Chapter Seventy

Jasmine’s POV

I woke up that morning feeling that something was different.

Not different in a bad sense but different anyway.

I sat up on my bed and looked at the empty space beside me.

Not a day went by where I did not miss my mate.

And though we sent letters to each other, it did nothing to ease the ache of his absence.

Lena had decided to wait until their return before setting a date for her mating ceremony.

Although she was very excited and looked forward to it, she insisted that it would not be complete without both her brothers.

There was nothing I could say to argue with that.

I cleaned up and changed to join Lena at the sanctuary, where we were to meet to go for our morning run.

As soon as I stepped into the sanctuary where she was seated on the fallen trunk, waiting for me, she immediately froze, a frown on her face.

“What is it?” I asked, stepping closer to her in concern.

“We are not alone”, she said in almost a whisper, looking attentive as though she was listening for a sound.

I immediately became alert, waiting to hear what she heard.

It did not take long until I heard it.

It was the faint sound of a heartbeat.

Lena frowned and stood to her feet as I looked around, trying to find out where the sound was coming from.

Rather than move away, she moved closer to me.

“What is it?” I asked in a whisper.

“It’s coming from you”, she said before going still.

At her words, a sudden realization dawned on me.

I lifted my eyes to meet Lena’s wide ones.

“Is that…” she trailed off, unable to complete her sentence.

I nodded slowly, tears springing to my eyes.

“It’s him”, I whispered, my voice fading out as I tried not to burst into tears of joy.

Lena’s own eyes had began to glisten with tears as well.

“It’s our pup”, she said. “It’s our pup!!!” She suddenly screamed out in delight, grabbing a hold of my shoulders and pulling me into a hug.

I returned her hug as tears of joy rolled down my cheek.

That was the different thing I had noticed that morning.

I had awoken to his heartbeat but had failed to realize it.

Although I would have been happy if Regan was there to hear his son’s heartbeat for the first time, I tried not to think about thoughts like that that would steal from the joy of the moment.

Instead, I was grateful that Lena was there to share the memory with me.

Given how excited she was, I had no doubt that she would adore him and be the best Aunt in the world.

She released me from our hug and moved to place her hand on my stomach.

She looked back up at me with watery smile.

“I can feel him”, she said, her voice shaky. “He’s real. He’s here”, she said.

I placed my hand over hers.

“I am glad that I could share this with you”, I told her.

“I am glad as well”, she said as she took her hand away. “Is it safe for you to run with him?” She asked with a worried look.

I smiled at her obvious concern before nodding.

“Gaia said it would not affect him in any way”, I told her. “Between her and Nana, I have enough people who are overly concerned about the pup. Do not join them in their worry, Dearest”, I pleaded.

She nodded her head and smiled.

“If you are ready, then let us go”, she said, already stripping out of her clothes.

Lena was not shy in the least about exposing herself. She always said it was second nature to her wolf and she had grown used to it.

I, on the other hand, was still shy whenever I had to take my clothes off.

But I had grown comfortable around Lena.

She had become almost like my twin.

We stripped and shifted into our wolf forms before going on our run.

We took the same route we always did, now very familiar with the woods as we ran past its familiar scenery.

We came across the small pond where we usually stopped by to drink and rest for a short while before continuing our run.

We had just resumed our run when I caught an unfamiliar scent.

Lena must have caught it as well because she stiffened and moved closer to me.

‘Stay close’, she mind linked me as we made our way through the woods quietly, following the unfamiliar scent we had picked up on.

We quietly followed the scent until we came across a wolf.

It was a mousy brown wolf and looked as though it was trying to hunt for food.

‘It does not look dangerous’, I mind linked Lena.

‘That is all the more reason to be careful’, she mind linked back before slowly beginning to make her way to sneak up on the wolf.

I remained where I was, just in case the wolf made the mistake of coming towards where I was, it would be easy to capture it.

So, I stayed back and watched as Lena snuck behind the wolf an pounced on it.

The wolf did not have quick reflexes.

It was also, clearly, not as strong as Lena’s wolf and was subdued in no time.

Seeing Lena’s success, I made my way out of my hiding place, revealing myself to the wolf.

‘Help me hold her down’, Lena mind linked. ‘While I find something to bind her with’.

I moved closer and did as Lena instructed, holding the she-wolf down while Lena left to find something to bind her with.

I looked down to see the wolf staring at me with wide eyes.

For a moment, I wondered why she was looking at me in obvious shock before remembering that I was a pure white wolf, and that those sort of wolves were supposed to be long extinct.

Not willing to address that, I simply ignored her staring and continued to hold her down until Lena returned.

She came back with a rusty looking chain.

‘This should hold her down until we get home’, she said, coming to bind the she-wolf.

Afterwards, we carried her back towards the pack house.

Lena immediately mind linked, Nana and Gaia, as well as her mate, while I mind linked my Gamma to meet us at the pack house.

She was taken into the pack house by some warriors while we shifted before going to join them.

Nana, Gaia and Gaius were already there and waiting by the time we walked into my mate’s study.

The bound wolf laid on the floor and they all watched her warily.

“Release her”, I said to one of the warriors that had helped to bring her in.

Though suspicious, he moved forward and released her.

I took a seat on one of the two chairs before my mate’s desk, unwilling to go around and sit in my mate’s chair at the moment.

As soon as she was freed, she made to bite one of the warriors but he was quick enough to escape her attack, wrapping his arms around her neck to hold her firmly.

The other warrior immediately moved to help him, just as my Gamma walked in.

Once they had her in a firm hold, I spoke.

“Shift”, I said to her. “And I will not say it again”.

Her wolf went still, looking at me as I kept my eyes firmly looked on her.

Lena moved to grab a robe and tossed it to one of the warriors that held her.

He wrapped the robe around her wolf before the sounds of cracking bones filled the room.

Not long after, a dark haired girl with skin so pale stood before us.

I waited for her to properly wrap the robe around herself before I spoke again.

“Who are you?” I asked. “And how did you get into our pack?” I asked.

She stood, watching me without a word, before suddenly taking a step closer.

My Gamma immediately positioned himself between us.

“It is you, is it not?”, she asked, her voicemail coming out faint and weak.

I did not respond, simply lifted a questioning brow for her to expatiate.

Gaia’s voice suddenly sounded in my head.

‘She is no ordinary werewolf’, she said.

Subtly, I turned my eyes to meet hers.

‘What is she?’ I asked in my head, the same way I would if I was mind linking Lena, positive that even though Gaia was not a member of my pack, her abilities would help her head me.

‘I sense an aura about her’, she said.

‘I will ask her myself then’, I told her before bringing my focus back to the she-wolf.

It seemed she was waiting for me to do so, because she spoke as soon as I did.

“You are the one the prophecy spoke of”, she said. “Are you not?” She asked.

Rather than answer her question, I decided to ask her one of my own.

“What are you?” I asked. “I will not answer any of your questions until you have answered all of mine”, I informed her.

She looked at me for along time.

“My name is Isla”, she said. “And I am from the West”, she said.

“How did you get past our borders without being noticed?” I asked.

A smile came onto her face.

“That was easy”, she said. “A simple cloaking spell will make me go unnoticed anywhere I wish”, she said.

“But cloaking spells are not simple”, Gaia surprisingly spoke up from across the room.

The she-wolf, Isla, turned to Gaia with a smile.

“It may not be for you”, she said. “But for a witch who has practiced spells all her life, it is quite easy”, she told her before turning back to me.

It was then that I noticed her eyes.

They were different in colors.

One of them was a beautiful forest green, while the other was a blue, the color of a clear blue sky.

I frowned in confusion as something in her eyes suddenly struck a cord in me.

For some reason I could not place, it looked very familiar.

But I simply brushed the thought aside, figuring it was better to get the answers to my question directly from her rather than trying to remember.

“So, you are a witch then?” I asked in regards to her earlier response.

She nodded. “I am”, she said.

I frowned in confusion.

“But you shifted right before us”, I pointed out.

A soft laugh escaped her.

“I am part wolf”, she said.

“So you are a half witch?” I asked to clarify, knowing Gaia was one as well.

“No”, she said, further confusing me. “A half witch would imply that I am equal parts wolf and witch, like some”, she said with a glance at Nana and Gaia. “I was born a full witch”, she said. “But since some of my ancestors were werewolves, I also received he ability to shift”, she said.

I turned to Gaia to confirm if her words were true and received a nod from her.

“Very well”, I said, turning back to her. “What are you doing here, in my pack?” I asked.

She did not hesitate to respond.

“I have come to seek the one in the prophecy”, she said, looking straight at me.

“Why?” I asked, knowing she was already aware that it was me.

She smiled again, this time a teasing smile, one that could be shared among friends.

The way she looked at me told me that she knew something I did not, and found it amusing that I did not know. Or remember.

I still could not shake the feeling that there was something familiar about her.

“I know she would need my help”, she said, confident.

Rather than ask why she thought I would need her help, I asked the question that had been on my mind since seeing her eyes.

“Why do you look familiar to me?” I asked her.

She smiled again, this time, one close to delight.

“I knew a part of you would recognize me”, she said and I frowned in confusion. “After all”, she went on. “We are family”.