Nimara: Children of the Gods Book 1

Chapter 2 ~ Nimue

     The way back to the clan hospital is an 8-minute run on the path which goes through thick brush and fallen trees. It's well worn, but I'm cutting straight through the brush at a full run. You’d think this would take longer but it doesn’t, Rosalyn's moving thing out of my way to help.

     I make it back in less than 3 minutes and go straight to the large 2 story building off to the right. It's the hospital, but it looks more like a hotel though. There are balconies from each room on the second floor, to give all patients outdoor access. The first floor has small terraces from each room, they're separated with a divider fence and railing for privacy. The roof's looking a little rough right now, we're expanding and adding another 2 floors.

     Heading through the main entrance, I peel off towards the elevators and hit the down button. The medical cells are located on the second and third underground floors. These are also completely blocked off from the rest of the hospital and clinic, as there's a long corridor that you walk to get to the security gate to get in.  When the elevator opens, I hit UG2. Then before the doors close, Tania slides in and swipes her security card. Signaling the guards that it's not just a random person coming down. The doors shut and the elevator moves.

“Howard, Kevin, Michelle and Scarlett have finished the scent marking and border patrol. They found 3 men with dart guns a couple hundred feet from the clearing.” Tania says as her eyes go a deep silverish purple, showing she's pissed.

“Are the fuckers still alive?” I respond.

“Yes. They're in the cells. Tilly and Morgana are with them.” Tania says as a purely evil smile comes across her face. I know this look; it was the same one she had when going after the rogues ten years ago. It’s a horrifyingly dark side to Tania that I'm thankful for, especially when she uses it to help those in danger. Morgana's no different, coming up with truly evil and creative things to do to our enemy. I have seen both women at their darkest, it’s not something I recommend witnessing in person.

“Do I want to know what those two girls are doing to them?” I ask, raising an eyebrow as the elevator dings and the doors open.

“No, not if you want to eat for the next 3 days.” Tania replies and her smile grows. I nod my head and walk to the security desk to see where our healed wolf is.

 “He’s in room 6.” The guard says. I nod and walk to room 6 and knock.

“Come in.” Surrey calls. Tania swipes her security card again and we walk in. As we do, we're met with a large brown wolf pacing back and forth. When he looks at me, he drops the dart and hits the floor to show submission.

“It’s okay, we know it's not your fault. We want to help all of you.” I say.  I realize he's horrified by his actions caused by the poison. I grab the dart and ask Tania to have it analyzed immediately. I mentioned not to have Rosalyn or Tilly do the testing, as the smell made Tilly extremely nauseous and I didn’t want it to harm them.

     As Tania leaves, I hear the familiar cracking of bones and turn to grab a towel for him. Once finished shifting back, I notice tears streaming down his cheeks, and I walk over to give him a hug. He's shocked but soon returning the hug and whispers in my ear.

 “Please tell me I didn’t hurt my baby sister. She and my older sister are all I have left from our pack being attacked and destroyed!!” He said through sobs.

“I truly don’t know; can you tell me what she looks like?” I ask as I pull away and wipe the tears from his face.

“She's the youngest member traveling in the group.” He says still shedding tears, but slower as he has starts to calm down.

“Oh, yes she's fine. She has a death grip that’s for damn sure.” I say with a light chuckle. Surrey just give me a quizzical look. “When I entered into the clearing a little girl of about 4, wrapped her arms around my legs to get away from some of the infected.” I said, the look on her face is replaced with an “ooh” expression.

“Thank you, Moon Goddess!” He says with a sigh.

“What's your name and which pack were all of you from? I'm going to the conference today and I'll be able to bring it up and see if there are others who made it out safely….” I say, “hopefully we can bring all of you back together and get you all settled somewhere safe if you don’t want to stay here.”

“I'm Brad, that little girl with the death grip is Tia and my older sister is Lee. We were from the Crystal River Pack. We were attacked a week ago. The group I was traveling with is what is left of us, at least those I was able to get out of the death trap the other pack set.” Brad says as his expression changes to one of anger.

“Do you know which pack attacked you?” Tania asks, also looking like she's ready to kill when she walks back in. I know Tania has or had a sister and niece in the Crystal River Pack. I hope they were able to get out to safety.

“Yes, but unfortunately your Alpha here isn’t going to like it.” He says looking at me cautiously.

“It's okay, we'll be able to verify and go after them, as I'll send trackers to your pack to pick up any scent we can.” I reply already knowing who it was that attacked them, and his death will cause a tsunami of relief with our neighbors.

“It was Alpha Timothy, of the Black Shadow Pack.” Brad says, taking a step back thinking I might lash out at him.

“I f*****g knew he was a scumbag, but to attack his brothers-in-law pack is f****d up!!” Surrey says, the heat of her anger is rolling off her in shock waves.

“No, it’s not Surrey, he's power hungry. He attacked us last year remember?” I say. Tania places her hand on my shoulder for comfort and when I turn to face them, her and Surrey have a look of surprise on their faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Nimue, your eyes are glowing white” Surrey answers.

“Oh yea, I need to release some stress. Maybe I'll go for a quick run when I get to the Tiger Lily Pride.” I respond before sending a mind-link to Onyx.

“Onyx, get our Elite warriors to start patrols and set up their hidden stations immediately please and thanks.”

“What happened? Is there a problem?” He asks.

“Yes, it was Uncle Tit that caused all of this, and he wiped out Max’s pack. That’s what pack these rogues were from. I bet he’s also the one who darted them to attack their family members too in that clearing.” I send back.

“For f**k sake! Just end his useless f*****g existence! Your mom's parents have even declared him as an enemy now. Let’s just end this and get rid of that piece of s**t!” An exasperated Onyx replies.

“Soon.” I say. I know the conversation has been sent throughout the clan, as I can hear gasps, cursing and prayers through the mind-link.

“Ok Brad, you and your fellow pack members are good to stay here. We have the other affected in other cells burning off the poison. You and all the others are able to join our clan if you wish also. Just let Onyx know so that he can get your living den built. Until then you'll stay here in the hospital, get a proper health check and cleared before anything else, okay?” I look at him, to see shock and appreciation on his face. “Once you all have been given a good bill of health, we will do a welcoming ceremony during the Life Celebration week. It'll be an amazing addition to the week.”

“Thank you so much Alpha! Yes, we'd love to join your clan! Please let us know how we can help!” Brad says wrapping me in a hug. Soon after we got Brad moved to a new room on the second floor above ground. As I left the hospital, I met up with Tanner in the lobby. He offers to walk over to the medical clinic with me.

     The clinic's a smaller building just beside the hospital and it's for the more minor injuries. I want to get more information about what happened to their pack and the fight in the clearing before we got there. Some of the infected and injured were taken to the clinic because all the hospital's medical cells were full. I hadn’t realized just how many were in the attack until it was over. There were roughly 41 people in total, who were turned rogue because of my Uncle and that's just those who came here.

      As Tanner and I walk up to the medical clinic, the little girl from the fight comes running to me and grabs my legs again, crying. I pick her up in a hug to settle her. That’s when I notice she has latched onto Tanner’s hand and he's rubbing her cheek with his thumb.

“Tanner, do you want to take her? She seems very calm with you.” I say, passing him the little girl. A young woman walking towards us, freezes in place as she and Tanner lock eyes. I can hear the hum of Tanner’s heart and I realize he has found the one person he has spent four years looking for, his mate.

“huh?” He looks at me dazed, “Oh yea sure. Where's she going to stay?”

“With her family. Which it seems you are included in my gorgeous mate.” This time it was the young woman who answered. Tanner's standing like a deer caught in headlights again, looking at this beautiful girl in front of us.

“Hi, I am Lee and that's my little sister Tia.” She introduces herself and the little girl.

“Hi, I'm Nimue and this is Tanner.” I say, elbowing Tanner. “Are you Brad’s older sister?” I ask as Tanner still hasn’t come out of shock yet, so I elbow him once again, much harder this time.

“What? Oh, yea sorry. It’s nice to meet you Lee.” Tanner finally manages to get out, with a smile making its way onto his face.

“Oh, my goddess! Brad!! He’s alive? Is he okay?” Lee asks all at once.

“Yes, he's fine, he has recovered from the poison and is in room 217 at the hospital.” I say, as I then turn to Tanner and give the awe-struck griffin instructions to help break the ice. “Tanner, you should take Lee and Tia to get some breakfast and then over to see a doctor for a quick check up. Once that's done take them over to see Brad, and then to their home. Onyx should have a new living den ready for them.”

“Ohh! Thank You so much! And thank you for not hurting him. This wasn’t his fault. I can’t imagine how he's feeling right now.” She says as relief washes over her.

“Nimue, they can move in with me! Brad included. My den's more than big enough for all of us. Then that way Brad can train as a warrior with me also.” Tanner says, his eyes grow huge and bright. Hoping that I'll approve, and Lee will accept.

“That sounds like a great plan, first he needs to be cleared by Surrey though. So, I'm going to leave the three of you to get to know each other, and Tanner, I think it would be best to show your mate and her sister the home you will share. But after everything else.” I say. Just before I enter the clinic and turn left at the receptionist’s desk.

“Good morning Nimue, Morgana's downstairs, you need to go to her first.” Nikki says as I walk by.

“Thank you, Nikki, I will.” I walk to the end of the hall in the clinic's east wing, passing rooms filled with my clan members who have found their mates among the rogues from this morning. As I get to the end, a guard passes a scan card over a sensor unlocking the door. I head down to the first underground level and into more of the medical cells. There I see Morgana standing in front of a door talking to one of the travelers. It’s a woman, she's crying, and Morgana's rubbing her back in small circles. I realize it's Kendra, Morgana’s cousin. Her and her mom were part of the Crystal River Pack. As I approach the thought crosses my mind of Tania’s smile earlier. She knew they are here and was enjoying the thought of what torture her daughter was inflicting on those men.

“Kendra, I wish I was seeing you on better terms.” I say as the two girls look to me.

“Nimue, that fucker darted Aunt Tracy with liquid iron to kill her.” Morgana says as she shakes from rage.

“Don’t worry, he'll be dealt with. For now, let me see what I can do to save your Aunt.” I say. I know I have to detach so that I don’t hurt Tracy as I draw the metal out of her body.

“How the hell are you going to save my mom? You can’t f*****g do anything!” Kendra yells. I've already moved past her into the room. Moving to bed I see Tracy laying there very weak and pale. I grab a scalpel from the instrument table and cut Tracy’s palm. She cries out in pain and as I am about to start pulling the metal out, I feel a pull on my arm and a fist connect with my face. In one move, I have Kendra thrown up against the opposite wall and metal straps have reached out to secure her tightly.

“What the f**k Kendra? She’s the head of the Silver Shadow Clan and a pure blood lycan!” Morgana yells at her cousin. Kendra stops fighting against the straps when the information sinks in. She turns a deathly white color and looks worse than her mother.

“Tracy, this is going to hurt, but you will also heal and live, may I please continue?” I ask as I move back to her side and lift her palm up.

“Yes, please Nimue.” She gasps. She screams as I start to draw the metal out of her blood, using the cut as an exit from her body. The metal collects in a bowl I placed under Tracy’s palm. As I continue to pull the last of the metal from her body, Tania comes into the room. She looks to Kendra who's still strapped to the wall, then to Morgana with the same evil smile as before. Tania then finally comes over to my side.

 “Is there anything you need me to do Nimue?” Tania asks as she goes from beside me to the opposite side of the bed, to hold her sister's hand.

“Yes, you'll need to get the rest of the poison out afterwards.” I say still emotionless. A sudden gasp comes from Tracy, as I hit the floor and black out. A few minutes later, not knowing what happened, I slowly come to and start to stand, realizing I am no longer in the clinic but in the memorial cavern. “How the f**k did I get here?” I mumble to myself.

“I'm sure your mother would be washing that horrible language out of your mouth if she were here.” A voice behind me says, I jump and raise silver spikes from the earth.

“There's no need for those, not that it would do anything anyways. I'm just here to see how you have been and to help you figure things out.” The lady says. She looks so familiar, tall and beautiful, with snow white hair and wearing a white dress. The memories of the attack come rushing back to me and I let out a deep growl, causing her to step back and shed a few tears.

“Leave me the f**k alone, I don’t need or want your help. You were useless that night and obviously you still are.” I snapped at her. A look of deep sadness washes over her as I start to move our position so that I can get up the stairs and away from her.

“Nimue, I never meant to hurt you. It was just how things worked out and I was not going to risk you dying to save your parents.” She says as I walk up the stairs.

“Isn’t it too bad that in your actions Goddess, I lost all faith in you and will never believe a word you say.” I state as I continue out of the cavern. I try to open the door, only to find my hand passes through the doorknob. “Son of a b***h!” I let out a sigh of frustration.

“You can leave once you hear what I have to say. Please just listen and then we can move forward to rebuild your faith, I hope.” She says as a far-off look appears in her eyes.

“What do you want?” I ask, highly irritated.

“Nimue, your parent’s passing was part of the plan put into place for you long ago. There was no changing it.” She says, starting to walk towards me. Spikes of silver come from the ground once again and halt her movements. “Do you really hate me that much that you would use your gift to hurt me?” She asks as she starts to cry.

“At this point I would rather be a human, if it meant I would never have to see you again!” I snap. “Now hurry the f**k up with what you have to say. I have people that actually give a f**k, that need me.”

“Nimue, you're going to have to choose between your clan and your mate. Unfortunately, he has sided with your Uncle. I'm sorry Nimue, it will either be your death or the clan’s rule under your uncle and your mate.” She says.

“Gaia, you already know my answer, so why waste my time?” A look of pure hate has come across my face. All I can feel is the want and need to rip her and my uncle apart.

“I want you to realize that not all things are worth fighting against. You do deserve to have happiness too you know. It's not selfish to want to walk away.” She says.

“Are you f*****g kidding me? You want me to walk away from many innocent people and leave them to be beaten, tortured, r***d and murdered at the hands of a f*****g sick bastard like my Uncle?” I scream. “Wow you truly are a f*****g useless Goddess; I'm sure your children are going to love to hear what you want for them.”

“I never said I wanted this for them, but it will be the decision you'll have to make Nimue. I just thought I would help you see the bigger picture.” Gaia says, pacing back and forth in front of the spikes.

“Then tell Hades I'll see him soon, as I would rather die protecting my family and clan, then leaving them to my Uncle and my useless mate.” I say with pure hatred and venom in my words. “Now let me the f**k out of here.”

“Please Nimue, think about what you are saying!” Gaia begs as what I just said finally registered.

“No, I would rather die than leave my family to him” As the last word leaves my mouth, I am back at the clinic with Draven, Tilly, Morgana and Tania sitting beside my bed. I groan as I sit up and realize I'm in pain. Whatever else was in that dart they hit Tracy with, was causing me to be sore and stiff. Like I had been hit by a Mack truck several times.

“Take it easy girl, you completely healed Tracy and in doing so exhausted yourself. You're going to be sore until tomorrow.” Surrey says from the doorway.

“Nimue, what happened? Why did you black out?” Tania looks worried and anxious.

“The Useless Goddess Gaia wanted to have a talk.” I reply coldly.

“What did she want?” Morgana asks.

“To tell me I have to make a choice, between the clan’s survival under my uncle’s rule or my death...” I say as I look over to Tania.

“What? Why?” Draven looks like he's going to cry. The thought of losing his family hurts him more than anything. For a bear, he's very emotional when it comes to his kin.

“Apparently my mate has sided with my psycho Uncle and if I want to be with him, I have to give up the clan to Tim. Otherwise if I fight, I am going to die. But at least then I know I did everything to keep you all safe from him.” I reply as tears start to stream down my cheeks, both from anger and heartbreak.

“I can’t believe she would not care about us like that! How can she just throw us away like we mean nothing?” Tilly asks through sobs. Draven has brought Tilly into his chest and is trying to comfort her.

“I don’t give a f**k about her; you are my family, and I will NOT give this clan over to that waste of f*****g flesh!!” I say through gritted teeth.

“Nimue, you may not have a choice. I would rather not have to bury you.” Draven says softly.

“Do you want to be collared to watch men r**e, beat and impregnate Tilly in front of you?” I snap. Draven has taken a step back from me, knowing that if my death means he gets to live peacefully with his cubs and Tilly, then that's exactly what's going to happen.

“Nimue, he didn’t mean it like that. We can all go to other clans, packs and covens if needed to keep everyone safe. You don’t need to throw your happiness and mate away just for us. We'll understand.” Tania says trying to defuse the situation.

“Wait, what did you just say?” Realizing something Tania just said makes me think of what Gaia said. She looks at me questioningly when she realizes something isn’t right with the talk I had.

“What did the goddess say to you exactly?” Tania asks. I spend the next 10 minutes telling them what happened in the cavern with the goddess. The look on everyone’s face is the same, someone is tampering with my mind, the Sisters of Fate and the Goddess Gaia.

“I'll send a message with Tenelle, to the Council of the Gods. I'm sure the Fates are going to be absolutely pissed that someone's trying to alter the Path of Life that they have given. I also imagine, Hecate isn't going to be happy either and it could mean a familial bloodline is going to get wiped out.” Tania says with an expression that's hard to read.

“Tania, it may not be the choice of the caster. He or she may be being forced to do this, just like the pack members were darted and drugged to kill their family members as they made it to our clan.” I say still trying to read Tania’s expression and coming up short.

“How would someone know what to look like when appearing to you as the goddess Nimue? That's something that would be impossible to do.” Surrey says as she looks deep in thought.

“It wouldn’t be hard, as the goddess has come to me many times since my parent’s death, and she never hid who she was.” I say, “Sometimes it was out in public, so if anyone was paying attention, they would have known who she was. Other times it would be during training, or while I was studying for school.”

“Do you know when the last time was that you saw her and not this imposter?” Tania asks. 

“Yes actually, you were there. She even called you sister.” I respond looking at Tania as she starts to recall the last visit, I'm still trying to figure that day out but up until this moment, I can’t get any information out of the Goddess or Tania.

“That was about three months ago, and we were in the garden studying herbs and plants for your test in your Survival course at school, right?” Tania asks looking at me for conformation.

“Yes, that's right. But before she left, she said that someone would try and taint my love and loyalty to the clan and her. But she already knows that I have no faith in her, with what happened 10 years ago. She also gave me a specific date she would come to see me again.” My mind has gone into overdrive as I'm trying to recall specifics from the visit today.

“Nimue, can I see your visit from today?” Tania asks, knowing it's going to hurt like hell and I'll need to rest afterwards. I hate when she looks into my memories, to see if she can find anything I may have missed. Depending on how long she's looking and how far she needs to go back, it could be days of rest afterwards. The last time was almost three and a half weeks of me sleeping to recover from the memory viewing.

“Depends on what time it is and if I'll be able to rest before traveling to the Tiger Lily Pride for the conference.” I respond looking to see if someone has their phone to give me the time.

 “It’s 7:28 am. We need to leave at 9 am to get to the Pride early, so we can talk to Kenneth.” Draven tells me.

“Ok, go get prepared for your trip first, and then I'll take a look, the drive there is about an hour. Which should be enough of a rest. I just want to take a look at this so-called goddess. Something isn't sitting right with me.” Tania says as she looks to Draven for approval.

“Yea that'll be fine. Let's go get ready, be at Nimue’s den in 20 minutes Tania.” Draven says as we all get up and start to move out of the room. I realize that I am in the room just beside Tracy and Kendra, so I poke my head in to check on both of the ladies before I head out.

“How are you feeling Nimue?” Tracy asks as I walk in. The two ladies are eating the breakfast nachos I was so looking forward to but won't get to have. I love the waffle fries with melted cheese, bacon, an egg topper and peppers on it! Oh, goddess I am drooling just thinking about it!

“Me? You're the one we need to worry about. There was something else in that dart, other than iron. Maybe that was the triggered me to black out. Anyways, how are you feeling?” I ask. “What about you Kendra, how are you doing?

“Better, mom's getting her strength and color back quickly. Thank you for your help and I'm sorry for my behavior. I should not have acted that way towards you Nimue.” Kendra says lowering her head.

“No worries, you were scared and angry. It's understandable. I would've done a lot worse than just punch someone. I'm glad to hear that you're healing Tracy, if you need anything, talk to  Tania okay? I'll leave you two to finish your breakfast and get rest. I have to get going. I just wanted to make sure you were taken care of, before heading out to the conference. Tania's staying behind and she'll also make sure you’re all set to move into your new den.” I say as I start to head out the door to get ready.

“Thank you again so much for everything Nimue. Your mom would be amazed at the woman you're becoming, and your dad would be smiling with pride knowing you're not taking your Uncle’s s**t either.” Tracy says.

“Thank you, and you're very welcome ladies, I'll see you later. But in the meantime, get some rest.”