My Secret I Never Knew

Rebirth cont….

Candice POV 

Eric apologized to the Lillian woman and to Nikki, who just gave him a slight nod in acknowledgment. I would be completely embarrassed if I were him right now. I found myself looking at Nikki and maybe parts of her life have been hard but she seems to be taking it like it’s a breeze, maybe she’s not as affected by her hardships as Eric thinks. I noticed the Estella woman and Donzell kept looking at each other and wondered about her and her sisters.

I couldn’t tell tell much about their facial features due to the masks but I did notice their eyes were all an icy blue earlier and now they’re a vibrant green, matching the peacock dress. Maybe it’s a witch thing but I haven’t seen that happen before.

“Excuse me, I’m not sure if this is rude or not but your eyes. They changed, I’m new to this whole mystical world and I was wondering if that’s normal.” I said slightly above whisper and rushed

“It is normal “ Lillian said plainly 

“At least for us.” Estella spoke next

“We are The Sisters Trio” Gloria said

“We share a great many things.” They said in unison as their eyes turned to a light hazel color, I was amazed.

“What are the Sisters Trio?” Anthony asked.

“Long story.”

“For another day”

“Now we want to dance.”

“It’s been so long since we’ve been to a party.” They stated in the same order as before, I’ll have to remember to ask them about their speech patterns later.

 Everyone headed back into the party and I stayed outside, I just wanted time to myself.

“You know Eric is right, there is no reason for you to be jealous of your friend.” Athena’s voice invaded my head and made me jump at the sudden intrusion. 

“I’m still not used to you doing that, but I’m glad you’re close.”

“I will be here whenever you need me, out of sight but close. Not everyone is fine with a tiger so close. I feel your anxiety but I don’t fully understand it, why do you feel lesser than Nicole. You are powerful, just blocked that’s all.”

“Partially blocked, the potion let’s me use my magic it’s just my mind blocked now.”

“No, most of your magic is blocked still. I can feel it, trust me. Don’t worry we will have your powers full, just be patient. Now why are you jealous?”

“I think, I don’t know.”

“You know you’re just not being honest with yourself  or me for that matter. Maybe you just need time, go enjoy the party you’ll come to terms when you’re ready.”

I reluctantly went back to the party. Tomorrow will be better I can feel it.

I have been awake for hours now, just laying and staring at the ceiling. Donzell came by earlier to visit with me and inform me that Alpha John wanted to meet us in the Conference room at noon.  I looked at the time and I had five minutes to get there. I felt so sluggish, the night actually was pretty wonderful after I went back to the party but I vaguely remember coming to bed.

I groaned and sat up to put my shoes on so I could make my way down to the conference room, hopefully I wasn’t going to be the only one late. I opened the conference room door and looked around at everyone who was  sitting. I noticed the Luna, the Gammas, Nixon and Mr. Lee were missing for this meeting, so I quickly walked over to Donzell and took a seat next to him.

“Nice of you to join us Candice, now that you have arrived we can begin our conversation.” Alpha John said in a stern tone.

“Firstly, I would like to know how a young woman became bound to the roof of The Pack House until this morning.”

“Uhm father, what do you mean by bound to the roof until this morning?” Holly asked with furrowed brows 

“She was unable to leave, couldn’t even jump down like an invisible wall was keeping her there. Warriors were unable to get her down until a little after 3am, from the description of the incident that I was given she was bound magically to that spot.”

“That might, well no, that IS my fault Alpha John and I apologize. I placed her on the roof but I didn’t know I had bound her to it as well. She must have been released once I finally fell asleep, I just needed her to leave us alone so that we could resolve what started the fight at the party.” Nikki said with her voice trailing off lowly at the last part.

“Nicole, you must be careful who you use your magic on and how. That young woman happens to be related to the Alpha of a Pack we have an alliance with. Not every Pack is open to other species as we are here, this you may remember young one. We do not want alliances broken or wars started.”

“Alpha John, I am not apologizing if that is where this is going. She was disrespectful and acting like a giant baby, she wouldn’t even listen to Holly. The woman threw a tantrum when she was told to give us a moment because we were having a private discussion.”

“Yes well, she is extremely entitled and spoiled but unfortunately she must be treated with respect Nicole. No I will not have you apologize to her, Mack will apologize on the Pack’s behalf since you are our guest. You will instead host the young woman for a few weeks as a favor to me. You may notice that a few ranked members are missing from this meeting, they are dealing with her and unfortunately my Luna is extremely upset about having to be forced to assist in a matter that usually our Delta is able to handle alone. So as I favor to Luna and myself Nicole, we need you to grant her access into the safe house until Luna can get a break. As you can imagine the young woman was a handful before this incident and now well she’s more unbearable.”

“Dad, it’s not up to Nikki who enters and we call it Safe Haven.”

“I thought there was a protective barrier around it, I was told this by many. Also, Anna informed us that she cannot enter without Nikki’s invitation and a welcoming gift.”

We all looked at him in disbelief  until Zack finally spoke.

“Father Anna has previously been a guest at Safe Haven, she was there for a birthday party a few months back. Yes Nikki does have a protective barrier around the place but as long as a person does not want to cause harm to anyone inside the barrier they can enter. I think she’s trying to get something out of Nikki for what happened last night since she won’t be receiving a direct apology. I also don’t know how comfortable I feel with her joining us at Safe Haven, we have many young and impressionable people there. I don’t want her causing trouble.” 

“Mmmm I understand son, Nixon will be accompanying her as a chaperone for her stay. Hopefully since she knows he will be reporting back she will be on good behavior. Plus you as well as Holly are of Alpha Blood, you should be able to handle her. Nicole I apologize for the confusion. It seems I was misinformed.”

Nikki smiled and did a gentle nod of the head, I raised my hand only to have it slapped by Donzell and I received a chuckle from everyone else.

“Yes, Candice, you have something to say.”

“Uhm, just a question. What did you mean by other Packs not being ok with other species, I thought the magical community was one big happy place.”

“No, that is not the case unfortunately. Many Packs still follow the old ways, only allowing werewolves in their packs even if the wolf is mated to another species. The mate bond is sacred and so is not to be tampered with unless there is a valid reason. Such as your mate is corrupted or unfaithful, in that case you can reject your mate. Some packs may twist the truth in order to reject a mate even though second chances are rarely given. There are some that do not reject their mate if they are of another species, instead they are banished from their packs when the mate bond is accepted. My grandfather was accepting of everyone which was very uncommon, my father was not as accepting he even banished many after he became Alpha. Now many Alphas believe The Scourge is the fault of other species that have corrupted wolves. I am more like my grandfather, I accept someone based on character and actions not background. I have many shifter friends and alliances, my closest and only witch friend for now was my Delta for a period of time. I consider Nicole and Neesh as family as well, I have even called them my nieces. Although my beliefs are not agreeable with every Alpha, I am respected.”

He smiled and I nodded, I could get how Neesh would be considered a niece since she was blood related to pack members but Nikki wasn’t. She is so full of tragedy yet so many love her, even when she was mean she was still respected in a way.

Soon the door opened and in walked an irritated and frustrated Luna.

“I love many of you in this room, and I enjoy your company much but if you all don’t leave now and take that childish brat with you I will cause you great agony.” She looked around the room until her eyes fall on Mrs. Lee and she said, “please, may I have a mixture to relax me dear friend?”

Mrs. Lee nodded and stood, she walked towards Luna and escorted her out of the room. I don’t remember Anna that much from the party but apparently she’s enough of a handful, Luna looked on the verge of a breakdown. Now I felt maybe Zack was right, her coming with us could be problematic.

We originally were supposed to be here for a few nights but unfortunately we had to pack and leave early with an extra guest in tow. Nixon and Mr. Lee had rode ahead with Anna per Mack’s request. The girls and I rode in one vehicle while the guys followed in another.

“How long has your Pack had an Alliance with Anna’s Pack Holly?” I asked as we drove

“Hmmm since my Great Grandfather was Alpha, Harvest Moon Pack  has lots of strong worries and their land produces some of our food. Anna is the daughter of the Harvest Moon Betas and niece to the Alpha, she’s been spoiled rotten since she was born. The Betas had trouble conceiving a child, then they started to be plagued with stillbirths. There was a rumor they were cursed because the Beta Male rejected his True Mate for not being a wolf, but I don’t know how true that is. Anna is their miracle, her mother died during childbirth. Her father had chosen another mate when she was a few weeks old, which is unusual but not unheard of. Anyway her stepmother wanted her to train and be raised as a traditional Beta is, but her father refused. She has no training and her rank is because of her blood only, her father treats her like she’s the most precious Jewel in the world and it’s horrible. Her own Pack despises her, it’s really quite unfortunate but she has Ranked blood and her Beta Title is why we are supposed to show her some respect.”

“She’s a disgrace to she-wolves.” Nikki stated shaking her head while looking out the window.

I wanted to ask more questions but figured now wasn’t the best time. There is still so much I don’t understand and my mystical history has been placed on hold until my combat skills and basic defense spells are better. Training really has been hard on me, I feel that I need a break but no one agrees with that. In their minds I need to be ready in case there is another attack.

Neesh broke the silence by asking Holly a question, of something I once again I didn’t understand.

“Hols are you going to compete for the Beta or Gamma position?”

“Hmmm, I don’t know. I would have to talk to Anthony about it, honestly I don’t know if living in a Pack house is something he’d be ok with. It would be nice for the pups to be closer to more family, has Zack talked to you about competing.”

“He’s expressed more interest in how it’s possible for all the children of the Betas and Gammas to leave and go to their mates Packs. He figured at least one would’ve stayed.”

“Yeah, I kinda assumed one out of six of the Gamma children would’ve stayed. It is what it is, our Pack is still one of the strongest.”

Six children of the Gammas and four children of the Betas all being mated to ranked wolves of different Packs is really unusual. You would think that at least one would’ve mated someone in their own Pack.” Nikki interjected while staring out the window.

“What are you thinking Nikki?” Holly asked with her brows arched

“It’s just the odds of not one of them having mates in the Pack is so odd. Even out of you triplets one of you got a mate related to the Pack by blood. Neesh is the daughter of the Gammas after all, Mack’s mate is even connected by blood to your Pack. She’s the grandchild of one of the former Elite warriors, the only reason she was with another pack is because her mothers second chance mate belonged to it. I just feel it’s odd, they have so many children and not one was mated to someone at Blood Moon. Even stranger not one of them wanted to stay, I’m sure not all of their mates are ranked.”  Nikki replied her gaze still out the window.

I didn’t fully understand what they were talking about but it was a tense conversation. 

We were getting close to Safe Haven and I decided to lay my head back and close my eyes for a bit.