Chapter 72
“You…are glad that I am okay?” He asks and I immediately nod.
“Yes. I am.”
Warrick stares at me. I can
tell that he does not know
what to say or do to the
display of my affection towards him.
He has done terrible things but…he was just a broken
man all this time. Of course
that does not excuse his
actions. But I do feel
sympathy for him.
“Did you know…you were a
miracle child?” He asks.
“I was a what?”
“A miracle child. That’s what
I used to call you.”
“W–why?”
He stares at me for a few
seconds and I can tell that he
is debating something in his
head.
“You…you were born sick. No, not sick. I…I don’t know
how to explain it.”
“Maybe we should leave this
for later.” Lotus interrupts.
“Why?” Warrick asks.
“Yeah, why? I want to hear
this.”
Lotus doesn’t respond. She looks away and almost looks
nervous.
Thankfully, Warrick
continues. “You, well…you were born with your wolf
soul.”
I am confused.
“What do you mean? Don’t
we all have the soul of a wolf
inside of us?”
“Well yes, but they don’t
come forth until we come of
age. Eighteen for all of us
and there is a reason for that.
It is what was happening
with you. When you were born, you had your wolf already. Your little b*dy could not handle the power and it would try to change. I remember seeing claws on your little fingertips and patches of fur on your skin. That is an image that always stayed with me.”
“H–how…how is that
possible?”
“It has never been heard of.”
He says. “You were given
only days to live. Your
mother was devastated…we
both were.”
“How…what happened? How
did I survive?”
“They were wrong. The doctors were wrong. On the fourth day when I came to see you and your mother, you were perfect. No signs of your wolf. It was as if it was
never there.”
“Just like that?”
He nods. “My miracle child. I
always thought that the goddess herself blessed you.
You did not have that
birthmark on your chest
when you were born but you did that day. As if it was a
sign that she had touched
you, blessed you.”
“Blessed?…”
He nods as he closes his eyes, readying himself to rest.
“Yes…”
I can see him dosing off but I have so many questions.
“But how? How did I
suddenly live?”
I can see his breathing has deepened.
“You…were my pride and joy.” He mutters.
I look at Lotus who stares at
me with a weary expression.
“I have never seen him as
happy as he was the day you were born.” She says.
I stare at her inquisitively.
“You know something, don’t
you?”
She continues to stare at me
but keeps quiet.
It suddenly clicks in my
head. “Honora…”
When I mutter the witch’s
name, that is when Lotus
looks away.
“It was her! She helped my
mother. She…she saved me.”
Lotus stays quiet and that
confirms it.
“Tell me what happened.
Please.”
She looks at Warrick and
with a sigh, she tilts her
head, motioning for me to
follow her out.
We leave Father with guards
and head to the sunroom
where tea is prepared for us.
“Yes…” She starts. “I found
Honora for your mother.
Your mother was devastated and she was prepared to do
anything to save you. Even if
it meant using magic. Your
father never liked the idea of
witches so we kept it secret
from him.”
“What did Honora do to save
me?”
“I don’t know. The ritual or spell only allowed Honora and your mother with you to be present. I waited outside
of the room.”
“Wait, so she did not help
you to conceive Victor as you
said.”
“No. I…lied. I’m sorry.”
That doesn’t really bother
me.
“This means that…maybe she
does know what is
happening with my powers. Maybe it is even because of the spell or whatever she did to me as a child that my powers do not function properly.”
“Are you going back to her?”
She asks.
“Yes. I have to. I need to find
out more.”
She looks a bit worried.
“What is wrong?”
“It’s just… I never really liked us relying on a witch’s magic. It is not natural and though
Honora might be good, magic is unpredictable.”
“That did not stop you from helping my mother.”
“I know but…when your mother left, she was…crazed.
She had a crazed look on
her. I did not understand
why she was so… frazzled
and I still don’t. At first, I
thought that Warrick had done something to her. But when she disappeared, he
was shocked and confused.”
“So you don’t think that it
was because of him that she
left?”
“I…I don’t know anymore.
She was muttering things,
weird things.”
Maybe my mother had
another reason to leave.
Lotus continues. “When we
were with Honora that day at her shop…a memory of
something your mother said
suddenly stood out to me.
“Never trust a witch” That is
something she said and
maybe she was right.”
I nod. “I get that we should
be careful. But I do need to
talk to Honora again.”
She nods. “Okay. I
understand. But I am
coming with you when you do. Azalea… Casseopea, you don’t remember but you were also like a daughter to me. I used to watch you all the time and you and Victor were close. Being almost the
same age, you two used to
play together all the time. So I am coming with you. For Dahlia, I will be there for you just as she would be if she was here herself.”
I can’t help the big smile that creeps on my face. I give her a hug, a much–needed hug.
It almost feels as if I am
hugging my own mother.
“Thank you.”
I am happy. This makes me happy. That I got to meet all these people…my family.
“I will have a talk with
Honora and set up a time to
meet with her. Now…you
need to start your Alpha duties soon. Take today to
rest. I am sure that tomorrow
my boy can help you adjust
to it all.”
I nod and do as she says. The first thing I want to do is to
check up on James.
I knock on his door and
open it since I am sure he is
not going to answer. He
stands near the window
looking out.
“James?”
This time he actually looks
back at me.
“C–Cass?”
I nod and walk in.
He looks back out. “It is a
beautiful day out.” He says.
“Yes, it is. Why don’t you go
for a stroll?”
I don’t think he even knew I
was gone.
He stays quiet for a moment and then responds.
“Everything reminds me of
her.”
I sit on the bed quietly trying
not to force conversation.
We stay quiet for a few
minutes and he doesn’t seem
like he is going to talk
anymore.
“Did you eat?” I ask him.
“Yes. You ask me the same
thing every time.”
“I know. Just want to know that you are still taking care of yourself.”
“I should be taking care of you. That is what she would
have wanted. But here I am,
a broken man who can’t help
anyone.”
“Listen-”
“I’ll be fine.” He says.
“James-”
“I’ll be fine.” He repeats.
With a big sigh, I nod. “Okay. Try to get some fresh air.”
I get up and let him be.
I stop in front of the man that guards his door.
“How is he really doing?” I
ask him.
“He…he has moments of
outbursts where he starts
screaming. Sometimes in anger…sometimes in
sadness. But, it is
understandable.”
the man looks sympathetic. I
am sure he has a mate and
can’t imagine losing her like James lost Lauren.
I nod. “Okay.”
I make my way down the stairs. The front doors always tend to be opened during the day so I stop when I see Kanda standing outside. I
walk up to her and see her staring at Victor and Garret
who talk in the distance.
“What you doing?” I ask her.
“Mh…watching those two
hunk of men.”
“WHAAAAT?” I am stupid.
The way that caught me off
guard makes me sound dumb.
“I didn’t know men in your
pack would be so
good–looking.”
“Th–those are my brothers.
“Hmh…interesting.” She says.
“I would love to take one of
them for a ride.”
My eyes almost bulge out of
my eye sockets. I feel
stupified in place. I turn to
make an attempt to leave her
in her silence and her
moaning and muttering but turn back to her again. I open my mouth to say something and immediately
close it because I don’t think
I want to know anymore.
I head back to my room where I find Colt sitting on
an armchair looking at the
iron mask in his hands.
“What are you doing?”
He looks at me and then
back at the mask. “I…I hate
that someone hurt you like this. I can’t get it out of my
head.”
I walk to him and take the
mask from his hand. I throw
it on the floor and sit on his
lap.
“Look at me. I am fine,
right?”
“Are you?”
“Yes.” I caress his cheek.
He sucks in a deep breath
and then lets it go.
Seeing him so unnerved gives me the urge to tell him. I want to put his hand on my belly and tell him that we are going to be parents. That he is going to be a dad.
He smiles. “How did it go with your dad?”
That spell is broken now that I remember everything that
was revealed to me.
“You are not going to believe what I just learned.”
“What?” He asks and I laugh. He looks like he is ready to hear some good juicy gossip.
“Well mister Beaufort, I
never knew you were so into
gossip and drama.”
He laughs. “I am only just a
little bit into it. As long as it
doesn’t involve me.”
“Well, aren’t you involved
fifty percent of the time?”
He laughs. “And you are the other fifty percent.”
“Not by choice. Anyway, first
of all, Kanda seems to have a
crush on my brothers.”
“Kanda, that woman you
came with?”
“Yes.”
“Mh. I’m glad you had her in that place. I’m glad she helped you.”
I nod. “If it wasn’t for her, we wouldn’t have gotten out of
that place.”
“And that is all the gossip you
wanted to tell me about?”
“Oh no. There is more. So…‘
I tell him what my father
and Lotus told me.
”
“But… that–how is it possible? How can a newborn be born
with a wolf’s soul?”
“I don’t know. But I know
that Honora must have some
answers. I need to see her.”
He nods. “Okay. We’ll go see her. This is all…so crazy. And I agree with Lotus. We
should be careful with this
whole magic thing.”
“Yeah, I know.”
I slide my fingers up his
chest. You know…we have the
rest of the day to rest…or
have some fun.”
“Mh…I like that.”
“I know you do.” I give him a
k*ss.
He k*sses me back but then
softly pushes me away.
“Yeah, get on your knees.”
Uh! I love it when he tells me
what to do.
