Tempted Fate |18+ (Ménage)✔

⊰42⊱

Relief washes over me as I breathe out a sigh of relief.

That relief is quickly extinguished when everything floods back about Rose's origins and the hand Tresor had in Grandma Laura's rape...though she often reminded me, that Walter wasn't cruel...just one moment she could not explain. She's never been told about how that incident came to pass, my heart falling into the pit of my stomach at the thought...

...though without the things Tresor has done, Rose, mother, Edith...me...we would never exist. He killed Grandpa's mother, and though that was a hard thing to face, Grandpa forgave him. Perhaps, one day Grandma Laura will understand the truth and come to terms with the meaning behind all of this.

She nods in the direction behind her, feeling the wolves' presence ebb away from the surrounding area as she asks, "Shall we?"

Unlike previously, Rose will meet up with me once she is set free for The Hunt, her belongings to be set at a drop off nearby from Dante I'll acquire shortly.

"Yes," I nod, taking Grandma Laura's side as we walk through the forest off by the grounds of Castle Valentine. Bishop is close behind us, though his distance is respectful.

Grandma Laura asks, "How long have you known Cormac?"

"A year," I reply, her gaze flickering to mine when I state, "I was nearly a selection last year...though, Cormac aided me from escaping that fate."

Not really, but I'm not about to explain the circumstances behind Taft's sudden change in mood for his selection.

A soft smile makes its way onto her lips as she sighs, "Cormac's good at that."

"Sorry?" I ask, crossing over a few fallen logs as we near the encampment.

She pauses a moment, turning to me as she replies, "I owe him my life. Rose owes him her life. He doesn't put a facade on when he speaks about bringing an end to The Code of Conduct. He truly means it, wanting to share a better future with us all."

I'd almost all but forgotten...

...Grandpa is her hero and that of our bloodline.

"They will all pay for their crimes against the rest of the species in this world," Grandma Laura continues when I remain quiet for too long, my gaze following hers as I see others staring at me with more fear that curiosity.

Some have already done just that, though their sentence doesn't always appear clearly to others on the surface...

...Aohdan.

My heart skips a beat, Grandpa Keir approaching while others murmur, some holding their tongues for a silent mind link communication. He stops short a few feet from me, his eyes looking me over while Bishop walks away, heading toward a tent off to the right. Grandma Laura moves to Grandpa Keir's side, telling him, "She's the one Cormac sent."

I hear a few soft cries from my left, glancing away briefly from the two as fear from pack members bubbles to the surface quicker than boiling water. Grandpa Keir brings my attention back to him as he clears his throat, "Don't mind them," he pauses when our gaze holds, "they're not quite used to the idea of hybrids standing alongside us."

Grandpa Keir's father was killed by a hybrid...

...the same day Grandpa Keir showed his strength to the werewolf community.

Stories...

...I'm thankful for the stories my family members have passed down, Alpha Rakkon Wood's memory living strong. All the memories I hold dear to my heart, using them as a lifeline and a guide to navigate my current surroundings.