In The Alpha's Basement

Chapter 19

I sat on the bed, my knees pulled up to my chin. My eyes were threatening to fall. All I wanted to do right now was go back to sleep. But I also needed my answers. There was so much I had to ask. Where did the witches go, when they needed to help me? How it was possible that I escaped from Julian, when it was clear that he had his hold on me.

I sighed, running a hand across my face. Suddenly the door opened, and my parents came striding in, practically running to my side. 

"Oh my God--" 

"Hey mom--" I attempted to say, but at moment she put her arms around me and squeezed tightly. I hugged her back, and was surprised when I felt a wet tear on my shoulder, seeping through my shirt. My father came to sit beside me on the bed and he wrapped his arms around us. 

My parents let go and then sat across me, with stern looks on their face. My mother was wiping furiously at her cheeks, and I could see that my dad's eyes had gotten a bit red. I tried smiling to them, letting them now that everything was okay. 

"What happened?" My mother asked. 

"Where did you go?" How could I explain this? I bit my lip, trying to come up with the words.

"The shift got a bit out of hand..." I started. "The woman from the ashes, she--"

My fathers eyebrows shot up. "A woman from the ashes? Who is she?"

"She told me her name was Selene. She said she was the Ayrle Phoenix before me. There was a bronze stick with her and she told me that she hand to...uh...insert it in me?"

"She what?" My father growled, his eyes flashing gold. When his fists clenched my mother put a hand on his arm to calm him down.

"She told me that in order to get my powers she had to insert it into my body. I was in wolf form then. And when she actually did it..." I smiled, remembering the pure white wings that came out of my back.

"My powers came. I could feel them coursing in my body. It was amazing, mom and dad. But I was in a lot of pain when they were growing out of my body. I think... I think in all the pain, I was running around, and I didn't look where I was going. All I could think about was my sore limbs." My throat clogged up and my eyes were stringing. I could still imagine the pain, if I tried really hard.

"I shifted back, on the ground. And when I tried to move... I couldn't," I frowned, remembering the burst of pain that shot up my arm when I tried moving my arms, "It was horrible. I seriously couldn't get up. When I looked around I couldn't find Griffin, and that moment I knew I was lost. So I ended up drifting away."

Pausing, I looked at my parents, who were both wearing frowns. "And then I had one of those weird dreams-- the ones I told you guys about. But this time I wasn't in Celia's castle. It was the basement," a tear slipped down my eye as I saw flashes of the dark basement. "I got out of there, as fast as I could. I can't remember most of what happened in the house, though. The thing that's most clear is outside, when I went to the field."

"There was this weird--" I started to say, but I couldn't remember exactly what it was, "--I don't know, I can't seem to figure out what it was. But anyways, there was something outside in the field that drew me there. And turns out... Julian somehow followed me outside. He knew I was there."

"That's impossible," my father said,"Nobody can know you're there once you're inside those dreams."

"But he knew, dad. He knew because Celia helped him with a spell that would allow him to sense where I am." My father sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"He caught me. When he touched me, I was transported into the real world, and I was with him. I was in his pack's field. I know it, mom and dad, I could just tell. He even reassured me that I was. I lost consciousness after that... and I woke up in here."

"How is that even possible? How did you wake up here..." My mother asked.

"I was hoping the witches could give their insight," I explained, "What happened to them, anyways?" 

My mothers eyebrows scrunched up. "What do you mean? Weren't they with you?" 

"They were at the beginning... but then I think when the white cloud showed up they disappeared."

"White cloud?" My father asked.

"Yeah... there was a white cloud cloud in the sky, and it was doing these really weird things. It was out of control. I don't really know how to explain it."

"It's alright, honey." My mother grabbed my hands and kept them there.

"Did Julian do that to your lip?" I heard my father ask. What? What was he talked about?

"I...what?"

"Your lip, Raven. It looks mauled and bloody," my mother came closer and used her fingers to pull my lip down. "Why do you have teeth marks on your lips?" 

Blood rushed to my face. "Julian--" but I couldn't finish my sentence because my father smashed his clenched fist into the wall. I flinched and looked down. Of course I wasn't scared of my own father, it was just that violence always made me think of the basement. He left the room, his every footstep echoing in my ears.

"He just feels alarmed, Raven." My mother said, coming to my side. She plopped her feet up on the bed and sat cross-legged, just like me. "You should get some rest. We'll go talk to the witches later on."

"They're still here?"

"Yes, why wouldn't they be?"

"I just thought that they had been scared off by the cloud or something."

"They're witches, honey. They've probably seen far worse."

I wasn't so sure about that.

The bed was comfortable as my back rested on it. I closed my eyes as my mother kissed my forhead and then left the room. I slipped into sleep with no worry, because I was back home. 

I dreamt of summer flowers and Julian, the real one.

NEXT CHAPTER SPOILER: you get to see how Julian was, before he had gotten possessed by an evil soul.