Albus flinched and Rafe immediately felt terrible. “I’m sorry. I just don’t want you blaming yourself any longer. You have a pack who cares for you, a pack that are now your responsibility. Not to mention a great wife, and two kids that she’s having a hard time controlling while you are out here in your garage... blaming yourself.”

His friend’s silver eyes flashed at him in pain. “Why did he do it, Rafe? I can’t understand.”

Rafe shook his head. “She enchanted him. It could even have been a spell.”

Albus nodded. “Yes, I had thought of that.”

They sat in silence for a few moments longer until Rafe couldn’t help himself. “I’ve brought someone home with me, Albus.”

His friend, and leader, quirked an eyebrow at him. “Someone?”

Rafe smiled, thinking of the blonde-haired beauty that was sitting in Ella’s kitchen with her. “A young woman I met on my travels.”

His friend smiled his first genuine smile in months. “Oh?”

“I was hoping she could stay with us.”

“You’re taken with her,” Albus stated in amazement as he stood up. “Which pack is she from?”

He sighed. This was going to be the difficult part. “She’s not from a pack. She’s a magik.”

“What?!” Albus shouted in instant anger.

“A Daylight witch!” Rafe cried holding his hands up in defense. “She’s good, Albus. I swear.”

His friend shuddered in pain. “Rafe...”

“Albus, it’s OK. I promise she’s not a bad guy.

Adriana sighed, watching the handsome lykan sleeping peacefully beside her. She wondered if she had inherited her mother’s perverse nature, because sex with this beast had not been nearly as intolerable as she had thought it would be. She smiled wryly, remembering her inward reaction when her father told her she was to attach herself to this lykan; to give herself to him, in every way, if needs must. Her anger over that had been obvious. She was the highest ranking lady of the Dark Coven, and she was to give her virginity to a... mutt? And then she thought of her mother’s betrayal, and the thought of that betrayal becoming public, and no sacrifice was large enough. Luckily for her, Rafe had been enchanted with her from day one. Within a week she had managed to weasel all his secrets out of him, including that his former Pack Leader had had an affair with the leader of the Midnight Coven’s wife.

Who else knew this? she had asked, all innocent and sympathetic to his pain.

Everyone, he had groaned, everyone except the children.

Children, she sighed, and rubbed her rounded belly. She flinched at the thought of her father’s fury when she had returned to him with the news.

“Pregnant!” he had screamed. “It’s not possible!”

She had cried, kneeling at his feet. “It’s not my fault, father. Please...”

He had sent for their prophet. And then the horror of her situation was realized. Years ago the Prophet, an old immortal man who never spoke to or saw anyone except the leading family of the Coven, had told of the coming of the child of mixed race, who would contain such power that they would bring about the end of the war.

“Gaia has grown weary of her children's war my lord,” the old man had wheezed. “She has blessed your daughter’s union with the lykan male, out-with a mating ritual, in order to bring forth a child from the prophecy.”

Devlyn had destroyed everything in sight while she had sat terrified of the thing growing inside of her.

“The only way to kill it, is to wait for the birth... or kill your daughter.”

Her eyes had flown wide to her father’s face, his dark eyes fierce on hers. The silence had stretched between them like a twanging wire.

“And the child will definitely not just be a magik? It will have the genes of both my daughter and that... thing?”

The prophet had nodded wearily.

His eyes had burned on her as she’d begun to cry harder.

“Father, no.” Ethan had stumbled up from his seat in the corner of the room. Adriana’s heart had pounded for him. How brave of him to face their father for her sake.

Devlyn had shaken his head. “No, old man, I won’t kill my daughter when she has done only what I asked of her.”

She’d drawn in a huge breath of relief and smiled tremulously at her brother.

“What is to be done then, Father?” Ethan had asked for her.

“Adriana will return to the pack,” he’d told them, taking them by surprise. “We don’t want them suspicious. The child must be killed but so shall the pack be. We have everything we need to destroy them and the abomination growing in your belly. After the birth.”

“I’m sorry, Albus,” Rafe groaned, tears spilling down his cheek as he cradled his baby daughter to his chest. “I’m so sorry I’ve brought this upon you.”

“You didn’t,” Albus bit out, anguished at the sight of his friend in such a state of grief. “My brother brought this upon us. If anyone should apologize it is my family.”

“I can’t believe... Adriana...,” he moaned, and held the baby girl closer.

“She... her family is not finished with us, Rafe. We must leave.”

Rafe nodded, but made no move.

“We have to leave now, friend,” Albus demanded, and pulled him to his feet gently. The rest of the pack was already headed where he had told them to go, and Marion, who had revealed Adriana to them when she visited with Magnus, was protecting them on their journey from any attack.

Rafe nodded again and followed him outside to the car. Ella waited anxiously with Lucien and Irini who, although young, were unusually quiet, fully aware something was wrong.

“Albus.” Rafe stopped him before they reached the car.

“What?”

“You’ll protect her, if something happens to me,” he pleaded, his eyes falling lovingly on his daughter. “You’ll protect my Caia.”

Albus nodded vehemently. “I already have a suggestion... but it can wait for now.”

17 - Alone

“Three years after your mother’s escape, she returned,” Magnus continued her tragic story quietly, “The pack’s guard was down and she tried to get to you. Your father got to you in time but Adriana... she killed him,” he whispered, grief cracking his voice. “Again, she escaped the pack, and again she waited. It was another four years... she returned for you, but Albus was ready and he sent you and Irini into hiding under Marion and Daylight protection. Albus, as you know, went after your mother and she killed him. That’s when Lucien went after her.” Magnus looked up at Lucien and Caia followed his gaze. Lucien stared back at her, his jaw clenched, his fists tight, pain screaming across his eyes.

“It took me five years, Caia,” he croaked, “but I finally got the opportunity, and I killed her... to protect you, to protect the pack.”

She felt her head shaking back and forth as if trying to shake their words, the truth, out of her ears. All the secrecy, the vague comments, the weird crap that she had been going through, all had been this, lies covering up the awful truth.

“So, I’m what... a magik?” her voice sounded dead to her. “Am I a witch?”

Ella leaned forward. She could smell her, could see her hand reaching to clasp her own, but she couldn’t feel her touch. “Yes. You’ve been showing signs towards the approach of your majority. Your eighteenth birthday. That’s why Marion is here.”

“By the sounds of it,” Marion added, “You’re a water witch.”

She pulled out of Ella’s grasp to hug herself, to keep from falling apart. A water witch?

She felt like laughing hysterically, what does that even mean?

The table in the center of the room began to shake as she watched it, and she felt everyone’s eyes fall on her worriedly.

“My mother killed my father. Tried to kill me?”

“Yes,” Lucien answered her softly. His strong hand reached for her, and she could hear him telling her to stay calm, but the words didn’t sink in.

“And you killed my mother?” The table started shaking uncontrollably now.

“She has a lot of raw power,” Marion murmured in surprise. Caia could hear her telling her she needed to stay calm. Was that her? Was she making the table do that? Of course, why not? She’d made Alexa fly, burst water pipes!

A wave of nausea swept through her entire body, and with her lykan reflexes she ran from the room, out onto the porch, where she leaned over the railings to vomit the horrific truth into the bushes below. She couldn’t seem to stop, until eventually all she had left were dry heaves. It wasn’t until she came up for air she realized someone was holding her hair back. Lucien. She sighed, feeling his warmth at her back. Too exhausted to be angry at him right now, she couldn’t help but lean back into his comforting heat. “I’m OK,” she whispered, feeling the tension in his body.

She felt his lips in her hair, and then his strong arm came around her waist and she was pulled tightly against him. He hushed her, and she suddenly realized she was crying. “It’s going to be OK,” he whispered soothingly.

Caia shook her head. “How?” she heard the weakness in her voice and hated it.

“I’m sorry,” she could hear the sorrow in his words, “I’m sorry that I killed her, but I had to.”

Angry now, Caia pulled from his arms and spun to face him, batting furiously at her tears. “I’m not,” she growled loudly, the sound of the wolf distorting her voice like she had never heard before. “I’m not sorry you killed her! She was a monster, Lucien!”

Of a sudden Marion appeared on the porch, her hand reaching to Caia beseechingly. “Caia, you have to calm down. Your power is based in your emotions, you must calm down.”

She shook her head. “My parents... in my head… they were the one thing...” she couldn’t finish, the pain... it hurt all over. Splinters of wood started ripping up off the porch, one slicing her cheek. She didn’t even flinch. Her angry eyes bore into her Alpha. “And you didn’t tell me!”