Somehow they'd wrestled me into a room. I'm blindfolded now, and my wrists and ankles are bound by silk manacles. Something about them not wanting to hurt me with rope or chains. But my insides ache and turn tumultuously at being caught. If they found me, then Jaxon definitely knows I'm here. He'll come for me.
He'll die. I grimace as I turn the silk at an awkward angle, hurting my wrist in the process. My mind floats back to the hotel room. What was that? The memory of the black and purple shimmers, my strange and uncontrollable incantation, and the objects whirling around the room hit me like a truck. How did that happen? Did I do that? Where did it come from?
And my mother. She's with Hayes. She's a Lupus Mystici. I knew she wasn't originally from the Smoky Mountain Pack, but they never told me she was from Mistletoe. Which begs the question of just how old my mother actually is. By now, she should be in her late thirties, and yet, she doesn't look a day over 18.
Has she always looked that young? Was I blind to it growing up simply because she was my mom? Mysticum Lupi are hereditary, even if only one of the parents are magical. Which means... I'm a Lupus Mystici. Sarah had said the energy absorption was level-one magic, taught to up and coming mystical wolves. Although I never remembered who taught it to me, it's becoming clearer that it was my mother, Yara.
But they never finished my training. Or told me about it. Maybe my father didn't approve? Maybe that's why my mother fled? She left when I was 14. My formal training probably would've begun much earlier than that. I don't know much about Mysticum Lupi, just because the lay-wolves are supposed to be oblivious to their mysteries and secrets. I thought I'd never met one until I met Hayes. Apparently, though, every time I look in the mirror I've inadvertently been faced with one.
It's all coming together, now. I haven't shifted, because I haven't been trained. If I know one thing about mystical wolves, is that their training is not something that can just be pushed off for a later date. Their whole essence is magic, their wolves survive off it. Which is why my wolf hasn't manifested. "Wish someone had told me," I grumble to myself, annoyed that this entire time I believed something was wrong with me when in fact, there was such a simple solution.
"Told you what?" Her voice chimes out in the room and my head whips both way, unsure of how long she'd been watching me.
"Let me go," I demand instead, to which she laughs.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because I'm your daughter, and you're about to force me into a life of misery and servitude with your insane Alpha."
"It won't be much different from your life now, then, will it?"
Her tone is smooth like velvet, like one of the women out of a black-and-white movie from the fifties. I press my lips shut tight at her words and bite down on the inside of my lip. I can hear her long dress sliding across the wood floor beneath me; she's circling me like I'm her prey.
"Besides, my dear, you were born for this. This is your destiny," She's stopped in front of me now and I squint my face to try and topple the blindfold. It doesn't move, though.
"I was born for this? What are you on?"
"I grew up in Mistletoe," She hesitates, "though I'm sure you know that by now. Hayes has always been my Alpha, and I've always desired to please him." She continues walking again, her tone distant, now. "But when I was mated to a normal wolf, I realized I'd be torn from him, from my pack, my home," She sighs. "I'd be forced to be with a man I never loved. Not like I love him." My lips curl in disgust at her mention of the love she has for Hayes. "But he told me what I could do to serve him still. Bear the child of the prophecy, deliver her to him, and we'd be reunited."
"How could you do that? It's not like specific birth timetables can be plannedâ"
"Magic, of course. If you haven't realized by now, we're Mysticum Lupi."
"Yeah, I caught onto that."
"I didn't complete your training so you wouldn't shift. It's part of the prophecy, you see. I knew you'd be mated to someone like JaxonâI read it in the stars," Her casual tone contains so much outlandish information that it sends my head reeling. But I do my best to listen carefully so I won't miss any vital details.
"I knew such a powerful Alpha would be upset with an unshifted mate. Along with his rejection of you, your father's death, and my leaving, you became the perfect image of the cast-off mate that would bring Hayes immense power." She pauses again, "What I didn't plan for was you falling in love with that beast. I mean, I never loved your father and he was such a kind wolf. It was easy to ignore his feelings.
"Yet, Jaxon manipulates you, abuses you, forces you into things you've never desired and you still somehow manage to fall in love with him? It's pathetic, my dear."
"I-I couldn't help it," I defend myself, though I don't know why. "He marked me...and then had me bonded to the pack. The mate pull was too strongâ"
"No, you're just too weak," She spits back and I cringe at the venom in her tone. "And stupid. You believed his little lies, didn't you? About his entire pack dying if he died? About you dying if he died? No," She laughs now, a breathy and evil sound.
"You're just a naïve little girl. Easily tricked just because someone tells you they love youâ"
"Shut up!" I shout at her, raging against my bounds as she berates me. "I didn't know! How could I? No one told me. You left. Dad died. I had no oneâ"
"Don't use that as an excuse for idiocy," She scoffs. "You allow fear and love and naivety to rule youâa dangerous combination."
Fingers grip my chin and hold me in place as she speaks lowly into my ear, "But you can be so much more than that. By the time I'm through with you, you will be one of the most powerful lupus mystici of the age. And Jaxon will tremble at the sound of your name."
"Stop!" I resist, yanking my face out of her grip and trying to peddle myself away from her. I eventually smack into a wall, which she laughs at.
"There's no escaping destiny, Isabelle. Fatum circulo facitâThe motto of Mysticum Lupi. Your circle is almost fully drawn, and when it's complete, you'll never be accused of being weak again," The sound of stone grinding against stone reaches my ears.
"Which, I thought you'd appreciate, after being cast aside so many times by your mate."
"I don't want to be weak," I grit out, "but not if it means having to be mated to himâ"
"Would you prefer his brother, Jon?" Her tone sends ice down my spine and I swallow hard at the mention of my best friend. She tsks, "Such a shame about his betrayal. We know he made the necklace to conceal you. If only betrayal wasn't punishable by death..."
"Don't you touch him!" I scream, wriggling and squirming as I try to break free. I don't know what I'll do once I'm unbound, but all I care about is Jon. They can't kill himânot for helping me. "Don't!"
"Maybe," Her velvety voice is closer now, "there could be mercy for him..." She trails off, "if there's cooperation from you."
I stop fighting, "Y-You won't kill him I cooperate?"
"His survival depends on it," She says and I slouch against the wall, my breath coming out in long pulls from exerting myself.
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"You don't," Is all she says.
Simultaneously, I hear her let out a puff of air and a gritty dust settles over my face. I cough as I try to expel it from my lungs, but more of it manages to make its way into my mouth and nose, down my throat. Sour and smoky, I almost retch at the taste of it. But it's only a moment before I'm seeing stars that pulse in and out until there's nothing but darkness.
A/N: Another short chapter. My thesis defense is in less than a month, so I've been devoting most of my time to that. I'm taking a quick break, so I thought I'd write a little chapter for ya!
1) What do we think of Isabelle's mother?
2) What about Isabelle being a mystical wolf?
3) Will her mother keep her promise and not have her best friend killed if she cooperates?
4) How will she ever get out of this situation?
5) What about Jaxon?
xoxo,
IC Judah