ELIANA.“Mommy!”As soon as I opened the door, Elijah abandoned his legos to run into my arms. He came with such a force that almost knocked me over but I held around him, a chuckle escaping my lips.“Mommy” He called again in a sing-song voice and I whispered into his ears. “Oh my sweet boy, Elijah” His arms wrapped around my neck before he pulled away. I straightened my knees to look up at my Grandma and when our eyes met, she flashed a tender smile at me.“He’s been asking for you.” When she was close, she did whisper and I nodded, clenching the blanket around me. “I’m here now” I replied Nana. For a moment, her eyes fell to my stomach and I knew exactly what was going through her mind before she even said it. “I’ll tell him soon” I said and a heavy exhale escaped from my Grandmother’s lips. Her eyes were burdened with the weight of every word unsaid.But at that moment, she just squeezed my hands and looked deeply into my eyes. “I’ll see you later” Nana whispered. I sniffled ligh
ELIANA. My phone buzzed in my pocket. It took me a while to reach for it but when I did, my eyes fell to my Dad's name across the screen. I lifted my gaze to Elijah, knowing I could either leave or choose to stay with him.The past few minutes with him, even if it was just spent with the both of us laughing and screaming until it hurt had reminded me so much of how I enjoyed the simpler times. It reminded me of Tuscany, well, besides the nightmares but the other things were just easier then.For starters, Elijah and I often spent the whole day together. That was one of the many things that had changed. At that moment, I chose to turn off my phone, ignoring my Dad. I chose to spend today with my son instead, away from the Pack's responsibilities and the burdening reality of the decision I had yet to make. I chose to stay here. "Are you leaving?" Elijah murmured, seeing the phone in my hands but I slipped it into my pocket, drawing him closer to me. "No, I'm not" I whispered. I watche
ELIANA.It was the first time I had seen my son so sad."But besides that, I really do like it here. I meant it when I said that" Elijah said.I reached for his hand and squeezed it gently. "Maybe we should visit?" I didn't even know when I blurted that out. Something about hearing him talk about Chester reminded me a lot about Alicia. I missed her sometimes so the thought of maybe visiting was just something that struck me and it struck so intensely that the words just escaped my lips.Bold of me to be making plans when my future itself was uncertain, I thought. "Oh my God, we could! And Daddy will come with us, we'll take Sarah too and it would be like a big family trip!" He squealed excitedly and my eyes shimmered at the vivid thought of that. "That would be good, wouldn't it?" I whispered and there was a crack in my voice.Every glimpse I got of the future, of my family—it was good. And it was the reason I was going to do everything I could even if it was for the tiniest shot at
ELIANA."Do you have any idea what you're about to do?" My Nana's voice deepened once she closed the door and I sauntered into her room. A sigh escaped from my lips as I ran my hands through my hair."Just please, ma. I really need to do this" I replied. She lifted an uncertain gaze back up at me. Even though she already knew my mind was already made up, it didn't stop her from trying to get through."Eliana," Her voice broke."It's dark magic, the Witches are warned to stay away from it for a reason—" "But it's my only option. It's the only way I get to save my family and save myself. You, of all people I expect to understand that." I interrupted and a hard lump slipped down her throat."It's dangerous" Her eyes grew wet and I rolled mine to the back of my head. "I have no other choice, Nana and I know you would do the same if you could. Being a Hybrid, it's taken from me more than it's given.""I want it to be all over, I want my children to grow and live happy lives without always
ELIANA. I’m going to do it.My Mother wrote in her journal the day before.‘I’m going to do the Spell and I’m going to try to save the both of us'Reading through the lines almost felt like I could even hear her. Like I could feel all those emotions that she felt, that led her to make the decision that she did. Heaven knows that was exactly what I was feeling.The past few days, I had spent studying through the spell and also my mother’s journal. In the little time she had, she had documented a bit of her process before she did it too. It was like a way into her mind, and my Nana was around for the most part.That moment, she was sitting right opposite me on the table when I lifted my gaze and our eyes met.“Seen anything?” She asked. I shook my head with a sigh of relief escaping my lips. The plan was to find a reason why the spell didn’t work for my Mother. Perhaps, it was something she’d missed out or hadn’t done so we would avoid a fate like hers.I wasn’t just doing this to save
ELIANA."What are you doing here?" Nathaniel croaked. The winds blew right through my hair as I crept closer to him. He didn't even have to turn around to know that it was me. I had met him hunting, a hobby I figured he'd picked up from all those years in the forest.Met, that was a choice of words. Because in reality, I had done a locator spell that was able to pinpoint exactly where he was.I didn't have a lot of options. It was either that or asking Ivan, the latter which wasn't even close to possible. And I had to see Nathaniel, after speaking to our Grandmother, I realized I had to talk to him too.Finally, he turned around and his eyes were grim and locked into mine. He placed down his bow and arrow, a resenting sigh fleeing from his lips.“I wanted to talk to you, Nathaniel” I stepped forward. “What more is there to talk about after the last time?” He replied flatly. “I’m pretty much the enemy to all of you now when all I did was all I had to to be able to protect myself” He a
DENVER.I walked up to the door.For a moment, I stood still, looking at the ring in my hand and a sigh escaped my lips. My hands rested on the handle before I pushed it open. Immediately, Eliana turned her eyes to me, taking them off from whatever she was doing but it wasn’t up to a second, she looked back.My hand slipped into my pocket as I darted my eyes around the chamber. It was all a mess, like she was ransacking looking for something. “Found it!” I was right because she chanted not so much later. Eliana turned to me and in her hands was a silver dagger. “Oh my God” I couldn’t help but explain as she tossed it gently upon the table. She let out a slight chuckle. “What do you even need that for?” I questioned.“For the spell obviously” She shrugged her shoulders. “It’s a long process and you have to come with a few things, the silver dagger there is also a relic of an ancestral artifact that belonged to my Grandma” Eliana explained, rubbing her eyes as she heaved a deep breath
DENVER. I stood still right in front of my Pack, heavy with disbelief as my eyes trailed the orange-red skies, painted by the cracking flames that had engulfed my home. "Oh my God" A soft gasp escaped from Eliana's lips. My heart pounded in my chest as the heat intensified, matching the anguish that gripped me. The air was thick with acrid smoke, stinging my eyes and burning my lungs. With each step I took forward, the more panic that set in as I caught a glimpse of my people scrambling out for their own safety. Some of them untouched, but the most of them, wounded.Screams of terror echoed through the atmosphere and their faces were contorted with fear. They rushed out from the inferno as the fire spread with great magnitude through the barns, and the cottages. Through the livestock. The windows had shattered and half the building had collapsed.In the midst of the chaos, my eyes sought desperately for the faces I knew. That was before I saw Thelma. And she scurried towards me, her
ELIANA."The baby's coming now""The baby's coming now, Denver" I screamed through my teeth, reaching to grasp his hands from the wheeling bed. "I have to go call Thelma to tell the nurses to prepare the birthing room" He replied. Tears welled up in my eyes as I gasped. "Don't leave, Denver." "I'll be right back. I'll be right back, Eliana. I promise." He scrambled through the doors as fast as he could and I heard the echoes of his footsteps draw further away. But just after him, the door opened."Nora" I lifted my eyes to face her. "What's going on? I heard screaming—" She walked into the room before letting out a gasp. "No, Eliana!" Shock filled her eyes as her lips parted with a smile. I reached for her hands and I nodded. "Yes" I muttered, biting into my lips to try and curtail the pain. But really, it was so searing that my eyes rolled to the back of my head. "Ahh!" I yelled as yet another contraction rippled through me. Nora was panicking as I jolted back and forth the bed b
ELIANA.FOUR MONTHS LATER."I'm the luckiest man alive to be here a second time. Those were the first words that he said the last time he was standing here” Cory looked up from the paper in his hands. Though in a wheelchair, his road to recovery was beyond impressive.That he was even here, among us on this special day meant a lot—especially to Denver. I could tell by the way his eyes looked around the adorned hall. He stood there in his stormy grey suit, just as it was the day we got married. It fit him so perfectly that I was jealous. Today, we decided to renew our vows, something to remember the day that really changed everything. The day that we sealed the deal forever and I first called Denver my husband. I looked to Cory at that moment and the tears stung the back of my eyes. Oh how I wanted the day to be perfect, and by perfect, I meant exactly how it was months ago. But in that moment, I realized that wasn’t possible. It couldn’t be like that anymore.For starters, I could
ELIANA.A knock on the door drifted my attention. As I sat in front of the mirror, I couldn't pretend that my heart didn't drop at that moment. I turned around and then Thelma walked in. There was an unsettling look across her face when our eyes that I suddenly stood, Denver beside me. "Alpha Eliana," She pursed her lips. "Someone is here to see you."Silence immediately pierced the air with the thought of Aurora dashing across my mind but then she cleared her throat. "It's—" Thelma paused, darting her eyes between Denver and me. "It's Nathaniel.". She muttered. And at that moment, I swallowed a hard lump down my throat. Denver reached to squeeze my hands. "Nathaniel" I mumbled in disbelief. "He said he really wants to see you" My eyes met Denver's in a lock as I slowly nodded. "It's okay" I whispered. "I'll see him. I'll see him.""You sure?" Denver asked. I forced a smile to my lips."He's my brother, after everything, he still is" My eyes fell from his hands as Denver cleared h
ELIANA.To my Eliana.From Nana. Those words would echo for so long to come. I remember the moment I first held the letter in my hands. My chapped dirt-filled fingernails clinging to the piece of paper with almost as much curiosity as devastation.The grief still hit, like a storm against my face, a sour taste in the back of my throat. The grief was there. But in that moment, I remembered Denver’s words. In this moment too.As I walked towards her coffin which laid open in the center of the fire. The air was gloomy with ash and the warm golden hue illuminated the tears that filled the eyes of everyone that had gathered here—for her funeral. Nana. Just like my Mum, just like Adam—it was a rite.Whenever one of us died, they were to be buried the next day. And my Nana had found a place right next to my Mum. I halted right next to her coffin even though earlier, I had no idea I would be able to do this.I threw a look back at Denver who had paused some meters behind. To allow me a mome
ELIANA. My knees grazed the ground upon where my Grandmother laid and the crown of my head rested upon her chest. Frail, still and quiet. It was the kind of silence that was deafening, that evoked the river of tears streaming down my face. The kind that echoed over and over that my whole world had crumbled, right in front of me—right in my hands. And I held onto Nana's garment, as if maybe I could grasp tightly enough, I may be able to bring her back. But my powers had never felt further from me. Each spell that escaped from my lips was like an echo from an empty vessel. The words didn't form, the winds didn't move. I was no longer a Witch, no longer a Hybrid.Now, those words would've meant the world to me at any moment besides this but right now, right now it was just too much. I cried, right on top of her, I cried until my chest started to ache and my throat was sore and my eyes could no longer bring any more tears.I cried because I had lost the one person that I had—that I thou
ELIANA.The full moon rose that night.At about 3 AM, it had hit its apex. The winds coursed through my hair as I gripped my Grandma’s hands. I could still hear her, even with my eyes closed. Her incantations, her magic.For that moment though, I was taken by the night, bathed in ghostly light. The shadows of Denver and my father, and Ivan, all waiting for things to go south so that they stepped in. I had assured them I had the spell under control but of course they wouldn’t believe me.This was the most powerful type of magic there was, one that I had never done before. One that had never been successful before. But I stood there, beneath the silvery moonlight, clinching onto hope and the enchantment that flowed from my Nana’s lips.I could do it, I reassured myself. I could be something. I could be different and that was the one thing that kept echoing in my head.The fact that I could actually be happy, happy with Denver and my two kids. No one after us, just peace. Don’t we all de
NANA ABIGAIL.For the most of my life, I think I’ve been a horrible person.The mere fact that I was born a witch proved exactly that. I was a traitor, a manipulator, a liar. A liar.A liar.But I wasn’t always like this. We weren’t always like this. Cursed. I was also once a little girl with an older sister she looked up to like a god. A mother that was the best there could have been. I had a family who loved and would do anything for each other.We were Witches. For the longest time, we journeyed across the earth to find ourselves a home. Then we found the haven in Oakland. The people were happy, everyone was happy with my father. He had led us to safety, he had cared for us, all the Witches.We were the happiest we could have ever been. But then the Werewolves came, they too had found a home in Oakland. The town itself, wasn’t always like this. Nestled in the hills and forest, it was a town away from mortal eyes. Its cobblestone streets were laced with enchantment. We had made thi
ELIANA. "Tonight is the night of the full moon."Denver’s voice hit my ears softly as I rolled onto him. I fluttered my eyes open to the little sunlight that poured in through the curtained windows. I couldn’t help but groan tiredly even after the nap I had just taken.It had been the busiest morning, from helping Denver’s entire Pack settle in to preparing for the spell tonight, fyi I didn’t need a reminder because only then did I feel the tension weave through me. And I was barely even awake. My hands wrapped around Denver as I laid on his chest.There was this comfort that came from hearing his heartbeat and being that close to his skin. Perhaps, he knew which was why he stayed still. I felt his hands wrap around my waist too.A deep sigh escaped my lips.I ended up lifting my gaze to him and I caught him already staring down at me. “Ugh please don’t remind me” I groaned softly. “It’s almost like I should just stay here forever” I whispered. Denver’s palms weaved into my clothing
ELIANA.“I regret to inform you that Cory suffered a fall inside the building, and on top of that was almost crushed by some of the debris that had fallen” The doctor explained with a piece of paper in his hands. His eyes fell to Thelma especially whose hands held up her chin in a tragic manner.The remnant of all the tears she had cried clung desperately to her lashes and at that moment, a hard lump slipped down her throat.“With a fall like that and everything that happened, it’s not uncommon to be presented with some signs of head trauma which would explain his partial loss of memory and inability to do the things he was once doing.”I folded my arms across my chest, dashing a glare at Denver. His face was filled with unease and an emotion I couldn’t quite decipher. Like every word that came out of the doctor’s mouth was a thorn poking him in his chest. I saw the way he looked at Cory laying there.That was his best friend. His person. His brother when Blake wasn’t. And he was jus