Chapter Eighty

Jasmine’s POV

After Isla’s break down in the study, Lena’s behavior towards her softened considerably.

Though Isla did not seem to notice or care, I saw the effort Lena put into making her feel welcome into our pack and I was very grateful for it.

I was not exaggerating when I said that Isla did not seem to care.

In fact, she made it obvious that her only concern and only reason for being in our pack was to keep me and my unborn pup safe.

She kept to herself, only showing up when needed and disappearing to the solitude of Nana’s garden or work room.

Ever since finding out about Arwyn, she seemed very focused and determined not to leave any stone unturned.

Her dedication earned her Nana’s admiration and even Gaia’s respect. And though she did not seem to require either, she related with them for the purpose of keeping me safe.

She taught Gaia new spells and Gaia seemed genuinely impressed by Isla’s abilities.

Once, when we were having our usual meeting for her to check on my pup, she had said to me.

“I am truly relieved that you have family that seems powerful enough to face Arwyn”, she said. “It had been a worry of mine that my abilities would not be enough to help us withstand Arwyn’s influence. But seeing how gifted your cousin is in the art of witchcraft, I am glad she is on our side and not the other”, she had said.

Not knowing the extent of my cousin’s ability, I had asked. “Is she truly as good as you say she is?”

She had turned to me in surprise.

“You have never seen her show her abilities, have you?” She asked.

When I shook my head, somewhat embarrassed that I had not been as attentive as I should have been, she simply waved it away.

“She is powerful”, she told me. “I suspect even she does not know the extent of her powers and is still exploring them”, she said. “It would come as a great advantage to us when the time is right”, she said, and continued with her examination of my unborn pup.

Gaia’s observation of Isla had made it quite clear to me that I had not spent as much time as I should have with her, since she had come into my pack.

After her revelation of the possibility of werewolves also being a part of our problems, I had insisted on including her in every meeting we had after that.

Despite always being present, she would always seat in silence, never contributing anything and merely just listening to what was being discussed.

Afterwards, she would retire to Nana’s work room to work on some spells, or her garden to tend to the plants or herbs.

Since I had barely seen her, I had simply focused my attention on pack matters and preparations for the war that was sure to come.

But I had been wrong to do that.

Thinking on it, I realized that it was quite easy to forget about Isla, not because one wanted to, but because Isla had almost perfected the art of making herself invisible.

Even when we dined together, she would sit in silence, eating without making a sound.

Despite the fact that I had provided her with various pretty dresses, she preferred to wear plain ones with dull colors that did not draw any attention to her.

And despite the fact that she was very beautiful, it was difficult to see her face behind the curtain of her dark hair that always covered her face.

Unconsciously, I had forgotten about her.

It was a strange notion since I was certain I was not the type to overlook of forget people. So, after my meeting with Gaia, I headed straight to the healing house and found my cousin in the garden where I was certain she would be.

At first, I did not notice her. That was how well she blended in with her surrounding.

She was wearing another dull grey dress with her dark long hair cascading over her shoulders and back as she bent to inspect a flower.

As I watched her, she seemed to be completely focused on her task. And it was probably because her attention was on something else that she pushed her hair out of her face, revealing her beautiful features.

The sunlight hit the side of her face that was being exposed and made her exposed eye, the green one, sparkle like emeralds.

From behind me, I heard a gasp and turned to see Lena and a guard standing behind me, taking in the same sight that was before me.

The guard looked completely enchanted by her, unable to take his eyes off her, and for a moment, I wondered if the look in his eyes was that of a mate.

So, I turned to look closely at him.

It was not.

Thought obviously enchanted, his eyes lacked the look of adoration that mates had.

I snapped my fingers in his face to bring him back to reality and inclined my head to the side to dismiss him.

Blushing profusely in embarrassment, he bowed and beat a hasty retreat.

“By the Moon Goddess”, I heard Lena quietly exclaim in awe from beside me. “She is beautiful”, she said.

I smiled, knowing that I had been thinking the same thing.

I gave a nod to Lena before making my way over to where my cousin was crouched down in the garden.

On hearing my footsteps, she immediately hid her face behind her hair again before looking up and realizing that I was the intruder.

At the sight of me, she smiled and moved her hair away from her face.

I smiled back at her, her obvious pleasure at the sight of me warming my heart.

“Do you need something, Luna?” She asked with a teasing smile.

She had taken to calling me Luna when we were around people, and even though I had told her on several occasions not to, she still kept at it, even turning it into a form of teasing between us.

My smile widened at her humor.

“I seem to have lost my cousin”, I said, going along with it. “Did you happen to see her?” I asked. “She has an awful habit of hiding away”, I added.

Her smile widened at that as she rose to her feet.

“I’m afraid I do not even know your cousin, Luna”, she said. “Pray tell, what does she look like?” She asked.

I hummed as I pretended to think for a moment.

“Well she is very beautiful”, I said, hoping to make her smile more, but her smile only dimmed. “She has lovely dark hair and a skin almost as white as snow”, I said, my smile slowly dying. “And always hides from everyone. Even me”, I said.

At my last words, her mismatched eyes came up to look at me and I caught the sadness in her eyes.

“Forgive me, Cousin”, she said, all signs of teasing melting away. “I do not mean to hide from you”, she said. “It is a habit I do not know how to break”.

I nodded slowly before stretching forth a hand for her to take.

“Take a walk with me”, I requested.

I saw her hesitate for a brief moment before she took my hand.

Threading her arm through mine, I led us out of the garden and towards the pack’s training grounds.

As soon as we left the garden, I noticed her bring her hair back to hide her face from view.

Her confident posture slackened and she hid behind me a little as we walked arm in arm.

I took notice of all those actions in silence.

As we walked past the training grounds where the warriors trained, I brought us to a stop in their line of sight and lifted my hand to push her hair out of her face and reveal her beautiful features.

From behind me, I heard the small chaos that started to take place once some of the warriors saw her face.

Seeing this, she immediately pulled her hair back to cover her face and would have pulled away from me if I did not have a firm grip on her arm.

Rather than letting her pull away, I pulled her along, leading her away from the training grounds and to the woods beside it.

I could hear her heart beating loudly as I finally pulled her to our destination.

Once I let go of her arm, she turned on me.

“Why did you do that?!” She snapped at me, eyes glittering in anger.

I looked at her calmly, already expecting her reaction.

After all, I had done what I did on purpose.

When I did not respond to her, she turned to walk away.

“Why do you hide it?” I asked, causing her to halt in her track. “Why do you hide your beauty?” I asked.

She did not move at first, her back to me.

Finally, she turned around slowly to glare at me.

“Because it never brought me anything but pain”, she said.

The pain she spoke of was reflected in her eyes, and it made me hesitant to ask the questions I had planned to ask.

So instead, I brought her attention to the place we were since I was certain she had not noticed it.

“Do you like it?” I asked, looking around at where we were.

I watched as she looked confused before turning to actually take note of her surroundings.

I saw the annoyance give way to awe as she looked around my garden and with glittering eyes.

I had already observed how much she seemed to love gardens and hoped this would help her feel better.

Slowly, she began to move around, taking in the beauty of the flowers, her eyes lighting up in pleasure.

“My mate had it made for me”, I told her. “He wanted me to have a special place I could call my own”, I said before turning to look her in the eye. “I thought you would enjoy it as much as I do, and I am pleased to see that I was right”.

It seemed my voice had broken the spell and reminded her of my earlier offense.

She frowned at me, no longer glaring but not smiling either.

She said nothing, simply let her look of displeasure speak for itself.

I released a breath.

“I apologize for earlier”, I said finally. “I simply wished to confirm my suspicion as to why you always hid your face away”, I said.

“Then you should have asked me”, she said, the accusations clear in her voice. “If you had a suspicion, you should have asked me rather than going about as you pleased”, she said. “Whether or not I decide to hide my face is my business. You had no right to do what you did earlier”.

I hung my head, ashamed of my actions.

“You are right”, I admitted. “I am truly sorry”, I said, sincerely apologetic.

She took a see breath and let it out before she spoke again.

“I understand that you may be curious about my past”, she said. “But you must understand that my past is mine to decide when to reveal”, she told me. “If you are curious or worried about something, simply ask me. And I shall do my best to provide you with adequate answers to ease your worries”, she said.

I nodded in understanding.

“But will those answers be the truth?” I asked.

She looked away from me and was silent for a long while.

“There are things about me that I never wish you would find out”, she finally said. “And there are things that have happened to me that I will never be able to speak of. But I will promise you, that whenever you ask me, I will never lie to you”, she said.

That brought a smile to my lips.

It was a sad smile however, seeing that the reason behind her hiding was a painful one.

Her earlier words came to my mind.

She had said that her beauty had brought her nothing but pain.

The way she had said it told me that she had not just happened upon that conclusion. She had experienced it firsthand.

And I wanted nothing more than to help her forget that pain.

I stretched out a hand to her again.

“Come”, I said. “Let me show you the best part of the garden”, I said, hoping she could see the apology and sincerity in my eyes.

It did not take long for her breathtaking smile to return.

And as she took my hand, I knew it for what it was.

An act of trust.