Claimed│✓

THIRTY-ONE: BLOOD TIES

[thirty]

Where did my father come from? That was the only question on my mind as Alana continued to speak. I'd never known as a child, my mother told me stories about the family,her family, I'd never met. My father and I didn't speak much of anything but whatever was necessary and my preparation for joining the warrior ranks of this pack. We always spoke of my future. My mother,my past.

I could name everyone she could name but not one name came to mind with my father. I didn't even want to consider what Alana was saying about the possibility that I'd had an older sibling,that my mother wasn't his first and only mate.

"I don't know where my father was born." I said more to myself than her but she replied nonetheless,

"Then ask,child.Ask."

 ##

"Maya." It was Eric but when I looked at him it was different. All I wanted to know was what secrets he had for me. Who else knew of this or did I just spend my entire night instilling my mind with the ravings of a madwoman.Her words,her evidence was too convincing.

"They're looking for the Damon mutt." he told me.

"He's not here.Alana told me." I said to him. Why would he? He needed me to complete his mission; he wanted me to come to him, to willingly separate from my family and embrace him. My willingness to submit to him a symbolic victory.

"And Alana?" he asked though from her physical state when they'd met, he should have known she'd come to her end soon enough.

"Ashes." I replied. She'd coughed so much blood it was wonder she was able to shift, her wolf's last attempt at preserving her life. The last time that coat of fur would ever feel the wind blow,one final scent of the earth it inhabited for so many years. I wasn't disgusted in the least, it was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in awhile. It was the truth unfolding right before my eyes. When it's time to die, you die. Nature runs its course according to the rules it sets, it dictates, not the ones morphed by hungry wolves.

I'd burned her dark-coated wolf right there, covered in her blood too. I could rub my palms and her ashes were still there between the creases of my hand. I was carrying what was left of a dead she-wolf's legacy, on my body and in my mind.

Then ask,child. Ask.

I continued walking past him, several smaller fires burning all around us. It was difficult for me to really see what was going on. I didn't feel right but I didn't feel wrong either.Alana had done that to me, tipped the balance. I was sure to Eric I looked hysterical. Oddly, I couldn't have felt more peaceful. Knowing my fate for the first time in my life was refreshing. It wasn't a desirable path but at least I had one.

"Maya, are you even listening to me?" he asked, blocking my way. I paused before answering, the biggest hearth burning just ahead of us, eyes poking out of the dark, bodies flitting in and out of my sight, as the shadows played on their limbs, played on Eric's face.

"No, I wasn't listening." I replied truthfully. I offered a shy smile, my face stiff from Alana's coughing episode.She'd talked through her demise, her blood didn't spare an inch of my skin.

Then ask,child. Ask.

I blinked.

"We found them,Maya." he told me. His eyes the deepest,darkest shade I'd ever seen. I'm guessing he was angry,furious even. I couldn't feel much myself. He'd finally met my pack, where I'd come from,where I'd lived. These are the people I'd protected. He must be proud of me, must be proud of what he had to pick from. It certainly wasn't the cream of the crop.

My roots were the blackest he'd ever find sprouting from the ground.

I'd told him that day, but he didn't believe me; no one would. They'd be forced to now.

"Your father is there."

"I'm glad."

"He's not speaking,Maya. He's defying me."

"It's alright, Eric. He won't recognize you as his Alpha, his true Alpha has been dead for awhile." I said, only confusing him more. I continued walking past him and I could barely make out his steps beside me. My head and ears were ringing. I didn't know how to describe it, this feeling of excitement and anticipation. I would finally get to speak to my father.

I was glad I was never jealous of Olivia's relationship with her dad, mine was too special to pass up.

"Why did he want you to marry Gideon? Didn't he know the consequences?" He pressed on. I'd never thought anything of it, I was just glad to have the things others had. It was my opportunity to participate, to feel like I belonged. He'd granted my wish.

Consequences. I don't think my father knew the word. As long as he stayed quiet, as long as he stayed loyal to himself there were no consequences.

"I don't know Eric. I'm going to find out." I already had an inkling of why he'd arranged a marriage. A safeguard, a twisted one albeit.

He'd kept me alive,groomed me for a life of action, taught me everything I knew to survive for nothing.Even with the little information he'd fed me I still thought I knew my father but I was wrong.

No, I had missed one detail in my father's true form.He was a stone but the rare kind that gleamed in the dark, where no one expected to find something so precious and when they did they were blinded by the wonderful shine,gleam of beauty only to be struck down because it had been seduced by its smooth surface but why would anyone want to be able to see through a stone, a hollow one at that.

Pain is necessary. It consumes you.It is eternal.

That's what he'd told me. Of course, the words make sense all on their own but apparently I wasn't aware of the kind he spoke of. He told me that because he was going to be the one to convince me of those very facts and I'd let him. It would be his final lesson.

THIS IS AN UNEDITED DRAFT.THANK YOU FOR READING.