Destined for Greatness ✔️

Chapter 47

Ryleigh was looking at a ghost. Only ghosts didn't age and her mother wasn't as youthful as she'd been the last time Ryleigh had seen her. For a second Ryleigh felt like she was looking into the future – staring at herself twenty years from then.

Long, pale blond hair framed her mother's face, and two black eyes were calmly fixed on her. There were some lines around Cerise's eyes, deepened grooves in her forehead, lost definition around her edges. But all that was details. She was exactly who she had been.

"Ryleigh."

It was the voice that had read to her when she couldn't sleep. The voice that had told her about the Royal Wolves and their quirks. The voice that had praised her for learning to use her gift so swiftly. The voice that had told her that she was going to do great things in the future. It was the voice of a woman she had respected more than anyone else in the world. And now it was the voice of a traitor and a coward.

Ryleigh wasn't at a loss for words. If anything, she had too many words, and she couldn't pick. Nothing seemed to do the situation justice. It was a good thing she had waited this long to come back here. If she hadn't had weeks to come to terms with her mother's survival, she might have done something out of character – like emoting.

"Look at you," Cerise said, progressing from between the shrubbery and halting in front of her, though at a safe distance. "All grown up."

And her mother had not been there to watch her grow. Her mother had not been there to watch her be eaten alive by grief and anger. Her mother had not been there.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" she asked.

Cerise inclined her head, pursing her lips and nodding slightly. "Skipping straight past the pleasantries. You truly are your father's child. And mine. Well, to answer the question: I've been living among the humans, and I've befriended a seer. He predicted you'd be here today, and I figured I owed you an explanation."

"That is why you're here? To explain? Not to alter my memories again, before I tell Corbin that you're alive?" Did her mother know who had survived? Somehow Ryleigh thought she did. Especially if what she said was true. If she knew a seer, she had probably followed their lives all this time.

"The only reason I managed to alter your memory last time was because you were weakened by silver, and because you were young. There is no doubt in my mind that you would give me a very hard time today should I try again. You look well, Ry. Strong."

"I am strong, no thanks to you. Or perhaps it's all thanks to you. How much do you know about what we've been doing?"

"Everything," Cerise said. "You're planning a revolution. You've been planning a revolution from the day of the battle. Well, long before that, I suppose, but you found new motivation that day."

"Yes. Corbin has worked tirelessly towards this goal. We all have. And do you know why? Not just because we lost everyone, but because we lost you. Corbin was heart-broken, and so was I. We have been consumed by rage all these years. I have hated Alder all these years for taking my mother away from me, and all this time you were alive. You lied to all of us."

Ryleigh wasn't sure what she expected—an apology, an explanation, anything. Cerise just nodded. "Yes. Tell me, why haven't you told anyone? You've known the truth for weeks, but you haven't told Corbin. Why?"

"Because he would take it badly. He loved you. We all did. Fools that we are."

"No, not fools." Cerise sighed. "I did love you – all of you. What I did has nothing to do with that."

"You expect me to believe that? You were willing to let Jade die so you could run away. You made me choose between stopping you and saving her. And you say you care? You left us to die on that battlefield. Your own children. Your own mate. You didn't care, and if you did, you cared about yourself more."