Chapter 9 #2
Ryder winced. “Not just killed. At first, they sold and enslaved them as well, keeping them as valuable trophies among the kitsune elite… Until there were none left. The last reported lykos died nearly three hundred years ago, according to the information I’ve managed to dig up.”
“So they killed them because they didn’t want to mate with them—”
“And breed with them,” Ryder confirmed. “That’s huge in kitsune culture.”
“So they were viewed similar to bitten wolves?” I felt hot underneath my collar and didn’t even take the bite of food that Julian offered me, completely focused on Ryder’s words.
“Somewhat,” he admitted, “but far more hunted.”
“I see,” I murmured. “I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”
Ryder’s face filled with concern. “That is the mystery, kitten, because the mark on your arm is extremely rare. It is one that I have only seen in illustrations.”
I swallowed as my eyes widened. “I thought you said it was your mark.”
“It was a mark from me.” He sighed. “The kitsune are able to identify lykos blood with a mating mark on their skin…which is why you have that on your arm. Somehow, someway, you are lykos, and when my kitsune magic connected with yours, we formed an immediate mating bond and the mark appeared.”
Static rang in my ears as I tightened my fists, not knowing how to take or process what he was saying.
So I went with the only rational thought I had.
“But I have a bite mark… Bitten aren’t born with their magic, so in order to have ‘lykos’ magic, it would have to be from one of my ancestors?
Is that right? I don’t understand how that’s possible. ”
Ryder frowned. “I know, Effie. It makes very little sense and isn’t helped by the fact that those four moon phases are the marks to symbolize your other mates.
It is clear you are truly lykos, because you have the mate mark of a kitsune and the four other wolf types, the exact grouping of magic-based creatures that you can mate with successfully. ”
Oh.
“I just don’t understand why she would have the bite mark then,” Julian hedged, repeating my earlier thought.
“It’s possible that she was bitten by accident.” Ryder shook his head. “I don’t know enough, nor have I met a lykos, so it makes it extremely difficult to tell you what is and is not normal.”
Dakota let out a rumble. “So she is in even more danger than we thought? Are you fucking serious?”
Ryder nodded sharply. “More than just danger. Without her being marked formally… Well, she is essentially a walking target.”
I tried to consider what I wanted to say and how I wanted to handle this information, especially considering the emotions I was going through.
The first was concern. Concern and self-preservation were at the top, because I was suddenly drowning in the reality that I was not only in danger for being a bitten wolf but because I was possibly a lykos.
The second was a sense of weird validation that came from the realization that I was different, that I was something special.
That came from my wolf, who was practically prancing around in my head, thrilled to realize that we weren’t the bottom of the chain and that in reality we were so much more than that.
The third was disbelief. I was a lot of things, but descended from the moon goddess? That was a bit of a far stretch, wasn’t it? I didn’t think that was accurate. I swallowed hard, trying to work out why I felt so damn anxious.
I was so caught up in my own head that I hadn’t even realized the others were talking… No, arguing. Anger. I could hear anger and fear in their voices. They were arguing about me, and I hated it. My throat felt like it was closing up, and I felt a weird haze invade every aspect of my body.
I slid off the counter and walked towards my room, ignoring the calls of my name before closing the door gently, trying to gather my thoughts. My most pressing issue was trying to remember how I had gotten to the Whitepaw Pack in the first place.
When had I been bitten?
Where had I come from before that?
Was anyone looking for me?
I slid down the door, feeling completely overwhelmed from the day, exhausted. My life may have been boring back in Chicago, maybe more than a bit painful, but at least it made sense.
None of this made any sense at all.
Laying down on the bed after a moment, I let my body relax completely as I went searching for something in my subconscious. I had no idea what I was searching for, but I needed to pull at the memories I had from before I walked the streets of the city.
There had been something else, and then there had been searing, horrible pain.
Pain that I’d never thought was possible as it radiated through every inch of my being.
A weird sense of sleepiness ran over me as a memory pulled to the front of my head in brief flashes of imagery that I tried my best to focus on.
“A little less power this time.”
It was a feminine voice, filled with a level of warmth I wasn’t used to, especially from other women.
I forced myself to look around, finding I was in a comfortable yet elegant room with large open windows and the bright moon from the night sky shining into our space.
In my hands was a pink energy that was moving between my fingers in a soft, almost hypnotic pattern.
“I’m trying,” I said, moving my small hands apart and back together like she had told me. The power fizzled out, and a sigh of defeat left my lips.
When thin, elegant arms wrapped around me, I suddenly felt far better, and the words “You’re doing great, don’t get down, little moon” had me smiling. I turned to look up at the woman hugging me—
Pain exploded through my temple and I let out a whimper, curling in on myself as my vision went dizzy.