DENVER. “Hello Denver” Aurora’s eyes fell on me and I pushed a hard lump down my throat. I got up now that the sharp ringing had stopped and so had the storm but I froze in my tracks.Disbelief and astonishment etched across my face. It had been minutes but I still couldn’t believe she, Aurora, in flesh and blood was standing opposite me. Her presence weaved a surreal tapestry of emotions that swept through me. I looked at Blake, he was having a harder time taking it all in. This was someone he’d loved for the most of the last century. Someone he was willing to resurrect from the dead only for them to be together. I’m sure, the emotions were a lot more for him. “What are you doing here?” He still scowled and a soft chuckle escaped her lips. “What am I doing here?” She inched closer but Blake stepped in between us. Aurora came to a halt, barely meters from his face and she sucked in a deep breath through her lips.Her hands reached into his hair and she slowly swept her fingers thr
ELIANA. I found myself in the center of the evergreen grasses. Swaying my feet through the tender earth, I plummeted forward with my arms stretched out. The air was a gentle caress in the fields, carrying the sweet fragrance of blossoming flowers.The sun emerged on that beautiful day, casting a warm glow upon the meadow, and the grass beneath my feet danced in response. Butterflies painted the air with delicate strokes of color and even the sky above was a canvas of pastel hues.I sucked in a deep breath through my nose and lips as I approached the banks of a crystal blue river. There, I came to a halt. The winds flustered my face and blew right through my hair. I laid amidst the grasses and my heart resonated with the gentle breeze. Time had lost its grip in this world, and everything else seemed suspended. My arms fell wide to embrace the earth beneath and then I closed my eyes. It was only when I did, that I was whisked back to my reality. My soul and body plunged through the r
ELIANA. We’d been at this for more than five hours.Secluded within the four-cornered inventory that was home to what was left of my mother—the things my Dad had kept that belonged to her which were boxes and boxes of photos, and clothes. And Jewelry.My hands flicked through the dusty pile of papers as I heaved out a sigh. I only just realized how much of her things my Dad kept. It was almost everything she had, every dress she wore, down to every photo of her. I had gone through about a hundred up until now. In search of clues and hints that may be able to lead me back to my brother. I didn’t even know this place existed until today. Before, it was only a room wedged with a tightly sealed door where the rest of the Pack were prohibited from coming close to.I always wondered what was behind it. Little did I know they were the memories of my Mum that my Dad was trying so hard to keep alive. Only God knew how many times he came down here—to feel as close to her as I did at that mom
ELIANA.“I had no idea your mother had a journal” My Dad, standing a few inches away from me said as he let his eyes fall on the brown book laying across the chamber table. I arched my brows.“But these are her stuffs that you kept…surely you must hidden the box” I replied him. Nathaniel nodded but my Dad seemed just as surprised at this as we were. I could see it in his eyes.“I had no idea, Eliana” And he was telling the truth. I knew this had to do with Dante, my mother’s first mate and seemingly her first love so I get it was a hard topic to bring up to my father. I also get why he would want the box hidden away for eternity.But he still stood by his claim, that he didn’t do it.“I have no idea what’s even inside. You say it was just the journal in the box?” He stepped forward and I nodded. “Me neither” I pressed my lips together, folding my arms across my chest.“Then what are you waiting for?” It was my Grandma that chirped in next and when I looked at her, a soft sigh escaped
ELIANA. "Spiritus antiquus, umbra lucis. Verba arcanis, potestas magica” My voice echoed through the walls as I sat on the ground, hands spread across my thighs and my eyes closed. Abruptly, there was a wave of breeze that swept by the room, blowing off all the candles I had lit.It was then that I opened my eyes, a heavy sigh escaping my lips. “What are you trying to do now?” Nathaniel asked. It was just the both of us left in the room. My Dad and Nana had gone with Blake who promised to come back. But I told myself I wasn’t going to leave until I cracked a way to open my mother’s journal.Seeing my determination, Nathaniel chose to stay with me too. Although, he had done more talking than actually helping. I stood up from the floor, running my hands through my hair.“I was trying to see if there was a way to contact my mother. Maybe her spirit, anything that could help us” I muttered. But that even was to no avail. As if my mother hadn’t already warned me about summoning her, my
SUSANNAH.TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO. Today, I found out that I'm pregnant. I wrote in my journal for the first time in a really long time. You see, when I came back with Gerald to his pack, all I had were his promises of a better life but I also had this journal. Sometimes, I think it's the reason I was able to get over what happened with Boy.Or at least, I'd like to think I was over it but the truth was, I was not.Sometimes, I even still blamed myself for what happened to him. Perhaps, if I had never left that day. Perhaps, if I was careful enough, maybe he would still be here with us. With me.And with that blame came an insurmountable amount of grief and self-loath. Gerald was able to move on quickly, I didn't blame him. Boy wasn't his son and regardless of everything, he still had a Pack to rule.The earth could crumble to the ground but he'd still have to rule the next day. That was a challenge that we had when we moved, one we hadn't really thought about. Being an Alpha came wi
SUSANNAH.TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO.“Do you know how you got that scar on your neck?” I whispered, lifting my eyes to Nathaniel as I made him a cup of coffee. The stove flames cracked in the silence of the room before I spoke. He was only just sitting in that chair, staring blankly around the chamber walls.Then his eyes met mine, just as he shook his head. “No” There was a crack in his voice and a faded smile that crept to my lips as I remembered that day.“I used to take you out in the sun, you would cry every afternoon if I ever forgot so one day, I was cradling you in my arms. I just needed you to stay still for a moment,” I scoffed. “So I placed you in the wooden bassinet for just a second while I went to attend to something inside.”“And before I knew it, you’d rolled out of it and fallen to the ground. You scratched the side of your neck against the floor but the thing is you didn’t even cry. I think that was the moment I knew you were very strong and Gerald could tell too because
SUSANNAH.TWENTY-EIGHT YEARS AGO."I don't understand..." My moist eyes fell on Nathaniel as my heart leaped into the back of my throat. My mind was racing with everything he’d just said and I could barely even believe his words.But I could see it in his eyes how sure and certain he was of what he said, no matter how outrageous it did sound. I hadn’t seen my son in four months, you know how it ended the last time but here he somehow was, back on my doorstep, delivering the absolute worst of news.A tear dropped from my eyes and a sniffle went up my nose. I turned around while Nathaniel walked in. “I don’t understand” My hands swept through my hair. “I thought…I thought being a Hybrid would mean that you’re stronger. I mean I thought it makes you stronger” I muttered.“But you’re basically saying that my body isn’t strong enough to house a second child and see her to delivery?” I stared in astonishment back at him and Nathaniel pushed a hard lump down his throat.“I’ve come to learn t
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