Allysonn's Destiny

by Eryn Ryans

  “We better go home before Pam sends the Patrol out after both of us. Tonight, we can meet with Abigail, and maybe answer some of those questions,” he said with a laugh.

  “Yes, we better.” I laughed back. Together we walked back to the house. My mind looking forward to something for the first time in a long while.

  As we were walking back towards the house in companionable silence I stole a few glances towards Allysonn as we went. I noticed the necklace around her neck.

  “The necklace, is that new?” I wondered aloud. Her hand went instinctively and protectively towards the trinket at the base of her throat. “Yeah, Janie bought this for me for my birthday today. Isn’t it gorgeous?” She responded sounding proud of the present she was given. Taking not of her smile as we walked I couldn’t help myself but to continue.

  “She certainly caught your personality in a nutshell…” Her wild earthen eyes nailed me with a glare. I must have pricked a nerve because she shelled up, getting defensive when she responded.

  “What is that supposed to mean?”

  “I only mean that you are a bit of a lone wolf. You like to do things by yourself, and you like to spend a lot of time by lonesome.” My reply came out like the sluggish ramblings of a weirdo.

  “Oh…” Was her only response. After that we walked back toward home in silence once again.

  I went back to the house that I had been living in with the rest of the pack and phased back. I had to compose myself before I could enter the house. My heart was racing a mile a minute. It had been so long since I had seen my daughter, and the meeting was a long time coming.

  Allysonn was so beautiful, and there was so much I wanted to tell her. The day I left was so hard, and not a day had gone by that I had not thought about the child I had left behind. How I had read her father wrong, I still have no idea.

  I was so sure he would be okay with the fact that I was a wolf, but when he found out after her birth he was furious. He threw me out of the house and said that I could not take Allysonn with me.

  I walked into the house I now occupied as I struggled to compose myself. Feeling all the raging emotions of seeing my baby girl again I knew that my state of wild excitement was as good as I was going to be for the rest of the day. Falcon was at the stove cooking dinner for everyone and was the first one to see me.

  “Abi are you okay?” he asked. He had this uncanny ability to be able to tell when anyone was feeling off even the slightest.

  “Yeah Fal, I’m okay. Where is everyone?” I asked looking around and noticing that he and I were the only ones at home.

  “Oh, they went out to patrol earlier and have not yet gotten back. Want to talk about it before they do?” He replied gruffly as he looked back at the pot he was stirring.

  I walked over to the stove and looked over his shoulder to what he was stirring, and asked, “Spaghetti and meatballs with your famous garlic bread for dinner, I take it?”

  He smiled at me, and kept stirring the sauce, “You can try to change the subject Abi, but I will not forget the look of worry and elation on your face, so spill it…” He knew me so well.

  I took a deep breath letting the words flow out of me. “I saw my daughter today.”

  He stopped what he was doing and looked at me. “You saw Ally today?” He mimiced my words as if he hadn’t heard me right. I knew exactly the amoutn of shock he was in, it coursed through me.

  “Yes, I saw her today. She is so beautiful Fal. I don’t know why I was so scared that Danny would hurt her, but she doesn’t look like she has been hurt at all. Though I have no idea how she got to Sage Hollow in the first place. When I left, she was living in Whitewind.” My disbeleaving whisper filled the small kitchen as I settled into a chair.

  “Wow, Abi, this is big. Are you going to tell Kayne?” He asked knowing how many times Kayne had told me to forget about her and move on over the years.

  “I don’t know… do you think I should?” Uncertainty coated my mind as I considered the responses I would get.

  “He is going to find out she is alive one way or another Abi.” Falcon was completely right.

  “Yeah… Aaric invited her to our meeting tonight. So yes, Kayne is going to find out tonight that she is alive and well. It is probably better to tell him before then I guess…” I sighed loudly as the thoughts spilled out.

  “Do you know if she has phased?” He spoke the words that had been hiding out in the back of my mind.

  “I don’t think so.” I thought about it for a moment. “No, I really don’t think so as today is only her eighteenth birthday and I didn’t transform until a couple of months after my eighteenth birthday.” Feeling confident in my assertion I explained.

  Just then we heard a commotion from outside. I looked out the window and saw that the rest of the pack were back. “Time to talk to Kayne,” I said.

  “Good Luck Abi,” Falcon wished me luck as he went back to finishing up dinner.

  I went out to wait on the porch letting the screen door slap behind me. Sitting on the porch step I waited for him to round the building.

  “Hey babe, how was your walk?”

  “Fine, was everything okay?” Planting a kiss on my lips I thought about the many ways I could broach the subject of my having seen Allysonn today.

  “Yes, it was.” He replied confidently as he took a seat next to me. I chuckled as the rest of the guys were fooling around as they bumbled into the house behind us.

  “Hey, sweetie can we talk before dinner please?” I asked pulling Kayne aside.

  “Sure, everything okay babe?” We settled into the benches under the trees clumped in the front yard, this would give us a little privacy with the entire pack roaming around.

  “Yes, it's just that I met Allysonn today.” I heard him growl under his breath as his irritation bubbled under his skin. “Now wait just a minute. I carried her for nine months and then was in labor with her for almost twelve hours before giving birth to her. You can’t deny me. She is my child.” I ground out my irritation with him through gritted teeth.

  “Abi, you know how I feel about this. You are a member of this pack now. Do you even know if she has phased yet?” Kayne’s tone accused me.

  “As far as I know she has not phased, but you can talk to Aaric about that because he has invited her to our meeting tonight…” I told him feeling every ounce of ire spike within me. He did not like that in the least bit.

  “He didn’t. How dare he?” He retorted with an even deeper growl.

  “Kayne Russell, you listen to me and listen good. Aaric is our Alpha now. You knew that the moment you saw those markings on his body the same as any of us. You would do best not to cross him.” Looking at him sternly I arched my eyebrow letting him know in no uncertain terms he was on the wrong side.

  “Abigail, yes… I-I know that same as the rest of you, but I also know that I have been the Alpha of this Pack for as long as I can remember. How am I just supposed to stop being the Alpha just because an eighteen-year-old comes in here with those markings?” His sigh spilled forth all the concern he had been holding in for so long.

  “Kayne look at me,” I whispered, waiting for him to meet my eyes. “It was foretold that a young one would be returned to us at the same time a Great One would be returned to us. Don’t you see that that is just what has happened? My daughter has been returned to me, at just the same time that Aaric, who has the markings of the Great One has been returned to us?” I said to him. We sat together in silence. Both of us thinking about what I this could mean for all of us.

  I couldn’t help but think that Allysonn could ruin everything.

  Aaric has no idea what he has done.

  Abigail and I have just begun to have a decent relationship and now she is going to side tracked with her daughter.

  I don’t want her daughter coming in and ruining everything I have built up. When Abigail got up and went into the house I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ring box that I had been carrying with me fo
r weeks now.

  The ring was a 1/10 carat petite twist diamond engagement ring. I was just waiting for the right time to ask her to marry me. I loved Abigail so much and just could not imagine living my life without her in it. Would I have to change my plans to include her daughter now?

  It had been three months since the fire at Allysonn’s place, and she had vanished without a trace. I had asked my mother if she had heard anything, but she just kept saying she hadn’t.

  I was trying hard not to be devastated. Ally was my first love, my true love, my only love. I sat down on my bed and held my favorite picture of us to my chest. Why did she have to leave?

  Everything was going perfectly for us. I had finally gotten up the nerve to ask her out again, and then the fire happened. She just disappeared after that. Left with no goodbye. My world was left shattered and I didn’t know how to pick up the pieces.

  I thought back to when I first laid eyes on her and smiled. I thought she was an angel even back then. She was sitting at her desk all alone, looking uncomfortable, so I walked up to her and laid one of my crackers down in front of her and then sat down next to her. Then she smiled at me and felt my heart leap into my throat even at that young age. I didn’t know what it meant, so we just ate in silence.

  We were connected from that moment on. The day she agreed to go out with me I thought I was walking on Cloud Nine. I thought we were doing great as a couple, but she said we should just be friends, so I agreed because I didn’t want to lose her. How stupid was I that I didn’t tell her how I felt then?

  “Sam… Sam” I heard my mother yelling up the stairs to get my attention.

  “Yeah,” I called back not leaving the solitude of my room.

  “Dinner is ready. Come downstairs.” She replied, knowing I could no longer hide away from the world in irritation I got up from the comfort of my bed.

  “Coming,” I said as I stood up, putting the picture gently back on my nightstand and then walked towards the door.

  I looked back for a moment recalling the last day I had seen her. Whispering to myself I swore an oath. “Ally, I will find you if it's the last thing I do.”

  During those three months since Allysonn had been gone, I had been trying to figure out how to tell my son about our family. Some way to clue him into what his destiny really is.

  The timer went off signaling that dinner was done, so I pulled the lasagna out of the oven and yelled up the stairs for Sam. After he had replied I went to start cutting and plating dinner. The poor kid was heartbroken his friend was gone. I felt like shit for with holding the information from him.

  What I had not told him was that Allysonn had written to him, I am assuming to let him know where she was. I had gotten the first letter and just returned it to the sender. I didn’t even bother to open it. I knew what she was, and she would not get in the way of my son’s destiny if I had anything to do about it.

  There were others that had followed, and I had done the same. Marked them ‘Return to Sender’ and sent them back. Never opened and never mentioned them to my son. Nothing was going to derail him from his true destiny especially not a damn wolf.

  I had thought back to the day that I had realized what Allysonn was. The two of them had been about ten at the time, and she had come over to play those incessant video games that my son had come to love that summer. Allysonn was wearing a cute white tank top and short, blue shorts as it was hot outside.

  I had come into the living room to offer them some snacks when I had seen the birthmark on Allysonn’s shoulder for the first time. I am glad that neither of them had seen me enter the room, so they had not seen my shock.

  Not knowing what to do I quickly left in search of my husband who had been home working. When I had told him about the girl I explained how I wanted to break their friendship up.

  I had not wanted our son to have a werewolf as a friend, but my husband insisted that we allow them to stay friends. ‘What’s the harm?’ he had questioned my gut feeling. If we keep her close, then we would have an advantage if it ever came to us having to fight them.

  Over the years Allysonn freely spoke to us and it was obvious that she had no idea she was a werewolf. I did see his point of view after a while, so we never spoke to either of them of what I had learned that day. Never cluing the children in to what the adults knew and now that she was gone I was not going to allow her to derail Sam’s true destiny with her letters.

  I was pulled from my thoughts as Sam came bounding down the stairs. “Sam do you always have to come down the stairs like that?” I asked in irritation.

  “What do you mean?” he asked with a shrug of his shoulders, as he came around and kissed my cheek. “Is dad going to be coming for dinner tonight?” He questioned looking around.

  “Not tonight son, he got stuck at the office again,” I replied knowing full well that his father was busy getting the ceremonial hall ready to induct his son into our Coven of Vampires on his eighteenth birthday, which was a little over a month away.

  “So, your birthday is coming up. What do you want to do?” I asked as I set a plate in front of him, then sitting down next to him with my own.

  “You know Mother, we never celebrate around here unless Ally is with us.” He said after taking a bite.

  “Well, we can start making new traditions without her you know that right.” I said taking my own bite, a bit irritated that he would insist that we not celebrate this most iconic birthday of his because that wolf was not here.

  “It just won’t be the same without Ally, Mom and you know that.” he said taking another bite.

  “Come on Sam, you only turn eighteen, once. Let’s do something as a family.” I said looking at him softly, encouragingly.

  “Fine, I guess, as long as Father comes along.” he said with a sigh.

  “Wonderful, I’m sure we can think of something.” I said with a great big smile on my face. I knew exactly what we were going to be doing that night. Sam was going to be inducted into the Tempest Dragons. He will then be training alongside his father to be their next leader.

  Everything had been arranged. This night was going to be perfect. Sam would soon be inducted into the Tempest Dragons and would be one of us. He would begin his training and would fully understand why his father spent so much time away from us.

  “Mother, Father is going to be late.” Sam said looking at his watch for what must have been the hundredth time that night. I could tell he was getting a bit irritated, but it would all be worth it in the end. I just knew it.

  “No son, he will not be late, I am sure of it,” I said looking at my watch. The phone rang, which was my signal to get Sam into the car and drive him to the hall. I went to the phone and said, “Hello?” I listened intently to the caller’s instructions and then hung up. “Son, that was your father, he has given me instructions on where to take you. Let’s get into the car.” I said candidly.

  “Mom, you said we were supposed to all go together.” Sam tried to argue.

  “Sam, you listen to me. You are eighteen years of age now, do not argue with me like a two-year-old would. Stand up and walk yourself out to that car right this minute.” I said sternly.

  “Yes ma’am…” he said quietly and just went and got into the car. He mumbled something under his breath, but I let it go as I knew that everything would be explained shortly. I drove the three miles to the Banquet Hall that our Coven had chosen to use for such ceremonies and parked the car.

  “Let’s go, Sam. Your father is waiting inside.” I eagerly shuffled him toward the door.

  “He’d better be,” Sam said gruffly and got out of the car and slammed the door shut a little harder than was needed.

  When we entered the hall, the darkened, candlelit entrance was perfect for the evening's festivities.

  “Mother, what the heck is going on? Why are all the lights out? What are with all the candles?” He asked quickly.

  “Samuel Matthew Drake, please enter the Hall.” a loud voice echoed t
he hall entrance. Sam looked around for who had called his name and then looked back towards me.

  “Go ahead son, I will be right behind you.” I said to him. He took a few cautious steps forward unsure of what he was walking into.

  “Sam you need go.” I said giving him a little more of a push ahead.

  I then followed him further into the hall a great big smile on my face.

  “Samuel Matthew Drake, it’s with great pleasure that tonight we induct you into the Tempest Dragons, please step forward as we begin tonight’s ceremonies.” His father said to him with an outstretched hand towards our son.

  Sam took his father’s hand with a huge grin and went to sit beside his father as the ceremony began. The night that I had waited for since I found out I was pregnant was finally here. My son was becoming one of us. His father and I had such high hopes for him.

  When I walked into the front doors of the hall I was greeted with a darkened room. I felt chills go up and down my spine as this place always felt a bit creepy to me even with all the lights on.

  When a voice came out of nowhere telling me to enter the hall, I really got spooked and I jumped into the air. I started to look around to see who had spoken my name but saw no one. My mother told me to go on ahead and that she would soon follow me. I honestly felt like a small child and suddenly did not want to go any further without her and was stuck where I was.

  My mother then gave me a gentle push which got me moving. I’m glad she did because once inside I was met by my father who welcomed me by name and outstretched hands. I walked to him and sat down next to him. I was amazed that my mother was able to keep tonight a secret from me as she was famous for not being able to keep secrets.

  The ceremony started with one of the younger Elders, who was the Master of Ceremonies, saying. “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, The Tempest Dragons have been around for thousands of years as the Elders can attest,” he stopped talking as laughter ensued for a bit after this statement. When it settled down, he continued with, “We are a sacred coven that has protected our own for that same amount of time. As we induct a new member tonight, in Samuel Matthew Drake. Let us remember that the leadership of our coven is usually passed down from father to son, and once Sam is inducted and begins his training, he will take on this same role when his Father deems he is ready. Robert would like to do the honor of reciting the Tempest Dragon’s vow of loyalty to your son?” asked the young looking man who referred to himself as an elder.