The Voice of the Dead

Mutual hatred

Lea POV

“Can you tell me a little about yourself? I want to understand.” I said softly, still grazing Elaina’s palm.

“What for? You won’t change my mind about mates anyway.” Sheet scoffed but didn't take her hand away from me.

I have a feeling she really wants to talk to someone about everything, but because she has no one, she bottled her feelings really deep inside and doesn't really know how anymore.

“Well your mom is here and she is eager to talk.” I chuckled. Elaina smiled honestly for the first time.

“I bet she is.”

“Oh right, I didn't ask for your name. I’m sorry.” I smiled sheepishly and looked behind Elaina at her mother. The witch smiled back at me.

*It’s Selina.*

“Nice to meet you, Selina. I love your name, it's very similar to my grandmother's.” I bowed my head slightly, my heart fluttered a little at the mention of grandma Selene.

Fates, I really miss them all.

I sighed and looked back at Elaina, she observed me with curiosity, one of her eyebrows raised a little.

“Must be nice. Having a full family and all.” She sighed, averting her gaze. “I only had my mom, hard to believe you’ll ever understand what I came through.”

“When I was 14, I was casted away and almost executed by my pack.” I said with a sigh.

“What?” Elaina looked back at me with shock.

“You hate sorcerers, I can sense it. And it’s much more deeper than simple hatred between species. It's personal. Trust me, I should have absolutely zero positive feelings about them as well. But I only despise those who hurt me. I wish I was never born in that pack, by that woman. And those 14 years were a nightmare, but then Fates looked upon me with kindness I can never understand, and tangled my life with the most amazing people in this world. I lost my birth family and pack but gained a wonderful chosen family who accepted me and helped me rise. Those 5 years I spent with them were amazing, but I will always carry a little shadow inside of my past life.”

I chuckled after a few moments of silence.

“My mother still claims it would go away, if I just let her know where to find the woman who gave birth to me, and let her “talk peacefully about the past with that monster”.” I did the air quotes with a little grin and both Elaina and Selina chuckled.

“Your mom sounds likeable.” Elaina shook her head with a small smile.

“All I mean is, I can see you went through a lot. Both of you. But I strongly believe in destiny and I know Fates don't make mistakes, even if they seem cruel. And we met today, I want to help you start a new life, help your mom ascend to the Underworld. This is my payback to the universe for helping me find my adoptive but true parents. I will help you today, you have no other choice.” I smiled broadly.

Elaina shook her head but laughed.

“Some kind of modern-day-supernatural-traveling Jesus? Bringing salvation to everyone?” She mocked me but I started to feel a little sympathy in her voice.

Yup, I’ll win her over.

“My mom is my blueprint. She did the craziest things to help others, no matter their species. I simply want to follow in her footsteps and repay for all the kindness and love she offered me.”

Elaina pondered for a second.

“You clearly never met a witch before me. You say your mother is so good at helping everyone but how come you never come across one of my kind.” She challenged me a little, maybe trying to provoke me.

“True, during the time I was with her, she never helped any witch. But not because of principle. She holds a lot of resentment towards witch kind, but if she ever encountered one that needed help, she would do this without a doubt.”

“You believe this?”

“Oh, hundred percent.”

*Why does she have resentment towards us?* Selina asked, reminding me that she is still here. She sits quietly, looking at her daughter with love and devotion only sometimes sparing me a little look.

“My mom’s feelings towards the witches go way back in time. She met a lot of people hurt by bad covens and individual witches. She saw results of, sometimes, unspeakable deeds made by them and helped with aftermaths. Her close sorcerer friends were also victims of witches. They were captured as children by the coven and tortured into becoming hybrids. But even with all of that, she would never hurt or ignore a witch simply because of their species. As for why we never met a witch asking for help? My mom is a very powerful and, well… important sorceress so regular witches would never try to approach her for help.” I finished looking back from Selina to Elaina. The young witch looked at the direction of her mother.

“I’m guessing she asked you about the resentment thing?” Elaina asked, tilting her head.

“Yes, sorry. I sometimes forget that only I can hear the spirits.”

We all sat in silence for a few minutes.

“Me and my mom ran from my birth pack.” Elaina started, looking down at her feet. “It was… how long ago? 14 years I believe. I was very small, barely 5. My dad was, no, is a werewolf. He is still alive, I think. My parents were fated mates and my father’s pack is very close to a witch coven my mother came from. His pack is a strong believer in fated mates and even if two people don’t want to accept their bond, for whatever reason, it's not allowed. My sperm donor was disappointed in getting a witch mate.”

Elaina spat bitterly, stood from the bed and started to walk around the room. Both me and her mom followed her with our eyes.

*My family was also disappointed. They hoped I would get another witch for a mate, to keep our bloodline clean. They threatened me with disinheritance if I accepted my fated mate, a werewolf.*

“Your mothers family was also not supportive, I hear.” I sighed and offered Selina a smile.

“Understatement, but she still, foolishly, accepted the bond.”

*And it was the best decision in my life. I got Elaina.* Selina smiled, looking at her daughter with love.

“My father had no other choice but to accept as well, if he didn't want to be kicked out of the pack, but he hated my mom from the beginning. I guess, after some time, he decided to just go with it, in his mind as long as mom birthed him a descendant, a werewolf pup of course, she wasn’t completely useless. But, unfortunately for all the parties involved, she gave birth to me, a witch.” Elaina finished bitterly and sat on the floor. “According to my mom he was furious, he started to be violent with her room then on. She tried to endure, thinking that he will change, that he will eventually love me, but that never happened. When he cheated on her for the first time, she rejected him and left.”

*I should have left earlier, as soon as Elaina was born. That’s my only regret.* Her mom said, her eyes glistening with tears.

“Your mom, she said that she never regretted accepting the bond because thanks to it, she had you.”

“I know, she kept saying this throughout my childhood. And I'm grateful, but…”

“But you can't help but feel like her pain was your fault somehow?” I finished for her, looking straight into Elaina’s eyes. She nodded and hung her head.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“It’s hard to blame yourself for the decisions made before you were even born. But I can understand your feelings. What happened with you two after you left?”