The Mute Bride

Memory Lane

“Your father and I hadn’t been married long. He was the Alpha, of a long line of Alphas, and I was his Luna. I still remember the day I found out he was my mate; everyone was really shocked. How could a girl raised by humans be mated to the Alpha?” At the look her daughter sent her way, she nodded, “That’s right. I was not always part of a pack. I was adopted as a baby by an amazing family and raised with all the love and care they had to offer. Of course, I wasn’t like them, but we didn’t know that until much later.” She explained how she came to be found at the edge of the woods, with no family or personal belongings to be found. Naturally, she had been raised as any human would have been, almost thriving in the human town she had come to call home. The only problem was - she wasn’t human.

Being a wolf, she was different from those she grew up with, those she lived with, joked with, even loved. When her wolf started to show, at first, Maureen had thought she was going crazy. Her parents had heard of this happening to others, and after some time, located a pack who might be able to help her understand what she was experiencing. Grateful for others like her, who could understand and even help her learn about who she was, she joined the pack and the rest, as they say, was history. “Everyone treated me and my family with respect, but not everyone liked the fact that I was raised human. There was a lot people had to say about their Alpha having me as a mate, but he didn’t care. You know how precious fated mates are, but I’ll always be grateful he listened to the Goddess. I can’t imagine having to live without knowing his love even for an instant.” Her eyes teared up as she spoke, letting her memories guide the conversation.

“We married under the Blood Moon, formally acknowledging our duties to each other and to our pack before the Moon Goddess. She blessed us, finding ourselves with child before long, and she was our whole world. When Lisette was about ten, we got her first formal request for a betrothal. Of course, we said no. We wanted to wait and see if she would find her mate before we chose one for her. That was when we learned about the prophecy.”

“Prophecy?” The girl pushed her mother for more information as she considered what she had already learned. Kylan knew that fated mates were rare; that’s why so many took on chosen mates. In some cases, chosen mates were selected much the way an arranged marriage would have been done, but if one were to ever find their fated mate, they were expected to honour the Goddess and set any other aside. It was considered a blessing to be given a fated mate, and to do otherwise would be to spit in the Goddess’ face. No greater dishonour existed.

But a prophecy? Those were even rarer, and to ignore the warnings given by one could end in disaster of grave proportions. She tried to think if she had ever heard of a prophecy, but she came up blank. Curious eyes flicked over her mother’s worn features.

“Yes, a prophecy. I didn’t understand why there were so many offers at such a young age, even with her being the Alpha’s daughter. It seemed really out there, but when we learned of the prophecy, it all made sense. It spoke of a child born to someone raised by humans, and in these parts, I was the only one raised by humans. So it made sense that anyone who had heard the prophecy would seek to ally themselves with our family. We were that more determined to wait for her Fated Mate. We thought that if she really were the one in the prophecy, then surely the Moon Goddess would give her a Fated Mate to share it with. Only problem is, life kind of got in the way.”

“What do you mean?” she tilted her head, curious as to her mother’s meaning. Her mind raced with all the new knowledge, trying to ascertain where it was going to go. Somehow, her parents went from Alpha and Luna of their own pack to the Beta and Beta’s mate of this one…how? What could this prophecy have to do with it? Where did her sister go? “What happened to her?”

“There was an alpha that insisted she be his chosen mate, one that could bring a lot to our pack if we agreed. We told him the same as the others - she was spoken for by her fated mate. We thought that was the end of that, but about a week later, our peace was broken.” She ran her fingers through Kylan’s pretty onyx curls. “The rogues came in the night, the alarm sounding too late. The whole pack was decimated…burned to the ground. The pups were taken to a safehouse, under the care of any member who couldn’t fight. Not that it mattered…the devil-eyed monsters rooted out their hiding place and finished what they had started. In the c*****e, it took us awhile to realize Lisette was missing.” Maureen sat there quietly for a moment as she remembered, almost feeling herself transported back to that time.

“We were heartbroken. Our only daughter was a victim of the m******e we didn’t see coming, and we couldn’t even bury her. To make matters worse, there was a second attack that nearly cost your father his life. I remember that day so vividly. The alpha that had ordered the attack doubled back and tied up loose ends. Your father was one of those loose ends. We ran, with our tails between our legs before we lost him too.

Alpha Cole found us by the river, trying to cover up our tracks long enough to tend to Richard’s wounds. The Blackwood pack took us in, treating us like family. Your father became his beta, and we picked up the tatters of our lives and moved on.” Her head tilted, considering. “Things would have been very different if she had survived the attack. You would have had a big sister, for one.”

Her head tilted, considering. “Things would have been very different if she had survived the attack. You would have had a big sister, for one.”

“Are you sure that I don’t?” her question came almost before she knew what she was saying. Her mother obviously didn’t know that her firstborn was still alive, and honestly, it was incredulous to even think that it could be true. Maybe the letter was a trick? Her mother’s confused look was enough to prompt her to continue, pulling out the letter that had been delivered that day. Instead of explaining, she handed it to her mother and waited, watching her face for a reaction.

“Wait, what is this?” Maureen read over the letter, her brow furrowed with confusion, her face awash with guilt, pain, and even…hope. “Could she really…could she be alive?”