PROLOGUE – UNSPOKEN PAST
‘1987 – Paul & Valencia’
“You have to take her, Anne, it is too dangerous for us to keep her. She is due in a few days and instead of dropping her off at a children’s home or just abandoning her, you could give her a loving home and protect her”, Valencia begged with tears staining her cheeks. She will never be able to see her firstborn; she will never see her baby girl grow up. She would never be able to tell her about where she came from, how much they loved her and that is why she had to be raised outside the pack. Anne and Patrick were the only humans that knew about them, so this seemed like the best and only option. Anne was also my best friend, the closest I ever had to a sister. “Valencia, we already have four daughters. How are we going to explain to them where she came from? Our eldest is old enough to understand how all this works”, Anne tried to reason with me but there was no other option. “Anne, to keep her would be too dangerous, she would be killed. We want her to have a future and a life outside of this. When the time comes for her to learn the truth, please give her this letter. It will explain a lot to her. She will have to understand that what we are doing is to keep her safe,” Paul explained. “No one can know about this, you have to keep her safe and raise her as your own. We have seen how much love you have for your daughters and that is why we decided to ask for your help”, I said. They have to do this. “Fine, we’ll help. We will be there when she is born so that there will be records and everything else that is needed. Do you have a name for her?” Patrick asked. “We wanted her to be called Valerie. She is more important than you will ever know, not only to us but our entire pack. We really do appreciate this. There is only one more thing: we will never be able to have contact with her until the time is right. This is the number you keep safe. If anyone should come for her other than us, you phone this number immediately. Her life, as well as the lives of others will count on this”, we both warned them. Eleven days later, the most beautiful girl was born. She didn’t even cry as I pushed her from my body. We knew she would be strong. She came from one of the strongest bloodlines in our race. I barely had the strength to give her up, handing her over to Anne almost killed me. She opened her beautiful violet eyes and stared at me. Her head was full of the finest black hair. This was my precious little girl and I will never be able to hold her again. With tears clouding my vision, I gave her one final hug, one final kiss and one final goodbye. My heart shattered. I handed her to Anne and left the room.
