Jerald was the first out of the other Alphas to return to his pack.
“Welcome!” his sister, Lynn, squealed as she jumped on him.
“Take it easy Lynn so you don’t break something on me.” he chuckled as he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m supposed to find my mate soon, and she’ll prefer all my body parts intact.”
“Your mate? How do you know that?” she asked and he sighed.
“It’s a long story. Gather the rest of the pack, everyone needs to be informed of what’s going on.” he said as he set her down.
“You just got back. Whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait.” she said and he sighed.
“It can’t, it’s really urgent. Don’t worry, I’ll rest after that.” he said as he ruffled her hair.
***
When Vance arrived at his pack, he knew he was supposed to gather everyone else for a meeting. But instead, he went straight to his mother’s room.
“Mum.” he knocked once and then walked in.
“We need to talk.”
“Welcome son.” she said as she hugged him.
“You just got back, take a shower first, then I’ll get you something to eat.” she said with a smile.
“No mum, we need to talk now.” he said and she sighed.
“Let’s sit down first.” she said and pulled him towards the bed.
“Go ahead and sit, mum. I can’t, my wolf is too restless. Before I left for the full moon pack, you said something about the prophecy before I even told you. How do you know about it?” he asked and she sighed again before sitting on the bed facing him.
“Years ago, an ancient relic was discovered by the scouts of a neighbouring pack. It had the sigil of the ten moons on it, a sign of an urgent message. The Alphas and Lunas were all summoned, even though it wasn’t from our generation. What they had found was part of the diary of one of the mages from the extinct magic pack. In it we found a map to their library. A few of us were able to locate it, though we almost died because it sank into the ground…”
“Sank?” he asked.
“Yes. We found it, and we got in, but then it started to sink while we were in it. It seemed like their magic didn’t die off completely, they must have cast spells on it to keep out intruders. The only things we were able to retrieve from it were some ancient scrolls. It was a warning of what would befall our packs if the darkness should awaken before the quest is completed, and another map. We knew that the quest wasn’t for our generation, but out of fear, we decided to embark on it. I was pregnant at the time, so I wasn’t able to join them for this part. Each of us returned to our packs, only the Alpha’s closest warriors were informed. We didn’t want the pack members to start panicking and we thought we could handle it ourselves. Your father left to join them.” her voice became shaky as she mentioned her dead mate, so he sat next to her and wrapped his arms around her.
“T. that was… that was the last time I ever saw him.” he felt her tears start to soak his shirt as she buried her face in his chest, but she continued speaking.
“About a day later, I suddenly felt emptiness in the mate bond between your father and I. It was weird. Not like when you lose a mate, or being rejected by one, those ones come with pain. This one was just like a void, a bottomless pit, and I couldn’t feel anything. I was so confused. But a while later, I could feel your father again. He spoke to me through our mind link, our mate bond kept it strong despite the distance. He told me that the journey had been a mistake, that we shouldn’t have tried to change fate. He said they were trapped with no way out and being picked off one by one.”
“By who, or by what?” he asked and she sniffed.
“I don’t know, Vance. All he told me was that they found the chamber where she was laid to hibernate, the body with darkness in her soul, I’m sure you must have been told the story already. Their presence there had somehow broken a part of the hibernation spell, so there was now a crack in her soul. Not enough to set the darkness in it free, but enough to let it have a bit of power.”
“That must be why she can infiltrate our dreams now.”
“Maybe, I don’t know. But right after that, that was when I felt our bond being severed. I knew the exact moment he died, and the pain was so much that I went into a coma. The pack doctors tried all they could to keep me alive when a part of my soul was gone, still it took months before I could wake up. But they couldn’t save the baby, the strain on my body was too much for a pup to survive. I was devastated.”
“What do you mean you lost the baby, I’m alive. Am… am I not…”
“You are mine, Vance.” She lifted her head and cupped his cheek.
“I had already given birth to you, but you were still a pup, too little to remember what happened as you grew up. You were supposed to have a sister. You were so happy, and even though my tummy was still so flat, you would always touch it. You always asked me when you would get your baby sister, and you were so protective of her. You never let anyone else but your father touch my tummy, and you gave her a name already. You named her Keanna.” she said and he felt her anguish, her wolf’s sadness. He felt the loss too.
“You’re all I have left Vance.” she said as she began to sob again.
“I can’t lose you too. This quest… this quest might t. take you away from me, like it took your father.”
He hugged her again, and for several minutes they just stayed that way, wrapped in each other’s arms.