Wolf #2: The Beast Within [COMPLETED]

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Hey Mellie."

I wrap my arms tightly around my sister, "Hey Steph. How've you been?"

"Good. It's been quiet. Hekate is very busy so there hasn't been much for me to do—from what I've heard through the grapevine, she's and the other Goddesses are fighting." She smiles at me and swings our arms around like a pre-schooler, "So why did you call on me?"

"Well, I was talking to Dorothy the other day—you know, the nursery keeper. And I was reminded of something she said to me earlier this year," I look up at Steph and point toward the forest, "I want you to show me where your secret garden is."

She rolls her eyes, "It honestly isn't anything, Mel. Nothing like that Healer of yours. But if you want to see it," She sighed and pulled me towards the forest path, "I'll show you."

She leads me down the familiar path we take towards the meadow and lake by our house. But as we're a half-mile in, she takes a left and into a bush of holly berries. It's beside the large puddle that I had run to when Orion was chasing me—it's still crowded with mugwort. I follow her, wincing as the pointy leaves catch onto my flesh.

When we come through the thicket of bushes, I'm surprised to find a little patch of herbs and flowers. Roses, mugwort, rosemary, lavender, oregano, daffodils, and a number of other plants blossom and grow unrulily. I'm surprised that they've kept relatively within their neat rows, despite being unmaintained for months.

"This is it," She blushes, "Just a little of everything."

I walk around and inspect each of the plants. They are healthy and thriving in the forest. I look up and find that there are no tree directly covering the sunlight for the plants.

"I think I'll start using this," I look up at Steph, "If you don't mind."

"Yeah, of course. I didn't think you would, which is why I never bothered showing you," She shrugs, "But I suppose it wouldn't be a terrible idea to have a secret stash."

"Exactly," I laugh, "Mallory doesn't use the lupines as much as I do because she doesn't get as many visions. So I would rather keep it here and not raise suspicion among the pack."

Steph studies me for a moment, "Do you remember it all?"

"What do you mean?" I look up at her.

She glances down at her fingertips and inspects her nails, "Iphigenia...she lived several lives before you. All Wolves do, but there's only a handful that remember their past lives. You're one of them..."

"I remember some things now," I hug my knees to my chest, "When she woke up inside me—I suddenly was filled with different feelings I hadn't felt before. But I don't have many memories from before—unless they're visions, and I never experience those in the first-person. It's...it's almost like getting a nostalgic feeling around certain things. Like roses—I've always loved them...but now I see them and feel so sad. I know there's a reason why, but I can't recall why. I think that's a remnant from a past life."

"Like déjà vu?" She asks and I nod. Her smile tightens and she sighs, "It must be hard...is it?"

"It's a little frustrating because it feels like I've forgotten something important. But I'm glad...I don't want other people's memories because then I would stop feeling like me."

"No—not just that. All of it. Keeping this all a secret—being the Missing Prophet and not being able to tell Mom and Dad? Or Jace?"

I take a deep breath and consider the question, "I guess it is. But I don't really have a choice. Them knowing puts them in danger. And it puts me in danger too. It was the same for you too. Besides, you're the only loved one that matters to me and you know."

"What about Jace?"

I inspect the mugwort. It's growing well. I suspect that I will have to transplant some of these herbs into a separate patch, since they are beginning to crowd one another.

"Steph...do you remember the puddle surrounded by the mugworts?"

"The one where you went to escape Orion? Yeah, of course."

I look up at her, "I remembered a strange memory...you brought me to it and wanted to show me something. And just as you walked away, an image appeared. I think it had been Jace, and the cabins from Breccia—"

"Stop," She sighs, "I know what you're going to ask. To be honest, Mellie, I suppressed your memory of it."

"Why?"

"Because I shouldn't have shown you. It was too early. To be honest, I hadn't believed you to conjure up an image so quickly. It was then that I began to believe what my dreams were about—that you were the Prophet." She takes a seat on a large rock beside a rusty gardening shovel, "Hekate helped me find the right herb...but it had been too late. Orion had found you somehow because of it—he knew the moment your powers awakened."

I clasp my hands together and rest my mouth against them. So Steph really had been the one to awaken the Wolf inside me. I'm curious what herbal drug she had used. It's most likely something she had slipped into my tea, and I make a mental note to go through my stash to double check them all.

Looking back at her, Steph nods, "It's okay, Mellie. I'm here to answer the questions you have."

"Steph...do you remember how you died?" The moment the words leave my mouth, she stiffens, "I just...do you know who did it?"

"I don't," She glances down at her feet, "I really wish I did. I would have told you long ago...but all I remember is waking up from a vision and then feeling the last moments...fear...regret...and..."

"What?"

"I just...I remember feeling betrayed," She looks like she's in a distant place. Her memories flash through her gaze. "I felt betrayed—but I don't know why."

She shuts her eyes, and her breathing quickens. I walk up to her and wrap my arms around her. She curls up in my arms and buries her face in the crook of my neck. We stay like this for a long time until she's ready to continue.

"All I remember is the feeling my neck snapping," She looks at her hands as she pulls away from me, "And I hit him. The man who killed me. I think I tore something off him."

Her words strike me, and I stare at her with wide eyes, "You broke something of his? Do you know what?"

She shakes her head, her eyes cloud and milky as they glaze over, "It was...I don't know it was sharp. Like a rock. A pendant."

The toothed necklace. I drag my finger across the dirt, drawing out the necklace I had found on her bedroom floor, "Did it look like this?"

"Yes," She gasps, "How did you..."

"I found it in your bedroom. After you died I found Orion standing in your bedroom," I look up at my sister, "This was left behind. The police didn't find anything about it...but I always had a feeling that it had something to do with whoever murdered you."

"Mellie," Her hands are on my shoulders now, "I don't know who killed me. But whoever they are—that necklace is theirs. You can feel it too—it's something lycans can do. Feel or experience memories or emotions from certain objects that had a strong attachment to the owner or event."

I look down at the image in the ground. The answer to my biggest question is closer than ever. I'm finally going to find out who my sister's murderer was.