From Prisoner to Primordial

CHAPTER 14 - To The Dungeons

*Nova’s P.O.V.*

    “What’s on your mind, Cassandra?” I ask as I sit in my desk chair. She sits across from me in one of the grey chairs.

    She hesitates, biting her lip. I study her while she decides how to begin. She has long straight red hair and blue eyes. Her face is round, and her nose is slightly crooked, though it’s barely noticeable.

    Cassandra sighs before she begins. “Luna, I know I’m not your mom, and I can never replace her, nor would I ever try to. I could never compare to your mom in your eyes, and I know that. And I know you respect me as your father’s second-chance mate and are glad to see him happy despite everything he’s been through.

    “I know firsthand how shocked he was when you came here, and how he didn’t want to believe that his worst nightmare had turned into his dreams come true. He was in denial; he didn’t want to get his hopes up just to have them crushed if you weren’t his daughter.

    “That’s why he went out to visit other packs; he wanted to make sure you were his Nova. The Nova he thought he had lost over 8 years ago, the daughter of his first mate and the only piece of her he would have left.

    “But when we came back and he saw you healthy again, he knew. That was his dream come true. He never did have you declared dead because he didn’t want to believe you were. And he never felt the pain of losing a pup that he would have felt if you had died. Though I believe because of the pain of losing your mother, he wouldn’t have noticed the pain if he had lost you, too.

    “Your father loves you more than words could ever say, and I know he loved your mother just the same. Please, don’t get me wrong. I know he loves me and not just because of the mate bond. He loves me for me, for who I am.

    “But I could never compare to his true mate, your mother. From what he’s told me of her, she was a wonderful, loving, caring and selfless person and the best Luna he could have hoped for,” she pauses as she takes a deep breath.

    “He doesn’t try to compare me to her. He knows we are two different souls, but he describes me just the same: wonderful, loving, caring and selfless. I’d like to believe that if your mother were still alive, we would have been great friends if we had ever met.

    “But the fact of the matter is, she isn’t here today. And I’m not saying that to hurt you or upset you or anything. I’m just stating facts. But I know that fact hurts you just as much as it still hurts your father despite how hard he tries to hide it from me.

    “The pain of losing a mate is something that no words can describe. I’ve never felt it, so I don’t know firsthand how it feels, but from what I’ve been told is that it feels like your heart is being ripped out of your chest and ripped into billions of pieces.

    “What I do know is the pain of losing a mother. I told you when we first met that my dad sent me here when he found out there was another pureblooded Alpha here who didn’t have a mate. What I didn’t tell you was… was…” she pauses again, dabbing at her eyes as tears welled up in them.

    “Well, I never specified why I only said ‘my dad’ with no mention of my mother. That’s because when I was almost 19 years old, my mother was killed in a rogue attack. Like I said, we’re a small pack of about 450, one of the smallest packs to exist.

    “When the rogues jumped the fence that went along the borders of our pack, we were all caught off-guard. My parents were out walking a path along the border, and the rogues just happened to jump into our territory where they were walking at that moment. There were about fifty rogues.

    “From what my dad told me, they circled my parents and separated them.  Four rogues surrounded my mom while the rest held my dad back, and before she could even shift, they attacked, biting… biting a piece out of my mom’s shoulder. Despite her injury, my mom shifted and was able to dispatch three of the rogues before backup came.

    “The fourth one, the one who attacked her first was strong, but my mom overpowered it and killed it, but she had already bled too much. She shifted back to her human form because of her injury.

    “I… I was one of the backups and… and after all the rogues were dispatched, we tried to rush my mom to the pack hospital, but she died on the way there. She had lost too much blood; the rogue had nicked an artery. My dad and I automatically shifted into our wolves, howling a sorrowful howl into the full moon…”

    My hand automatically covered my mouth without any thought process telling me to do so. While I had watched my mother die at a young age, at least her death was quick and not brutal like Cassandra’s mom’s death. It was coldhearted and calculated, but not brutal. “I’m so sorry…” I whispered out, my voice cracking.

    She shook her head as if to expel the memory from her mind. “Don’t be. It is part of our lives. There was no way we could have predicted the attack or prepared for it. But that’s not my point here…

    “Your father’s parents died a four years ago. My children are going to grow up only knowing one of their four grandparents and their half-sister, plus their nephews and nieces. I understand that I can’t replace your mother as their true grandmother. I know that I’m not their true grandmother but…

    “I don’t want your children growing up with only three grandparents when they could have four. I don’t want your children to be this young, not being able to understand why I’m with their Papa, but I’m not their grandma when their other grandpa is with their other grandma.”

    “You want them to call you grandma, or a variation of such?” I asked.

    “Yes, but only until you deem them old enough to understand the truth and then let them decide what they want to call me from there. Like I said, I know it won’t be the same for you because I’m not your mother.

    “You can continue to call me Cassandra or Cassie, or Cass. I don’t expect you to refer to me as anything more than that because I don’t want you to feel like I’m trying to replace your mom when I’m not. That is not my intention, and it never will be.

    “But your children deserve four grandparents who love them, just as mine do. That can’t happen for my children, but it can for yours if you choose to let it. This is all I’m going to say on the matter as I don’t want you to feel pressured into it. I want you to make the decision you feel is best, no matter what that decision is.”

    I thought for a brief moment to let her words sink in before saying, “You’re right. Every child deserves a big, happy family. And if it’s in my power to give it to them, I will. I would give them the world at my fingertips if I could. I would do anything for them.

    “When they’re older, old enough to understand the concept of family structure, death, and remarriage, then I’ll explain everything to them and let them decide what to call you from there on out. But you will be the only Nana they have ever known, I get the feeling you won’t ever lose that title,” I told her.

    New tears pricked her eyes and try as she might, she couldn’t stop them from falling as she smiled and asked, “Nana?” I just nod and smile back. “Thank you, Luna, thank you.”

    “Nova, please, Cassandra. We may not be related by blood, but we are still family. And thank you, thank you for opening my eyes. I had never thought about it that way, but you are right. My dad was right about you. You are wonderful, loving, caring and selfless. You have opened my eyes to what I could have been depriving my children of, and that’s a loving, happy family. And I’m glad my dad has you. So, thank you, again.”

    Her eyes widened as she absorbed my words, and more tears flowed, “You really mean it.” Her voice almost sounded surprised.

    “Blood means you are related; it doesn’t make you family. Family is the people in your life who want you in theirs, it’s the people who accept you for who you are, it’s the people who said they’d be there and never left, it’s the people who are willing to hold your hand when you need it most; it’s defined by commitment, loyalty, and love.”

    She starts to stand up but hesitates until I stand up and open my arms; she walks around my desk and hugs me tightly, crying freely. I hug her back and start crying, too.

    When she finally pulls away, she wipes away the tears left on her face and says, “Nova, you are wise beyond your years. Your mother would be so proud of you, I’m sure of it because I am. You make a fine Luna, we’re lucky to have you.”

    I blush slightly at her compliment and fight back tears at the same time at the mention of my mom. I can only hope she’s truly proud of me.

    Cassandra gives me another quick hug before we leave my office. I head up to the apartment to find Kane sitting on the sofa waiting for me.

    “So, what’s going on,” he asks as I lock the door behind me. The twins are already down for the night. I explain everything to him, and he nods in understanding while saying, “She’s right, we are lucky to have you. And you are wise beyond your years.” He kisses me and we go get ready for bed.

*CHRISTMAS DAY 2022*

    AJ, Jalen, and Lyra had all celebrated their first birthdays together, and rather than Kris celebrating her birthday this year, she decided to go all-out on the three babies, now toddlers, by spoiling them. The only gifts Kris had asked for were gift cards to Carters, Baby’s R Us, and Toys R Us, which she received a week in advance so she could find the now one-year-olds the perfect gifts.

    For Halloween, I dressed Caisson up as Woody from Toy Story 2 while Lyra was dressed up as Jessie. Kiya was dressed up as Boo from Monsters Inc and all the children under twelve rode the hayride while the teenagers rode bikes or golf carts behind the hayride around the territory to trick-or-treat.

    The pack had done an amazing job at decorating for Christmas. Although this was the twins second Christmas, it was going to be more like a first Christmas for them now that they could open their own gifts.

    Houses throughout the territory were decorated inside and out, as was the packhouse. There was a giant 20-foot Christmas tree set up in the courtyard on the stage that was fully decorated with twinkling lights, garland, and ornaments all over.

    The Deltas had been in charge of decorating it, and they had done an amazing job. They had even put the “baby’s first Christmas” ornaments on it from all the ranked families, including picture frame ornaments that had ultrasound pictures of each baby on it, including my dad and Cassandra’s ultrasound pictures.

    When Cassandra and my dad had seen that, they couldn’t help but tear up. They had gotten specially made ornaments for Kaiden Cooper and Kylie Leigh with their names on it now that I was far enough along to tell the sexes of each baby via ultrasound.

    There were gifts piled high under the tree, and smaller 10-foot trees all around the courtyard that also had been decorated and had gifts piled high under them as well for all the families that lived in the houses around the territory.

    Each family would celebrate Christmas as usual with their families at home and then at 2:00 PM, we would gather as a pack and do our yearly gift exchange.

    Kaiden had volunteered to keep track of who got what from who so proper thank you cards could be written. Kylie had of course volunteered to keep up with the photography during the family and pack gift exchanges. She had also done the photography of the courtyard and then Christmas morning family pictures.

    Once the twins woke up, I fed them breakfast while Kane mind linked his parents and my dad and Cassandra to come to our apartment for the family Christmas time.

    There was a knock at the door just as the twins finished eating their sausage, eggs, and toast. I went to answer it while Kane unstrapped the twins from their booster seats.

    “Grandma, Grandpa!” Caisson cried out, running to them, and Kane’s mom swooped him up as Kane’s dad carried a stack of presents to place under the tree.

    “Nana, Papa!” Kiya cried, running to them. My dad picked her up while Cassandra placed the stack of gifts under the tree.

    “Merry Christmas,” I said as I went around hugging each of them.

    “Mewwy Chwistmas,” Kiya and Caisson said at the same time, and we all swooned.

    “You babies ready to open presents?!” I exclaimed excitedly.

    Kiya and Caisson furrowed their brows for a moment before yelling, “Not babies!”

    “Okay, okay,” I help my hands up in surrender. “Are you kiddos ready to open presents?”

    “Yes, mommy!” they cried out excitedly, struggling to be put down.

    I smiled at them as Dad and Kylie set them down. They ran into the living room and climbed up onto the couch to wait for presents. Everyone laughed out loud, and they turned around to glare at us. “Pwesents!” Kiya cried out, pointing to the stacks of gifts.

    I laughed and Kane took my hand to lead me over to the living room.

    “Wait!” Kylie cried out, holding up her camera. Kane and I each picked up a twin and had them smile for Kylie to get her pictures of us in front of the tree. Then she had me take pictures of her and Kaiden and my dad and Cassandra in front of the tree, respectively.

    I was actually glad she had taken up photography because it saved a lot of space on my phone, not that I didn’t take a lot of pictures of them still.

    When pictures were done, my dad started passing out presents. He’d hand each of us a present, find one for himself, and then we’d tear open our presents.

    By the time we finished, the twins had gotten several new toys each and a lot of clothes in the next size up, which I was definitely grateful for. They were excited just to open the presents they knew were clothes, but both got even more excited to look at them in awe.

    “What do you guys say?” I prompted them.

    “Thank you!” they yelled out while each playing with one of their new toys. I glanced up at the clock and noticed it was lunch time, so I got up to make them something to eat. I decided on something simple, chicken nuggets and veggies, and plated their food before calling them to come eat.

    Kane and I had decided they could skip their morning nap for one day; I was just hoping they didn’t get too grumpy during the gift exchange for the pack.

    After they finished eating, Kaiden, Kylie, my dad, and Cassandra left to go get ready for the pack gift exchange while Kane and I gave the twins a bath. Then we got them dressed in their Christmas outfits. Caisson was wearing a black suit with a Christmas tie while Kiya was wearing a red and black dress with green leggings.

    Once they were dressed, Kane and I got ready while they played with their new favorite toys. Kane was in the bathroom finishing up his shower after I had showered, and I was in the bedroom getting dressed. I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin, screaming when I saw the twins standing in the middle of the bedroom floor.

    “Caisson, Kiya, I know we are home, but you can’t be doing that right now!” I scolded them as Kane ran out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. He still had shampoo in his hair, and I could hear the water from the shower still running.

    “What? What’s wrong?!” he shouted as I just pointed at the twins. He looked down at them and shook his head before going back to the bathroom to finish showering.

    The twins sulked. “But mommy, I shimmer!” Caisson cried out as he shimmered in place to show me.

    “And I teleport!” Kiya cried as she teleported to different spots around the room.

    “Yes, I know kiddos. And I know mommy and daddy said you could do it at home and nowhere else, but you can’t scare us with it either,” I said, shaking my head, too.

    “Sorry, mommy,” they both said before disappearing out of the room.

    I finished getting ready in my red and black dress with green leggings that matched Kiya’s, and Kane came out of the bathroom dressed in his black suit with the Christmas tie that matched Caisson’s.

    We took the twins’ hands and led them to the elevator and rode it down to the first floor where we stepped out and went to the stage in the courtyard. Every pack member was in attendance, and the tables were filled.

    “Welcome to the yearly Christmas gift exchange! Just as a reminder, the gift you are handed is anonymous until you receive it in your hands. Who’s ready?!” Kane cried out, and there were hoots, hollers, cheers, and applause around the courtyard.

    We started with the tree on the stage where the presents for the ranked members and families were. Kane wound up receiving his first, and he got a new fishing pole from Delta Axel, which Kane was really excited about.

    We went through each present until we were down to the last one on the stage, which meant it was Brielle’s since she was the only one who hadn’t received a gift yet. Kane picked it up and carried it towards her.

    “BriBri, no!” Kiya cried out at the same time I yelled, “Kane stop!” before turning to Jane and telling the Delta’s, “TO THE DUNGEONS!” I commanded them in my Luna voice. Kane froze.

    “What do I do?” he asked, already knowing what was inside the box. He had had the vision, too.

    Jane tried to run away, but the Delta’s were spread out throughout the pack members and tables so everywhere she turned, there was a Delta in her way.

    “Jane Norse! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!” I screamed in the voice she couldn’t disobey. She froze in her tracks and bowed under the weight of my command. I turned to the Deltas. “To the dungeons with her!” I screamed angrily.