17. Finley #2
“Really, because he’s as dead as I am to the Organization.
He washed up in training earlier than that and was landed in a foster home where the Dark Ring picked him up.
Funny enough, he was one of the pets Delilah had in her home.
He managed to get away but landed back in their clutches until last night when I got him out, for good,” I explained, my anger burning white hot in my chest.
Hand’s settled on my shoulder. “Nin mel, you need to calm down. Magic is responding to your anger, and I’m afraid it might hurt others in the building by accident.”
With Rath’s touch on me, I was able to take a deep breath slowly through my nose until I couldn’t take in any more air at all.
Then when I released that same breath, I focused on pulling my magic back into the well where it sprang from.
Doing this made me realize just how far my magic had spread through the building without me knowing it.
Thankfully, I couldn’t decipher it doing anything malicious to anyone it came in contact with.
Once it was back where it belonged inside me, I relaxed, letting my anger cool.
I’d been able to easily track Eli’s emotions through the interaction and he truly had no idea about Ben.
It didn’t make me any less upset knowing he wasn’t aware of what was going on in his business, but I didn’t believe he was a monster either.
Reaching up, I placed a hand over Rath’s to keep him where he was.
My emotions right now were so volatile that I needed him to help ground me.
“Finley, that was all you?” Eli asked, a hint of fear in his voice. “I assumed it was a combination of you and your alphas creating that much power.”
“That wasn’t even half of her power,” Rath informed Eli. “She controls the whole of the Great Smoky Mountains area with her power. The forest there has accepted her and her magic, absorbing it, starting the foundation that our people desperately need.”
Eli shot to his feet, knocking the chair to the ground as he yelled. “No, she cannot be the new queen. There is no fucking way that my child will be put in that role.”
“That isn’t up to you,” Rath stated, his tone icy with rage.
“Our people have decided and they are already flocking to her. At this moment, there are four who have left other communes and joined the pack as a blended community. One of them is a warrior and the others are craftsmen who will begin to build a new home where we will no longer need to hide from the world.”
“Do you know what that means for her?” Eli spat. “Her mother was the previous queen and they rejected her because of her nos being impure.”
“Mom was that powerful?” I asked, not having gotten that sense from her in his memory.
“At one point, she was, but then the elders rejected her as queen, and her power began to fade. If she’d retained her magic, she might have been able to break the curse on her, but with how weak she was, there never was hope.
” Eli came over to me and dropped to his knees.
“Finley, I know I have no right to ask this of you but don’t do this.
You might be chosen to be their queen, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept it. ”
I looked at the man who helped to create my life but other than seeing a shadow of similarities in us, I felt no connection.
He claimed to have tried to keep me safe, watching over me as I grew up, but if he didn’t do that for every person in the Organization, then I wanted nothing to do with him.
What I saw kneeling before me was a man who was scared.
Fear was driving him in every choice. He didn’t want me to be in danger or to lose my magic, but I already knew it was too late.
“No, Eli,” I answered. “There is no other option but for me to accept what I am. If the elders reject me, then so be it, but that won’t stop me from doing what I know must be done.
” Pulling up my sleeve, I showed him the mark.
“The Senate and the Dark Ring will be destroyed and it will be me leading the charge. My fate has already been sealed.”
Eli tentatively reached out and took my hand, brushing a finger over the mark. “Who?”
“That doesn’t matter. What’s done is done,” I said simply, removing my hand from his grasp.
“I believe it’s best for us to be getting back to our pack now.
If I have any more questions, I’ll reach out, but I suggest you take a good long hard look at your people.
I have a feeling you’ve been too trusting to let others control something as powerful as the Organization.
Right now, you are not the one in charge. ”
Rath pulled my seat back for me, and we left Eli still kneeling there on the ground, tears falling from his eyes. “No matter what you think of me, Finley, you will always be my daughter, and I will do right by you,” he whispered.
I wasn’t sure if he meant for me to hear that or not, but I continued on like I hadn’t.
The chance for us to be a family had passed when he gave me to the Organization.
Now I had my real family, the men who would do anything for me as I would do the same for them.
While I’d learned about my past, it didn’t change who I was now.