Till We Met Again

Chapter Six

             Juniper

Taking one more deep breath I head out the the living room to talk to the boys. I clear my throat as I enter to get their attention. " I have a lot to explain, but first I should warn you. Vampire Elder Malcom will be arriving at pack lands tomorrow around mid-day. He is not your enemy, as long as you are allies with me, and as far as I am concerned, We are more than allies after everything you have done for me."

I startle them both with this information. I watch as Colton's jaw clenches and anger flashes across his face. "How dare you? Invite strangers onto our land. We barely know you, and know you are telling me that you invite an Elder to our lands without asking." Colton starts yelling. I understand why he is mad, I went above him. But because he is an Alpha that is purely disrespectful. I forget that sometimes. I have never been under someone. I am more powerful than he is, so my word is finally, but at the same time, that fact takes some time to get used to.

"Enough." Ash cuts him off before he can start yelling again. "Colton I understand where you are coming from, Juniper you should have asked first. You are our guest, not the other way around." He pauses, trying to figure out how to appease both of us and stop the rising anger in the room. "But at the same time. I can tell by the way you speak about Elder Malcolm, he is more then just an elder to you. And I can also assume that you are not used to asking for permission to do things given what you are." He looks at me, gauging if he got that all correct.

I nod, allowing him to continue. "All I ask is try your best to run things through us first before inviting guests onto our land." I nod once more, as he turns to look at Colton. "Son, you need to calm down. Things are going to be changing around here. And both you and your wolf need to be ready for that. Juniper means no harm to us, as she stated, we are allies. On top of that, I have started to see her as another one of my kids. So either calm down or go for a run, we will be here when you get back." Colton stiffly nods his head and turns to the door.

I stop him just before he leaves. "I'm sorry Colton, I didn't mean to step on your toes. But your dad was right, Elder Malcolm is like my father. I didn't see an issue with him being here." He looks back at me, nods but continues out the door anyway.

I look down at my hands, I didn't mean to upset anyone. I hope Colton understands and I will be able to make it up to him. Ash grabs my hand and leads me to the couch. "Don't be to upset Honey. He'll be okay. Being Alpha is new to him, and the power that radiates from you is putting him on edge. He is used to being in control. He will learn, it'll just take time. Anyway, why don't you tell me about Elder Malcom, and why he was the Elder you needed to contact so bad." He looks as me with a sweet smile. Letting me take control of the next conversation.

I nod my head at him. "Elder Malcolm is as I already said, like me father. When I first shifted, my birth parents resented me. It was my tenth birthday, I was surrounded by my moms family. My Uncle Maxwell is a bear shifter, who is mated to a earth witch, my aunt Camila. Their mom, my grandmother, who is human, and my moms half sister, Alessa who is also a bear shifter. My parents stormed out of the house that day shortly after I shifted, My mother hasn't really talked to me since." I grimace thinking about what I have to say next.

"After about four years with working with my aunts and uncle, my dad slowly started to come around and understand that it was okay that I was different. He even started helping with some of my fox training." I smile thinking about my dad during that time. I pause before continuing. "On my fifteenth birthday, I woke up to my parents fighting, but it felt different this time." I pause once more as tears gather in my eyes. Ash grabs my hand in comfort, showing me that I was not alone.

Taking a deep breath, I say, "I remember walking into the kitchen and watching my mother stab him in the stomach, she didn't like that he was getting close to me. After that she storms out of the house. I immediately try and save him, my healing powers weren't the best at the time. It didn't help that my mother stabbed him in a few vital organs." Tears are streaming down my face at this point but I know the story wasn't over. 

I square my shoulders and continues speaking. "My father looked at me, we both knew he wasn't going to make it. So he told me that my aunt Camila told him about how I might be a Mythica. But in order to full know, I had to kill someone who was wiling to die. I remember him handing me the knife my mother had already used, he told me that he was sorry for not always being there but he loved me. And that I had to finish him, I had to unlock my fullest potential. And he was grateful to be able to help me reach it." We sit in silence for a few minutes'. I had to catch my thoughts before I could even think about continuing. 

Ash got up without me realizing it. He went to the kitchen grabbed us some hot tea and came back to sit down without saying a word. I watched him grab a little of sugar and put some in one of the glasses before handing it to me. He didn't need to say anything, we both knew that. I knew that I just needed a moment of silence before anything else was said. And I like to believe he could understand that without words having to be shared between us. 

We sit there in silence until I had finished my cup of tea. I knew I wasn't going to be okay until I said everything I needed to. So I skipped to the next part of the story, we both know what happened, it didn't need to be said out loud. "The next thing I remember is my uncle pulling me of my dad's body. I watched as they picked him up and carried him outside. I don't remember hearing anything other than a loud ringing in my head. My aunt made a call while hugging me, to who I now know was to Malcolm. Once we were outside they allowed me to have one more goodbye to my father, before my aunt lead the two of us into a chant. This chant allowed the earth to take his body and use it in anyway they needed to. Exactly the way he would have wanted."

The pieces looked like they finally clicked into place inside Ash's head. "That was how you meet Elder Malcolm." I nod at his statement and continue where he left off. "When my dad sacrificed himself to me, it unlocked my Vampire side. Although I didn't get the full effects of it for a few days thankfully, that was the day that I become a Mythica. Elder Malcolm already knew of my existence thanks to my aunt. We just weren't getting him involved until absolutely needed. I thankfully already knew the basic about vampires and all of their subspecies, my high school had a mandatory class for all supernatural creatures. We never learned anything in depth unless we choose to take the specialized elective class later on. But at the time all I had was the basic understandings until Malcom came in."

Ash nods, "From that day forward, Elder Malcolm, Your Uncle Maxwell, and your aunts were the only family you had. They taught you everything." I nodded. "Why don't we move to the kitchen, I can make dinner and you can just relax, or continue talking. It's up to you. But I am cooking and that is final." He gives me a stern look, but quickly transfers so a soft smile. I agree, so we get up and head over to the kitchen. I sit quietly at the island while he gets started with dinner. I hadn't realized we were talking for that long. I hop Colton feels better and hopefully he will join us for dinner.

I don't have much else to talk about, So instead I let me mind wonder. Scarlet wants to front a little more right now. Seeing as I can shift yet, I let her take control without shifting. I can tell she is happy with this as she wants to watch Ash and learn what she can about him by watching.

We sit at the island to eat, grilled cheese for dinner. I thank Ash, but we don't talk much throughout eating. "Is Colton going to be coming back tonight." Ash pauses for a minute, his eyes glazing over shortly before answering. "Yeah, but not till later. Why don't you finish eating and go relax. I know my mate always liked to take a bath, maybe you would like to do that too. Have the night to take a breath. With the Elder coming tomorrow, People are going to be on edge." I nod my head, I finish eating and go to do just that. I bath sounds wonderful right now, and it might help me sleep better tonight.