‘How long have you known?’ Gabriel asked?
‘Known that I was a hybrid?’ I asked in turn. ‘I’ve known that I was different all my life. My hybrid heritage? Since I was twelve. I grew up with just my mother. We were always running. Never staying in one place for long. I never knew my father. He abandoned us when I was a baby. Couldn’t handle the stress, I guess.’
‘That’s not exactly true,’ Ash intervened.
Chapter 50
Now the surprise was on my side. We all turned towards Ash. He stepped forward and joined our little group. I didn’t know what to say. I always believed that my father had abandoned us—left my mother and me to fend for ourselves and evade the Council’s assassins. It was cut-and-dry as far as I was concerned. Typical male commitment angst. It was one of the main reasons why I never committed to any relationship. Up till now. Now I had two. Go figure.
‘Trish.’ The tall man squeezed my shoulder in support. ‘Your father never abandoned you and your mother. He couldn’t—he loved you both more than life itself. That was why he left. Because of love.’
I just gaped at him. No words came out of my mouth. Now that was a first. I couldn’t remember ever being lost for words. The sting of tears threatened to push through my resolve. I would not cry. Never. Not in front of others. My pain was for solitary moments. I gathered my dignity and stared into his beautiful multi-coloured eyes, looking for the peace that I found there before.
‘Then why?’ I whispered. Why had he left? Why hadn’t he helped us when we needed him so much? When I needed a father.
‘Your parents were very much in love. Theirs was love that transcended all boundaries. Man-made and divine. They were ecstatic when you were born. You were the apotheosis of their love.’ He made it sound so wonderful. Then why was I alone now? Where were they?
‘Others were not so enamoured,’ he continued. ‘Your father was a very important man in the Wolf community. He was ancient, almost as old as I am, with the knowledge and wisdom of his years. Ishmael quickly understood the dire straits that his small family was in.’
‘Ishmael?’ Gabriel was astounded. ‘Her father was Ishmael?’ Ash nodded.
‘Who is Ishmael?’ I demanded with more anger than I wanted. How come everyone here knew more about me than I did? I was getting seriously pissed off. This was not how I had envisioned the meeting to go.
‘Ishmael was one of the founding wolves,’ Ash explained.
‘One of the first,’ Gabriel added just in case I didn’t understood the gravity of it all.
‘The first?’
‘Yes.’ Ash squeezed my shoulder again. ‘There were initially three. He was one of them.’ I let that sink in. So, I was the descendant of Werewolf royalty, if there were such a thing. This was getting weirder every minute.
‘You were saying?’ I needed to know more about why he had left. ‘About why?’
‘Ishmael received word that the Council was looking for a hybrid. The Oracle had a vision.’
‘Aquanaris?’ Dread sent shivers up and down my spine. Her again.
‘Yes, Aquanaris. She had foreseen that a hybrid of Sabre and Wolf would unite the clans and packs and bring down the Council. The child of the two worlds would bring an end to the tyranny and free the paranormal world. The Council sent their assassins to find such a child. Ishmael knew that if he stayed with you and your mother it would be the same as painting a target on your backs. The Sabres and Wolves weren’t traditionally allies. They warred for territories. Adversaries at best. Enemies at worst. A highly placed Wolf travelling with an equally esteemed Sabre and a small child would be too conspicuous. They had to split up. There was no way they could stay together and live. Your mother reluctantly agreed. It was the only way to keep you safe.’
‘That was when they came to you?’
‘It was. They wanted to know the truth behind the prophecy that Aquanaris had foretold.’
‘And you validated it.’ It wasn’t a question. No answer was needed. I tried to absorb what he said. And what it meant. All my life I lived under the conviction that my father hadn’t loved me. That he deserted us. My mother never said so. It was a conclusion that I made on my own. It was the only one that made sense to me for all those years. It was an explanation for something that I desperately needed to understand. My mother never told me who my father was. Just that he was a Wolf and that their union was frowned on. That they could not stay together. Two days before I lost her, she told me about the prophecy and why we were being hunted.
I never really believed that I was some kind of super being that was destined to bring about the release of the oppressed supernatural world. It sounded like a fairy tale—a bad one at that—and I banished it to the back of my mind. Now it was back with a vengeance. Sure, Ash had convinced me that the prophecy was what was driving the Council. But still I did not truly believe it. Now I was faced with the fact that my parents had both acted on the conviction that I was indeed the chosen one. They accepted the prophecy as truth.
And now it was my turn.
‘What happened to my father?’ My question was barely audible.
‘Two years after your parents split up, the Council came for Ishmael. We believe that Aquanaris had a more detailed vision that identified your parents. They started to hunt them—you—with a vengeance after that. Ishmael managed to evade the Council for another year until a group of Assassins cornered him. We have not heard from him since. We must presume that he is no longer with us.’
Dead. Just when I started to warm to the idea that I had a father, he was gone. This was quickly going downhill. My initial elation that he once loved me, crashed into an enormous pain that he was dead. I was never able to get to know him, and now it was too late. I was basically an orphan. Both my parents were gone. Dead at the hands of the Council. How was I to continue after that? How could I cope with the pain?
Where to start?
Help came from an unexpected source. Charmaine wheeled her chair towards me, she took my trembling hands in hers. ‘Your parents truly loved you, my dear.’ Her words were both soothing and killing. My parents loved me so much that they were both dead. Because of me. The tears started to leak from the side of my eyes down over my cheeks, despite my resolve. ‘You are not the reason they are no longer here,’ she continued as she wiped away the tears on the side of my face. ‘They knew the dangers. They knew they had to keep you safe, not only for them, but for all of us.’
‘How do you know?’ I whispered.
‘She was my dear friend.’ Another bombshell. ‘We grew up together in Canada. Not from the same clan, but neighbours. She and I stayed in contact after the Council scattered the Canadian Sabres. I saw her last when she came here with Ishmael and you.’
There was so much that I didn’t know. Things I had to find out.
‘I’ve lost both of them,’ I finally said after digesting all the news. I looked at Charmaine, the warmth in her face made me feel slightly less alone. Both Gabriel and Metisse were fighting the urge to take me in their arms. It would have been difficult to decide which one I would have gone to. I turned to Ash, he looked like he wanted to say something. I cocked my head in question. He shook his head, with a small smile on his lips.
Ok, I would have to get back to him about that later. Find out what it was that Ash wasn’t telling me.
Right. It was time to pull myself together and get down to business. This was not what I was here for. I would have time later to catch up with everyone who knew my parents. There would be tears. And maybe there would be closure.
Now, we had to get down to business.
Chapter 51
I straightened my back, took a deep breath and prepared myself to take back control of this meeting.
‘Thank you all for your support.’ My voice still sounded a bit off; wobbly. I coughed to clear my throat, swallowed and started again. ‘I appreciate it.’ That was better. I sounded more in control. ‘I have questions, but they will have to wait. It�
��s not what we are here for now.’ Ash and Charmaine glanced at each other and smiled. I was back. She manoeuvred back towards Ash.
I turned to my two beaus. It was time to lay down the new law here. Neither of them was stupid. They should have connected the dots by now.
‘Where was I? Right. I’m half Sabre and half Wolf. That makes me unique. It also makes you acknowledge me as your mate. Both of you.’ I looked at them both pointedly.
‘How can you be mate to us both?’ Gabriel asked confused. ‘It’s unheard of.’
‘Not exactly,’ Ash intervened again. ‘It happens—not often—but there are cases where a mate has been shared.’
‘Between species?’ Metisse added his two cents sarcastically.
‘No, not between species,’ Ash had to add honestly. ‘But then again. There have never been times like these.’
‘It’s not possible,’ Gabriel claimed. ‘We are enemies. We cannot even share the same territory; how do you expect us to share a mate?’ The anger was resurfacing. The red glint was back in his dark eyes. Looking at him, I loved the way he fought for me. Metisse too. He was nodding his agreement. See, they could agree on something. Just not the right thing.
‘You are opponents,’ Ash corrected. ‘And even that can change. You do not need to be enemies. Ishmael and Embre proved that. Now would be a prudent time to set aside your differences and join forces. We all have a mutual enemy; the Council. We will need to work together to take them on.’
Metisse scoffed at the remarks. ‘We do not need the mutts help for anything.’ The arrogance was back full-fling. Charmaine scowled at his bad manners. Gabriel, miraculously, refrained from reacting. He was watching me.
‘Besides,’ Metisse continued, gaining in confidence, ‘you’re more Sabre than anything else.’ He couldn’t bring himself to say half Wolf. ‘You even shift, fully.’
‘I shift into a Sabre or a Wolf.’ I burst his bubble. ‘And both.’ To prove my point, I shifted my left arm into a tawny Sabre paw, and my right into the deep black that I became as a Wolf.
Metisse was clearly flustered. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. I think he just didn’t want to acknowledge what he could no longer ignore. Gabriel just stood there. His face calm and composed. He didn’t react to the change or to Metisse’s nervous fidgeting. He just waited. I took strength from him. The reactions were completely opposite to what I expected. Metisse’s world was more contemporary. Gabriel’s was steeped in tradition, with fixed roles for all pack members. I had expected him to hold onto what he knew, the structure and very fibre of the Wolf Pack. I think that my ancestry had something to do with it. Ishmael had a massive effect on him. Metisse, on the other hand, was a man of the world. He should have been more open-minded. And here he was, acting like a spoiled child who had to share his toys.
‘You have to choose,’ he declared once he’d regained his voice.
‘I don’t,’ I answered calmly.
‘You can’t have both of us. It’s him or me.’ He attempted in vain to sound strong and to assert himself.
I turned towards him. ‘Have you thought this through Metisse?’ I gave him the chance to back off. He didn’t take it. ‘Have you even contemplated the idea that if you force me to choose, I might not pick you?’ He hadn’t. The shock on his face was complete. His eyes opened to their fullest. His mouth gaped in shock. ‘What will happen to you? How will you fight the bond that we have?’ My words registered.
‘You don’t have to choose.’ Gabriel joined the conversation. ‘The imprint will not let you choose him. You and I are soul mates. We are bonded. We need each other more than air itself. Without each other we will die.’
‘Ahh,’ I answered. ‘That’s where you’re wrong. I have all the pros of the Wolf and none of the cons. You are bound by imprinting, I am not. I can take it or leave it. Whatever I want. You cannot refuse what your body and the Wolf is demanding of you. You physically and mentally need to be with me.’
I turned to Metisse.
‘The same applies to you. You know that I am the one your Sabre cries out for. You will wither and die without me.’ Now they were both in the same catch-22. Forcing me to make a choice would hurt at least one of them—probably both—much more than it would me. They would physically wither and die. I would live on. With whomever I chose—or neither of them, if they kept pushing me. Both looked to their elders for support. Gabriel to Ash and Metisse to his mother. But they could not help. No one could. This was up to them. And me. Actually, mostly me.
I waited for them to come to a decision.
‘This can never work.’ Gabriel broke the impasse. ‘You can come into the pack, it’s where you belong. But not him. There is no way that this cat will be part of our pack.’
‘Hell no. And the same applies for you,’ Metisse countered loudly. ‘You come into our clan and we’ll kill you.’ They proceeded to threaten each other. Shouting insults and mockery. Almost coming to blows.
I was flabbergasted. How dumb were they? Why couldn’t they see further than their stupid testosterone fuelled macho bullshit?
‘You really don’t get it? Do you?’ I shouted above the din. They stopped their posturing just enough to look at me. Surprise in both their faces. Could be because I had the audacity to interrupt them. Might just as well be the fur that was sprouting on my bare arms and the depth of the half-roar that accompanied my words.
‘You are so thick.’ Again, I looked at them both. Making sure that they knew that they were both included in the comment. I measured my words carefully for maximum impact.
I turned to Gabriel, fire gleaming from my eyes. ‘I will never be part of your pack.’ He flinched. The repercussions of a failed imprint clear to everyone. I turned to Metisse, ready to push that arrogant smirk off his face. ‘And I’ll never be part of your clan either.’ The shock registered as he turned pale, his eyes open wide and his lips stuck in an unspoken exclamation.
That was when I pushed home the new order.
‘You will both be part of mine.’
Chapter 52
Charmaine and Ash were all smiles.
That was more than I could say for my two lovers. They were in deep shock.
Metisse’s mother moved towards me and took my hands again as she looked me in the eye. Was that pride I saw?
‘It’s time,’ she said enthusiastically. ‘Let’s bring down the Council.’
Chapter 53
‘When are you finally going to kill them?’ Alex could barely keep the edge out of his voice. Red blotches were starting to cover his face, a sure sign of anger. Not that I was impressed. Just amused really.
‘I’m not,’ I said nonchalantly. My gaze never left the book I was leafing through. From the corner of my eye I saw his brow crunch up in puzzlement.
‘What do you mean?’ he stammered, a slight tremor in his voice.
I looked up, locked eyes with him. As usual, he tried to avoid my gaze, but this time I wouldn’t let him. ‘I’m not going to kill them,’ I said slowly—letting every word sink in. And that they did. The red colour in his face slowly faded until he became very pale. His eyes jittered from my face to his hands, and back again.
‘Of course you are,’ he tried. ‘That’s your mission.’
‘No,’ I answered. ‘My mission was to stop the war between the Werewolves and the Sabres.’
‘But.’ He looked decidedly sick. Paler than a live person should be. ‘But, that’s not what she meant.’
‘I know.’ That didn’t make him feel any better. My lips curled up into a smile. There was no mirth there. This was finally my pay back.
‘But Cantix will not be pleased,’ he tried again. His voice was becoming progressively softer, harder to hear. Every word brought home the impact of my decision on his future, or lack thereof. He was grasping straws now in desperation.
‘It’s not really Cantix that you’re afraid of, is it?’ I put the book down on the table and slowly moved around the side to come close to h
im. He stepped back, his eyes opening to their fullest. He raised his arms in front of his chest trying to shield off what he thought would happen. A bit premature. I had no use of him dead. He was a spy, and now he could pass my message on to his bosses. That they would probably kill him, was no skin off my back.
‘What do you think Aquanaris will do to you Alex, when you tell her that the plan has backfired?’ He stepped back, I matched his movement, keeping the distance between us agonisingly small. ‘You are probably right,’ I added. The fear for his fate was clearly visible in his face. ‘I’ll give you a break though.’ I was very close to him now. His back came up against the post and stopped his retreat. ‘I’ll give you the information that Aquanaris really sent you to get.’ He looked surprised.
‘What…uh…what information?’
I laughed. He swallowed heavily. He took short breaths, trying in vain to melt into the barrier behind him.
‘What I really am,’ I said. He stopped breathing. ‘She wants to know what I really am. That’s why you discreetly kept trying to touch me. I know that she gave you some of her power to feel a subject.’ I didn’t actually know, but the faint involuntary nod confirmed my suspicion.
I lifted my arms up in an open gesture. ‘Come on,’ I added. ‘Touch me. Find out what she so desperately needs to know.’
He looked puzzled. Cocked his head to one side. Was I really allowing him to feel my origin?
Slowly, very slowly, Alex moved his right hand towards my face. The head is by far the best place to read someone. Hands will work, but the face is best. He pulled back, cautious. When I didn’t move, he tried again. How long did this guy need? My patience was wearing thin. But, then again, I was enjoying the moment.
I took his hand in mine and placed it on my cheek. He tried to pull back, but I held him firm. His eyes almost bulged out of his head as he read what was now obvious. He started to shake uncontrollably. His bladder emptied in panic, the acrid smell assailing my sensitive nose. His skin turned sickly white. Even paler than before.
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