Chapter Sixty-five: The fault is mine

I sit there gobsmacked at everything she’s just told me. Firstly, how evil can one be to bring a child into this world, leave them to grow up and be nurtured by the other parent, turn up, then take them away at the moment the other parent is killed without showing any remorse. And then expect the child to follow them blindly.

“I’m so sorry that this has happened to you Nuria.” I say whole heartedly, unsure at that moment what else to say. I can feel the overwhelming anger emanating from her and also a deep sadness I’ll never be able to understand fully.

She looks to the floor. “This was hundreds of years ago. It still stings to this day that I didn’t even get to say goodbye. I remember being excited meeting and getting to know my Father. My Mother had told me about him and how he fell from the sky and captured her heart. I didn’t understand why he went through all that effort until he found me one day after her demise. He told me everything.
He perfectly planned for her to fall for him, so she could give him me. A perfect blend of his powers and hers together. I’m able to teleport as I take what I call the back passage in between space. I can manipulate this to move between places, using it as an open and close door. This back passage is darkness, so essentially part of him resides in me and allows me the power to manipulate this, and my Mother gifted me the power of teleportation, intensified by my Father’s blood.”

I sit silently as she tells me her story. I think back about my adoptive family who I got to say goodbye to, even though it was difficult. I could never imagine being taken away and never seeing them again. Never getting to say goodbye, and then see them destroyed. Some have a crueller fate than others, and I see now why she wants to be rid of her Father.

I stand, still a bit weak but feeling better after sitting down. “What do we need to do?” I ask, ready to do whatever it takes to get rid of this snake.

She looks up at me and smiles authentically. “Well, first we need you to figure out what powers you have.”

Before I get a chance to respond, I see Lukas push through the tree line with a few of the packs warriors, a menacing growl coming from him lips. I look at Nuria who’s turned to raise an eyebrow at him.

“This is my mate, Lukas. He’s the Alpha of our pack, and I’m his Luna.”

She looks back at me hesitantly and I notice her shuffle her feet slightly. “What are you? You’re not human?”

It’s my turn to raise an eyebrow at her. I would have thought she would have known when I was merged with Athena that I was not human and my appearance changing may have given a slight hint, but maybe she’s not been exposed to werewolves before and had perhaps thought it was just part of my bloodline. “Once upon a time I had thought I was human, and I guess in a sense I am half human.” I say, and I can see questions forming on her lips. “I am a werewolf.” I say matter-of-factly.

She nods, understanding the terminology I used before. “Ah, I see. Rare breed from what I understand nowadays. I’ve encountered werewolves once before and it wasn’t on this planet. In fact, when I did meet some quite a few years ago, they weren’t at all human, at least not anymore.”

I’m about to go on to explain when I remind myself that we’re not alone, Lukas standing watching our interaction. I look at Nuria and walk towards her. I touch her arm without thinking twice and notice she feels quite cold. I hear a cautious breath escape her lips as I do, and I can tell that no one’s touched her in a while. I remove my arm with an apologetic look but she shrugs it off and smiles.

“Come, let’s go introduce you before he blows his head off.” I say with a chuckle and she turns to follow.

Lukas watches us intently as we walked towards him. I eye him suspiciously as I’ve seen how he regards visitors who are not part of the pack.

“Aliana, who is this? How did she get in?”

“This is Nuria.” I respond and his expression instantly relaxes, surprising me.

“So, you’ve finally found her?”

She laughs. “Opposite way around if you ask me!”

I smile at her and I can see the tension in Lukas’ shoulders ease as I do.

“She’s been telling me about her Father, and why she’s after him herself. I’m going to request a room be made for her at the pack house temporarily, and she can stay as long as she like” I command, leaving no room for negotiation.

I see the side of Lukas’ lip curl up, and he does nothing but nod.

I mind-link Jorge. “Hi Jorge, I hope you’re well. We’ve got a guest staying with us and I’d like a room within the pack house made up for her so she can stay for as long as needed. Can you manage to have one sorted by tonight?”

Jorge doesn’t hesitate before responding. “Of course Luna. We’ll have everything ready in the next few hours. We’ll set up a room on the second floor. I can provide you with the key when you return.”

“Much appreciate Jorge, thank you.”

“You’re welcome Luna.”

I cut off the mind-link and look at Nuria. She wastes no time asking questions. “You realise your eyes just went as pitch black as my own? What was that?”

I chortle. “Yes, sorry I was mind-linking one of our Omegas. He’ll have a room prepared for you which should be ready for tonight.”

She beams a bright smile at me. “Thank you Aliana…but what’s mind-linking?”

My lips curve up, glad to know that even though she is much older than myself, has probably explored a lot of places and learned a lot of different cultures, she doesn’t know everything. I take the plunge and pull my arm through her own, feeling her cold skin against mine and I start leading her towards the pack house. She doesn’t flinch like she did previously and I see a slight curve on her lips so I assume she’s welcoming the contact. Before I blast into a conversation with her however, I give Lukas a sly kiss as I walk past him. “We’ll catch up later my sweet.”

He smiles down at me and kisses my forehead and gives a curt nod towards Nuria who reciprocates it before walking back to his team and heading back into the tree line.

I walk with Nuria, feeling no sense of hostility between us, making it easier for me to trust her with anything and give her anything she needs. In a sense, I understand her pain, I’ve just not felt it as long. Fedori had destroyed a community I felt very close to, murdering so many innocent elves which breaks my heart, especially seeing as how it’s probably my fault it happened. As we walk, I think out loud, hoping Nuria maybe has some answers.

“I had a dream some time ago. In this dream, a community I took refuge in for a long time and basically called my home temporarily, was burned down. A few weeks later, one of my closest friends from that community, Elijah, who was the sole survivor that we’re aware of thus far, found his way here and detailed a scene which is nearly exactly what happened in the dream I had. Bear in mind here that elves will never abandon their home, it’s like their lives are tied to it. Unless you have no other choice, or you’re banished, you stay with your community.”

I feel my voice breaking still not wanting to review what had happened, however I need to know if it was me that caused it.

“It was Fedori. Somehow he had found where I was, and destroyed everything. He then came to me in a dream, or well pulled me into darkness. I’m not entirely sure what happened.”

“That’ll be his darkness realm. Have you given him any of your blood?”

I think for a few moments. The elf I saw in that realm I had never seen before. I furrowed my brows and shook my head denying the possibility.

Nuria thinks for a few moments. “This was after you were made aware he destroyed the community you were at. Did you by chance leave any blood there?”

I think back and it dawns on me. They took some blood from me when I was hit by a light at their Lunaris and Solaris ceremony. I suspect they kept it there to continue observing it.

I grimace and explain the whole story to Nuria, who listens quietly as we continue to walk towards the pack house.

When I finish explaining what happened, she stays silent for a few moments. She then stops and turns to me, placing both her hands on the tops of my arms.

“I’m sorry Aliana. I think when that light hit you, a sort of power came forth. That power being Athena. It wouldn’t have been a tremendous amount of power, such as the one that you portrayed today so I could have easily missed it. However, if my Father was looking for it, he would have followed it, which may have led him to where you were.

If he found your blood, then he can use that to summon you to his realm. It’s not a physical summoning though, he wouldn’t be able to hurt you. But he will be able to see what you look like.”

I feel the tears falling down my face. I had an inkling that I was the cause of the Druida communities demise, but I didn’t want to face it.

Hearing it from Nurias lips has pretty much confirmed my fear.