Alpha Queen [1] ✓

xlviii

The pack had stored hundreds of maps in our arsenal so Ares marked the coordinates that Coral had given us and we were off within an hour. It didn't look like anything was there, only woods, but we were still hopeful.

"How do you feel after talking with Coral?" He asked along the way. We had taken one of the pack cars so it was full of gas and smooth on the road.

"Honestly. . . I'm not really sure." I tapped my fingers on the armrest as I looked out the window. "I thought I would get more answers but I have more questions. I certainly didn't expect to find out that she's my birthmother."

After all those years, I never thought I'd reunite with my birthparents. I had been completely satisfied not knowing anything about them and now it was like opening an old wound.

"It would explain a lot, though." I added. The loop felt closed when it came to my heritage. "And she did tell us more about our kids." My heart beat faster when I mentioned them. It was still surreal to believe that we would be parents soon. Was it bad to feel nervous? "We've been told all these bad things about them but they haven't even happened yet. . . they could never even happen. It could be a self-fulfilling prophecy. . . the more we try to stop it, the more it will come true." I thought aloud.

But despite everything we had been told, I was still very excited for the future.

In fact, I was probably more stressed about raising them than this prophecy.

"It's not going to be easy. We're going to be stressed, sleep-deprived, completely clueless—"

"As well as safe, happy, and together." He reached across to grab my hand. "You aren't alone, don't forget that. We have each other."

Yes, we would get through it together. It was all that I asked.

The highway suddenly ended and we started driving on an unpaved dirt road. Trees engulfed us and I wondered what my birthfather was doing in a remote place like this.

"How far are we?"

"Only a few more miles."

The road was bumpy and full of holes that almost popped the tires. I held on for dear life as he tried to drive as slowly as possible.

We reached a black fenced gate that was left open and it wasn't until I saw the angel idols that I realized where we were.

"Are you sure this is it?" I asked while I peeked at her note.

"This is where the map leads." Ares confirmed.

Most of the headstones were old and worn. They were shaped in different styles though shared the same imagery of angels, crosses and hearts. It didn't look like anyone had cleaned them for a long time with the grass months overgrown.

Ares and I searched for the name on Coral's note. We walked down every pathway and every aisle. I looked at the huge headstones on top of the hills and the small square ones on the ground.

I guessed I should have known he was gone. It made sense why Coral wasn't with him now. What I didn't understand was why she didn't tell us he was dead to begin with.

"Alex, over here," Ares called me over and I immediately crossed the meadow to where he stood.

He was looking at a red, granite headstone that was slightly smaller than the ones surrounding it.

William Ash
1953—1981

That was all we could go off of. That, and the dead flowers in front of the stone but who knew how long they had been there.