Chapter 24 #3
He nodded. “They returned before they were due to and now that I’m thinking about it… they did seem a little shaken up. The witch’s visit came after that. I remember it now. I was leaving on a supply run when she arrived and Uncle was glad to see her.”
“Because she was going to cast the spell that kept Saphira hidden from the seelie for close to a century.” I mulled over all I had learned so far, not liking any of it.
The deception. My little wolf had deserved better.
She had deserved the truth. Instead, her parents had caged her.
“Did they ever let her leave after that?”
Chase shook his head and so did Morden.
“The Harpers stopped leaving the pack after that, and tasked me with protecting her,” Morden said and before I could tear him apart with my shadows, he held up his hands, his palms facing me.
“Look… I didn’t know a damned thing about it.
To me it was just some desperate kind of attempt to make me engage with the pack, and I didn’t want it… but I did it anyway.”
I rubbed my lower lip with my thumb, going over every scrap of information they had offered, and all the things Saphira had said to me, and what that fae had said to her.
I could only draw one conclusion.
The Harpers had known their daughter was not fully wolf and had been shaken by the fae approaching Saphira in Vancouver and, in an attempt to shield her from the truth, they had stopped allowing her to leave the safety of the pack lands. I was not sure if that was cruelty or kindness.
I could understand their need to protect her, but to lie to her like that, to keep the truth of who she was from her, and to cage her in their pack lands. That, I could not condone.
She had deserved to know the truth, and I did not believe they would have given it to her, not until something happened to force their hand. Such as Saphira wielding magic.
But she could not wield magic, could she?
Because that protective spell had done more than protect.
It had prevented.
It had caged her magic, binding it, preventing it from manifesting when she had come of age.
It struck me that I was wrong about that. Saphira had come of age here, in my court. Here, she had matured.
I glared at Morden, who went rigid in response. “Did Saphira ever mention feeling different?”
“No.” He paused and then added, “Only here. She said she felt connected to nature here. I said she was crazy, because I don’t feel any more connected to nature here than I do back in Canada.”
“Because you do not have fae blood.” I leaned forwards and gripped the edge of the map, shaking my head as I frowned at it, everything falling into place to reveal the truth I had been blind to.
“The taste of her blood… how different she feels to a wolven… how strong she became in her time here… the connection she feels to the nature of this realm. She is fae.”
A shiver chased down my spine as it hit me, as I cursed myself for being so blind and not seeing the signs before now.
My little wolf really was part-fae, and in her time in my court, that side of herself had stirred and awakened.
“Her wolf blood must have slowed the awakening of her magic,” Vyr said and I nodded.
“So, it awakened here. When she matured as a wolf, she matured as a fae too.” Which meant she now had magic at her command. That knowledge soothed rather than upset me. I was glad she would be able to defend herself against others with more than just a blade or her wolf form.
As much as I despised the seelie, I hoped one among them proved me wrong about their breed and took the time to teach my little wolf how to wield her powers. If they did not, I would teach her when we were together again.
I found I liked the thought of that.
Vyr had been the one to train her with weapons. I had only honed that training.
But I would be the one to teach her how to unlock her full potential.
“Do you know which fae town the Harpers visited?” I said and looked to Chase.
“I do. There’s only one fae town near enough. A thirteen hour round trip, but well within reach of the pack. Only problem is, I’ve never been there.”
Morden said, “Whistler.”
I shifted my gaze to him, part of me hoping he would answer my next question in the negative so I could mock him a little to take the edge off my mood and part of me mature enough to accept he might be our way of reaching the town quickly.
“You know it?”
He folded his arms over his broad chest, his glare cutting, as if he knew I wanted him to say no, but instead he said, “Sure. It was how I got here.”
I recalled he had mentioned that, but I also remembered something else. “I believe I have been there too. It was one of the towns I checked when trying to find Saphira after Neve’s vision of her. So your assistance is not needed, wolf.”
Morden scowled. “One of the towns you checked when trying to buy her virginity.”
I shrugged that off. “Virginity. Vengeance. Perhaps I shall have both if my little wolf has her way.”
Morden looked positively livid.
Delicious.
I grinned at him and then turned to my very unimpressed sister.
“We leave for Whistler immediately.”