Chapter 27 And There Were Five

(Alexander POV)

"Diane, I think it's time we tell them our story." Cecilia looks at my mother who nods her head. My mother has always been a very quiet woman. Meek in her ways. She is the direct opposite of my father. My father is loud, boisterous and fun while my mother stands and smiles in the background. They complement each other and watch over us as equals.

I don't know much about my mother's past. We all knew she came from a pack in Canada. Her parents died when she was very young and Adella was like a mother and sister all rolled in one. I saw my mother fall into depression when Adella died. She locked herself up in her conjuring room and wouldn't speak to no one. My father had to break down the door to get her to come out. My father picked her up off the floor and carried her into their room. I kissed her before my father brought her inside. Her eyes were bloodshot and puffy from crying. She smiled at me through her whispy dark hair which covered her face as I closed the door of their bedroom after they walked in that night. The next morning, she was up and about in the kitchen with a big smile on her face as if nothing ever happened.

When I called her up to tell her about my wedding with Hope, she sounded so excited on the phone. She called for my father while we were still chatting and told him to get the helicopter ready.

When she met Hope, I could see the happiness in her eyes. I don't know if Hope has noticed, but when she isn't in the room, my mother fixes her things. I can smell my mother's lingering scent in the closet. She keeps Hope's things in order and even adds some clothes to Hope's wardrobe. I have already found some pieces of jewelry in the jewelry drawer. Even the tennis bracelet of diamonds she lent Hope during our wedding, my mother has added it to Hope's jewelry collection.

My mother sat down on the sofa and reached out for Hope. "Hope dear, my little Adella, please sit here with me. I was always stronger with Adella by my side. I feel I am blessed to have a little piece of her after she...", my mother choked. My mother was still obviously affected by Adella's death. "I'm sorry. When Adella died, I felt some part of me had died as well."

"Alexander darling, do you remember the night your father carried me out of my conjuring room? When you kissed me and I smiled? Cecilia had arrive and was hiding in the territory. She had mind linked me to tell me Stella, I mean Hope," she patted Hope's hands, "was safe and was in the custody of the Alarie's."

"Like Adella did for me when I was young, I promised to do the same for Adella's daughter. I brought Cecilia into the pack, told Howard to tell no one, and since Cecilia had the gift of invisibility, she kept invisible to keep her identity a secret."

"Cecilia and I would travel to Chelan regularly. I created a business and some charities there so I would have a reason to visit. At night, we would sneak to the red farmhouse with the white shutters and place protection charms and runes. Cecilia would also place her invisibility charms on Hope. I think it worked quite well because no one noticed you." My mother looked into Hope's golden eyes. "Your gold eyes are a dead give away. No one has those eyes except the firstborn of a daughter of Lupa. Adella had those eyes as well as her mother before her."

"Then Amanda took over the business. I still would go sometimes, but I felt someone was watching. So, Cecilia would travel in the big truck when there were deliveries."

"Mama, you should have just told me. Cecilia wouldn't have to ride in the truck if I had known," Amanda said.

"I couldn't tell you, darling. I had to protect you. The less you knew, the less the rogues would suspect," my mother explained.

"Must have been harder to sneak when Alexander took over then," Amanda said matter-of-factly.

"Yes, he had a man travel in the truck. I saw that as a complication. Anyway, I heard a voice telling me to stop because it was time. Evidently time for Alexander to meet his mate." Cecilia smiled at me.

I quietly thanked the Moon Goddess for her blessing. She gave me Hope.

"I was happy when Alexander called me to say he had found Hope, his fated mate. It meant I could bring Hope here and keep her safe. I didn't expect there were so many obstacles..." My mother looked down, ashamed she wasn't fulfilling her promise. She inhaled deeply, gathering courage to talk about her past.

"The past. I have wanted to keep it there you know... Locked up in the past." My mother takes out an old picture from her pocket. A picture of five beautiful young women, all smiling.

"We all came from different packs in the North. Adella and Cecilia from the Autumn Moonlight Pack, Julia from the Moon Stone Pack, I from the Aurora Sky Pack and Maria from the Black Shadow Pack." She caressed the picture so lovingly. I saw a tear fall on her cheek. "Our packs' territories were all beside each other and alliances between our packs were strong. Until that fateful night."

"We were all good friends. I was orphaned at a young age. My parents were said to have been murdered by rogues. Amidst the loss, I was blessed to find another family." She gave Cecilia a warm smile.

"I was even more blessed to find sisters. We did everything together. Finished each other's sentences. We knew what one was thinking before she even said it. We would sneak out from our homes, meet at the clearing and sleep underneath the stars. When we were around 13 years old, all five of us made a blood pact under the full moon. We will forever be connected. Let nothing put asunder." My mother lowered her eyes to the picture in her hands and heaved a sigh.

"Then, Alpha Davis Brandt came. He was sent by his father to make an alliance with the packs of the North. He was a handsome young man. All the young she-wolves fawned over him. He only had eyes for one particular she-wolf, however. Your mother... Adella." She smiled at Hope.

"This didn't sit well with Maria. She wanted Davis as her mate. Davis rejected her, but still offered for her to come with us when he leaves. You see, Julia, Cecilia and I had already made the decision to leave with Adella and Davis while Maria still had her doubts. Davis told Maria maybe one of the wolves in his territory or the neighboring territories could be her possible mate because unfortunately, it wasn't him. Maria apologized for her behavior and even told Adella being sisters was more important to her and that she would consider leaving with us. We all thought it was water over the bridge so to speak and the five of us went back to being the bestfriends we always were." My mother shrugged her shoulders.

"When the alliance was completed, a huge celebration was put together by the different packs. There was drinking and merry-making. Davis ended up drunk through the course of the celebration. This was when Maria made her move."

"Maria transformed into Adella. She excused Davis from the group of wolves he was talking to and led him to the forest. She started undressing, luring him to take her, to mark her as his. It was a cloudy sky and the moon was hiding from sight. It was quite dark and Davis was drunk. He was about to mark her as his when suddenly the moon shone so brightly in the sky. Davis then looked into her eyes. Staring at him were a pair of black eyes and not the gold eyes of Adella. He backed away and howled for everyone to hear."

"Adella knew who that howl was coming from. She ran into the forest with the three of us close behind her. We saw them. Davis in front of a naked Adella who then faded into an angry Maria."

"With her teeth bared, Maria went for Adella. All four of us fought against her. She used magic, but could not get through Adella who was the strongest among us five. Adella used the elements and struck her with lightning. When the smoke cleared, we saw Maria's burns. The skin on half of her face melted. Maria, obviously wounded, retreated back to the celebration. Out of her anger for being defeated by Adella, she went on a killing spree and then she vanished. No one saw her again. That was when the Black Shadow Pack was ostracized from the alliance of the Great Packs of the North. We always had problems with the Black Shadow Pack anyway, but because Adella and Maria were such good friends, the animosity others had for Black Shadow Pack took a back seat. Until Maria betrayed Adella."

"Adella, on the other hand, regretted striking her with lightning. She would always whisper in the wind asking for Maria to forgive her. We all knew deep in our hearts, Maria would never forgive us."

"The night when Adella and Davis were murdered, Howard and I tried to get pass the creek that served as boundary of our two territories. As much as we tried, we kept coming back to where we started. That's when I knew Maria had joined forces with The Rogue Lord. She created a loop. She must have had someone from the pack guiding her around the territory. I tried to reverse the spell, but I was too late."

"Then a storm came. Howard had us retreat. We saw some wolves, who shifted back to human form, asking for help. We had them come into our territory. One of them was Emily. She said she saw The Rogue Lord kill Adella and Davis. I asked her about Adella's daughter. She was most certain The Rogue Lord had killed her as well. There were only a handful of survivors. The Rogue Army had killed almost all the wolves of the pack. Howard said we would go to Crescent Moon once the storm was gone to look for more survivors."

"When the storm had passed, the wall of thorns had grown and the territory of the Crescent Moon Pack was covered in a blanket of darkness."

"I kept blaming myself for not being able to save Adella and her family. I locked myself in my conjuring room. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to move. I didn't want to breathe. I asked the Moon Goddess to take me." She looked at me and Amanda. "I'm so sorry, my loves, for the moment of weakness."

"That's ok Mama. We'd probably be the same way if it happened to us."

"Judging from what Hope has said about Leia, she must have found Maria and became her protegé." She shivers.

"I just have some questions." Hope said digesting all the information given by my mother. She sniffed brushing a tear away.

"What is it Hope?" My mother asked.

"What happened to Julia? Why did I see that vision? And who in the world is Leia?"