Return Of The Lost Heir

Learning The Truth

Lottie and Matt lived about five minutes away from the restaurant. We followed the stone path to the large two-story home surrounded by trees. The large decorative windows casted a warm light from inside on the dark brick and wood, making it feel warm and cozy. The stairs creaked lightly as we walked up onto the patio and to the large front door surrounded by glass.

Knock knock

Matt opened the door and greeted us with a warm smile accompanied by their big dog Sam.

“Come on in.”

“Puppy!” Jack yelled as he ran in, giving the dog a hug and pat on the head.

“Follow me to the kitchen.” We walked through the large open living room, and the scent of crackling wood tickled my nose as it filled the room from the grand stone fireplace. A soft, warm glow from the fire and hanging lights reflected off the plush leather furniture, making the room feel cozy. We walked through the curved entry to the kitchen where their son was washing dishes while Lottie finished up dinner.

“Wow it smells amazing.”

“Its been years since I’ve had homemade cooking besides my own.” I thought.

“Just wait till you taste it.” She smiled “Avery, can you please grab this last dish.” She yelled out.”

Avery walked in her eyes, lighting up when she saw me.

“Blair!” She ran over, squeezing me tightly.

“Avery.” Matt said, placing his hand on her shoulder. “What did we talk about.” Avery, let go quickly, tears welling in her eyes.

“Right…Sorry Blair.” She said, forcing a small smile. She turned around, grabbing the final dish and bringing it to the dining room.

“Lets eat.” Lottie said. We followed her into the room, and a large, rich, warm wood table was decorated with white cloth and candles. The patterned carpet was similar to the living room, with matching coloured drapes that hung along the large bay window and back door.

“Your house is beautiful.”

“Thank you.” Matt said with a warm smile.

“Don’t be humble.” Lottie laughed “He actually designed and built the house and most of the furniture.” She said.

“You helped.” He added before kissing her cheek.

“Wow, you're very talented.” I said, sitting down on the cushioned wood chair. “How did you learn to do this?”

“My father actually spent a lot of his time before I was born designing and crafting. He made a business out of it. So I spent a lot of my childhood helping him.”

“That’s so cool. Do you sell anything you make?”

“I do, the Alph-“ Lottie elbowed him before he could finish.

“The mayor of our small town enjoys his work, so he helps build new houses and furniture for people who decide to move here.”

“Wow! That’s awesome.”

Lottie placed a plate in front of me.

“Since you're our special guests, I made only the best. We have braised deer with roasted mushrooms, parsnips and onions, mashed potatoes, and fresh homemade buns.”

“Wow, everything looks delicious. I’ve never tried deer before. But, you really didn’t need to do this all for me.”

“Nonsense.” She said, waving her hand. It's my pleasure and I’m sure you’ll love it.” She smiled.

I looked over at Jack, shoving a piece of deer and bread dipped in gravy into his mouth, his eyes lightning up with joy, with each bite. A little nervous, my stomach turned in anticipation… or fear, I wasn’t sure. I looked down at my plate. The scent of herbs and deer made my mouth water like never before. The knife slicing through the tender meat with ease. I cut a small piece and placed it in my mouth, slowly chewing it. My taste buds exploded from the delicious flavour. It was savory and tangy. I had never tasted anything like it before, I wanted more. Something stirred inside of me the more I chewed like something primal in me couldn’t get enough of the wildmeat. I took another bite, savoring the flavour, a small moan leaving my mouth in approval.

“I take it, it’s good?” She laughed.

Nodding in agreeance. “This is delicious, one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.”

“More please.” Jack asked, finishing his meal within minutes. Lottie smiled as she added more to his plate. The rest of dinner was small talk, as Jack and I both polished off three plates each.

“I hope you saved room for dessert, I made a mixed berry pie with fresh picked berries.” She said cheerfully.

“I don’t think I could eat another bite.” I answered honestly.

“Avery and Nathan, how about you take Jack to the living room to watch TV while you eat dessert, and will stay here and chat.

“Cmon Jack, do you want to go watch TV?” Avery asked, getting up. Jack nodded, running to the living room, Sam and Nathan following behind.

“We know this will be difficult but will answer whatever questions you have.”

“I’m really not sure where to start.” I say, bringing out the photos. “You both knew our mom, Lily?”

“Yes, we met your mom 18 years ago, a few months before she got pregnant with you.”

“And this man.” I said, pointing to the photo of the two of us. “I assume is my real father.”

Lottie and Matt glanced at each other, sharing a look of worry.

“Yes, he is your father.”

I breathed in sharply, trying to contain my nerves.

“Is he Alex and Jacks father also?”

“Jacks yes.” She nodded.

“Does James know he is not our father?”

“Yes, James knows.”

“Then why did our dad abandon us with a man who hated our very existence?” I stated firmly.

“That’s not what happened, Blair!” Lottie exclaimed. “It’s a complicated scenario.” Matt added in.

“Can you explain? I need answers! I don’t remember anything!” I pleaded.

“Your right Blair, were sorry…this is going to be hard to hear, okay?”

I nodded, bracing myself.

“Okay well…” Lottie looked at Matt, her hands fidgeting-He gently placed a hand on hers, rubbing it softly.

“Someone can explain this better than we can.” She nodded and closed her eyes for a second.

Knock knock

Matt got up and walked over to the back glass sliding door, opening it.

“Hello Alpha.” He greeted with a small bow.

Colin, the man from the diner, and photos walked in.

“Alpha? That must be who Matt was talking about.”

“Please don’t be upset, Blair, but he’s the best one to explain things to you.”

“Fine.” I gulped, my stomach turning with a mix of emotions. Colin sat down at the table across from me.

“Hi Blair.” He said nervously.

“Explain.” I stated, wanting answers.

He nodded. “This may seem unbelievable at first, but please listen.”

“Okay.”

“You know all the fairytales? Stories about faries, witches, shape-shifters?”

“Yeah?” I responded, annoyed.

“Well, we are a part of those stories. We are wolves. We can shapeshift between the too.”

“Hahah, I’m supposed to believe that? I’m here for real answers, not some bogus fairytale story!”

“Please just listen, Blair. As wolves, we have mates, and your mother was mine.”

My eyes widened. “Mate? Like in Soulmate?”

“Yes, but by the time we met your mother was married to James and already had Alex, the situation wasn’t fair for any of us, I couldn’t ask your mother to leave and Its not common for a wolf to be mated to a human especially become a Luna, I knew my parents wouldn’t approve. It only made sense to reject her as my mate, but the situation became… difficult.”

“I don’t understand. What is a Luna? What made the situation difficult.”

“I will explain all that stuff after. We had talked, and though it hurt, we decided it was best that I reject her as my mate and Luna. But, a rejection hurts on a much deeper level. It’s a physical and emotional experience and can severely hurt both of the mates, even leading to death.”

“Wait, what.” My heart beating faster.

“I know it’s very cruel. We are destined to be with our mate, and to reject them causes us anguish as punishment. Unfortunately, your mother suffered from an auto immune disorder, and we were worried she wasn’t strong enough for the rejection. So our next option was space. But, once you find your mate, you crave being with them. The longer we were apart, the more we yearned for each other. It drove us crazy and, within a week, ended up making your mom very ill. Neither James nor I wanted your mother to suffer. Even if I found someone else, there was no guarantee that me marking them wouldn’t hurt Lily. After a very long talk, we came to the agreement we would both be with Lily with the rule of keeping both relationships separate, and James and I would maintain very minimal contact with each other. I tried talking with my parents, your grandparents and they were furious and demanded I reject your mother, and marry Seline a Luna from a nearby Pack, I rejected and kept seeing your mom and for awhile we kept things a secret. Well… that unfortunately didn’t last long when we got pregnant with you. James wasn’t happy, which caused more issues, and I couldn’t hide the relationship from my family anymore. You would be my heir to the throne, and I had to introduce Lily to them.

“I’m sorry, what? The heir to the throne?” I yelled. “What do you mean? Are you a king?” I asked, more confused than I was before. “I’m not exactly a king, but I promise we will tell you everything you need to know.”

“Okay…sorry this is just a lot.”

“I understand. My parents still didn’t approve but, couldn’t stop me from seeing you or your mom. After you were born, we tried again, I thought them seeing you would convince my family to give us a chance, but that required everyone to have to move here. Your mom couldn’t leave Alex, and James hated me, so they rejected the idea. They even refused to believe you were my daughter and refused to meet you.

After a lot of arguing, they still demanded I marry Seline. I rejected again and continued seeing your mom and raising you. You spent a lot of time here and made friends. But, after rejecting the marriage proposal, Seline told my father she was pregnant with twins that were mine. Even after me denying any form of relationship with her, my father threated to remove me as heir and hand the pack over to her, for her to pass onto the kids if I didn’t marry her.

Your mom was devastated and heartbroken. She blamed herself and wanted me to reject her so I didn’t lose my position. After I refused, she demanded I marry her to secure the Pack so it would be yours. I reluctantly agreed after she threatened to reject me, which could have killed her. Seline was soon given the title future Luna. Years later, Lily became pregnant with Jack. At that point, my father had just stepped down, and I was officially made Alpha, with the title I could officially make your mom my Luna.

We had decided to do a small intimate ceremony with our friends and other closer pack members who supported our marriage. They would be able to defend your mothers’ position as my mate and rightful Luna, and with the confidence of the pack, I would be able to remove Seline without losing respect as Alpha. But on the day of the ceremony.” He paused, his throat cracking as he looked down. Lottie and Matt shared a longing glance as she wiped a tear away.

Colin let out a sigh before continuing. “During the ceremony, we were ambushed. Your mother was their target. We all think it was Seline, but we have no proof. After that James took you both and disappeared and we couldn’t find you.”

“Why didn’t you call the Police?”

“We had to watch what we did. Getting the police involved could have made James let the world know about us. We had to protect not only us but the millions of other wolves and other beings’ part of our world. It didn't take us long to find you. But, when we finally did, you acted like we didn’t exist. We took it as a sign that you didn’t want to be a part of this life. We still kept an eye on you, when you found the money laying on the ground, all the gifts that appeared, and when we realized, you were looking to escape, we placed the job ad in front of you. We even had people on the bus and train while you traveled to make sure you made it. And when I first saw you, you were wearing the necklace I gave you on your 10th birthday, and we assumed you were ready to come back.”

I sat in silence, my mind racing. My life felt like a blur, I had lost so many memories and who I was.”

“Blair?” Lottie said, placing her hand on mine. “Are you okay?”

“No!” I yelled, pulling my hand away. “I have no memories of any of this, or any of you, and apparently, I’m some kind of Shape-shifting wolf. That doesn’t even make any sense!”

“I’m sorry, Blair.” Colin frowned.

“I think James had something done to make you forget us.” Lotties said quietly.

“What do you mean? Like he erased my memory somehow?”

“I was worried something like that may have happened. There’s only one way to find out. I will Mind link Lucia.”

“What is mind linking, and who is Lucia?”

“Mind linking allows us to talk telepathically to our family and other members of our Pack. Lucia is one of our Healer Elders. She is a Wolf-Witch Hybrid. She will figure out what happened to your memories.” Lottie said with certainty.

Only a few seconds had passed by before a greyish black smoke appeared from the floor swirling up. As it cleared, a beautiful woman was standing there. She appeared to be mid-40s with tan skin and raven coloured curly hair.

“My apologies for taking so long, Alpha. I was treating a patient.”

“Thank you for coming so swiftly Lucia, you understand this meeting must remain confidential.”

“Of course.”

“This is my daughter Blair. She was taken and hidden from us for years. We unfortunately suspect her mind has been altered. She has no memories of me or her time here.”

Lucia looked over at me like she was analyzing me.

“I understand, I sense something is wrong, but I will need to take a deeper look.” She said, walking over to me. “Do you mind if I touch you?”

I shook my head no, confused about what she was going to do. She gently placed two fingers on each side of my temple.

“You will feel a bit of a tingling sensation, I’ll be using energy waves to travel through your memories, I will be able to sense any disruption.”

“Oh okay.”

Her warm brown eyes stared into mine, changing to a rich golden colour as they glowed while the vibrations tingled as they traveled through my brain. I could see quick flashes of my memories as she went through them. The tingling slowly stopped as she removed her fingers.

“Luckily this is just a simple spell that has blocked her ability to remember them. From what I can tell, no memories have been altered or missing. But.” She paused with a small frown. “That wasn’t the only spell placed.”

“What do you mean?” Colin asked, worried.

“Whoever did this also placed a spell on her wolf, her w-.”

“My Wolf?” The realization had just hit. “Holy s**t I’m a wolf”

“Yes, as a Wolf-Hybrid, you share your body and soul with a wolf. Unfortunately, yours has been in hibernation for years, she can still hear and sense things, but she has been unable to communicate with you since you weren’t able to complete your first shift before the spell was placed.”

“Can you remove them?”

“Of course. But.” She paused, looking at me with sorrow.

“You will relive every memory, including…”

My heart raced… the night I lost my mother.

“Can you remove all of them except that one?” Colin asked. “She can’t relive that.”

“I can, but - “

“No! Don’t block any of them.” I interrupted. “I’ve lived the last few years with no understanding of who I am, I know this will be painful, but these are my memories. I want them back the good and the bad.” I stated firmly.

“As you wish.” She nodded.

“What about her wolf?”

“Her wolf should be fine. A little restless, and probably lots to say.” She smiled. “I can sense the shift in energy since arriving. She is very happy.”

I smiled excited, and finally, after years of uncertainty and questioning myself, this huge weight would be lifted off me. “When can we do this?”

“This is a time sensitive issue.” Colin said.

“I understand, Alpha. I need to prepare a few things. But with the full moon, I can perform both the spell and ritual tonight.”

“Excellent.”

“Colin you should head back. Your presence will be noticed if you’re not at the Full Moon Ceremony.” Lottie said concerned.

“Right, I can’t have Seline catch on or-s**t it’s a full moon. The spell has to wait, or Blair will shift tonight.”

“Not necessarily.” Lucia said, looking over at Blair. “Her wolf understands. Yes, she is restless and needs to shift. But neither of them is strong enough to shift. She knows she has to wait.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, she is not strong enough. The hibernation has starved her of energy, I’m not sure how she will feel once the spells are removed.”

“Will keep you posted, and if anything happens, I will mind link you.” Lottie said, reassuring.

“Okay.” Colin said hesitating.

“I’ll be back soon.” Lucia said before vanishing in a swirl of smoke.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay.” Colin asked with worry as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

“Yes, I will be fine.” I smiled. “What about Jack?”

“Jack was an infant. There was no use putting a spell on him. He also won’t get his wolf for years, and…” he paused, smiling. “He remembers me.”

“Wait, what. How?”

“Last night, I was the wolf that visited you.”

“Well, I guess that explains why a wild animal was so friendly, and he said bye dad.” I chuckled. “I’m sorry I don’t, I can sense some kind of connection to you it’s just very faint.”

“You are a part of me, Blair. we will always have a special connection. I’m sorry life has been so cruel to you and your brother. But that will change tonight.”

“Is there any other Wolf things I need to know before she removes the spell?”

“Actually, we taught you a lot about Wolf Culture and History-you even trained with our top warrior and his son. Once the spell is removed, we will see what you remember.”

“Do you think people will still remember me?”

“Of course, Avery and Nathan have been waiting for you, your practically like siblings.”

“Avery?” That explains earlier. I thought walking to the entrance of the living room and peaking in.

Avery and Nathan were running around chasing Jack, his giggles echoing through the room. Avery looked over, a small smile appearing on her face.

I couldn’t help but smile back, even though my heart hurt. Why didn’t James just let us stay? He hated us anyway.

“The room is ready; Lucia should arrive any minute.” Lottie said, walking out from the Den into the dining room.

“Are you ready?”

I nodded. “As ready as I ever will be.” Lottie smiled, and I followed her back into the room. The soft glow of candles flickered off the office furniture, creating a relaxing ambiance. Furniture was pushed to the side, A mixture of blankets was placed on the ground, creating a makeshift area for me to lay on.

“Lucia said a dark room would be easier for this first spell.”

“There just in here.” Colin said, bringing Lucia into the room.

“Hello Blair, how are you feeling?”

“Nervous.”

“The process of removing the spell will not take long or hurt. It will tingle like it did when I was looking through them. But there are side effects, reliving each memory can be very emotionally draining, and the overload of memories will cause a massive headache.” She handed me a vile that had a subtle purple glow.

“Drink this.”

“What is it?”

“It is a mixture of a health elixir, and strength elixir. Removing the spell on you and your wolf will drain you, drinking this will keep your body strong enough for the energy and power shift that will run through you once the spell is removed and hopefully give your wolf a bit of energy.”

“Power?”

“Yes, wolves are extraordinary, our senses are heightened, we heal exceptionally fast, and we are stronger and faster. There are many wolves that possess’ other powers and skills as well. Such as telekinesis, elemental control, and divination. As a wolf-which hybrid, I possess the power of magic from my father, and from my mother, I have the ability to read energy and sense disruptions in the body, which makes me an exceptional healer. Wolves and witches also live longer, I’m not immortal, but my life expectancy is much longer. I’m actually 108.” She said, winking. My mouth dropped in shock.

“Your 108?” I exclaimed. “You look like you're 40.” Lucia laughed. “I’m the youngest sibling in my family. My father is 146.”

“Wow! That is so cool! Do I have powers?”

“There is a possibility, though we don’t know for certain.” Lucia turned to look at everyone else. “I will need to concentrate if you could all please wait in the dining room.”

They all hesitated for a moment before leaving. “You sure you’ll be okay?” Colin asked. I nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

“If anything happens, we will notify you immediately.” Lucia said, closing the sliding doors behind them.