I fold the note, place it inside the sleeve of my dress, and quickly blow the candle out before pulling the stone wall shut behind me. I follow the sound of Maximus’s calls. I can hear the worry in his voice. So I run to find him quicker, ‘Maximus, I’m here,’ I shout.
A few moments later, I’m back in his arms, ‘Everyone has been looking for you! I was worried something had happened to you,’ he says.
‘I was trying to find my way back to the kitchen, and I became lost and-‘
‘Thank the Moon Goddess, you found her,’ Nathan says with relief.
‘She had become lost, but I have found her now,’ Alpha Maximus says, turning back to me. He takes my hand and leads me back into the familiar areas of the castle and to the kitchen.
‘Beth, could you get Hope a drink, please? I’m sure she’s thirsty,’ He says, kissing my forehead.
My hands shake as I drink the water. I turn to Alpha Maximus, ‘There’s something I want to talk to you about,’ I say to him.
‘Oh, there’s something I need to talk to you about as well. It’s pack business. We can discuss it in my-our office,’ he says.
I follow Alpha Maximus into the office. He sits in his chair, pulls me onto his lap, and nuzzles his face into my neck. I cup his face in my hands and kiss his lips.
‘I thought we were going to discuss pack business?’ I smile.
‘Well, we were going too,’ he says in a frisky tone, sitting me on his desk. ‘Maximus!’ I giggle, blushing.
After we make love, he holds me back on his lap. I snuggle into his chest, ‘What were you wanting to talk to me about?’ Maximus asks as he strokes my arm with his fingers.
‘What do you know about the Dark Moon Pack?’ I ask nervously.
He stiffens, and his eyes darken, ‘How did you know that was the pack problem I was going to talk to you about?’ he says.
I look at him in confusion, ‘I-I didn’t know that was what you were going to speak to me about when you mentioned pack business,’ I state truthfully.
He looks lost in thought and as well as agitated.
‘What’s wrong? What is it?’ I ask.
‘The Dark Moon pack is just that… ‘Dark,’ their Alpha is truly twisted and evil. He is the reason why my parents were killed!’ Maximus snarls.
My body stiffens as my heart sinks with dread. My father is the reason his parents are dead.
‘Maximus, I’m so sorry.’
He gently grabs my chin to face him, ‘Hope it’s not your fault… it’s not like you had anything to do with it,’ he says and kisses me. ‘Hope? Are you shaking?’ he asks with concern. He places his head on my forehead, ‘Your temperature seems fine. Maybe you need rest?’
‘No, I’ll be fine. We need to discuss these matters,’ I reply.
He places some scrolls in front of me, ‘With half the packs gone and now ruled by us, I contacted the Alphas of the remaining packs to let them know of our new territories and to confirm I now have my mate and Luna. So far, most are willing to sign peace treaties except for the one that concerns me the most, the Dark Moon Pack.
The Dark Moon pack and the Blood Moon pack have had bad blood for many years that led to the death of my parents,’ he says.
‘What happened?’ I ask. Part of me doesn’t want to know what my birth pack did to his pack.
‘I was young. All I remember is they had a friend who was supposedly a witch who had broken the law. It resulted in a witch hunt. All packs were hunting her down. My parents and Kayla’s parents were killed for trying to protect her and going against the law,’ he explains.
‘What law did she break?’ I ask.
‘She fell in love with a werewolf who happened to be the Alpha of the Dark Moon pack,’ he answers.
‘I don’t understand. If they were in love, then why shouldn’t they be together?’ I ask. Maximus looks at me, startled.
‘Don’t you know it’s forbidden for werewolves to mate or crossbreed with other supernatural beings? Doing so is an instant death penalty,’ he says.
‘Why should they be punished for being in love? Why should it matter if you fall in love with a vampire, a wolf or a witch?’ I say defensively.
‘Hope? Are you hearing yourself? It’s forbidden because we don’t know what a hybrid is capable of or how dangerous it could be to the rest of the supernatural beings. We are all equally balanced. If a creature were born of mixed species, we would no longer have that balance. Having a hybrid would be a threat to all our species, don’t you see that?’ he says and pulls me in to hug me.
I look up at him, ‘Is that what you really think? That a hybrid is nothing but a creature and a threat?’ I ask, struggling to hold my tears in.
Maximus heaves a heavy sigh, ‘It doesn’t matter what I think because hybrids don’t exist,’ he says.
I take a few steps back, ‘You seem to have forgotten…’ I trail off.
‘Forgotten what?’ he says.
‘Alpha Liam… remember what he called me? He called me a witch,’ I remind him.
Maximus becomes lost in thought but then laughs, ‘Yeah, but we know you’re a werewolf, not a witch, so his comment doesn’t matter,’ Maximus says.
‘Then why do I have the ability to heal Maximus?’ I ask him.
He stiffens in thought for a moment, then looks back at me, ‘I-I don’t know… perhaps the Moon Goddess blessed you with the ability herself?’ he says.
‘Maximus, if your parents tried to save and protect the witch mate of the Dark Moon Alpha, then why are you enemies?’ I ask, confused.
‘Levi had just become Alpha, but soon after, his father Cal discovered that his son had found his mate, but she was a witch. Cal forbid it, but his son refused to reject her and secretly kept seeing her. As punishment, Cal overtook his son’s status and reinstated himself as Alpha. Alpha Cal then began a witch hunt to have his son’s mate killed,’ he explains.
‘That’s terrible!’ I reply.
‘That’s the law,’ Alpha Maximus says.
I scowl at him.
‘Hope what has gotten into you? Why are you so angry at me suddenly?’ he asks.
I ignore his question, ‘What happened to them? Where are they now? The witch and Alpha- I mean Levi?’ I ask.
‘After months of searching Alpha Cal found the witch, and she was killed the traditional way. She was burned alive. As for Levi, he has been held prisoner in the dungeon at his packhouse,’ he tells me.
My mother was burned alive? My heart is aching too much. My stomach turns, imagining my mother being burned alive because she loved a man. I’m a hybrid and also in love with an Alpha.
‘She’s dead, and he’s alive?’ I say.
Alpha Maximus nods. I fall to my knees and burst into tears. My mother is dead! Killed by my grandfather, and my father is still alive!
‘Hope? Why are you crying? Why are you so upset about all of this?’ he asks.
What do I say? What do I tell Maximus? Would he still love me if I tell him I’m a hybrid? The result of forbidden love. That my grandfather is the one that killed his parents who tried to protect my mother!
‘Maximus. I-I need some time to process all of this, to think this over. I need to go let my wolf out for a run,’ I say to him, walking away.
He gently takes my wrist, ‘I’ll come with you,’ he says with concern. ‘
No, please, I need to be alone for a while,’ I tell him.
‘I don’t understand why you need to be alone and why you need to process any of this. It has nothing to do with you,’ he says in frustration.
‘It has everything to do with me!’ I shout at him.
He let go of my wrist, in shock at my sudden outburst. I run out of the office and outside, away from him.
I pull my dress off, tie it around my ankle, and shift into my wolf. I race through the fields of grass and flowers. I don’t stop running until I become exhausted. The conversation I had with Maximus replays over in my mind. I shift back, put my dress on, and sit under a large tree. I try to be happy that I finally know who my parents are, but I’m heartbroken at what has happened to them.
My mother was killed for being in love, and my father was thrown in a dungeon and kept there to rot for the last eighteen years! I don’t understand how I’m alive, though, why I wasn’t killed. Maximus did say it took Alpha Cal months to find my mother. I need more information.
The ruby heart I wear begins to glow. I place my hand over it and feel like I’m being swooped up in a gust of wind and spun around.
Suddenly I’m standing in the woods. It’s foggy, but a full moon gives me enough light to see my surroundings. I hear someone running nearby.
I follow the sound and come to a halt when I see her. My mother is leaning against a tree, trying to catch her breath. She has something bundled in her arms and keeps looking around her surroundings with worry.
‘Mother?’ I whisper, but she can’t hear me.
She looks down at what she is holding. It’s a baby!
‘It’s going to be okay, my darling. I will make sure you live. You shouldn’t be punished for the love your father and I have for each other and the love we have for you,’ she says, kissing the baby on the cheek.
My mother starts running, holding the baby dearly to her chest. I follow her. When she stops, I recognise my surroundings. We’re in the woods near the lake, where I would go to bathe and hide when needed.
I hear yelling in the distance, ‘Your father and I love you so much, baby girl, but I have to leave you here and lead the others away from you. If anyone knows that we had a baby, they will kill you! This is the only way for you to live, my child,’ she cries, giving me one last hug and placing me on the ground.
She bursts into tears and runs deep into the woods to lure the mob away. I look down at the baby and caress her cheek, but my hand is ghost-like and goes through her. There’s a scream in the distance; I know it’s my mother. I run towards her ‘Mother!’ I call out.
