My mum loved to travel. She was more of a lone wolf, a free spirit. She…” Silver paused and turned away from the rest of them.
“It’s okay, you don’t have to talk about it right now.” Hayden moved to her and wrapped his arms around her from behind.
“I need to.” She turned to face him.
“If it will help this quest in any way, then I’ll do it. Talking about her is just… hard.”
“It’s okay, I understand.”
“Thanks.” She said to him, and moved out of his embrace to face the others.
“She told me that my father was a human. She fell in love with him on one of her journeys. She said they got married like humans do, because she never told him she wasn’t human.”
“It’s the rule. Humans don’t know about us for their safety and ours.” Thomas said.
“When she was pregnant with me, she decided to tell him, for my sake. She knew that I wouldn’t be born a human, and it would be hard to hide me from him. It was during the time of the rogue wars, and all wolves were summoned back to the packs for protection. They were ambushed by rogues on their way back. She couldn’t shift because of the pregnancy. My father had no fighting experience, but he was able to hold them back long enough for my mum to get to safety. They killed him. While she was running, she said she fell through the ground, and ended up in a cave, then she went into labour. She said the second I was born, a flower bloomed right in front of her. In her words, it was the most beautiful flower she had ever seen, with petals as white as my hair. The rogues watched her give birth, but couldn’t come close enough to hurt us. The cave was filled with silver.”
“So, she had the silver thing too, and she passed it down to you?”
“No. She was only immune to the silver when she was touching me skin to skin. She discovered that when she wrapped me up with scraps of her cloth so I wouldn’t catch a cold. The silver burned her. She named the flower she found and me Silvora, basically, a silver flower. She said that when I touched the Silvora, it folded up. We were rescued eventually and the rest is history. She told me this story a million times. Then, she would get all weird and start saying stuff I don’t understand till today.
Flower and fruit must learn to grow.
Before the flower’s second bloom.
The next pair then is due.”
“Are you kidding me? Those are more lines of the prophecy. And as usual, they make no sense. It definitely can’t be anything else.” Carson rolled his eyes.
“A flower and a fruit can’t grow at the same time. The fruit appears when the flower dies. Except it means a flower that’s not yet a fruit, and a fully developed fruit on the same tree. Or maybe we have to look for a particular tree?” Thomas said.
“Well, I was named after a flower, and Hayden was named after a fruit.” Silver said.
“Hayden isn’t the name of a fruit.” Jerald said with a brow raised.
“She means my other name.” Hayden said.
“We’ve known each other for so long and you never told us that. You meet her for a day, and you’re already spilling your secrets. So, what fruit were you named after? A berry? Pear? Apple?” Carson wiggled his brow as he teased Hayden with a smirk on his face.
“I was named after NOYB.” Hayden replied to him.
“What fruit is NOYB?” Carson frowned. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“None Of Your Business idiot.”
“So, flower and fruit must learn to grow definitely means you two getting close.” Margaret said.
“That part is easy.” Raymond said.
“Easy?” Thomas asked.
“How would you know? You’ve never been mated before, have you?”
“The mate bond is instant, what’s so hard about it?”
“The bond isn’t instant. Only the recognition is instant, finding your mate. But you each have to accept each other to really bond. That’s why there is a chance to reject a mate or be rejected before getting marked. The marking can’t happen without the acceptance, and after, it’s impossible to break, except by death. But, relationships aren’t as easy as you think. You need to be willing to compromise and make sacrifices sometimes. When Maggie followed us to the mountains, I was terrified. If it were up to me, I would keep her in a box filled with soft cushions, inside about a hundred impenetrable boxes, just to keep her safe. But, I knew she wouldn’t like that.” Thomas said.
“Of course I wouldn’t like it.” Margaret scoffed. “I’m not a porcelain doll.”
“Don’t I know it.” Thomas chuckled and nuzzled her neck.
“So, both of you have to be cool with each other before the Silvora blooms again.”
“We’re cool.” Hayden said.
“Tell me you’re cool after living together for a week, and I’ll believe you.” Thomas smirked.
“In case y’all haven’t noticed, flowers don’t bloom twice. They bloom, grow, and then fall off, or wither.” Vance said.
“Her mother said the Silvora folded up, not withered. Plus, we’re not exactly dealing with normal circumstances here. So, there’s still a chance.”
“We also don’t know where her birth place is. The Silvora will be in the cave, how do we locate it?” Keith asked.
“At least the last line is straight forward. Only after passing this part of the quest will we find number ten. Just like Silver came after the mountains.”
“Hayden, Silver, you both are the next pieces of the puzzle. Return to dark moon pack and bond. No pressure, but we’re still under a time constraint. We need to complete the quest before the darkness rises.” Thomas said.
“You just can’t wait to get rid of me, right?” Silver said with a smile.
“You’re a major pain in the ass, and you did try to kill my mate. But, you were my strongest warrior, and if you stay, I’m sure you’ll retain that title. I do not let you go lightly.”