Chapter 110 Useless

(Hope POV)

An old man with silver eyes, I had to find him. The only way we could find him is by touch. I needed to hold Jean Luc's hand even so briefly to find out if the old man was still alive and if he was, where was he being held.

"Well, let's go to my office. Maximus may have some questions that may need direct answers. You will find my office quite comfortable." He takes my hand and I clasp it, in an effort to uncover the truth behind the old man with the silver eyes.

Jean Luc always despised the fact his sister was the eldest and as the eldest she would eventually succeed their father as Alpha. Jean Luc did not believe women should lead. He had fought with his parents about this, arguing that women are weak, emotional, oftentimes irrational and were incapable of sound judgement. However, his parents stood by tradition and said it was Salome's birthright to succeed as Alpha of their pack.

Unfortunately, their father squandered their fortune by gambling and racked a long list of debts that were long overdue. Unlike their mother who idly stood by as their father gambled away, he chastised his father, scolded him for throwing away their fortune.

"How dare you go against your Alpha?! Do you want to challenge me, boy?" His father shifted into his enormous wolf. His father was not at all frightening when in human form, but as a wolf, he was fearsome.

"No, Father. I did not mean any disrespect." He bowed his head low, showing his neck in submission.

"Know your place in this pack. You are a mere boy. Useless! If you weren't my son, you would be a slave just like the rest of the wolves in this pack!" His father yelled, conveying what little respect he had for him and for the other members of their pack.

They started selling areas of their territory to settle payments but it wasn't enough to cover all of their debts. One by one, the loan sharks with their goons came knocking on their door. He wanted to rip their heads off, but was told not to interfere. His father would find  a way to cover all their finances. He just needed to win big. However, he did not win big, he just lost bigger.

Jean Luc, tired of being threatened by loan sharks, decided it was time for his parents to move on to the afterlife so he visited a local dark witch in the neighboring town. She gave him a vial of wolfsbane infused with belladonna. He just needed to add a drop in their food for the poison to take effect, making them ill which would eventually lead to their deaths. Everyone will think the Alpha and Luna contracted a communicable disease and no one will suspect it to be of his doing.

Their mother died 6 months after their father. Jean Luc believed all their problems were solved however, Salome stuck a deal with the loan sharks, agreeing to pay them in installments. Jean Luc was livid. He questioned Salome's deal. Their father was the one who owed them the money, so why should they pay? Salome said it was the right thing to do, to regain the honor of their father. Honor? You speak of honor when our members are going hungry? He decided it was time to take his sister out of the equation, too.

Then Henri entered their lives and kept a close watch on Jean Luc and the tea he always served Salome. For a while, Jean Luc was unable to poison Salome, which lead to the birth of a healthy baby boy with silver eyes.

It took 6 years for Salome to die. As for Henri, he forced the poison down his throat. Jean Luc and his men laughed as they watched him die. Since his nephew was not old enough to lead, Jean Luc took the title of Alpha of Lune Brille. Everything worked out for him, eventually. He only needed to be patient.

He was angry at his Beta for losing Jacques that he almost killed him. He allowed his Beta to redeem himself by locating his nephew. They tracked him by the stink he had on his belongings back in the territory.They almost found him, but fortunately, Amelie was faster and had moved Jacques out of the country.

For years he searched for his nephew. No one could ever give him information on a boy with silver eyes until the dark witch he frequents caught wind of a man in a village in the French Alps, a man with silver eyes. Jean Luc wasted no time in locating the village and took the man while he was selling his goods to the village people and killed all who lived in the village. What Jean Luc didn't know was the old man was a healer for a small community of werebears who lived nearby.

They have moved the old man many times, the most recent, in the herb shop of the dark witch in the neighboring town.

"Fang, the old man, he is at a herb shop of a dark witch in the neighboring town." I mind link him as Jean Luc and I ascended the stairs to his office.

"He is alive!" Fang sounded happy. 

"From the looks of the most recent memory of Jean Luc, just barely. So we have to move fast. Another thing, there is a small werebear community in the French Alps. The old man is their healer. Try and locate the shop of the dark witch. Leia, Maria and I will pay her a little visit when we are done here." Jean Luc opens the door and Fang nods his head, already clicking on his smartphone for a location.

I sat down smiling sweetly at Jean Luc. I know your secrets.

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(Shopkeeper POV)

It was dusk when I heard the chimes of the door ring. I look to see who had entered my shop, but the door remained open with no one in sight. I walked to the door and closed it, reminding myself to tell my customers to close the door properly on their way out.

I look outside through the windows, and I see a tall man from across the street, standing, facing my shop. From where I stood, I could tell he was handsome and wealthy, his crisp suit tailored to fit his muscular build with his pants properly cuffed just at his shoes. He just stood there standing and for a brief moment I thought he would be entering my shop.

He takes off his sunglasses and I saw he had silver eyes. Silver Eyes! Merde! The man with the silver eyes has definitely come for the old man hidden in my basement. I turn around to head to the counter of my shop so I could call Alpha Jean Luc, but I abruptly stopped. In front of me were three women, all in cloaks, blocking my path. I screamed in fright and jumped back

" Merde! You scared me!" I was exhaling and inhaling to calm my heart. "How did you get inside my shop?", I ask all three of them, utterly bewildered.

"Through the door." The blonde haired woman spoke French, with an accent. American.

"You are joking. I did not see all three of you enter. I would have noticed. My shop is very small as you can see." I told the blonde woman. "What can I help you with? My shop has all the herbs needed to make elixirs and ointments."

"There is something else in this shop we need. An old man with silver eyes. How much for him?" The blonde woman asks sarcastically.

"What old man?" I gave out a nervous laugh. "There is no old man. You are clearly mistaken. If you do not need anything in my shop, please leave. You are wasting my time. Now excuse me. I need to go back to the counter." I push the blonde haired woman aside, but one woman, with golden eyes, takes my hand.

"You lie. He is here. He is being watched by your grandmother, in the basement." She lets go of my hand. "Your grandmother, she practices the dark arts and is using the essence of the old man. Hmmm... To gain back her youth." This woman is English and has powers. I smile at her. This woman, my grandmother can use.

"You are correct. They are in the basement, through that door." Once they exit the shop to go to the basement, I will call Alpha Jean Luc. He will reward me handsomely. I glance outside through the windows of the shop. The man with silver eyes was not there anymore. At least I have seen him, that is enough.

"After you." The woman with the golden eyes said and I float through the air, the tips of my shoes scraping the floor, to the door. "Go on. No one will enter your shop. It is now closed." The sign on the door flips from open to now closed. Merde! This woman is ten times more powerful than my grandmother. Unfortunately, I was born without gifts and could not challenge her. Useless. The first from a long line of witches. This is why my mother left me and my grandmother treats me like I was ordinary which I actually am.

But I was good with other things, making potions, elixirs and ointments. I started very young, trying to make up for what I did not possess. I was the one who concocted the poison Alpha Jean Luc used to kill his family. However, my grandmother took all the credit.

I open the door leading two sets of stairs. One leading up to our living quarters and another set that went down to the basement. This property has been ours for generations until one day Alpha Jean Luc came asking for what he called taxes.

My grandmother made a deal with him so we wouldn't have to pay. She would make him Alpha. She gave him a vial of the poison I created and instructed him on how to use it. It did take a while for him to become Alpha, but he did without anyone knowing he was poisoning his family.

I guided them downstairs to the basement which also served as my grandmother's conjuring room. It smelled putrid, of rot and decay. The smell has somehow clung to my grandmother because it follows her wherever she goes.

I open the door and the stink comes out, making me gag. The three woman didn't even seem to care about the smell. The walked right inside without hesitation.

"Brigitte, I have told you countless times to knock before entering." My grandmother was seated near the center of the room, her arms raised.

In the middle of the room was the old man in shackles, lying down, clearly wasting away from whatever my grandmother was doing to him. My grandmother was starting to look young again. Her hair was starting to become a vibrant brown and her skin was becoming taut, the wrinkles disappearing.

I tried to tell her there were guests, but I couldn't move my mouth. The cuffs of the shackles on the old man open and my grandmother, floats to the air, facing us, and grabs her neck like she was being strangled.

"Before I kill you, do admit to Brigitte who you really are to her." The woman with the golden eyes tells my grandmother. My grandmother falls to the ground, trying to catch her breath.

"The one with the golden eyes!" My grandmother gasps. "The old man speaks of you. He says you have great power." My grandmother spoke to her in English! I didn't know she could.

"Yes, I do. I have come for the old man." The other two women help the old man up. "Now, tell Brigitte who you really are or I will."

"I am your mother, Brigitte. All my offspring, like you, have had no powers. I was attempting to become young again to seduce a man. Maybe the next one will be worthy to continue my legacy. Then, I could suck your essence and keep my youth a little bit longer." I couldn't believe it! All these years, my mother and my grandmother was just one person! She had made me thought that my mother left me.

My grandmother is my mother who plans to kill me after giving birth to a new baby. I turn my back on her, ignoring her cries for help, and exit the basement.

Goodbye Mother, Grandmother, whoever you are...and good riddance.