Deprived (Daughter of an Alpha Book 2)

by Kaitlyn Taylor

  The first image showed three different villages, one was up in flames representing chaos, the second showed smaller figures dead on the ground with daggers in their chest representing murder, and the third showed a man on top of a woman and another man looking like he was going to strike a child representing rape and abuse. The second image next to it showed the spirits above the five original Alphas, the vampire figure with fangs, the wolf, the sorcerer with lightning in his hands, the fairy with fire in his, and the giant who stood at least a foot taller than the other four. This image represented the spirits picking the five strongest beings of the time to lead the five species into a safer and better world. The third image was a picture of one village with each of the Alphas smiling, representing the peace that they brought to the land. The fourth image was a map of Medova and the barrier lines that separated each territory, which each Alpha would reside and lead over. The fifth and final image of the story showed the image of the original Alphas passing on a crown to the next Alphas who were purposefully drawn as bigger than the villagers surrounding them. Nowhere does it imply that they were the original Alphas’ sons, but our documented history revealed that they were.

  What our brothers told us was true. The next Alpha wasn’t necessarily the son of the Alpha. That’s how it worked out, but this image was clear. The strongest of the species would be the next Alpha. In front of us was the story that no one else knew except the Alpha families. If the Council would pull their heads out of their asses they probably would know these secrets as well, but they’ve proven over and over again that they’re not trustworthy.

  “I think this is the story about us,” Luna pointed out to a wall on the other side of the room.

  “What makes you think that?” Kota asked, walking up next to her to look at what she was pointing at.

  “The symbols of the original families,” she answered. “It’s all over this story.”

  I walked up to the other side of Luna and began to decipher the images just like I had with the original Alphas story. The first image spoke of our birth, five crowns drawn next to each other and underneath each of them was a baby wrapped in a blanket, the letter ‘F’ in between the two symbols representing the world ‘female’. The next image showed five bodies lying dead with daggers in their chests with a cloaked figure standing above them, his face hidden to everyone. Chills ran through every nerve in my body as the accuracy of this story became much too real for me to deal with. The third image showed the four original families’ symbols placed together in a square shape. The top left corner had the crown representing the Alpha and the crossed swords was in the top right corner representing the second in command. The bottom left corner had the shield representing the advisor and the bottom right corner had the battle helmet representing the war general. Although this image could be deciphered in different ways, it seemed to be the four families coming together as one, which would make Kota and Nathan’s vision accurate. The fourth image had three different drawings. One showed the death of the Alphas and then an arrow pointed to the next set of Alphas while a second arrow pointed to a cave with what looked like the Alphas standing outside of it, but I couldn’t tell which set of Alphas it was. Both arrows started at the death scene of the Alphas, all five of them had lines across their necks, which I would think meant they had their throats slashed. Another accurate part of the story. Though this image confused me, I moved on to the last image, which showed the four original family symbols next to the cloaked figure lying on the ground with a dagger in his chest.

  This story matched Mateo and Kota’s visions, which was scary enough as it is, but I was still focused on the fourth image. This part seemed to be a mystery that I couldn’t figure out. The death part made sense because it meant the Alphas died by having their throats slit, which is exactly how my father and uncles died. The new Alphas made sense as well because my older brothers became the next Alphas. The third part was the one that didn’t make any sense. The cave had to be the one that we’re in now but the five Alphas that stood outside of it didn’t. We were the ones who found the cave, not the Alphas but I still couldn’t tell if those Alphas were my brothers or not. It could be our fathers but that didn’t make any sense either because they were dead so how were they still a part of the story.

  “I think I know where we are,” Gavin said as his voice filled the silent cave. Before now, only the sounds of the flames could be heard whenever a breeze came through and attempted to put them out. “I remember my mother telling me of a story about the Alphas and how they had a meeting place that nobody knew about in the middle of Medova. Obviously, it was just a myth at the time because hundreds of people have looked for the spot for two thousand years and never found anything, but I think we have.”

  “How is it that we found it but no one else?” Declan asked as he walked along the walls looking at the images scribbled on them.

  The girls and I exchanged a look with one another. We were no strangers to things we shouldn’t be able to see but we saw them anyways. One only had to bring up the cottage and there would be no other explanation needed.

  “Do you think the Alphas know about this place?” Roman asked looking over at me for an answer.

  “I’m not sure,” I told him as I focused on the tunnel I noticed before I started reading the stories on the wall. It was dark, so I would need Deja to come with me to light the way. She caught on quickly to what I wanted to do next and before I could say a word she was at my side with flames in her palm. We started to walk down the tunnel as Roman and the others protested but they didn’t stop us. I felt Luna, Kota, and Juda’s energy right behind us as we followed the dark stone hallway. Just when I thought it would never end we came up to another circular room only it was much smaller and had nothing in it except five more tunnels branching off of it. Deja started to move to the flame around, so we could see along the walls and when she stopped over each tunnel a different symbol was carved above them. The giant symbol was above the one to the far left and next to it were claw marks. The one in the middle was an oak tree and next to it were two lightning bolts and a set of fangs. Each Alpha had a tunnel, which made me even more curious. I started to head for the tunnel with the claw marks, but I knew the girls would want to go down the other tunnels.

  “You might need these,” Roman said as he showed us several unlit torches.

  “Where did you find these?” I asked as I reached for one, Deja lighting it before I asked her to. I’m glad she was able to think at the same pace as me.

  “They were next to the entrance of the cave,” Hudson answered.

  All the torches were lit, and we separated, promising each other that we would yell for help if we needed it. Roman was at my back now, following me down the tunnel meant for the werewolves.

  “What do you think we’ll find down here?” Roman asked, knowing my mind was thinking about a lot of things at once.

  “I have no idea,” I answered. “I’m hoping something that will help us stop Malachi.”

  “You really think that we’ll find something like that here?” he questioned.

  “That’s what I’m hoping,” I said softly. “This place seems to be hidden for a reason. Maybe it’s hiding something we could use.”

  “That seems like wishful thinking,” he chuckled.

  “It’s all I got left, I guess,” I responded in much more serious tone.

  I felt the tension between Roman and I after I said that, but we didn’t have a chance to talk about it. We came up to a door containing the same claw marks that were carved outside the cave and above the tunnel we just walked through. I hesitated before opening the door, not sure if we should go in since we didn’t know what we would find behind it. Roman noticed my hands shaking as the flames on the torch began to move in odd directions. He took a step forward opening the door for me, entering the room to make sure nothing would pop out at us. The room was dark just like everything else in this cave but with the two torches that we had we were able to see wh
at was inside of it. Along the right wall was a bed with two pillows and several blankets covering it. To the left was a desk with a few books on it, and a quill with some ink. A nightstand sat next to the bed but other than those three pieces of furniture there was nothing else in the room.

  “This must be where the Alphas stayed whenever they came here,” I said as I walked around the room.

  “Must be,” Roman muttered. I could tell he was thinking about something. I’m pretty sure he thought I didn’t notice but I did, and I was going to give him about another minute before I started bombarding him with questions.

  While I waited, I walked over to the desk and started to look at the books. One was a journal written by my grandfather before he died. Clearly my grandfather knew of this place if his journal was here. The second was a book of prophecies. When I looked at the cover it had Lawrence’s name on it, which seemed strange because he should’ve had it when he died but it was never found when Nico sent guards over to find him. When Kota became the new prophet, we knew Lawrence was dead and Nico wanted to make sure he received a proper burial. His book of prophecies should’ve been somewhere in his home but after searching every inch of that place, it was determined that it wasn’t there. Somehow it ended up here in this cave, but I was struggling to come up with a logical reason it would be here. The third book that I picked up was another journal and what surprised me was that it contained my father’s handwriting. So, he did know about this place.

  “It seems strange,” Roman said interrupting my train of thoughts. “There’s no dust in this room.”

  “What’s your point?” I asked returning the book to the desk.

  “Don’t you think a place like this were start collecting dust after being vacant for a while?” he asked. “It’s been over a month since your father died. I guess I expected dust to be here.”

  He had a point but once again I couldn’t come up with a logical reason as to why there would be no dust in the room. The only thing I could think of, and it was a long shot, but someone else must know about this place. Maybe my brothers have been here. That had to be it.

  “We should head back to the others,” Roman suggested. “I don’t think we’re going to find anything in here.”

  “I want to take these with us,” I said as I started to gather up the books.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Two of them are journals from my grandfather and my father but the other is Lawrence’s book of prophecies,” I told him as I started to show him the covers.

  “Wait, Lawrence’s prophecies are here?” he looked at me and then reached for the book, which I gladly gave him. I hope he had an idea as to why it was here. “I guess it makes sense that Lawrence would know about this place if he had a vision about it but why would he leave his book here?”

  “That’s what I want to know,” I told him before taking the book back from him.

  “Something isn’t adding up,” he mumbled again, looking around the room.

  “That’s what I was thinking, too,” I said as we exited the room. “Maybe the others found something that will give us some answers.”

  He shut the door behind us, the torches guiding us down the hallway back to the center. No one else had returned yet but instead of waiting there we went back to where the fire pit was, examining the drawings on the walls again.

  “You seem to be eyeing this one the most,” Roman observed. “Why is that?”

  “This one doesn’t make sense to me,” I pointed at the third drawing within the fourth image of the story. “I can’t tell if it’s my brothers or my father and uncles.”

  “It’s your father and uncles,” he said.

  “How do you know that?” I asked, whipping my head up at him.

  “Look at the picture of the figures,” he said, pointing at their necks. “You see the lines?”

  “From where their throats were slit,” I whispered. How did I not notice that before? “That still doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Why not?” his eyebrows burrowed in confusion.

  “There’s already an image of them with their throats slit,” I pointed at the first drawing. “It shows droplets of blood and everything. Why draw it again down here and associate it with my brothers?”

  “This one doesn’t show any blood, either,” he noticed. “You’re right. This doesn’t make any sense.”

  “Maybe my brothers will know what it means,” I said as I turned away from the wall. “We’ll have to bring them back here after we tell them about it.”

  “Did you guys find anything?” Luna asked as she and Declan snuck up behind us. We turned to face them, Roman showing them the books we found.

  “Lawrence’s book was here the whole time?” Declan questioned as he took the book from Roman’s hands. “You got to be fucking kidding me? How did it end up here?”

  “I wish we knew,” Roman responded as the rest of our group appeared from the dark tunnel. We all questioned the same thing about the book, but we came to the conclusion that we’ll never know how it ended up here in this cave. As we were leaving, Roman and Hudson put out the flames on the torches, catching up to us right as we crossed the threshold. I turned back to look inside one more time, having this strange feeling like I was leaving my father behind. I shook it off following everyone else over to the portal that Nathan opened. I guess Kota didn’t fight him this time and let him take the lead. I still wondered why it was so damn important that she opened when we left the Castle. I guess we would never know the answer to that either.

  After going through the portal, we were back in Nathan and Kota’s room, where Kya, my maid, was making the bed. It startled her when the portal opened, and I found her shaking as if she were cold. Werewolves rarely saw a portal open let alone went through one. Our family was the exception, but every other wolf probably would never see one in their lifetime.

  “Kya, it’s fine,” I told her as I grabbed her shoulders gently. “It’s just us.”

  “Sorry, Miss Nova,” she stuttered. “I knew you left by portal, I just didn’t think you would return here. Silly me, I guess.”

  “Please call me Nova,” I begged her, smiling as I brushed some of her loose hair behind her ear. “You know I don’t like formality.”

  “I’ll try to remember,” she agreed, ducking her head shyly as Roman approached us.

  “Do you mind telling the Alpha and his brother that we need to talk to them?” he asked Kya, who looked up at Roman’s height with a small twinge of fear in her eyes. He intimidated her, but she knew he would never hurt her.

  “Yes, Mr. Roman,” she curtsied. “I’ll go right away and tell them.”

  “Thank you, Kya,” he nodded.

  The portal was closed now and we all sat around the room, resting after the adventure we just had. Our short battle with Malachi was exhausting enough but then we found the cave and, I had to admit, it took a lot of emotional energy out of me. Kota was back on her bed, lying down on her side. I think she was still recovering from the vision she had early, acting like she was fine when she was actually physically drained. Everyone seemed relaxed when it was interrupted by Nico and Nero swinging the door open, slamming against the wall.

  “Seriously, Nico?” I snarled. “Now there’s a hole in the wall.”

  “I’ll make sure that gets fixed,” he told Nathan and Kota who didn’t seem to be too worried about it. He and Nero looked around the room like they were trying to make sure we were all in one piece.

  “Did you find the journal?” Nero asked as he sat down on the couch next to me. Nico decided to stand, his arms crossed against his chest, looking more intimidating than Roman.

  “Yes,” Kota answered as she showed him black book. Nico took it in his hands and started flipping through the pages. He wasn’t actually reading the words, but he seemed to be looking for something.

  “We also found some other books,” I told him, pointing towards the stack of books on the coffee table. “They weren’t at the treehouse,
though.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Nero asked, eyeing me as if I were hiding something.

  “We had a run in with Malachi,” Roman answered. “This is a long story, so get comfortable.”

  We went through the events that happened at the treehouse and how there’s a traitor among us in the Castle. Nero showed his anger towards this information, but Nico seemed to stay calm. With the plot to kill us recently revealed I think he already assumed there were traitors around us. I’m not sure he realized they were in constant contact with our enemy though. They both seemed very intrigued with the cave we found and the more we told them the more I knew Nico was aware of it.

  “Dad was supposed to show me where it was, but he never got the chance,” he said, looking sorrowful as he spoke. “What does the cave have to do with Lawrence’s book of prophecies?”

  “We found it there,” Roman told him.

  “That’s not possible,” Nero argued. “The book has to be hidden in his house somewhere. There’s no way that’s his book.”

  “Look at it for yourself,” Deja told him, pointing towards the stack of books. “We all had our doubts but that is his book.”

  “What are the other two?” Nico questioned as Nero grabbed the one with Lawrence’s name on the cover.

  “One of them is your grandfather’s journal,” Roman said. “The other one is your father’s.”

  Nico reached for the one that belonged to our father and began turning pages just like he did with Malachi’s journal. Once again, I knew he wasn’t reading any of the words, but he clearly was hoping something would stand out to him. While he did this, I started talking about the drawings on the wall and how there was one that I didn’t understand. Nero seemed to be thinking hard about what the image could mean when Nico interrupted and seemed to have an answer.