Zanian POV
Have you ever been so confused that you actually have no idea what someone is talking about? Well, that is where I am now.
I was looking at the picture and listening to what Donovan was saying and somehow I always knew the truth but kept hiding behind the lie.
“Zanian, are you okay?” I heard Crystal ask, but I barely heard what she said. I looked at her and I saw guilt in her eyes, “why would she be guilty?” and then it dawned on me, Donovan did say something about “ask your mate.”
“ You knew?” I heard myself say. She couldn’t even look at me and looked down fumbling with her hands, “I found out the day I met the King and Queen and I asked if their son had a child. They also told me to keep it to myself and that you will know when the time is right.” She looked at me and every trace of emotion was gone from her face.
I thought I would be mad or something, but all I feel is nothing… I feel nothing at all.
I looked over at Donovan and asked, “what more is there?” He looked at me and then said, “everything you have been told was a lie. Odin was abusive, yes, and Eliza did get Melissa out from under him, but never because she cared. They were planning to kill their son because he got too much. He became more reckless and ruthless, more violent and the pack was falling apart. So, instead, they stripped him of his titles and banished him from the pack. He did kill your mother, and he ruined a lot of packs looking for you, but he could never find you. That is because Zara here hid you until she could find a pack that would take you in. We found the pack your father built, but he slaughtered every last one of them and he was found by me outside the royal border. We could never figure out the cause of death nor did we find any marks on him.
When I found my mate she just came out of hiding, she was born Fox and her twin sister was born a Witch. I never experimented on her. Instead, I was looking for something to suppress her fox and make her human and it worked for years until one day the pack was attacked and I was badly hurt. The thing about foxes is, once they claim their mate, they become possessive and aggressive towards anyone who harms the one they love. “how do you think Crystal took down that wolf I sent?” so Marina’s fox broke through and ended the fight.
Mario and Eliza beheaded her right in front of me. They killed my mate and my unborn child. Your brother.”
Crystal POV
My mother was beautiful and she looked so young, I thought as I dragged my thumb over the picture of her. Zanian went awfully quiet and it looked like he was stuck somewhere deep in his thoughts.
I know he will hate me if he learns the truth, but I haven’t once got the impression that Donovan is lying. *,just to be safe, we will have a look in his memories when all of this is over*, Raven said.
Eliza and Mario told me that my Father killed my mother and that he wanted to kill me.
I looked up at Donovan and he was looking at me, “why did you do it to me?”
I asked and a small smile spread across his face. “when you were born I knew you would have a fox, because the fox Genes are stronger than any wolf Gene. I stole you from the hospital and gave you the same injection I gave your mother, suppressing your fox and making your wolf dominant. The side-effects of the injection were stronger abilities and a late shift. But your wolf controls your fox and not the other way around. When your mother was killed, they went and looked for you to have you tested, but all they found was wolf DNA, so they left you alone.”
‘My father saved my life.’ I don’t know how I am supposed to feel or what I’m supposed to say, because I’ve never imagined the truth going quite like this. I got up from my chair and walked over towards his small window.
The woods look so clear and green. “ Why didn’t you ever come and take me away if you knew how much I have suffered?”
“ It was not my place to interfere, Crystalia, and it still isn’t, but I don’t have much time left.”
I looked at him and said, “ You are dying?”
He looked shocked for a minute and then nodded his head while giving me a sad smile.
“ Yes, and I have been for a while. The serum I made isn’t working anymore.”
“ What do you mean?”
“ Remember I said that there is a price to loving a fox. Well, I’m paying mine now.
I didn’t know until your mother died. I started getting weaker and weaker and then months later I couldn’t shift anymore. I only hear my wolf once in a while and I’m hallucinating most of the time.”
“ What do you mean price, and what does this have to do with mom?”
“ A fox is a very extraordinary creature and when they mate it’s not like a wolf, they literally mate for life, even in death. When a fox dies, the one she has marked will have only a few months. I bought myself a few years, but my time is up now.”
I listened to what he was saying and there is so much that I don’t know about, but would love to learn. I walked closer to him and asked, “may I try something?”
He stood up and said, “as long as it won’t hurt, then sure.”
I walked up to him and laid my forehead against his and closed my eyes. I could see every memory, and every thought he has ever had.
His whole life played off like a movie in my mind and I wouldn’t mind putting it on repeat. I saw Zanian’s father and his mother. Even though his mother was being abused, she always found a reason to smile.
I saw my mother and she was even more beautiful than in the picture. My father really loved her and her whole pregnancy with me was about movies and strawberries with whipped cream. I saw everything happening the way he said it happened. All I could feel at that moment was anger and hatred. I didn’t realize I was crying until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I leaned in and my father threw his arms around me and I cried, for the father I had just found, but was about to lose. For a mother I never knew and a mate that doesn’t want me.
“shh, it’s okay. You are one of the strongest people I know and you will be okay.” Donovan said as he rubbed small circles on my back.
“ Why is this happening? I spent my whole life thinking you didn’t want me and that you threw me away and now that I have found you, you are leaving me again?”
“If I had any other choice, I would stay here and catch up on all the years I’ve lost, but that is impossible.”
I hugged him one last time, then let go. I looked up at him and it was as if he had aged ten years, within a few minutes.
“ One last thing, Crystalia, your fox has seven lives, you have six left, and when you marked Zanian you gave him three so you will live and die together. Make the best of it and never allow anything to come between you two. Look after Tracy for me. She is a close friend and she can be of use to you.”
I caught him just before he hit the ground and laid his head on my lap. I listened as his breathing slowed and his heartbeat died.
He looked at me with glazed eyes and said, “I love you, my daughter. We’ll meet again.” A smile played at his lips and then he closed his eyes and his heart stopped. I just sat there holding his body and replaying his life in my head.
Tracy POV
Donovan is the closest thing to a father and a friend I have ever had. Even before my coven disowned me, I was never close with anyone. I was always the odd one out, the miss fit they called me.
I was wandering the woods alone when I came across Donovan looking for something. Even though I wasn’t nice to him, he never made me feel like I didn’t belong. I have messed up on his experiments more times than I can count, and he will always say that through mistakes comes lessons. It’s a matter of being willing to learn. He taught me everything I know about science and wild plants, herbs and, most of all, he taught me what love is.
When he told me the story I laughed it off because every supernatural creature knows the story, but what made me listen to him is, when he started speaking, it was like he re-lived every minute of it. Losing everything again, and again.
When he showed up with Crystal and Zanian I was happy, because all his work had finally paid off and they were there.
When I saw Crystal, I was jealous of her beauty, and the grace she walked with. Every step looked so effortless. Zanian was a Greek god just begging to be worshipped.
I felt jealous of Crystal because she has a mate and, by the looks of it, they are not very close. I have wished apon every shooting star and white pebble I could find for a mate that would love me like my father loved my mother. To feel that kind of love must be the most amazing thing in the world, is what I used to think.
Years later, I found my mate and when I looked at him my whole world shifted and I ran.
I hid for several days before I was summoned by my father, and forced to go home.
When I got there, I was caught off guard and pressed up against the wall with my mouth covered.
“ Running from me will only make me mad. Do you want me mad?”
And that is where I realized that fate is cruel. When I could get away from him, I did and ran to my room. The next morning, I woke up and went downstairs to my family and found him sitting there. I walked over to him and spoke the words that got me banished. If he was anyone else, I wouldn’t have rejected him, but I am not tying myself to a murderer, thief, rapist or criminal. His family got rich the wrong way and I will never associate myself with those kinds of people or put my family in that kind of danger.
I was walking around the house after Donovan left to talk with Crystalia and Zanian. I have no idea how this is going to go, but if they are as smart as they look, then they will just listen. When I walked past the office, it was dead quiet, so I paused and then I heard a soft sob and left. I am not one for eavesdropping.
I went up to my room and got ready for a hunt. I haven’t hunted in so long that I’m afraid I almost forgot how.
As I got ready, Zara appeared and almost scared the life out of me.
“I told you to stop doing that.”
I forgot that she finds everything so funny. She bent over as she laughed. “ You should see your face. I mean, for a scary vampire, you sure do scare easily.”
I hissed at her and she held her hands up. “ Okay, okay. I’m sorry.”
“ What do you want, Zara?”
“I was doing rounds and popped into the kingdom. It seems like they got the news because it’s like a prison, guards were doubled, and training is more brutal, even Mario and Eliza looks warn out.´
“ Yes, well, their perfect little castle is about to crumble.”
“ Speaking of, where are you going?”
“I’m going on a hunt and then I will be back later.”
I took my jacket and with my vampire speed I was out and away from the house.
I just need to clear my head. Donovan looked like hell this morning and I don’t want to be there when he dies, so instead I’m going to take my frustrations out on every animal I see. The bigger the better.