by Jayme Morse
But what I really wanted to do was just ask Sarah a million questions. Why was she at Werewolf Academy? Why was she going by the name of my biological mother?
Of course, I knew that she wouldn’t have been honest about any of the answers. The first, and only, time I had called her out as being Sarah, she had pretended that she wasn’t, which, of course, brought up another important question.
Why was she acting like she didn’t know me?
“So, what made you switch into this class last minute?” I asked her, trying to make small talk, as I flipped through the first book’s table of contents.
“I’ve always been really interested in paranormal history,” she said with a shrug.
Maybe because you were such a big part of it; you were, after all, a Princess’s lady’s maid, I thought to myself.
“So, I hear that our professor is your mate,” Sarah said, her eyes flitting over to meet mine.
I nodded. “Yeah, he’s one of them.”
“One of them?” Her eyes grew really wide. “You have more than one mate?”
“Oh. I’m mated to all of the Darken.” I just assumed that everyone at Werewolf Academy already knew that. It had always been such a common topic of discussion that I wondered how she hadn’t heard about it.
“Wow, really?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
“The Darken are known to be as ruthless as they come.”
I snorted. “Where did you hear that?”
“Well, rumor has it that during the ancient times, they once murdered an entire werewolf navy fleet because one of the sailors gave them a dirty look.”
“I highly doubt that’s true.” Contrary to what anyone seemed to think about my mates, they were all very mild-tempered for a bunch of werewolves. Don’t get me wrong. Theo could be moody as fuck sometimes. Well, all of them could be, for that matter. But most people who I had known back in the human world had bigger tempers than the Darken did, even.
“The King and Queen hated the Darken pack,” Sarah continued.
I knew Sarah wasn’t making this up; Aiden had told me in the past that the King and Queen hadn’t been their biggest fans. As he had put it, they were “outlaws,” and Kane, who had been Alpha during those times, wanted to see how much they could get away with before the King and Queen kicked them off Nocturne Island for good.
“They were always causing ruckus. They were always killing random members of the village, sometimes just for fun,” she explained. “There was also the fact that the entire Darken pack tried really hard to marry Princess Fallyn.”
“They did?”
Why was it that none of my mates had ever mentioned this to me before now? It didn’t really make sense why they would have chosen to keep that information from me.
Unless she was lying. I wasn’t really sure what reason she would have had to lie, though.
“Yup. Princess Fallyn was actually interested in potentially marrying one of them.”
“Why didn’t she?” I asked her.
“The King and Queen never would have allowed it. They were set on Princess Fallyn marrying another Royal. The Darken never would have been good enough—and it wasn’t just because they were peasants. They were powerful enough that the King and Queen probably would have allowed it, if it wasn’t for the fact that they were such ruthless wolves. They couldn’t have the future King constantly getting into trouble. They wanted someone better for their daughter. A Royal. Princess Fallyn had no interest in marrying any of the Royals she was interested to, though. I’m pretty sure the fact that the Darken pack was so hated by the King and the Queen made Fallyn even more attracted to them… or to the prospect of them. But the Queen and King forbade her from ever meeting them, so she never got to know them. Instead, she ended up falling for one of the servants, who the King and Queen later had murdered because a servant wasn’t good enough for their daughter.”
Considering I knew from my memories that the majority of the information she’d just shared with me was true, I had no reason to think she was lying about the Darken inquiring about Princess Fallyn’s hand in marriage. It just seemed odd that none of my mates had ever mentioned it before now.
“Did Princess Fallyn fall in love with anyone after the servant who was murdered?” I asked her, testing her knowledge.
I knew the answer to that. I had learned it over the summer. If she got the answer right, then I knew she was legitimate.
“Princess Fallyn disappeared from the castle after that, never to return again. I don’t really know what happened to her after that. The only thing I do know is that the vampires lied about her death. Princess Fallyn is, clearly, still alive.”
Well, she had passed my test.
There was also something else she had just confirmed for me. She was speaking like someone who had been at the castle as all of this had gone on… someone like Sarah.
“You seem to know quite a lot about the Royal family for a werewolf who was born during this century,” I said pointedly.
“I told you, I’m a history buff.” She winked at me. “I’m going to take these books back to my dorm room so I can get some reading done before my roommate gets back. I already checked out those books, so you can just take them. We’ll meet up again tomorrow afternoon to share our finds?”
I nodded. Even though I wanted to see what else Sarah could tell me about my past life, I was also pretty excited to dive into these books about the Triangle. The more I could learn about this prophecy, the better. I didn’t know everything there was to know yet, but one thing was for sure.
I needed to learn everything I could about it before it was too late.
Chapter 8
Later that night, Colton was watching The Big Bang Theory in my bedroom as I cracked open one of the books, which was called Ancient Curses and Prophecies: Using the Past to Predict the Future.
As I flipped to the page where the Triangle Prophecy was supposed to be, I hoped that there was going to be a lot of good information that I hadn’t read yet, but I was afraid that it was going to be everything I already knew about the Triangle.
There was a picture of a princess’s tiara at the top of the page, I assumed to represent Princess Fallyn. I began to read:
The Triangle Prophecy: One Princess’s Nightmare
A prophet by the name of Francisco Eduardo penned the following prediction during the year of 1524:
“The Triangle would be formed when three Alpha wolves, all born of three of the most powerful ancient werewolf packs or their first-generation descendants, kissed the first biologically born werewolf in the world.
The three of these werewolves will become the most powerful Alphas in the world.”
Despite the fact that Eduardo was an incredibly accurate prophet, experts have long debated whether or not this specific prophecy will ever unfold in the future. It prevents one problem, specifically.
The first biologically born werewolf in the world was Fallyn, Princess of the Werewolves. Princess Fallyn, who was born to the late King Francis and Queen Lydia, was murdered by the Winston Coven of vampires, who broke into the Royal Palace on Nocturne Island. They wanted to take advantage of the princess’s unique abilities, which were said to be incredibly strong, consider she was the first werewolf ever born. According to the legends, Princess Fallyn passed away when the vampires drank too much blood from her.
But, as we all know, legends are sometimes just that: legends. Princess Fallyn’s body was never recovered, and conspiracy theorists believe that it’s possible she never died. Some believe she may have escaped to the human world where she continues to live a normal life, possibly hiding for the real risk of the Triangle ever being formed.
So, let’s explore the hypothetical scenario in which Princess Fallyn might still actually be alive and this prophecy will still hold true.
There have been other prophecies involving the Triangle.
One of the most famous prophecies comes from a witch by the name of Ying Yue Lee.
I frowned, wondering of Ying Yue Lee was of any relationship to Professor Mindi Lee.
Aiden must have been listening in on my thoughts because his voice filled my head. “Yes, Ying Yue Lee was a witch who just so happens to have been Professor Lee’s great-great-grandmother.”
I wasn’t sure why, but knowing that somehow made Professor Lee’s prophecy seem all the more real for me.
I continued to read the words on the page.
This prophecy came about during the 1800s:
When the three Alpha wolves who form the Triangle kiss the first-born wolf, there will be a long period of uncertainty.
Try as she might, the first-born wolf will not be able to kill the Triangle in time.
Trying to kill the Triangle before she is ready will only result in her own death,
So, for that reason, she must wait until she is prepared.
The only place where the first-born wolf will ever be able to kill the Triangle is on Nocturne Island.
Nocturne Island makes the first-born wolf physically ill any time she returns,
And there is a reason for that.
Nocturne Island sharpens the first-born wolf’s powers.
The Princess is stronger on the island than anywhere else in the world.
She will know when she is ready to kill the Triangle, but she must act accordingly.
Once the Triangle is ready, things will happen in a certain order:
The fires will begin first,
And the war between the paranormal races soon will follow.
It is not until the war has already begun that the portal between the human world and the paranormal realm will cease to exist.
I swallowed hard, allowing everything I had just read to sink in.
The Triangle had already been formed, and we were already in this period of uncertainty that the prophecy spoke of. During this period of time, I wasn’t sure when the war would begin—the only thing I knew was that it would, at some point, begin.
I wasn’t ready to kill the Triangle yet, according to the prophecy. Doing so would only kill me in the process, and that was the absolute last thing the world needed, considering I was the only one who could kill the Triangle.
The only place I could kill them was on Nocturne Island. I had gotten sick every time I went to the island, and now I knew why: Nocturne Island made me more powerful. It made a lot of sense.
I wished that the prophecy told me when I needed to kill the Triangle. It left too much answered as far as that went, but at least I knew the order in which things would happen.
I had been so fearful of this war beginning and catching us all off-guard, but at least I knew how things would go now. The fires would come first, the war between the paranormal races would follow.
Colton laughed so loudly from where he lay on the bed next to me that it interrupted my thoughts about what I had just read.
Glancing over at me, he seemed to notice for the first time that I wasn’t watching. “Do you want to watch something else?”
“I need to do my homework,” I said, holding up the book.
“Oh. Right.” He smacked his forehead and then went back to watching.
Opening the next book, I read from it.
The Triangle Prophecy, which was first seen by Francisco Eduardo during the 1500s, has long been a fear of some prophets.
Some have wondered why the first biological-born werewolf, Princess Fallyn of the Werewolves, is the one whose kiss will trigger this war. It is believed that there was a curse placed on the werewolf, one that would cause this.
First, it’s important for us to take a look at the history of how Princess Fallyn came to be the first-born werewolf.
King Francis and Queen Lydia were originally humans. They were the King and Queen who reigned over the village of Nocturne Island. The entire village was cursed to become werewolves, but the witch who placed the curse on the island was known to hate the King and Queen, especially. So, a second curse was also placed, this one involving their unborn daughter.
I rolled my eyes. Of freaking course there was yet another curse involving me.
The curse stated that the King and Queen would give birth to one child: a daughter, who would be the first-born werewolf.
Her blood would be powerful enough to control all of Nocturne Island. From its ground and its winds to its sky and its waters, the island would change based on her emotions.
I paused. Was this the reason my kiss with Theo had made the stars fall down all around us? Because the island’s sky was able to change with my emotions? Theo had lived on Nocturne Island, and he’d said that the stars had never fallen that way before. It was interesting, considering I had never fallen as hard as I had that night, either…
I continued to read.
Her magic would be most powerful on Nocturne Island.
Due to the triangular shape of the island, she would also produce a Triangle of her own. Her kiss would be powerful enough to create a Triangle of three of the most powerful Alpha werewolves, all of which would be interconnected.
There was only one way for the curse to be broken: The Princess must marry another werewolf, one of Royal blood, before she turns eighteen. However, this would prove difficult because of the princess’s rebellious nature.
I swallowed hard then as a realization hit me. All of the visions I’d had about my biological parents had made them seem so horrible, but everything they had done had been for a reason.
I had assumed that they were going to force me into a marriage with Milos Santorini because he was a Royal, just like us. I thought they considered peasants or commoners to be below us, but it hadn’t been that at all.
The real reason they wouldn’t allow me to marry the Nicholas hadn’t been because they felt he was below us. Or even if they did consider him to be below us, it wasn’t the only reason I hadn’t been allowed to marry him. They hadn’t allowed it because marrying a servant wouldn’t have been conducive to breaking the curse.
They had gone as far as to murder him because they wanted to stop the war from happening.
What I didn’t understand was why they hadn’t just told me that at the time. Based on my memories, nothing like that had ever been mentioned. Even though I hadn’t actually been in love with any of the Royal werewolves who they had introduced me to, I was pretty sure that I would have taken one for the team just to save werewolf and human kind. Being in a loveless marriage seemed a hell of a lot easier than everything I was dealing with right now.
I wished I hadn’t been rebellious. Not that it was my fault. The curse had caused it. That was why my parents had felt the need to murder Nicholas to prevent me from running away with him. It was why they had locked me in the castle tower to force me to marry Milos Santorini.
And yet, I had still found a way out… unfortunately.
I supposed that some curses simply couldn’t be broken.
Sighing, I continued to read the book.
For many paranormal historians, the biggest concern about the Triangle prophecy has been the fact that the human and paranormal realms, which have always been interconnected, will cease to exist.
However, there was another prophecy that was seen by a Claude Brown during the early 1900s that tells us how we can reopen the
Once the portal has disappeared as a result of the Triangle,
There will only ever be one way that it can be reopened:
This involves the blood of a fire-breathing dragon, the tear of a mermaid, and the dust of a pixie.
As I read through that last prophecy one more time, I frowned. It didn’t actually tell you what needed to happen with the fire-breathing dragon blood, mermaid tears, and pixie dust. Did you mix them? Do you drink them? Did you do a rain dance with them?
This information was supposed to be helpful, but for me, it rose more questions than it did answers.
With a huff, I shut the book and laid it down on my nightstand.
Colton glanced over at me then. “Are
you okay, Raven?”
“As okay as I can be, considering a war is about to begin because of me, because of this stupid curse I just read about.”
“It’s not your fault. You do realize that, right?” Colton asked.
I glanced over at him. “I guess.”
“No. There’s nothing to ‘I guess’ about. None of this is your fault.” His gray eyes met mine. “It’s just a case of bad luck.”
“Horrible luck,” I corrected.
“Yes, horrible luck,” he agreed with a nod, pulling me closer to him. “But I can tell you one thing. I’m glad you’re here with us.”
“Yeah?” I asked as he brought his lips down on mine.
Glancing up at me, he nodded. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
I rested my head on his chest, and I noticed that I could hear his heart beating then. It was in sync with mine.
As I listened to our hearts beat together, for a moment in time, everything felt pretty freaking perfect.
Until I reminded myself that, somewhere out there, Milos had a charm that could easily stop his heart from ever beating again.
All I could seem to wonder was why he hadn’t yet.
Chapter 9
Sarah didn’t end up finding anything different about the Triangle than I did. In fact, if anything, she found less than I did.
I wasn’t looking forward to presenting all of this in front of the class. Even though I knew that everyone needed to learn about the Triangle so that they could better understand what not just my but all of our futures held, I was also afraid that I was going to slip up in front of everyone. And the Darken still didn’t even want Headmaster Black to know that I was Princess Fallyn. Aiden and Theo felt the most strongly about it; they were convinced that keeping this between us was the better thing I could do to protect myself. I wasn’t sure if I was right, but I also wasn’t going to test it, either.