For what? What purpose had it served if her mother had planned all along to cast her out as soon as she reached her maturity?
Adalyn had many questions when it came to the motivations of her mother, but very few answers. Her mother had always changed the subject or flat out refused to answer questions Adalyn had asked over the years. Like who her father was. Or how her mother came to meet him. Her mother only told her that she had been seduced by a cruel and uncaring wolf shifter, and that he’d died long ago.
Her mother’s actions as of late seemed irrational,evenfor her and had made no sense until the dots finally connected in her head. Images of the past flickered through her mind. It hadn’t been Adalyn who had attended the chamber meetings with her mother, it had been her younger sister, Mirella. Mirella who had quickly sided with her mother on disagreements that occurred far and wide. It had also been Mirella who had the same icy black heart as their mother when it came to handing down harsh punishments for the slightest of infractions.
The whole idea of her leaving to join or command a pack of wolves she’d never met was asinine, until everything clicked into place. Getting her to leave the coven had been part of a larger scheme that had been planned long ago.
“Motherfucker,”Adalyn shouted silently to her wolf. Her mother had played her since the moment she had been born.
Her mother’s voice pulled her from the myriad of thoughts running through her mind. “Many years ago, I came across an ancient scroll. It took me years to decipher the legend and even longer to figure out the prophecy. The one thing I knew for certain was the discovery would change our family dynamics irrevocably. Thinking back over it now, even I couldn’t have foreseen the prophecy’s full impact.”
“What do you mean?” Adalyn kept her eyes glued on the small village in the distance, not forgetting the fact that her mother had deflected her question. Instead choosing to bring up the damn prophecy that Adalyn had asked about for years, only to get a door slammed in her face at every attempt to discuss it. There was no way she’d interrupt now and risk bringing her mother’s sudden word-vomit to a halt.
“Well played, Mother. Well played.”
“Indeed,”her wolf agreed.
“For many years, I thought the prophecy to be my destiny. It wasn’t until a decade or so later that I realized the words on the scroll were not meant for me, but that of my child. My firstborn.”
“And what did Grandmother think of the scroll?” Adalyn wished she’d been able to meet the woman who’d birthed her own mother, but she’d left the earthly plane before she’d been born.
“Your grandmother was a fool. What does it matter what she had thought about it?”
Adalyn glanced to her mother and saw fire flash through her eyes, warning her their conversation was over. If she’d only been able to keep her mouth shut, maybe she would have finally gotten the answers she’d begged for her whole life.
It seemed like the story of her life, just another tease of the prophecy. If it was supposed to be her destiny, why didn’t her mother just tell her the damn thing already? “Of course. What would I know? It’s not like I ever met the woman.”
And she hadn’t. Not really. Not unless she counted nightly visits from an elderly apparition claiming to be her grandmother. Adalyn had spent night after night listening to the spirit narrate countless stories filled with information she’d longed to hear. After the apparition left each evening, Adalyn committed the conversations to memory, knowing better than to write any of it down where it could be found and used against her.
Adalyn remembered the first visit clearly as the day it had happened. At first, she had been terrified of the spirit, until she realized the woman looked sad. Almost as if she were crying. If ghosts could indeed cry. The conversation replayed in her mind.
“Why are you sad?”the young Adalyn asked the apparition.
“Because I never got a chance to hug my beautiful grandchildren.”
Even at Adalyn’s early age, the woman’s words broke her little heart. They had chatted late into the night until Adalyn found that her eyes would no longer remain open, no matter how hard she’d willed them to.
Before her first ghostly visit, Adalyn had fought bedtime tooth and nail, always wanting to stay up late, creating excuse after excuse in order to delay the inevitable. However, the very next night, she practically ran to her room, hoping to find the old woman waiting for her. When her mother questioned her rush to bed, Adalyn told her about the ghost.
Her mother flew off her proverbial broom, cursing in several different languages and forbidding Adalyn to speak to the ghost.
“It’s best if you ignore an evil spirit, dear child.” She had called on witches from coast to coast to place protection spells around the castle to ward off ghosts. Much to Adalyn’s delight, the elderly ghost found a way to return each night, and from that moment on, Adalyn knew to keep her mouth shut about any future conversations she might have with the woman.
“You’re distracted, daughter. Tell me, what occupies your mind?”
“I was wondering what life outside of the castle would be like. Since you seem bound and determined for me to lead a pack of mangy mutts, I might as well get used to the idea.” Adalyn had known nothing but the castle and grounds for as long as she could remember. The few times she’d tried to venture out, with servants or guards, had always turned into colossal mistakes and ended up with her running back to the castle in tears. Broken hearted and frightened for her life, Adalyn had all but given up on the idea of exploring the world.
“I’m glad you’re entertaining the thought of actually going out and fulfilling your destiny.”
Adalyn schooled her face and turned to her mother. “If you must know, yes, I’m considering all of my options.”
And she was. Options her mother had no idea she even had. Her grandmother had made sure of it. Their nightly conversations had turned into lessons. Lessons her grandmother was sure her mother would never teach her. As the years passed, Adalyn found out the hard way the only ones she could ever really trust were her ghostly grandmother, and her wolf.
“That’s great!”
Seeing her mother light up over her answer shouldn’t have felt like a knife through her heart, but it did. And told her all she really needed to know. It was time to go.
Adalyn wondered if she had imagined her mother’s high spirit moments ago. The flip back to frigid bitch happened faster than she could bat an eyelash.
“There is something I want you to remember, Adalyn. I will not be able to protect you from those who wish to do you harm. Nor will I be there to guide you in the choices you must make to claim your rightful destiny. You will find those who offer nothing but lies and deceit. It is up to you to remember who you are and who your real family is. You mustn’t let the falsehoods of those who seek to rip us a part cloud your judgment. Understood?”
“Such an ominous warning. I wonder who she pissed off?”Her wolf had listened to every word with an amused grin.
“I don’t know, but I bet we’re going to find out.”
Adalyn nodded and headed off to pack up a few of her personal possessions.
