by Rasi K
“Who is Ava?”
“Ava is my wolf you saw just now. They both are behind you at the moment.”, she said pointing her see-through finger behind me.
I stood up before turning around. There she stood, my wolf Liza, in all her royal blackness with her glowing red eyes, similar to that of Ava, who stood beside her.
“Liza?”
“Caroline, she is my mother. What she said is true. Our time here is up. We have to leave.”
“Yes, you have to leave. You have things to discover and a life to live. Your time hasn’t come yet, so you are not welcome here. Now go, your loved ones are waiting for you.”, the wolf, Ava, said.
Carol…
Carol…
A distant voice called out for me.
“But why do you not look like a normal person? Why are you filled in water? How is your wolf silver?”, I asked her. I had so many questions that needed answers.
“You can’t learn about everything in just one day. The time will come, when you will discover everything.”, she told.
Carol…
Carol…
“Why is now not the time?”, I shouted.
They both stood on the riverside, smiling, while Liza and I stood opposite to them. The distance between us slowly started to widen. I tried moving but I couldn’t. It was as though I was stuck to the place. Little by little they disappeared into the air.
“Goodbye, my daughter.”, they said in unison.
Suddenly, all the white bliss, that had surrounded me, vanished and everything blackened.
Third person’s POV
Caroline had suddenly gone still. It was the time of the day when Tahliya talked with her. Suddenly her ECG machine beeped signaling that her heart had stopped beating.
Doctors rushed in with ECT device and crowded Caroline’s bed. Tahliya and Daniel who witnessed it called out for her. The doctors kept passing impulses to her heart through shock treatment, to have her heart beating again. Giving up hope, they stopped their treatment and packed their equipments. The head doctor passed a sympathetic look towards the duo passing them the unspoken message.
The room became silent, void of any sound other than the beeping of the heart machine.
Suddenly Caroline arched her back and sucked in a huge breath.
Chapter 39
Like father like daughter
I woke up with a startle. All the numbness I felt earlier was replaced with pain in different parts of my body.
When I woke up the doctors seemed shocked for a moment but the gasp from someone beside me, made them regain their senses and to start checking my body. After running several tests, they were satisfied with the results. After having a few words with my family who were waiting outside, they left.
Once they did, my family rushed in. They had their moment of happy tears before mother rushed everyone outside to allow me to take rest. Dad stayed back while Daniel said he would be back in a while.
“Babygirl, you are finally back.”, dad said hugging me to his side.
“Yes dad, I am back.”
“I will never let you go, anymore. I lost my mate because of my ignorance, I shall not repeat the same mistake twice.”, he said, more to himself than to me.
“Dad?”
“Yes, dear.”
“I met mom.”, I said lightly testing the waters.
He looked down at me, shocked. He was lost at words.
“She was the one who made me come back.”
“Persuasive as ever.”, he muttered under his breath.
“She looked shockingly like me. One wouldn’t be able to find out the difference easily.”
“I know. You inherited her looks. You took after her in your characteristics too.”, he said.
“Dad, will you tell me about her?”
“I will. I will tell you one day. You deserve to know about her. But do remember one thing, she was a very sweet woman and kind one at the heart.”, he said with pride shining in his eyes.
“Can I join in your daughter-father moment?”
“No one asked for you here. Go away, shoo.”, I said motioning for him to leave.
“I missed you too, sis.”, Daniel said jumping next to me on the bed.
We all had a hearty laugh at that.
“We never had time to fool around before, because of all the problems. Then when it finally came to an end you went into coma. You made me think that I wouldn’t have anyone to be over-protective of, anymore. If you had not come back today I would have had to drag you back here from wherever you were at.”, he said with so much certainty that one would believe that he meant them.
“I missed you too, brother.”, I said snuggling into him.
“You made us give up on our hopes. The doctors said that you had given up on the desire to survive. It was Tah who believed in you. She said that your fingers twitched while she talked. Even now, she was the one who was with you before you came back. You really are biased to your friend.”, he said faking grumpiness.
“Best friend”, I corrected him.
“That’s my daughter.”, dad said pulling me to him.
“And here I was thinking that I was your favorite child.”, Daniel added.
We dissolved into yet another hearty laugh.
~Two days later~
I was finally allowed to leave the room I had been kept at all the while I had been in coma.
I was being moved back to my home. Dad and Daniel accompanied me on the way to home.
When we opened the door Tah rushed to me and hugged me taking my breath off.
“Cant- can’t breathe.”, I said patting on her shoulder.
“Sorry”, she said smiling sheepishly with no ounce of sincerity.
She moved aside to let me in.
“Mate”, Daniel growled rather angrily.
Tah’s eyes widened.
“Can we talk outside?”, she asked in a small voice.
He nodded and they left.
Dad smiled looking at them before adding, “Like father like daughter.”
I looked at him confused. “Dad?”
He shook his head smiling before adding, “Orion’s mate was a beta blood too.”
Chapter 40
Story of Melaine and Hana
Soon, they both came back and settled on either side of us. He announced that she was his mate, since she had been practicing to hide her scent, he hadn’t found her earlier.
The bitter-sweet taste returned in my mouth when he said that. But I didn’t question them, no matter the amount of hurt I felt. Instead, I smiled through my pain. Soon they both left, leaving me to my thoughts.
Earlier after dad broke the news, telling she was a beta blood, he refused to explain further. He told me to ask mother to tell me, if I wanted to know.
Dad had congratulated them before leaving to meet with uncle.
After trying to persuade him to my level best, I gave up on it. I settled down in the couch, tired, waiting for someone to accompany me.
I played with the flower bouquet that had arrived at my door, while I immersed myself in deep thoughts.
Mother arrived at time distracting me from those thoughts.
“How are you doing today?”, she asked sitting next to me.
“I am good, mother. I want you tell me about you and mom.”, I asked, getting straight to the point.
She was shocked at first but she smiled nonetheless.
“You deserve to know. She was my sister by heart. She was a sweet woman with a kind heart. She was a special woman to say the least.”, she said repeating dad’s words.
“It all started with a fight.”, she said smiling to herself.
Third person’s POV
~Thirty two years earlier~
Being the alpha’s only daughter, Hana was a part of almost all the gatherings. She was very vibrant and outgoing, for an alpha blood.
She talked and mingled with everyone, no matter their rank, just like her parents. Matthew and Amelia Sharp were one o
f the best leaders the pack had ever seen.
Their pack was one of the top five strong packs in the world. Matthew Sharp who never listened to anyone, never once went against his daughter’s words.
Melaine Harper was the beta’s daughter. She was an introvert when it came to communication. She was indeed a strong girl for a six year old.
They both were never in the same circle despite their ranks, until one day. It was a bright summer day and as usual the head trainer was training the pups hard. Today he decided on group attack. He paired Melaine and Hana to fight against 10 of the others. Of course, they being the highest bloods in the whole group swept their attackers off the ground neatly. Hana, who had never known the other girl previously, was impressed by her skills. And that had been the start of the friendship that passed through generations.
Soon they were comfortable with each other in their fighting styles. From then on, they both paired together whenever they had to spare. But, that was only when it came to fighting, otherwise they remained in their own circles.
Since then, whenever they met during gatherings they passed courtesy to each other before going back to their works. That was until Hana noticed that Melaine stood alone all along the meetings waiting for her father, without conversing much at all with anyone.
She being a person, who never liked people to be left out, left her group and started spending time with her in the meetings. Melaine, though surprised by the company, appreciated the presence. They kept to themselves and started telling each other about themselves. Hana, who was not satisfied with the amount of time they spent, called her to spend time with her in her house. She agreed immediately, euphoric at the invitation.
Amelia Sharp who was used Hana’s cheerfulness was not surprised when she brought a gleeful Melaine to their home. In fact, she was happy that the girl was finally breaking out of her shell. Minutes turned hours, hours turned days, days turned weeks, Melaine lived there rather than her home. No one in the house questioned it. Matthew was happy that they were getting along well.
As for Hana and Melaine, they had hit the notch the day they were paired, they just never noticed it. Every blissful moment had to cease somewhere, and that was what happened in this case too.
Olivia Harper, mother of Melaine, had been the pack slut in her old pack. After she found her mate, Elijah Harper, she came to his pack. Aware of her past, Elijah still accepted her with open arms. She stopped her ways and acted like how a mate was supposed to act. But that lasted only for some time.
Hana and Melaine’s friendship saw the first crack when Olivia tried flirting with Matthew. It was one of those days, when Melaine stayed over at Sharp’s. Olivia, who was bored of being alone, went to the alpha’s house. When she passed the alpha office, she saw that he was alone and took her chance.
She started having a normal chit-chat before she began flirting with him. Feeling violated by her open flirting, Matthew shouted on her face before ordering her to leave. Annoyed, Olivia pulled Melaine away, along with her. For days Hana and Melaine never met again, until after a few days.
One day, out of blue, Olivia suggested for a walk. Melaine accepted to it knowing she will be made to go no matter her answer. She made her wear nice clothes, which was something out of habit, before she took her out.
They kept walking until she noticed that they were walking towards the border. She told her mother to return back telling that they were nearing the border. She kept moving forcing Melaine to follow her. When they reached the border she called out for someone.
After a minute or two, a man came out from behind the trees. Olivia smiled widely at him.
“Have you got her?”, he asked.
“Have you got the money?”, she asked.
Before neither of them could talk further a cry split through the air. They turned around to see Melaine a few feet away, being ambushed by a large wolf.
“Here is your money.”, he took out the money and gave it to her.
She was busy counting the money that she didn’t see the Luna approaching them with her guards.
The guards went ahead to where Melaine stood scared and dealt with the wolf. As for the other man, he had run the moment he saw them. Olivia, who was still oblivious, was yanked backwards, to receive a tight slap to her cheek. Her cheek burned as she looked into the eye of Amelia.
“Submit!”, she snarled.
Olivia immediately bowed down her head baring her neck, despite herself.
Once Melaine reached Amelia, she ordered the guards to take her to the cells. Melaine, who was unaware of her mother’s doing, was shocked to hear the order.
Later after she was taken to Hana’s house, she was summoned to the alpha’s office. Olivia, Elijah, Matthew and Amelia were present in the office. Amelia asked Melaine to tell what happened in the morning. She told them and Amelia explained the rest of the things which she never knew before. She looked at her mother waiting for her to disagree but she did no such thing. When Elijah and Matthew heard the full story they were beyond furious. Elijah rejected her as his mate, almost immediately. Matthew banished her off the pack.
Melaine was moved into Sharp household shortly after. That was the day when Melaine and Hana advanced from best friends to sisters.
Chapter 41
Rejecting Kira Miller
When I asked mother about my grandparents and their pack, she evaded it saying it was a story for another day. But in truth she was hurt by revisiting her memories of her mother. When I asked why she had told me about her mother if it hurt her so much, she told that only with bad examples will we not make such mistakes again.
I really hated her mother. I mean, how could she do that to a six year old?
It has been two days since then. Apart from the daily visits from mother and Tah and occasional visits of uncle, I kept receiving flowers and snacks twice a day with a note attached to it. I had no idea as to who it was but they sure knew how to stay in anonymity. I believed that it will soon stop.
It was time for Tah’s visit. She hadn’t had time for me since Daniel found that she was his mate. He seemed to have something or the other which needed her help. She agrees to it almost immediately without a care. I mean I get it that they were mates, but couldn’t they spare me a little, seeing that I was rejected. Today, I plan on keeping her to myself, no matter what Daniel says.
When Tah finally arrived, her eyes held an unusual glint to it and she was smiling widely.
“You won’t guess what happened today.”, she said jumping on the couch next to me.
Another disadvantage of having been sick, I was not allowed anywhere out of the house.
“The mighty Kira came here today.”, she started.
I flinched inwardly at her choice of words. If there was one thing I knew about her, it was that she craved for love.
“She came here to talk to Noah, but he said that he didn’t want anything to do with her anymore. He downright rejected her. Poor soul, she left crying.”, she said with no sympathy whatsoever.
“Where is she?”, I asked her.
“She left right after he said so. No one knows where she is. Why do you bother about her? She was the one who hurt you before. She deserves this more than anyone.”, she said.
I was shocked at her words. I get it that she is supporting my cause, but Kira was not a bad person. She doesn’t deserve this much hatred.
“Tah, stop it. You don’t know her at all.”
“Why do you talk like you do at all?”, she asked a little irritated. But I let it slide.
“Because I do know one thing I am sure you don’t know. She loves him, Tah. Kira loves Noah.”, I revealed.
Her eyes widened hearing that.
“What- how- how do you know?”, she stuttered.
“Before the war when she had come along with her father, I had a talk with her. She confessed that she was helping us because she loved him and not because of any other reason.”, I told her.
“Oh my goddess! Why does N
oah always push away the ones that truly love him? First you, now Kira. I mean I was angry at her for what she did to you, but in the end it is Noah who toyed you both.”, she said dropping her head in her hands.
I will have to meet him very soon if he plans to make the same mistake for the second time.
Chapter 42
Secret Admirer
A little later, Daniel entered the house asking for Tah. Even though I had planned to not leave her, I let them go without any protest. I needed some alone time to think about things, like, my secret admirer who kept sending me gifts, Daniel who was taking away my best friend, and lastly Noah who was about to do a mistake again.
When I was thinking about all these, my doorbell rang. Without going out I knew who it would be. I also knew that even if I ran fast like a bullet, I wouldn’t be able to see them. I slowly got up and went for the door.
I opened the door to receive yet another bunch of chocolates and chips. I lifted them from the ground and looked into the note.
Meet me at five near the clearing. ~Secret admirer
So I finally get to meet whoever it was. It was two in the evening, so I thought it would be good if I took a shower beforehand, in case I am to sneak out.
Around quarter to five I left my house. The place was the same one as the one, where Noah and I were forced to go on a date.
I arrived two minutes to five and looked around for anyone.
“Well, you are early.”, I heard an all too familiar voice behind me.
I turned around to come face to face with him.
He looked the same as I had seen months ago, except for his five o’clock shade.
He seemed nervous in my presence, which was unlike him.
But why would he be sending me gifts in secret?
“Noah? What are you doing here?”
“Well, should I introduce myself as your ‘secret admirer’? Now that we are accustomed to it rather than my name.”, he said scratching his neck.
“Why all this anonymous thingy? I mean you were just a block away from me, that is if you wanted to meet me at all.”, I asked.