My Mates Kingdom

Mom

Audrey POV

It was so exciting to have a party even if I already knew about it. I dreamt of this day a few nights ago. I still wanted to seem surprised. They put so much work into making this a special day for me. I loved the cake. It is bright pink with edible glitter. It isn’t really pretty to look at, on one side the frosting is chunky and melting off but it tasted good.

Casper had volunteered to tell us a story and I sat on his lap. He rubbed my back as he talked about a fantasy world of princes and princesses. He always tells the best stories. Danny never appears interested but she still stays with us. Something about Casper always soothes me. I can't explain it. I feel a connection to him. The moment I saw him in that van I was drawn to him. 

My eyes started to droop and I let myself fall asleep. I open my eyes and I stand outside a row of silver cells. This is the dungeon Dom saved Danny from. Inside one of the cells I see a woman with a crying infant. Next to that cell is a man. I move closer and notice its Casper. 

“He is going to kill her. He wanted us to have a boy.” The woman is desperately crying as she whispers to Casper. He whispered something back to her through the bars that I couldn’t hear. His head snaps up. His eyes lock onto mine and confusion appears on his face. Does he see me? How?

His eyes….they aren’t white. They are a bright blue. He looks younger. His eyes move down the  hallway behind me. He walks to the door of his cell. He pulls out a long thin piece of metal. His hands reached through the bars. I could hear the sizzle of the silver to his skin. 

He starts to pick the lock. He fumbled a little but eventually there was a click.

The door is pushed open. He quickly goes to the woman’s cell. He’s fast to open hers. He grabs the baby out of her arms and they run down the hallway. I follow them. They ran out of the black house and through the forest. They made it so far. They probably would have escaped but a crying infant draws attention. They made it to the border when the woman fell. 

Casper stops to turn back when growling comes from a distance. “Run” she screamed “save her.” He didn’t hesitate. He turned and ran into my old pack. Growling behind him keeps getting closer. Soon a woman with dark hair appeared in the distance. She was just laying on a blanket near a river. Casper placed the baby onto the forest floor. He turned back around and ran towards the growling. 

The baby cried louder causing the woman to turn her head. She slowly walked this way. I know this woman.  She was my mother. She looked around the forest when she saw no one else around, she ran towards the baby. She quickly picked it up, making shushing sounds. She rocked her arms back and forth. The crying eventually stops. My mother looked around some more before walking away. 

I blink and I am suddenly in a room. It has tools and metal objects everywhere. Casper is laying on a metal table. The woman he ran with is chained to the floor on the opposite side of the room. 

Alpha Travis is walking towards Casper “Now that baby of yours is with the neighboring Beta. I will make a deal with you. Since it is a girl I have no use for her. You run again and your daughter will die. As long as you stay here she lives a nice happy life. But there are consequences Casper. You still have to be punished for running.” 

Travis turns toward the woman. “I have a replacement for her already.” Travis says. My heart starts to race. No! The woman looks up and has beautiful light green eyes. They glisten from unshed tears. He gets closer to her and I start to panic more. 

He grabs a long knife off a table before he reaches her. I couldn’t tell the difference between my screams and Casper’s. It was so loud. I closed my eyes and felt my knees give out. 

When I opened my eyes she was laying on the ground in a pool of blood. She wasn’t moving anymore. Her blonde curled hair covered her face. 

Travis was now standing next to Casper again. He had a small jar with powdered silver in it. “I want the last thing you ever see to be her dead body.” 

Travis opened the lid and scooped a lump of silver into a spoon. A man I didn’t see before was holding Casper’s eye open. Travis dumped the silver into Casper’s eye. He screamed and my broken heart shattered again. They moved to his other eye. Doing the same thing. I tried to stop them but my hands moved through them. They aren't really here.

I sit up trying to catch my breath. I am laying in bed alone. The sun is shining through the curtain. I can hear talking coming through the door. The smell of coffee overpowers the cabin. I scoot out of bed and open my door. Casper is sitting next to Dom. They are both drinking coffee. Danny is feeding Lulu a bottle. My eyes stay focused on Casper. 

He scrunches his eyebrows “Audrey?” He asked and everyone went silent. They all look at me. 

I can feel the tears falling down my face. Dom starts to look worried. “What is wrong?” He asked

I don’t look away from Casper. “Were you planning on telling me?” I ask in a soft whisper 

There is confusion from everyone except Casper. He just seems to be concerned. “Tell you what?” He asked 

“That you are my father.” 

Dom and Danny turn their heads to  Casper in shock. His head moves towards the fire almost as if he could see the flames. He takes a deep breath. “You have already lost your parents. I didn’t want you to think they lied to you too.” I watch as his eyes start to glisten over. “How much did you see?”

“You trying to run with my mom. You giving me to my adoptive mother. My real mothers death. Travis blinded you with silver. “ Casper takes a deep breath but still stays silent. 

“You are really her father?” Dom asked. He is still shocked. 

“I told you Travis wanted a seer. He has some notion that a very powerful seeing is supposed to be born. So he collected any known descendants that showed any potential. Audrey’s mother Camile was the only one I was put with. At first we had separate cells. They wanted us to talk and get to know each other. Travis then threatened Camile. He said that if we didn’t sleep together and try for a baby that he would kill Camile. I knew he would just find someone else to replace her. I had already developed feelings so it was really that hard to obey. We were together for a few years before getting pregnant. They did ultrasounds but they couldn’t determine the gender. When Audrey was born we knew they would kill her. Seers are usually men. So we tried to run. To protect you. When we heard the guards behind us I knew we were running out of options. I saw that woman and I felt so relieved. Women always care for children even if they aren't their own. So I sat you down and went back. Travis killed Camile and blinded me from running.” He rubs a finger over the rim of his coffee cup. “I don’t regret running. I would do it all over again even knowing the price. I would do anything to keep you safe Audrey. Anything. I wish your mother didn’t have to die but she would have done it over again too. We both wanted you to be safe.”

I walked over and wrapped my arms around Casper. I am not upset. My heart aches for the loss of my mother that I never met. I never felt connected to Nancy. She was my mother for seven years but it never felt right. When my adoptive parents died I didn’t feel sad. I didn’t feel anything. I was just worried about Lulu and Danny. I had seen Dom going after Danny a few weeks prior. It was all just random images but after the attack I knew what it all meant. So I found Dom and sent him after Danny. 

I knew that Casper was there because a man told me. It is just a whisper. It was only once after the attack. He told me that we needed him. To make sure Dom brings him back. That man hasn’t spoken to me since but sometimes I can feel someone watching us. I don’t think he wants to hurt us but I think that man is still here.