~ISSA
It was the first time I saw Deucalion actually look nervous as he poured himself a drink.
We were all in his big study waiting for him to start talking. I realized that even his daughters had no idea that their mother was alive.
“What is she talking about, Daddy?” Leia asked in a shaky voice. “You told us mom died.”
Deaucalion sighed. “Clearly, I lied,” he replied as he walked to the large window overlooking the garden in his huge backyard.
The room instantly went cold at this revelation. No one said a word for a while as we all took our time to process this information. His daughters glared at him with the feeling of utter betrayal in their eyes.
“Why?” Iris demanded in a tight voice, as she was the first person to recover..
Deucalion shook his head. It was as if he was in a nightmare and wanted to wake up by all means.
The doors to the study suddenly burst open with Andrea and a man passionately kissing and moaning. I did not think they noticed us as they grabbed and rubbed each other’s body.
Nobody said a word as we watched. I was annoyed bythe interruption and I cleared my throat. But they did not stop or maybe she pretended not to hear me.
Deucalion shook his head wearily and drank the whole liquid from his cup. “Will you two fucking break it up! We are trying to have a conversation here!” He thundered angrily.
The man pushed Andrea off him and straightened his clothes as soon as he laid eyes on Deucalion.
“Hey, Dad,” Andrea perked up. “I did not see you there.” She lied.
“Alpha Deucalion,” The man feebly said.
“Get the fuck out,” Deucalion said in a low dangerous tone.
The man bolted without a word and left the room.
“A human!” Deucalion said with pure disdain. “Is that how low you stoop now?”
Andrea shrugged nonchalantly as she glared back defiantly at her father.
“Can we get back on topic here?” Yulia asked with a heavy hint of sarcasm.
Andrea was doing her best to remain unconcerned but seeing Yulia and I in her father’s study had piqued her interest.
“And what are they doing here?” She asked.
“They are here to talk about Mom,” Leia said. “They think she is alive.”
Andrea scoffed. “Issa, if you are bored and looking for an excuse to see me, you don’t have to lie and make things up. I knew that you were going to change your mind.” She spoke.
It was my turn to scoff.
“Your mother is alive, Andrea and Deucalion was about to tell us how it was possible before you barged in here with your side candy,” Yulia said exasperatedly.
Andrea looked at her father who had on a plain but hard expression on his face. “Is this true?” she asked in a disbelieving whisper.
She instantly began to sweat and I could swear that I saw her lips begin to tremble with shock.
“I think you better sit down for this one,” I told her as she seemed like she was about to faint.
We all turned to Deucalion who was pouring himself another drink. My patience was wearing thin by this time and I was fighting the urge to grab him by his throat.
His Luna wanted Yulia’s blood and countless people had died because of that. I needed to know what secret he was harbouring, even from his own children. What was so bad about Helena that he had to lie to everyone about her death?
“Helena always had a problem with power,” Deucalion began. He sat behind his desk and took a sip from his whiskey. “Even from the time my wolf claimed her, I knew that she was ambitious. That was what I admired about her the most, there was always a goal for her to reach.”
He turned to Yulia and there was a sad look on his face.
“I kept her a secret because she was the one that began the War of the Black Rose,” Deucalion dropped the bomb.
I almost staggered from what he said as I felt my mount go dry and my heart sink to the pit..
“The witches started the war, Duke, you and I both fought in it.” I said, denial in my voice.
“Helena was the one who rallied the witches and all she wanted was a power that was taken away from her,” Deucalion replied.
“Our mother started the war? Am I hearing this correctly?” Andrea asked in disbelief. “Why would she do that to her own kind?”
“Like I said, she was a power-hungry woman,” Deucalion said. “Although, she was not always that way. She used to be loving, kind and passionate but she was just too curious for her own good and it led to her downfall.”
I could hear regret in his voice as he spoke about his beloved Luna.
“Why did she fake her death?” Yulia asked.
“So, she could do whatever she needed to do to get her powers back without anyone noticing and it would have been so easy if not for your adopted mother,” Deucalion said.
I felt rage begin to rise at the pit of my core as my entire body began to tremble with anger. I balled my hands into fists as I felt Iran threatening to surface.
“So, your wife killed my sister to get to Yulia,” I said through gritted teeth. It was all beginning to make sense now. “Not only that but she started a thousand-year war that resulted in the meaningless death of thousands of witches and werewolves because she was greedy!”
I was on the verge of losing my cool as I spoke. Iran was boiling and I was fighting hard to keep him buried.
Deucalion only watched me without a word and it made me let out a roar.
“I lost my parents to that war, Duke!”
“We both lost people who were dear to us, Issa, I had a son!” Deucalion thundered.
“What?” His daughters exclaimed in unison.
“We had a brother?” Iris asked.
Deaucalion shook his head. I knew that he did not have the strength to say what happened to his first son.
“He was part of those sacrificed, wasn’t he? Helena used her own son,” I spoke.
A shocked silence filled the study.
“This is so unbelievable,” Leia said as she shook her head in denial. “You are describing a monster, not my mother! She killed our brother?”
Deucalion gazed at Yulia with deep sadness in his eyes.
“I still do not understand why she would do all these things,” Yulia said, shaking her head in horror. “Her actions shut down the school! Why is my blood so important to her?”
“What powers did she lose?” I asked Deucalion.
“Helena was the first child of light.”