Two Halves of a Whole

Chapter 24

Sattira couldn’t calm down. Her wolf was raging in the back of her mind. When she had awoke to feel someone in her room she had hoped it was her mate. Then she realized that the smell was all wrong.

At first Beverly had just seemed curious about her and the life she had lived. Sattira had felt so bad because she remembered how hurt Beverly had sounded when she realized it was her daughter’s death they were talking about in the conference hall during the Council meeting. Then Beverly had started to talk about taking her ‘home’ and Sattira had tried to explain that she was home.

That was when Lugos had walked into the room. And all hell broke loose.

Now she stood with a very naked Lugos holding her in an effort to convince them both that they were safe and no one would ever keep them apart. Someone draped a blanket over the naked body of her mate and he walked her to the couch in her room where they both sat down, still clinging to each other.

“Tilly, would you and Fred please make sure that woman leaves my pack grounds please? I hate to ask but I think she might be more reasonable with you. Apparently her hatred of my kind has only grown over the years,” Alpha Stephan asked from the doorway to Sattira’s room. “Seems I need to find out how everyone is managing to sneak into the alpha floor without anyone noticing.”

The warriors standing in the hall looked at each other nervously. They knew that someone in charge of watching the security feed wasn’t doing a proper job. There wasn’t usually a reason to worry about threats as only certain pack members had the codes to access the alpha’s floor but apparently someone had found a way around it and with the mages staying for the Council meeting security measures should have been taken that just hadn’t been. Everyone who was on duty in that area would be reprimanded for this mistake.

“I want you to mark me so they can never separate us,” Sattira whimpered.

“No one is going to take you away from me, even if I never mark you.” Lugos tried to reassure her. He had finally stopped shaking and, though his wolf was still pacing back and forth through his mind like a caged animal, at least his wolf stopped growling.

After some time the Sattira calmed down enough to release her mate. She felt guilty for how uncomfortable he looked as he had twisted around to hold her so she could press her face into him and breathe him in so his scent would help calm her wolf. He had been afraid she would shift in her rage and not be able to control her wolf. He knew the humans she had learned from valued life in a different way than Mythical Beings were raised. They viewed killing as murder and he didn’t want her to have to live with that guilt. As her mate it was his job to protect her, even from herself.

His father guarded the door. He refused to leave the responsible for his warriors or Betas as he already excepted Sattira as family. Stephan only had one child and knew how important a mate was to his existence but it went beyond that. There was something about this girl that called to his wolf to protect her, as if her importance was beyond just that of a future Luna to his pack.

Tilly finally returned as the first rays of sunlight were peeping over the horizon. She looked tired and slightly relieved.

“Beverly has left. Her husband, John, promised to try to talk some sense into her but there is no telling if he will get through that thick skull of hers,” Tilly told them.

“She just let herself into my room while I was sleeping,” Sattira told them all. Her voice quivering as she tried to keep her tone steady. “I felt bad because of how upset she was when she learned of my birth mother’s death. She acted like she was just curious about my life, as any family member might be.”

Lugos held her hand for support. She smiled at him gratefully.

“I will be looking into why the security was so lacking. No one should be able to just walk onto this floor without proper clearance, much less enter your room,” Stephan was visibly upset by this but his assurances that she would be more secure comforted her.

“I can also use some magic to reinforce whatever measures you are already taking to help against the abilities of those of other species, if you would allow it,” Tilly offered.

Stephan smiled and nodded his acceptance of her offer. “It is a rare gift to have a mage of your standing make such a generous offer. I appreciate it.”

“It appears we will be family soon enough. There is nothing I won’t do to keep my daughter safe and happy. Just remember that, young wolf,” she gave Lugos a kind smile.

Though Lugos was shocked, as this was the first time Tilly had interacted in a manner that was neither indifferent or unhappy, he smiled at her, “if I ever harm her I deserve any punishment you see fit.”

The two exchanged a look that seemed to end in a silent understanding. It made Sattira happy to see that they had hashed out whatever it was between them. It had only added to her stress knowing that two of the most important people in her life were not getting along, even if it was more because of her mother’s overprotective nature.

Sattira yawned and all eyes turned to her.

“I would say that is a sign it is time to let you get some rest. I am going to take care of the security issues now so rest easy. I will leave a couple of warriors outside your door until I am satisfied with everything,” the Alpha said and started out the door.

“I‘ll join you, if you don’t mind,” her mother said as she followed him out. Any further conversation between the two was blocked out by the bedroom door.

Lugos carried her back to her bed and climbed in next to her without needing to be asked. Although he still had images of her begging him to mark her still fresh in his mind he knew that she had not been thinking right when she had said it. No matter how much the idea excited him there was no way he would mark his mate without her being ready. He wrapped his arms around her and dragged her up close against him so his nose was buried in her hair and the soothing scent of her filled him as they both got what sleep they still could.

Sattira knew she was asleep but somehow she didn’t feel like she was dreaming. A soothing white mist swirled around her kissing her skin and giving everything around her an ethereal feel. The trees were all covered in flowers and gave the impression she was in some kind of garden. She followed the path as the soft light around her gave her the feeling of being bathed in moonlight.

She reached a clearing filled with flowers. In the middle was a small pond with a bridge over it. It made her think of something she had seen in an old picture of the gardens in Japan where young lovers would meet.

Only standing on the bridge was a woman not a man.

“Come, my child, and sit with me for a while. I have things to tell you and there is never enough time,” her musical voice seemed to surround her like a soft lullaby. Her eyes shone as if the moon itself was held within them. Her hair seemed to reflect the light of the moon as if each strand were a mirror for its glow as it fell in loose curls, almost reaching the ground.

Sattira felt drawn to her as if by some outside force. As she walked to join her on the bridge she felt a presence beside her and turned her head slightly to see a mahogany red wolf that was the size she imagined dire wolves of old would reach.

Our forms are separate here in the garden of the goddess. The voice in her head was warm and familiar and it gave her comfort knowing she was not alone in whatever it was they faced.

At the middle of the bridge were a couple of benches against the rails facing each other with soft silver cushions, so soft it made her imagine they might be made of clouds. Her wolf sat at the feet of the goddess as the two women sat across from each other.

“I want to apologize for all you have suffered, it hurts me to watch each of my children suffer. Unfortunately there are only so many things I can do without interfering with the rules put in place at the time of creation,” Selene told her. “When Beverly sought to become pregnant to trap the young Alpha my sister and I were outraged. We have seen so many children suffer from being born to a wolf parent outside of the mate bond. But the heart of your Grandfather is far more pure than most. My sister and I agreed that we could use the opportunity to help heal the relations between mages and werewolves. So we both gifted the baby girl with powers greater than either species had on its own.”

“Why don’t the werewolves and mages get along,” Sattira asked, unable to sit quietly as the question went unanswered. Though new to all of this she had noticed whenever mages and werewolves were in the same room they didn’t interact with each other as readily as they did with other species.

“There is a long history between the two. When the world was still new there were a lot of mages who abused the gifts given to them. They used the essence of the other beings to increase their power and enslaved a lot of werewolves. They used moon flowers to trap them in wolf form and use the like common beasts. Being my sister’s child, the other shifters were not effected by the moon flower pollen so they escaped that fate.”

“It wasn’t until my sister gifted some of her children with pure hearts and they rallied the species together and defeated those evil mages that the other beings became truly free. My sister called those she bless white mages. Even though it has been ages since an mage has turned to that level of evil the werewolves never completely got over what was done.”

“Add to that the fact that mages hold such power that some of them still see themselves as above the werewolves and the tension only seems to fester between them. They have had more wars between the two species than between any other to ever exist.” There was so much sorrow in her voice as she explained the history between the two.

“That is why we thought a child born of both species might help heal the rift. Originally Beverly and Todd agreed Eva would be raised with the mages until she got her wolf, at which point she would go to her father’s pack and learn what it was to be a werewolf. As you know most mages bind their children until they turn 18 but because of the agreement Beverly only did the binding on your birth mother until her 17th birthday, so she would master her magic before leaving to live with the White Mountain Pack.” She explained.

“I thought Alpha Todd threatened Beverly and her family to never tell he was the father,” Sattira was confused by what she was being told as it didn’t match what she was told by the woman that raised her.

“That was the lie Beverly and her parents told her when she finally got her wolf because they saw the gifts she was given and wanted to keep her from finding her father. When they realized how powerful your mother was they coveted that power and tried to control her. They lied to Alpha Todd, convincing him that she never got her wolf. He was afraid a wolfless mage would never be excepted in a pack so he agreed to leave her with Beverly and her family. They had spent years sending one of Eva’s cousins to pretend to be her and no matter how kind or caring Alpha Todd was the child would cry and want nothing to do with him. So he really thought his daughter was happier without him.” Sattira was very angry at how deceitful Beverly and her parents were.

“My sister and I saw how our plan was playing out and agreed that we needed to do something to help set things back the way we wanted them to go. So before Beverly could marry Eva off to a power hungry mage from a very old purist family we set it in motion for her to meet her mate while she was continuing her studies. Being away from her family allowed the mate bond to strengthen.”

“At first her family were overjoyed to know she found her mate. They thought they could get her to reject her mate and her wolf would finally be gone for good, hiding the fact that Beverly mated with someone they saw as beneath them all. But the bond was too strong and the mates escaped together. That is how Beverly didn’t know what happened to her own daughter.” Selene watched her closely as if waiting for something.

Sattirra noticed that Selene seemed to be looking at something behind her. She turned to see two people she never thought she would meet in her lifetime, flanked by their own wolves walking out of the mist with hopeful looks on their faces.

“Mom? Dad?”