Hello guys! Here is the next chapter. I hope you guys like it.
The beautiful new cover is by @-basically who is an amazing cover maker! A big thank you to her:) Now on to the chapter nerdies!
The dawn bring a serene silence in the pack. As I dress up in a black tee and jeans, I look at myself in the mirror.
We can do this.
I nod agreeing with Fiana. Ever since I've been marked, I feel a sense of peace within me. And along with that comes strongness. Fiana is sure that we will save our pack and so am I.
I come out of the bathroom to find Xalvador waiting for me. He is dressed in simple shorts and a t-shirt. Its not like he is gonna keep them on at all today. He circles his arms around me as I approach and I breath his scent and memorize it.
"We're gonna be fine." He says and I mumble a yes snuggling into his chest. Xavier ushers me down and I realize that this is the only time I've seen this pack house so quite. The usual grunts, chatter, abuses and the shouts of arguments are all missing. I am glad Tyler and Mariah are safe at the hiding.
Its not that these people are scared to fight but this time, the stakes are too high. Today's fight threatens the very existence of this pack which has already faced the horrors of extinguishing once. No! No matter how hard this goes, we will all defeat those treacherous wolves. Those rogues stand no stand in front of us- the rightful ones.
"Everyone listen!" Xalvador commands as soon we step out on the ground. Each and every wolf on the field stands to attention. "My spies have confirmed. The enemy is almost here. Now is the time to use each and every thing you have learned in this pack. Be ruthless, smart and kill. This is our pack and we will not let history repeat itself. The doomed night that cost us our families and our pack will not replay again. We will fight- only to win!"
"We will fight only to win!" The chorus of wolves pierces the serene silence. Xalvador gruffly nods and mind links someone. Soon enough Beta Axel and Liam report to him.
"Position." Xalvador orders and they both nod. Calling out to their respective groups, they stand in rectangular units. There are many other similar units with a wolf as their leader. I see Marcel as one of the leaders and I can recognize some only by their faces. Almost everyone is here, except... Kane.
"I'll be right back." I mutter quickly and rush inside. I find him in the living room... watching tv!
"Don't you have no self respect? Or any compassion for your pack for that matter?" I growl and Kane faces me.
"Luna, I am afraid I don't follow." He says with the same weird tone he talks every time.
"There is war about to commence and here you are watching television! That's your own pack, your own Alpha who are gonna fight to protect this pack and you seem the least interested! Even the common wolves are helping and you- you could almost pass for someone who is the enemy of this pack!" I say my blood boiling. His expression doesn't change. Its the same, bored and uninterested.
"I lost my family years ago because of a weak Alpha and his cheating, selfish mate! I lost my mate and my child that night fighting for a worthless man who couldn't bear the loss of his mate and let his entire pack face misery. And that woman, who for her own selfish reasons ran away! After that dear Luna, I had no intentions of staying in this worthless pack. It was only due to my brother that I agreed to stay. But every time I look at Alpha Xalvador, I'm reminded of my loss. I don't care if this pack intact or everyone including me dies. I have no care at all." He growls slightly and I stand there baffled.
"I-I understand your loss Kane. But if you don't help today, to protect the mates and children of several others like you, there will remain no difference between the weak and selfish people you are talking about and you. None at all." I state softly and leave without waiting for him to reply.
"Luna! Arabella! Come into my room, I must tell you something." Maisie mind-links me and I rush to her room. To my surprise, I already find Xalvador there.
"What's going on? We should be down!" I say as I enter.
"There is something you must know about Luna Gabriella." Maisie says in a firm yet reluctant voice.
"I don't want to hear anything about that selfish wom-"
"Alpha please! She wasn't selfish. I may not get the chance to reveal the truth once the fight begins." Maisie says frantically and Xalvador frowns.
"What is it Maisie? Tell us." I encourage her. She takes a deep breath and then glances at Xalvador.
"Remember the spell we did in the circle to connect with Luna Gabriella?" She ask and I nod.
"Well as I said, there needed to be a connection between the person in the circle and the one I'm trying to contact."
"Yes and that connection was between Xalvador and Luna." I say confused.
"No Arabella. It was between you and Luna Gabriella." She says and I gasp in shock. Xalvador mirrors my expression.
"How is that possible?" Xalvador growls in confusion.
"Alpha you stopped loving your mother when she ran. That is why I couldn't establish the connection. I was about to give up but then the connection started forming between Arabella and Luna Gabriella. I was shocked just like you both are right now but decided to keep quite until I could dig further.
" In the last few days, I had been searching and searching for the answer to the weird connection. And then I found it. The grandmother you talk about all the time Arabella, is... Luna Gabriella."
"What!" I exclaim overwhelmed. Xalvador comes to my side and grasps my hand.
"Yes Luna. Years ago, the Luna had to run. Not because she loved someone else but due to the wishes of the moon. To protect the only fire elemental in the world."
"Maisie I don't understand." I say shaking my head and my voice laced with pain and desperation.
"Then please just hear me out." She says. I and Xalvador nod.
"Alpha, your mother was a rogue. She was from the same group that attacked our pack when Alpha Adam passed away. When she found her mate, she moved in the pack as the Luna. The rogues hated her for that. As we, rogue despise wolves with packs. And to loose such a strong witch to an already powerful pack was a hurt to their ego.
Even then the Luna stayed in the pack, tamed the wild people with her caring nature. One day, in the forest, she met her friend Debra. Debra and her mate were rogues. Debra was pregnant then and unhappy. She disliked her current life with the cruel rogues. The Luna and she then started meeting at a safe place regularly. One fine day, Debra gave birth to a child with Luna Gabriella as her godmother. The girl was special, an elemental, a fire elemental to be precise." Maisie says and I stumble backwards. Xalvador is similarly shocked but yet catches me from falling.
"Debra realized immediately the danger of returning to the rogues with the blessed child. The rogues would use her girl for all their dirty work and Debra would have no say. That is why the Luna did a spell and talked to the Moon. The Moon commanded her to save the child from the clutches of the evil. The Luna had no choice but to flee to safety because as soon as Debra returned, the truth would be out."
It takes me a while to comprehend the overwhelming revelation.
"Bu-but Debra could have lied." Xalvador states in a trance.
"She couldn't have. Make no mistake Alpha, the rogues are no fools. Even if she lied, the witch- Luna Gabriella's younger sister would have found out the truth." Maisie explains.
"So grandmother left for me? Without informing anyone because she had to save me." I state, tears brimming in my eyes.
"She didn't time have to explain anything. And that is why she ran immediately. Debra in order to save her life, lied that the Luna ran away with the girl without her consent. The rogues set on a hunt for Luna as soon as they came to know. But they realized she wasn't in the pack anymore. This infuriated them to no level and that is why they attacked that night. To take revenge through anything they can. They lost the witch first and then an elemental. Their ultimate aim, I'm guessing is to wipe the Torhon bloodline and anyone that had ever been in contact with Luna Gabriella."
"My mother wasn't a traitor. She-she" Xalvador sits on the bed with a shock and I entwine our hands.
"Yes Alpha, she was never a traitor." Maisie replies in a pained voice.
"And Luna?" Maisie asks tentatively and I raise my head in question.
"Your family is still alive." She says and I'm on my feet again.
"Really?" I ask with desperation.
"But not your parents. They were killed by the Silver Fall's wolves. Your siblings are alive and in this pack." She says and I frown.
"Alpha Xalvador, you remember Mason right? His mate was Debra." Maisie states and Xalvador growls in shock. Realization dawns upon me as I remember the three wolves in the basement who were killed by Xalvador. That is when Xalvador told me what they had done and who they had killed. And that is when I met... Tyler and Mariah.
"Oh my God." I gasp softly in shock. "Tyler and Mariah are my siblings." I utter in shock stumbling backwards. This is too much to take. I never thought so many people lost their lives because of me. It started all with me. With my birth. Xalvador lost his mother because of me, Alpha Adam lost his mate. He died. My grandmother was killed. Heck! My own parents were killed because of me.
"Hey hey hey, stop it Bella!" Xalvador commands softly grasping my shoulders.
"Stop what?" I ask my eyes closed in pain.
"You are blaming yourself, I can feel it."
"Not wrong there, am I?" I mutter.
"Of course you are! You are a blessing to the wolves. The rogues are the cause of everything. Their thirst for power led to the wreckage they caused in our lives. Not you baby. Its not your fault."
"I am so sorry." I gasp, tears flowing now. Xalvador hugs me and Maisie pats my back.
"Arabella, its not your fault. Please don't blame yourself."
"You're right. It is them who took away my family from me, your family." I say straightening up and wiping my cheeks. I focus on Xalvador's embrace and I realize he is just as shocked as me. The woman he spent his entire life hating is actually the reason I am with him today.
"But Maisie, how did you find out everything?" Xalvador inquires and I perk up as well.
"It was difficult, really difficult. But my spells helped a lot. I dug up more journals, met the old man you told me about Arabella and also talked to my mother."
"Your mother?"
"Yes. These powers, the reason for being a half witch is connected to this story too. I don't know if you know but my parents aren't mates. My father never found his mate and so he married my mother. It wasn't so smooth between them. Soon after I was born, things started getting worst and eventually my mother left my father and shifted to the village.
Luna Gabriella returned to this pack in her final days. She wanted to give an explanation. But the enemies were very close on trail. She didn't have much time. Yet the scene was very different. Our pack was shattered from the attack. What shattered her more was that Alpha Adam was no more and that Alpha Xalvador despised her. Yet she met my mother, her closest friend in the pack. What she feared the most was that Arabella would be left alone if she died. And so would her powers. Its the duty of a witch to transfer her powers to her child. Luna couldn't do that. Alpha Xalvador was the next Alpha in line and he hated her already. She didn't have another child while Arabella was already an elemental. So with all the strength she could muster and as much as she could, she transferred her powers to me." She explains and I wonder if my head would burst with so much of overwhelming information.
"I am sorry I told you everything right before the fight. I didn't want you to fall weak.
"No Maisie, if anything, my urge to crush those murderers in a thousand times stronger now. Don't worry." Xalvador growls and I nod.
"Yes Maisie, just see how those bloody rogues face their punishment for all their sins!" I growl with a determination in my voice that I haven't ever felt towards anything before.
This chapter will be edited tomorrow. Please excuse the typos and errors!
I really want to know your comments on this chapter. Specially if you have any doubts or think I have left something unexplained! Take adequate time reading this chapter as it reveals a lot of things which are confusing.