Chapter 3

AMELIA

 “Amelia!”

 I turned around to see Mom with wide eyes, staring at me. “Mom!”

 We met halfway, and I hugged her tightly. Her fresh scent flooded my senses, reminding me of how much I missed her. She didn’t even age a bit. She looked the same as the last time I saw her, aside from cutting her blond hair short.

 “Honey. Oh, thank Goddess. I miss you, honey.”

 We pulled apart, and I wiped the tears on her cheeks. “I missed you, too, and I’m fine, Mom.”

 “I know you are, honey. Where have you been? You only left us one letter, and we couldn’t find you anywhere.”

 “She didn’t want to be found. I told you, sweetheart,” said my dad, grinning at us.

 “Dad!” I threw myself at him just like old times, and he spun me around, chuckling. “You put some weight on, honey.”

 “You mean, I’m fat now, Dad?”

 He smiled as he put me down to hug me tight. “You colored your hair.”

 “Nope. It’s natural.” Who would believe me, though? Especially my parents who raised me since I was six months old.

 His brown eyes studied me for a moment, then smiled again. The same smile I remembered. “I thought we lost our baby girl.”

 “You didn’t, Dad. Never a day passed by I didn’t think of all of you.”

 “She’s lying.” Zeph came out from his bedroom of the new house, freshly showered. I guessed it wasn’t new when it was built nearly two years ago.

 “How—?” Mom asked in disbelief. I could feel the shock in her voice, and it was written all over her face. She then looked at me. “You did this?”

 “I’m not a healer, Mom.” I squeezed her again. “I wish I was, though.”

 “Then, explain this, honey.”

 I looked at Dad. “It’s a long story, but I want you to meet my friends.”

 Theia and Ren came out from their kitchen.

 “Mr. & Mrs. Hayes. It’s good to finally meet you. Amelia never stopped talking about you both. I’m Theia.”

 “Good stuff, I hope. Call me Amos.”

 “Sir, I’m Ren.” Ren extended his hand to shake my father’s. Then he went to kiss my mom on the cheek.

 My dad, though, kept staring at Ren, making me share a look with Theia.

 “He knows something,” Ren talked to me through our link. 

Theia and I didn’t have the same connection because she wasn’t like us but she sensed something was going on.

 We went to the kitchen where I made my friends sandwiches. Zeph also joined us.

 “Son, I don’t mean to be rude, but is your hair natural?”

I chuckled. “He gets that a lot, Dad. Don’t worry. You’re not the first.”

 “I’m afraid this is natural, sir.”

 “It’s Amos, son.” My father couldn’t take my eyes off Ren. My best friend was confident with his look, but somehow, Dad made him uncomfortable.

 “So, where have you been for the past two years, honey?”

 “Ren found me. He took me to his home. We met Theia along the way.” I told him the shortest version. In order to protect them, I had to keep my job a secret even from my family.

 “His scent is like a sunny breeze. I know he’s a werewolf, but what kind are you, Ren?” Zeph asked.

 “I’m like your sister.”

 “What exactly?” Zeph looked at me, grinning, eyes shining. “Wait. You finally shifted?”

 “The same night she left your pack. I found her alone, naked, cold, freezing in the forest.”

 From happy and grateful faces, I watched my parents turn to sadder in guilt. Ren didn’t have to make it hard for them, but maybe they needed to know the truth.

 “Thank you for taking care of my daughter, all these years, Ren. We owe you that much.”

 “You don’t owe me anything, Mrs. Hayes.”

 “Oh, Goddess.” Dad was on his feet, pointing at me and then to Ren. Then he paced without a word.

 “What’s going on, Dad?” Zeph asked, clearly worried and confused.

 “I know you’re special, honey, but I never thought I would see something like these miracles even in my lifetime.”

 “What are you talking about, Amos?” Mom asked.

 Dad looked at me. “You didn’t die or even got a scar in that fire. There’s a prophecy said, when an evil walked the earth, defeated, new beings reborn and elements unfold, creating new balance in the underworld.”

 “That’s insane.” Zeph snorted. When he met my gaze, he seemed to have realized something. He’d seen something unexplainable that night without answers.

 “Wait here.” Dad quickly left the kitchen.

 “I told you, he knows something,” Ren reminded me.

 “What is your dad talking about, honey? I know you’ve changed a lot, but you’re still my baby girl. Care to explain what’s going on?”

 “Yeah, sis. Explain the magic potion and the sword. I knew the moment you walked into that infirmary, I sensed something heavy in the air. I couldn’t explain it. Are you a witch, too?”

 I burst out laughing. Theia joined me, too. Before I could say something, Dad came back with what looked like an old musty book.

 “Here.”

 “Not that again, Dad. That’s a myth,” Zeph said, half-jokingly.

 “This is not a myth,” Dad insisted as he opened the old book. “Your sister didn’t hurt in the fire because she’d caused it. Ren came from Asia. My guess is Japan. You never heard of Japan with a wildfire calamity, but a natural disaster like tsunami, typhoon, or earthquake because the werewolf carrying the air element was born there.”

 “So what? My sister is a fire werewolf?” He snorted, while I remained silent. Dad knew, and I never knew about his beliefs in myth until today.

 “She’s a fire wolf. She carries the element of fire.” The house went silent the moment Ren just dropped the bomb on my family.

 Zeph gave me the same look before I left that night.

 “She didn’t create the fire in your house. Once Cyrius was defeated, it unleashed some elements he stole, one of those was the fire elements. He’d killed thousands of beings, including the last werewolf with a gift. It’d chosen Amelia, and it was destined for her. But he also unleashed some dark and demonic elements,” Ren added, “and they don’t only come for us, but everyone.” There was more to it than his story. I knew Ren knew something more, but I didn’t press him.

 “You can’t tell anyone.” I looked at Mom who hadn’t said a word. “Mom, are you okay?”

 She grabbed the glass of water with a shaky hand and drank it. “I could barely comprehend meeting a healer with platinum blond hair. Then your brother who I left very sick is now walking in the kitchen. Now you. You have such a great power inside you, honey. Use it to do something good.”

 “I have to stay here for a while and pretend I’m recuperating, Mom.”

 She squeezed Zeph’s hand. “Of course, darling.”

 “Don’t worry, Mrs. Hayes. She won’t combust,” Theia said.

 Everyone chuckled, including my dad.

 “Are you gonna tell us what’s the sword all about? Why no one can touch it?”

 “Like an Excalibur, it’s wielded for me—”

 “And her mate. It hurts or burns anyone who touches it. It’s a present to him to fight alongside when the time comes,” explained Theia, making me laugh. “Kidding. She’s just possessive of it. It’s given to her by her master.”

 “The son of the Moon and the living Sun.”

 “Dad, what’s that supposed to mean?”

 “You are the living Sun. It may lose in translation, but it seems it’s interpreted that way, but your mate is a werewolf, a direct lineage of the Moon Goddess.”

 “An Alpha?”

 I almost choked on my own saliva as I met Mom’s gaze. “Um, I don’t need a mate.”

 “So, honey, are you staying here for good?” Finally, she changed the topic.

 “I can’t, Mom. We have to find our…”

 “Your people?”

 I nodded at Zeph. “Yeah.”

 “And then what?”

 “Don’t tell them just yet,” Ren interrupted my thought.

 “We just need to find them and learn about us. And it’s good to help people with our powers.”

 “Why did you leave that night on your birthday, Amelia? I couldn’t put it together. You were still sick and you just left without even goodbyes. At least, make me understand.”

 “Zeph—” I didn’t finish what I was about to say when I heard a knock. I didn’t have to check who was behind the door. I could sense it from a mile away. It was Ryden. I knew he would come to talk to me when I said no.

 Dad went to open the door.

 When I thought it would be easier to come back, heal my brother, and go, I was wrong. Things got quickly complicated.

 “Alpha, what are you doing here?” Zeph asked, rising to his feet.

 “I’m here to talk to Amelia.”

 “What’s going on?” Zeph ping-ponged his gaze between me and him. He got nothing from me. I may still feel something for Ryden, but I didn’t come here to join their merry band of werewolves and start our romance.

 “He’s the reason why she left.”

 “Ren!” I snapped.“He was her mate and rejected her.” Ren was protective of me and so I was for him. We were like the Yin and Yang. We had each other’s back.

 “Ren, that’s enough!”

“What?” my family said in unison. But my brother didn’t stop there until a loud thud echoed in the kitchen. He just punched his alpha. And I didn’t even flinch.