New Beginnings

Chapter 11

A week later, Jake and I head down to the pack hospital to see Dr. Bryant, the OB-GYN for our first ultrasound. I pass Kailani on the way down and grab her hand to get her to come with us. She turns around and begins to follow us down with a confused look on her face until we get to the hospital. Once we cross through the doors to the hospital, her look of confusion turns to one of understanding.

“Luna Avon, how can I help you?” the receptionist asks.

“I’m here for an appointment with Dr. Bryant,” I tell her.

She nods and gets up then leads us to an ultrasound room where Dr. Bryant is already waiting. Kailani waits in the hallway while Dr. Bryant asks me to get undressed from the waist down and cover up with the blanket before she, too, leaves the room.

I undress quickly and hop up onto the table before I cover up with the blanket. A few moments later, there’s a knock at the door and Dr. Bryant comes back in with Kailani behind her.

Kailani comes up to the head of the bed while Dr. Bryant instructs me to scoot down so my bottom is at the edge of the table and put my feet in the stirrups. I do as she asks while she prepares the ultrasound wand with a condom and gel. When Jake sees the wand, his eyes bulge out of their sockets, and I can’t help but laugh.

“Love, what is that?” he asks me, shocked.

“It’s a vaginal ultrasound wand. Because I’m still so early, the first few ultrasounds will be vaginal.”

“Oh,” he says, letting out a sigh of relief and I laugh again.

Dr. Bryant turns on the ultrasound screen. “You’ll be able to see the pup on the TV screen on the wall,” she tells me. “Okay, you’re going to feel my hand on your leg, and then I will insert the wand. I’ll measure your uterus and the pup and check a few other things such as blood flow, and I’ll print out some pictures for you.”

“Okay,” I say and nod as Jake takes my hand in his. Kailani takes my other hand, and we all turn towards the TV on the wall across from the exam table while Dr. Bryant begins her exam.

She inserts the wand and begins to move it around gently before she stops, and a little white blob surrounded by black appears on the screen. She presses different keys as she measures everything and checks the blood flow. She also prints out pictures for us, as well.

“Based on your measurements, I’d have to say you are 2 weeks along exactly. I would like to see you back in two weeks for another ultrasound,” Dr. Bryant tells me as she hands me the ultrasound photos.

I nod, and she and Kailani leave the room so I can get dressed. After I’ve finished, Jake opens the door for me while I stare at the ultrasound pictures in awe. Kailani is outside the door waiting. She walks beside me so she can look at the photos as well, and I see her hand go to her belly in the corner of my eye.

Jake walks on the other side of me with his hand clasped in mine. He guides me to the receptionist desk so I can schedule my next appointment and once that’s finished, he guides me out of the hospital.

Luna Avon? I hear Zoey’s voice through the mind link.

Yes, Zoey? How can I help you? I ask as I come to a stop in the hallway between the packhouse and the hospital. I see Jake’s questioning look, but once he sees my eyes clouded over, he realizes why I stopped. Kailani comes to a stop a few steps ahead of me and she turns to look at me.

Um… my daughter just shifted, and I think she is a silver wolf, she tells me.

Please meet me in my office, I tell her.

Yes, Luna, she says before cutting the link.

“We may have another silver wolf,” I tell Jake and Kailani. They nod and follow me to my now furnished office. We enter and Kailani leaves the door ajar. A few minutes later, Zoey knocks on the door with her daughter, Nayeli, following behind her. They bow to us and sit in the chairs in front of the desk while I sit in my chair and Jake and Kailani stand behind me.

“Good morning, Zoey and Nayeli. How old are you, Nayeli?” I ask.

“Good morning, Luna. I’m sixteen as of a few days ago.”

“And this was your first shift?” I question. It wasn’t uncommon for wolves to not shift on their 15th birthday. In fact, it was actually quite uncommon, almost rare. Most wolves shifted by 16, but some could be as late as 18. From what I know, everyone has always shifted by 18, though.

Nayeli nodded. She was fit and confident, had blonde hair and blue eyes. Her mom had brown hair and green eyes, and if I remembered correctly, her dad was a redhead with green eyes. I wondered where the blond hair and blue eyes came from. Nayeli reminded me a lot of the Moon Goddess, from the depictions and paintings I have seen of her, and the way her appearance is described in texts.

Zoey noticed me looking at Nayeli and her, and she c****d her head to the side questioningly. Then she shook her head ever so slightly so as not to be noticeable by Nayeli. I took that as a sign to not bring it up in front of Nayeli for whatever reason, so I left it alone for now.

“What is your wolf’s name?”

“Artemis,” she replied.

“Goddess of the moon and hunting,” I mused. “Honestly, I think this could be a great advantage. There is no history of a wolf named Artemis. I believe you will be able to harness power from the full moon to be much stronger, but this is only a theory.”

Nayeli nods. “Okay, so how do we test it?”

“Well, we’ll have to get your training stats and compare them to what they are as we get closer to a full moon and on the night of a full moon.”

“Okay,” she responds, sounding excited.

“I’m also wondering if you can harness that strength and project it onto other wolves.”

Nayeli’s eyes light up. “That would definitely work in our favor.”

“Yes, it would. I will need you to be at every training and do your best each time. Also, all silver wolves come for two hours after school to practice working on their powers.”

“Okay, thank you, Luna Avon.”

“You’re welcome. Zoey, may I have a word with you in private?” I ask.

Zoey nods and Nayeli gives her a confused look but says nothing as she bows and leaves the office, shutting the door behind herself.

“Zoey, I don’t really know how to say this without being offensive, so I’m just going to flat out say it. You have brown hair and green eyes, and if I remember correctly, her father is a redhead with green eyes, right?”

“Yes. I know where you’re going with this. And yes, she is adopted. She knows that, but it’s a sensitive topic for her. She was found one day by Jack when he was out patrolling. He called the former Alpha and he, along with some warriors and trackers, came to investigate. They spent hours searching the surrounding area but found no trace of where she had come from.

“She didn’t have a rogue smell, but she also had no pack scent, either. She had a note left with her that stated her birthday was the day she was found and asking that whoever found her raise her and love her as if she were their own. There was no name listed, but it said she was neither rogue nor from any pack. It said she was special and would need proper training to reach her full potential.”

“And she knows all of this?” I asked.

“Yes, when she was ten, we told her and showed her the note that was with her.”

“When you say that it’s a sensitive topic for her, what do you mean?”

“She still views us as her parents and said she always would. But she also wonders where she came from and why she was left there.”

“Have you ever talked to her about doing a blood test? To check her DNA and see if we can find a match in the werewolf database?”

“No, honestly we never even thought about it.”

“I’d like to bring it up to her. I can sense great power from her, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she was left near this pack.”

“Um… yeah, we can ask her,” Zoey said as she stepped towards the door. She opened it and peered out, finding Nayeli still standing on the other side of the door waiting.

“Nayeli, please come back in,” I asked her. She nodded and re-entered, and Zoey closed the door behind her. “Nayeli, your mom has given me some new information, and I wanted to ask you something.”

“What would that be?” she asked, her voice quivering slightly.

“I know this is a sensitive topic for you, and I do apologize. But I think it’s important that we have this discussion, at the very least.”

“What discussion?” she questions nervously.

“I know you are adopted, and I can sense great power from you. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you were left outside of this pack. I’ like to get a blood sample and run it through the werewolf DNA database to look for any matches. I get the feeling we are going to be very surprised by the results. Of course, you are free to say no, but I think you’re going to want these answers.”

Nayeli looked from me to her mom and back again. “What do you mean I’m going to want the answers?”

“I think it will answer your questions, such as why you were left to be adopted, rather than being raised by your parents.”

“Really? How can a DNA test give me the answers I want?”

“Call it a gut feeling, intuition, if you will.”

“Okay, I guess it can’t hurt…” she said, letting her voice trail off.

“Kailani, will you let Dr. Brigham know we’re coming down?” I asked as I locked elbows with Nayeli. She nodded, and we left with Zoey and Jake following behind us.

We reached the hospital quickly to find Dr. Brigham waiting for us. He led us into his office where he had a cart with the necessary supplies on it. I guided Nayeli to sit in the chair at the front of his desk.

“What can I help you with, Luna?” he asked.

“We’re here to have a DNA test run on Nayeli. And I would like you to run two samples, just to be sure.”

“What am I looking for?”

“Her lineage. Where she comes from.”

“I can do that,” he answered, smiling at me before giving Nayeli a reassuring smile. “Are you ready?” he questioned her, and she nodded.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to hold out whichever arm you want me to draw from. Then I’m going to use a tourniquet, find a vein, then clean the area before inserting the needle to draw up my samples.”

Nayeli holds out her left arm, and Dr. Brigham does exactly as he said he would. He quickly draws up two tubes of blood before removing the needle and applying pressure and a band-aid.

“How long before we have the results?” Nayeli asks, surprising me.

“Well, getting the DNA results won’t take very long, but comparing them to the werewolf DNA database can take a day or more.”

Nayeli nodded. “Okay. Thank you, Dr. Brigham and Luna Avon.”

“You’re welcome. I will let you know as soon as I know the results,” I tell her, and she nods before she and her mom bow to Jake and me.

After they leave Dr. Brigham’s office, he turns to me with a questioning look on his face. “Luna, I’d have to say you must have an inkling of what the results are going to be. What is it you’re not saying?”

“Does she look familiar to either of y’all? I mean, does she resemble anyone to you?”

Jake and Dr. Brigham make thinking faces for a few minutes before Dr. Brigham gets the ‘aha!’ look.

“What do you sense about her?” he asks me.

“Her aura is powerful. Not as powerful as mine, but powerful, nonetheless. She has Alpha blood in her, and she doesn’t even know it yet.”

“You’re telling me that you think she is a descendant of the Moon Goddess?” his voice is incredulous.

“I don’t think, I know. I don’t know how I know; I just do.” Dr. Brigham then takes both tubes of blood and leaves his office.

“Avon, really? You think that’s possible? The Moon Goddess doesn’t live on earth, for crying out loud.”

“Don’t you think I know that Jake? I don’t know how; I just know she is. She didn’t have a rogue scent or a pack scent. How else would that be possible? She has an Alpha aura and is more powerful than she thinks. I don’t know how; I just know this to be true.”

“You’re going to wind up ruining her, Avon. All he wants are answers. And when she gets them from this blood test, she’s just going to get more upset!”

“Really, Jake? You don’t trust me to be sure in what I know to be true? You’re questioning my abilities?!” I exclaim, angry now.

Jake stays silent for a minute. “I do trust you, but this is just absurd!”

I felt wind around me, and glanced around looking for an open window, but found none. Suddenly, a figure appeared in front of me. “Ahhh!” I screamed, shocked. “What the f**k?! Who are you?!” I demanded.

“You better watch that mouth of yours, child,” the woman said to me.

“Wha… what? Child?! Last I checked, I’m an adult!”

“Yes, you are, but you are still my child. Well, mine and Thanatos’ child. And all of you are my children, my creation. But her, Nayeli, is indeed my actual child.”

Jake’s jaw dropped. “The Moon Goddess? You... you’re telling me that Nayeli really is your blood?”

“Yes, that’s what I said. And call me Selene. Pick up your jaw, and I believe you owe your mate an apology.”

“I… I… I’m sorry, Avon,” Jake stuttered.

“Why are you here?” I asked her.

“I came to give you the answers only you can give Nayeli.”

“What do you mean? If you’re her mother, who is her father?”

“You will find that out in due time, young Luna. What I can tell you is that where I along with the other higher powers live was compromised. The entrance has since been changed and is constantly changing. Only those from our kingdom know where it is…

“About sixteen years ago, someone broke into our kingdom and attempted to kidnap them. To protect them, we brought them to the mortal realm and found a family we knew would protect and cherish them. We have not conceived another child since…” Selene’s tone conveys her emotions: anger, sadness, but most of all, heartache.

Then it dawns on me. “Wait, them? As in more than one child?”

“Yes, Nayeli has an older brother. He will be 18 soon, and he, too, knows he was adopted but not his history. He is a primordial, like you dear Avon.”

“Wha… what?”

“He is waiting for you two to find him.”

“What, why me?”

“You will have a connection so strong, a bond that cannot be broken.”

“Why? I have a mate, I have Jake.”

“Yes, and you two have the same type of bond.”

“What, so I’m supposed to have two mates?!” I exclaim.

Selene only smiles while Jake growls beside me. “Jacob, it is not unheard of for someone to have two mates. You two can create Primordials, but only he and Avon can create a new race.”

“So that means I have no choice but to share? Because the fate of a new race is in my hands? Great, no pressure or anything…”

“How do I find him before he turns 18?”

A gust of wind appears and Selene disappears in a flash of light.

“Great, no pressure…” I mumble.

“You’re telling me. I’m supposed to share you. Or a whole new race won’t be created?” Jake scoffs.

“How am I going to find him? I don’t know what he looks like or where to even start looking.”

“You want to find him?!” Jake exclaims.

“I don’t have a choice, Jake! Unless you want an innocent person killed because of your selfishness and inability to share! I love you, Jake, but Selene wouldn’t have put me with two men without reason! I never imagined my life with a mate, let alone two, but what choice do I have? And obviously, I’ll grow to love him, too. He’ll be my mate just as much as you are. And you got a lot of firsts.”

Um… Jake, Avon, we need you in Jake’s office, A-S-A-now! Gideon’s voice came through the mind link.