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We both laughed, but I was in awe. She was even braver than I'd dreamed.
One thing in our history that desperately needed to change, but hasn't yet, was the tradition that packs could only be led by male Alphas. The Alpha was the leader, king, ruler, and protector of his pack. His word was law. And Goddess help any she-wolf who even thought of taking on the role until now.
“I’m the firstborn of an Alpha, you know.” Elinor’s voice was low, her eyes glossy, and I could tell she was thinking about the past. "If I had been born a male, I would have become the next Alpha of my pack. But because I was female, my responsibility was to birth other Alphas. Isn’t that funny?” Her eyes remained unblinking, filled with emotion. "From the time I was old enough to understand, I’d heard about my duty. But when I refused to become a Luna and tried to join the Werewolf Guard to protect the pack instead, that wasn’t allowed either.”
She turned to me and smirked. “Then I became the only one capable of killing Amythia, the Vampire Queen. I wasn’t good enough to lead a pack, yet it was up to me to save the world.” She chuckled. “So I think I had the last laugh on all those fools who thought I couldn't lead."
"I'd say." I grinned, and her smile widened.
“I’ve achieved many of the goals I've set forward for myself, but this, this one—being with my beloved Will for eternity—was all I’d ever really wanted.”
“My friend Axel’s pack kept a book called The History of the Damned. In it, there’s all kinds of information about vampires, and there were also hidden pages with pictures of you and Will."
She held her head back, laughing. “Oh yes. That book was written by a demon, the only demon ever accepted by and raised in a werewolf pack. Cyrus, the son of the Demon King, was one of my best friends growing up.”
My eyes bulged. “Wait, really? That wasn’t in the books. The Demon King’s son was raised in the Blackmoon Pack?”
“Mm-mhm," she hummed. "There was a lot that didn’t make it into that book. I think Cyrus just wanted to include the things that were most important. But he was like a brother to me.” She smiled. “He fell in love with our friend Skye, and they both went to the Demon Realm. Skye was my sister, not by blood but by bond, and I think sometimes that's so much more powerful.”
The excitement in her eyes was replaced by sadness.
“You must miss them,” I said, and she nodded, looking away quickly.
When she spoke again, her voice was unsteady. “I do, every day. They were forbidden to leave the demon realm, and we’re forbidden to go to the demon realm. I saw Cyrus after the war after he wrote The History of the Damned, and the Goddess granted Will and I the ability to travel between realms, but Skye was unable to visit with him.”
“She was bitten by a vampire during the war, and only the Demon King could stop her from changing. However, he feared that Cyrus would leave the realm again, so he never fully cured Skye. She’s alive and well as long as she remains in the Demon Realm.” She shook her head. “Each time I visited Earth, Cyrus visited as well, and I got to speak to Skye through a mirror. She became a queen, helping him to lead his Legion, but I haven’t seen them since the Goddess sent Will, Brian, and I to another realm before your vampire war on Earth.”
She took a deep breath. “One day, that bastard the Demon King will heal her fully, and I’ll be able to see her again, embrace her again. But until then, I’m happy she and Cyrus have each other.” She reached out and took my hand. "I'm telling you this because I want you to know that even though I have no idea what you must be feeling, being mated to a wolf and a dragon, you should find a way to make it work, to cherish them both. The unexpected connections we make in life are the ones that sometimes mean the most. I don’t recommend rejecting either of them, if that was something you were thinking about doing.”
“I don’t want to reject either of them. But they despise each other. I have no idea how I'll be able to be with them both. There are centuries of bad blood between them. I don’t think it’s possible, Elinor.”
She only chuckled, and I frowned in response.
"Natalie, my husband is a vampire, and I'm a werewolf. The hatred between our kinds was passed down for centuries, but here we are. Never say bad blood can’t be made pure again. It most definitely can be when both sides are willing to look for common ground. And for Lucian and Rumir, that common ground is you.”
* * *
Natalie
Afew minutes later, Elinor left me on the patio and returned to the kitchen. I sat there alone, pondering the things she'd said. I hadn't known a demon had lived with the Blackmoon Pack, let alone the son of the Demon King, or that he’d fallen in love and married a werewolf.
Elinor had said that only the most important things had been included in the book, and she was right. Still, it was nice to know that she and Will hadn’t been the only inter-species relationship back then.
I thought about Elinor’s assertion that I was the singular factor that could help Lucian and Rumir resolve their issues. But to do that, I first needed to figure out how to get them in a room together without having them try to kill each other.
Was this the reason the Goddess had chosen both men to be mated to the same wolf? She cared for them both, and I could only imagine how she felt, knowing they hated each other.
Still, I can’t say I appreciated the fact that she'd left this all up to me to sort out. Why couldn’t she have sat both men down ages ago and made them settle their score? She was a Goddess, for crying out loud. How hard would it have been?
“Get out of your head.”
Brian's voice cut into my thoughts just as we arrived in the city. The night was young but already alive with noise. Since I'd come to this realm, I hadn’t visited the city at night. I hadn't known there would be such vibrant nightlife.
“Sorry, I can’t help it.”
We walked by a group of dwarf women. They only came up to my hip, but they were beautiful supernaturals with bright silver eyes. I’d never encountered any dwarves on Earth, since they were very reclusive.
“I know you can’t. You’re like my mother," Brian laughed. “Always planning and overthinking. It’s a Blackwood curse, I’m certain, since she passed it on to me.”
