Gray Valley

s i x t y - o n e

"WESLYN..." Anna's voice was nothing more than a mere echo in my ears. "His heart's beating again."

It was.

I could hear it clearly. But, I couldn't bring myself to accept it.

It may have only for a minute... But his heart had stopped beating.

"Weslyn...?"

"He was dead," I whispered.

"Not anymore." She gently placed her hand on my shoulder. "He's alive. And his... His condition is normal."

Almost at once, the mark on my neck began to burn.

"You're telling me that he came back from the dead..." My eyes fixated on her. "And you want me... To believe that it's normal?"

"He's a Werewolf, Weslyn..." Anna replied. "Just like the rest of us. There's nothing normal about him... Or us."

"Normal?" I felt my eyes darken. "Anna... Is that supposed to be a joke?"

She flinched slightly.

"No... It's n-not a joke. It's..." Her voice trailed off. "It's the truth."

"The truth?" I repeated.

"You may not want to believe this, Weslyn. But... At the moment, even though Blayze is unconscious, his body is completely normal." She glanced over at him. "His heart beat is stable. His breathing is balanced. And he... He doesn't even have a fever. He doesn't-" Anna took a sharp intake of breath. "He doesn't have any of the symptoms, that a Brown Wolf should have, after being attacked by a Gray Wolf."

I fell silent and desperately forced my mind to recall something; anything, that could explain his current condition.

"Gray Wolf blood can suppress the symptoms," I murmured. Even 8 years ago, when Mary attacked me... It was my Gray Wolf blood had fought against her venom. "And Blayze had a Blood Exchange with Liam... The Gray Wolf blood in his veins is probably suppressing the symptoms."

"That's what I thought," Anna answered. "But, Weslyn..." She lifted the shirt that covered his wound. "He's healing."

I tentatively ran my hand across his wound and found that she was right.

Blayze...

"How..." I couldn't breathe. "Is this p-possible?"

"It's not... It shouldn't be possible for him."

"For him?"

"For him..." She averted her eyes. "For a Brown Wolf."

"Then... For a Gray Wolf?"

"Weslyn, when Mary attacked you, after returning to Gray Valley... This is exactly how the side of your face healed."

I subconsciously let my fingers trace the scar that marked the incident.

"You didn't have any of the normal symptoms..." Anna continued. "But you were unconscious for about a day, until the slash healed completely."

I was a Gray Wolf... But, I had only been able to heal, from being slashed by Mary, because my body had already built resistance to her venom.

But... Blayze wasn't a Gray Wolf. It was impossible for him to fight or develop resistance against her venom. So... How?

How was the wound on his body healing?

And how... How was his heart still beating?

"I beg of you, Luna... Tell me how this is possible."

She failed to respond.

"Please, tell me..." I urged. "I need your help."

"It is impossible to explain this situation, with words alone, filia mea."

What?

I lifted my hand to my head, as I felt a sudden stab of pain.

Was this... A memory?

The face of an unfamiliar man loomed in my mind.

"He's not one of us." His voice was dark; menacing. "He does not belong in the Blood Moon Pack."

He...? Whose memory was I seeing?

"But, he... He's only a baby."

"Perhaps... But that doesn't change what he is," he replied. "He isn't a Gray Wolf, Mel; He's one of those monsters... He cannot exist among us."

That name... Mel. I had definitely heard it, before. But, where?

"He's my son." It was another voice... The voice of a woman that I somehow knew, but couldn't recognise. "I g-gave birth to him. There's no way... That I can abandon-"

"No." The man did not let her finish. "He's not your son. He is a monster." His eyes darkened. "You gave birth... To a monster. And the only way to gain redemption from that, is by abandoning that monster."

"If I were to abandon my son... Wouldn't that make me, the monster?"

"In my eyes..." He paused. "You became a monster, when you accepted a Brown Wolf as your Soulmate."

My eyes widened in realisation. The baby... He was not a monster. He was the son of a Gray Wolf and a Brown Wolf... He was a Hybrid Wolf.

"Due to the traces of powerful Gray Wolf blood in his veins... This monster will not be killed. Instead, he will spend the rest of his life in misery, alongside the surviving monsters, in Gray Valley."

"NO!" Mel screamed. "MY BABY!"

She was immediately restrained by another woman.

"You monster..." The man hissed. "If you speak out of turn, again... You will be sentenced to the same fate as your Soulmate."

A flash of pain struck her gray eyes.

"Placere... Forgive me, fili mi. Forgive me, for bringing you into this world... Haec saeva mundus."

Almost instinctively, tears coursed down my face.

Why?

Why did the pain of a woman, who I didn't even recognise, affect me so much?

"Weslyn!" At the sound of Anna's voice, the trance that my mind was in, shattered. "Are you-"

"It's a memory," I explained. "A memory that doesn't belong to me... But to someone else."

To the Hybrid Wolf.

But... Who?

Who was the Hybrid Wolf?

"Don't you already know... Weslyn?"

"Luna?"  I breathed.

The memory momentarily returned... And the woman's voice resonated through my ears, confirming my unspoken doubt, in no more than six words.

"Blayze, fili mi... I love you."

Blayze was the Hybrid Wolf.