40.

Skylar rocked her body back against the couch with a deep breath. Farryn propped her chin into her hand as she watched the female fae’s reactions as she finished telling all that she had missed while away from the pack.

“If I had known it was going to be like that I never would have left. Sometimes I worry that I’ll die of boredom!” She shook her head slowly before crossing her arms over her chest while her lips slowly pulled themselves into a grin.

“I suppose now it’s our turn to tell you what you missed.” She glanced quickly at her brother who remained his typical stoic self, though Farryn noticed he was a slight shade paler than usual. The siblings usually had some sort of pink tone to their skin, the only thing that kept them from looking like a ghostly pallor, but as Asher waited for his sister to speak he seemed to lose the only color he had.

“Not too many of your kind were wanting to talk to outsiders, even the churches we visited only gave us the vaguest of details. Nothing that was worth bringing back to you so we had to visit cities and towns like Aeston, that accepted everyone and anyone. Surprisingly enough even there we had trouble finding anyone to talk to us about your Moon Goddess in depths beyond the usual.”

Skylar explained how the siblings had nearly given up, they had begun to accept the fact that Father Idas had been wrong about the old folklore he had told Farryn, that there was no man thirsting for power to the point of madness. They had even begun to return to the pack until they stumbled across yet another church. They had figured one last stop couldn’t hurt anything.

“This church was beautiful, the stained glass that lined the walls depicted a story. Just like what Father Idas said. It showed the Moon Goddess gifting her children with the blood of beasts, it showed the transformations and connections with the moon. But towards the back of the church, almost like it was being hidden away was another set of glass. Glass that showed a single man in pain, in one panel his wolf was one color, and in another it was different. There were three panels in total that showed this same man and a different colored wolf. He tried to challenge everyone in his path, when he would kill only one of his wolves would be present, it was always the same color. The Goddess tried to stop him, but the only way was to banish him to Hel.”

Farryn could feel her heart come to a near stop, hearing it as a folklore was one thing. For it to be depicted in a church only meant that it was truly believed to be real.

“Were there no priests in this church to confirm that is what happened?” Farryn asked in an all too quiet voice.

“There were, the priest who spoke with us was the one who explained the panels. We asked about it trying to see how much was accurate and what had been changed over the years. The priest insisted that the story was true.”

Asher shifted in his seat, his eyes lowering to the floor while Skylar spoke.

“There was another priest there, who spoke with me.” He said, his words almost sounding choked out, either like he didn’t want to speak or that he couldn’t.

“She said there was more to the story than what most of the priests know, that the art didn’t show it all because many wanted to forget the story. While the male was banished to Hel he did his duty and he did it well. She claims that his mania had all been but healed, that the solitude had actually given him time and space to reflect on what had happened. Eventually the male came to terms with what he had done and what he had done to his wolf. The reflections allowed him to heal in a way that he could better control the other two. Despite showing the Goddess he had changed she refused to allow him to leave, but she agreed to make an exception for him. Every full moon the male could return to the mortal plains to mingle, to have some sort of interaction with the living. What the Goddess didn’t expect was for the male to mate while he was back.” Asher cleared his throat in discomfort before looking back up to Farryn. She could see in Skylar’s eyes that she had not heard this conversation from the other priest.

“He sired several children, many of whom were born with the blood of an Alpha despite neither parents being one. There are rare occasions though that his child is born with the same affliction as him, as if it had turned into a disease to be passed down. The priest believes that he still returns on the full moon, and for any of his children who develop his madness he brings them back to Hel with him on the night they turn 25 to train them on how to guard the gates because they all disappear at that age.” Asher swallowed hard as he paused, his brows furrowed as he coughed. Once the fit was over he straightened his back.

“It is his way of ensuring the Goddess doesn’t find out about him procreating. If this part of the story is true then that could only mean one thing for Tristan, not only is he a descendant of this male, but that he only has a few months left until he disappears too.”

Asher doubled over as another coughing fit swept over him. Skylar placed a comforting hand on his back as Farryn took in everything that had been said to her. As Asher pulled his hand from his mouth both females noticed the blood that stained his lips.

“Asher?” Skylar jumped up in alarm.

“Asher, talk to us, what’s wrong?” Farryn rushed to her feet as she pulled the male into her arms. She needed to get him to Rosemary quickly. To her alarm he crumpled in her arms, there was no strength left in his legs.

“Skylar help me!” She barked. Skylar shook herself before wrapping her arm around his waist and helping to lift him off of Farryn.

“The male, in the story,” Asher rasped weakly as he was dragged out of the house.

“Enough about it Asher! You need to calm your throat.” Skylar cut him off sharply as they reached the door to the house.

“No Skylar, I need to hear it.” Farryn insisted as she opened the door to find Jason just about to open it. The male paused, taking in the sight of the two females with the large male fae between the two of them and the blood that was now running down his chin. Without another moment of hesitation he swept the fae into his arms, relieving the two females.

“He’s cursed, everything about it is cursed. His children, him, even the story.” Asher inhaled sharply as he spoke before coughing once more. Jason broke into a run without a word, everyone could smell the death hanging over him. Skylar was in tears by the time they had reached Ashlyn.

“Please help him!” She begged as Jason gently placed her brother on one of the clean white beds. Farryn remained by the door, she knew there was nothing Ashlyn could do, if Asher was right and it was a curse, only a High Priest could help, and there wasn’t one. Ashlyn tried her best, with the fae female hovering over her shoulders the poor old female did her best, but all she could truly do was ease Asher’s suffering.

In his final moments he grasped his sister’s hand tightly, perhaps using the last of his strength to ensure she felt it.

“Do not blame Farryn, I know you,” He whispered, his hushed voice coming from the rawness of his throat but everyone in the room could still hear him.

“I didn’t have to tell her the rest, I could have stayed quiet. She deserved to know, and she deserves your support, even now.” His fingers uncurled from her hand and Skylar released a gut wrenching cry as his eyes shifted to the Alpha standing by the door.

“Protect her.”

Farryn solemnly nodded her head as the light faded from his eyes. Skylar screamed with a rage and pain that Farryn herself had felt once. Her heart ached for her because while their bond had been forged through blood she had felt a true kinship with her. Seeing her in the pain she was in now, and knowing there was nothing she could say to help hurt. Farryn lowered her head, with Jason and Ashlyn slowly doing the same, Asher had sacrificed himself just to give Farryn information. This was a debt she would never be able to return, but one she would spend her life trying to do.