The Voice of the Dead

Coming of age

5 years later

*Lea POV*

“Happy birthday, Lea!” Mom sang, entering my room, the twins sprung right behind her, jumping on my bed, swarming me with their small hands.

I giggled, hugging the small wolves that kept smooching and singing to me.

“Mommy said you are an adult now.” Amethyst said, looking at me closely, her big, violet eyes squinted. "But you look the same."

“Do you have a mate now?” Alaric asked, furrowing his small eyebrows, just like his father. “Daddy said over his dead body.”

I laughed and mom shook her head with a giggle.

“Okay, little demons. Go help Miss Lily with breakfast.” She shooed the twins.

They kissed me on my cheeks and left running, now ready to kill our housekeeper with kindness.

“I swear, they are your copies.” I giggled.

Mom smiled and leaned over to kiss my forhead.

“Happy birthday, sweetheart.” She said once again and sat next to me.

“Thank you, mom.” I smiled at her, noticing her teary eyes. "Why are you crying?"

"I just can't believe you are already 19, the last 5 years happened so fast." She sighed, wiping her tears.

"She still is our little princess." Dad said, entering my room as well, a huge bouquet of my favorite yellow tulips in his arms.

He put them on my nightstand and kissed my forehead as well.

"Happy birthday, my princess." He whispered and sat on my other side.

I beamed with happiness, looking at them both.

"Thanks, dad."

"How do you feel?" Mom asked, one of her eyebrows popping up. Dad groaned.

"Good? Why?" I asked cautiously.

"Your mother is wondering if you already feel the mate pull." He said with a little growl.

Yup, he still thinks I'm his little girl.

I giggled and shook my head.

"I don't feel like he is close." I said with a wink and held dad's hand. "But shouldn't you prefer him being from our pack? That would mean I'd stay here for the rest of my life."

Dad made an unreadable face, like two sides were fighting inside his head.

He sighed and shook his head.

"I don't know." He pouted, his proverbial tail tucked between his legs.

"Lea, wherever life would toss you, you have your home here, always." Mom said, her voice a little shaky.

Both me and dad looked at her suspiciously.

"You know something?" I asked, my eyebrow raised.

"Nope. Nothing." She shrugged and reached into the pocket of her black dress.

She took a small, purple velvet box and placed it in my hands.

"We know that your party is later in the evening, but we wanted to give you a present alone." Dad said, nodding at me to open it.

I did and almost gasped, delighted.

On a little pillow lay a delicate, gold chain, with a pendant in the shape of a wolf howling towards the moon. The orb was made with a ton of really small, shining and twinkling diamonds and a single, purple, amethyst star next to it.

"We ordered it to be made specifically for you, the wolf symbolizing your father and the star for me, so you would always have us close to you." Mom said.

"Do you like it? It's not too big, so it wouldn't bother you while wearing it, hopefully everyday, but you still can clearly see the wolf, the moon and the star." Dad explained.

I was still speechless, looking at the pendant, feeling my eyes starting to water.

I jumped at them, hugging them both at the same time.

"Thank you, so much. I love it, I'm never going to take it off." I weeped, squeezed them hard.

They both chuckled and hugged me back, basically pressuring the whole air out of me.

Dad then told me to turn and he clasped it on my neck.

I raised the pendant a little, looking down at it, mesmerized by the shining stones.

"It suits you." Mom said, wiping her eyes. "We put a little spin to it as well."

Dad chuckled, shaking his head.

"Huh?" I asked dumbfounded.

"Me, my mom, dad and Jonathan filled it with a little of our powers. Then we gave it to H and he took it to Underworld and both Hades and Persephone added a little of their powers as well, making it a very powerful medallion. It will protect you and in case of danger, it can bring us to you." Mom explained, making my eyes go huge.

"Hades and Persephone lent their powers as well?" I asked, quite shocked by the whole thing, but this piece of information was the most shocking.

"Of course, they were happy to do that. With Hades and Persephone powers combined, using mine and Asteria's blood, they binded us to it. If you ever need our help, and we are far away from you, we would feel it. Then Selene's powers combined with Endymion's and Jonathan's, made it possible for us to teleport to you, to help you. And finally Asteria's powers make you immune to spells, potions, witchcraft or sorcery." Dad explained. Then he chuckled and used his finger to close my mouth.

"How were you able to make it?" I asked, stunned.

"We asked Hephaestus, he was the one to forge the pendant and fill it with blood and magic. There is no better craftsman than him. Neither me nor my parents can go to Heaven's realm, per a deal we made with Zeus, but with help of mom's siblings, we were able to contact him, and meet him here on earth."

"And you did that all, for me?" I asked, tears now freely running down my cheeks.

Mom cupped my face, wiping the tears with her thumbs.

"We would do anything for you, Lea. You are our daughter."

Dad patted my head with a smile.

"Now, get ready. The whole family is trying to break inside to see the birthday girl and I'm this close…" He pinched his fingers. "...to start ripping their heads off."

He stood up and left my room, whistling cheerfully, just like he didn't threaten a bunch of people seconds ago.

Mom looked at him lovingly, biting her lip.

"You being turned on by his threats is messed up." I chuckled, getting up.

"You will understand once you find your mate." She chuckled shamelessly, standing up and opening my closet. "What do you plan on wearing?"

I shrugged, stretching and yawning.

"I think the black and yellow dress for the day. For my party I have the ridiculously expensive green dress that you and dad brought me." I looked at her with judgement.

The amount of money that they are willing to spend on me and the twins, is outrageous.

"Good choice." Mom said, not phased at all and she took out the dress with yellow top and black bottom. I look like a giant bee in it but I don't care, I love this one.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" I asked, fidgeting shyly.

"Sure, what is it?" She looked at me carefully.

"After your nineteen birthday, did you feel the mate pull?"

She blinked a couple of times.

"No. But when I had my 19th birthday, Alex wasn't alive yet. But when Jonathan woke me from my sleep, 4 thousand years later, I almost immediately did. I felt the need to leave where I was at the moment, which was New York and to travel north." She said, her arms crossed over her chest, her head tilted while looking at me. "Do you feel the pull?"

"I… I don't know. I feel something. It started almost two years ago. But the feeling was so faint, almost like a hunch so I've never really thought about it. I felt like my heart was leading me somewhere, like I should travel." I said with a sigh.

My mom's eyes got huge, her eyes flattered and I knew exactly what that meant.

"Did you just…?" I started, stunned.

"Had a premonition? Yeah. It's your mate, you need to travel to find him." She said, her hand on her chest, as she sat on my bed.

Mom, as the Moon Goddess's daughter, can tell whenever someone is close to meeting their mate, she can steer people in the right direction.

She looked up at me.

I was still speechless. Excited and terrified at the same time.

"If you felt it before and now it's more intense, then that means you two have an extremely strong bond. Normally you can't feel it before you are 19. Or…" She stopped.

"Or what?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"Or your mate needs your help and the bond is pushing you to find him." She said, standing up.

"Then what should I do now? How can I find him?"

"The feeling, is it suffocating, pressuring your chest?" She asked.

I thought for a second and shook my head no.

"No, it's not. I feel a slight push towards leaving, but it's not heavy or uncomfortable."

"Then he isn't in danger. Probably he became of age and since then the bond tried to pull you two together." Mom said, calming me.

"Mom, I want to leave. Not today and maybe not tomorrow but I feel like I need to take the leap. My heart is telling me I have to go. Persephone's gift is also urging me to go out there and help more people." I said, looking right into her violet eyes.

Mom smiled and nodded.

"I know, Lea. Both me and Alex knew that you would want to leave after you are of age. We've been preparing ourselves for that. I'm not saying it's easy for us, but we do understand." She said with a sad smile, using her hand to put my wild, red lock behind my ear. "Just maybe don't tell your father this today. Let him celebrate his princess's birthday without heartbreak."

I giggled and nodded, hugging mom.

"I love you, so, so much." I whispered, smiling.