful teeth were now rotting. Wow! This place really turned people into monsters! She had to get out of here before she turned into one as well!

“Won’t the hounds come after us when they smell the fire?” Lena frowned and her mother laughed.

“They don’t come out when it’s day. It’s the only blessing we have around here. Or it could be a curse because it gives you hope when there is none, I guess.” The woman sighed before turning her attention to something else Lena hadn’t noticed yet. “Here, I caught some of these, and I found some water. I would have had more food if you stayed at the other cave, but I’m sure it’s gone by now.”

Lena was too scared to ask her mother what creature would have taken the food, since it was clear her mother believed that only monsters lived in purgatory. They built a fire, and while her mother cooked whatever that was, Lena took a moment to step out of the cave. She was hoping the sun would warm her up a little, but it seemed that even the rays of the sun were cold in purgatory.

While they were eating, she brought up the subject of escaping and her mother frowned. She didn’t believe that there was a way out. She was sure that if there was, she would have found it by now. Lena had no idea how extensively her mother had searched, and she wasn’t going to just give up. She was determined to get out of there, with or without her mother.

ALARIC STROKED LENA’S CHEEK, and begged her for the umpteenth time to come back to them. The doctor couldn’t explain why the hell she was the way she was. Her body was cold as if she had died, but her heart was still beating on its own.

That meant that they were all living in limbo until something happened, and Alaric was quickly running out of excuses to give to Ben. He didn’t want his son to see his mother like that, but soon he would have no other choice.

“Please come back to us.” He sighed as a tear ran down his cheek. A soft knock on the door brought him back to the present and he quickly wiped the tear away as the door opened.

“Is mommy still sleeping?” Little Ben whispered and Alaric nodded, rushing to the door before Ben decided to go inside. He picked him up and twirled him around, forcing the little one to squeal with delight before Alaric closed the bedroom door. When Alaric looked into his son’s eyes, he knew he had to keep on fighting for Lena. For Ben’s sake.

He had to keep talking to her and reminding her of the wonderful life they had together. Whatever it took … He could start by telling Rebecca to do whatever research she could. Maybe they could find something that would save his mate. He would even go as far as getting whatever doctors were necessary. Whatever it took to bring his family back together. He would do that. Lena was the heart of their pack. She was the heart of his family. She was the love of his life and he wouldn’t survive without her.