Chapter 171

Hannah

“My daughter is only 5 years old,” I said to her. “I accepted it when I found out she was the key to opening both sides of the portal. But now you’re telling me she is the key to saving this entire kingdom. You’re saying she has the powers of the moon goddess?”

I could feel myself getting worked up at the very thought of it. I wasn’t about to return home and tell everybody that Wren had these powers because she’s basically the moon goddess. The thought made me feel queasy. I had put her in enough danger already; she was already going through so much stuff. I couldn’t bear to watch her go through this too. My priority was protecting my daughter, not throwing her in the middle of danger.

“I have a book that I left at the palace,” Gemma continued, eyeing me carefully. “It’s a little black book. It’ll tell you everything you need to know about the chosen daughter of the moon goddess. It’ll tell you how to help her channel her inner powers.”

“The chosen daughter of the moon goddess?” I asked in disbelief.

Gemma nodded her head once.

“Wrenley,” she answered. I lowered her gaze to the ground; something told me things were going to get more complicated. “There are more questions for you to ask,” Gemma told me after a long pause. “Remember, I can only answer questions containing the here and the now. The future is for the elders to unfold.”

“My mother,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. “Is she the heart that holds Xander’s powers?”

“I’m afraid so,” she answered. “However, she isn’t who she seems so be wary of her. She isn’t the same mother you remember. She is working with Xander; willing to trade her children for a little taste of freedom.”

So, my suspicions of her were right, and so was Liam. I didn’t like being right in this situation.

“How do we defeat her?” I asked, my tone hardening.

“That I am unsure,” she answered. She paused for a moment like her sentence was incomplete. Her eyes widened and I could see the nervousness on her face. “I must go,” she told me quickly. “And you must go too. Before they find you!”

“You can’t leave yet; I still have questions. Where is my father? How does Amy fit into all of this? Why would Jack marry her? Where is everyone from the hospital?”

“I’m sorry; I can’t answer right now. I must leave.”

She began fading and I ran to her, trying to grasp onto her, but my hand just went through her. She was literally a ghost. I let out a sob of frustration just as I heard sirens going through the graveyard. My entire body froze at the sound of the loud sirens; I saw lights like flashlights roaming around until they were nearly blinding.

I squinted, trying to understand what was happening and take in the view around me. But it was nearly impossible to see. Soon, I felt a set of strong hands closing around my arms and tugging me away from Gemma’s grave.

“We are sorry to have to do this mam. But we got an alert that you were outside and in wolf form past curfew. We need to take you to the palace. King’s orders,” one of the guards said. I couldn’t see who it was because the light was still blinding me. but his voice was familiar; I knew it was one of the gammas that once worked for Sebastian.

I felt fury rising through me and I wanted to shift and get out of there. But I couldn’t channel Nora or shift into my wolf form. I felt powerless. I realized quickly that they had placed a cuff around my wrist and were dragging me away from the cemetery. The cuff must have been blocking my wolf powers. I wasn’t even to be able to mindlink Sebastian.

It didn’t take us long to get to the palace. It was only around the corner from the cemetery, and we walked at a quick pace. As we entered, I already felt the aura darkening. I felt the same way I did when I was in Xander’s palace. Except this used to be my home.

Jack stood in the foyer with his arms folded across his chest. He was wearing the same dark suit as he wore when I saw him on the TV during his live program earlier.

“I should have known it was you,” he said, shaking his head in disappointment. “You never were one to follow the rules.”

“Whatever you think you are going to accomplish, you are wrong. We aren’t going to let you get away with this,” I spat at him; looking at him disgusted me. I just wanted to get out of there and go back to Sebastian. He needed to know everything I had just found out.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Hannah,” Jack laughed. “I’ve already won. Well, rather, King Xander had already won. When will you stop fighting and just give in to his desires? He wants you to marry him and be his bride. To rule this kingdom and the underworld together. It’s an offer I surely wouldn’t refuse.”

“I thought you married my sister. What about Amy?” I asked him in disbelief.

Jack just laughed and waved his hand in dismissal.

“I am,” Jack said to me. “But Xander isn’t. Xander can’t stand Amy and would much rather get rid of her. If only his one true love would agree to marry him. We can get rid of the third party altogether.”

“Get rid of her?” I asked, shaking my head with dismay written all over my face. “Why did you marry her if that’s how you felt?”

“Because I knew it would get under your skin,” Jack laughed. “Like I would ever fall in love with a nobody like Amy. She was just so desperate to get inside the palace. It was pathetic.”

“That isn’t fair to her…” I said to him.

“Since when do you care about what is fair to Amy? You left her in a jail cell for months with her mother. You never cared about her.”

“Because she broke the law. She went against her king and queen. She deserved to be jailed for that,” I argued. “But she doesn’t deserve to be married to someone who is only using her to get to me. We might not agree on most things, but she is still my sister. She doesn’t deserve to be treated that poorly.”

“Who said I treat her poorly?” Jack asked, sounding offended. “I treat her very well for someone I couldn’t care less about. She has everything she needs. The crown, the palace, the title, the fortune, and your agony.”

“She’s going to see through you,” I told him. “Once she does see through you, she will be on our side.”

This only made Jack laugh again as he shook his head.

“Very doubtful, little wolf,” he said in return, still laughing.

I heard the clicking and tapping of heels against the marble flooring. A blonde beauty emerged from the darkness that lurked in the halls. She paused once she saw me, and her eyes narrowed; she pressed her lips in a thin line and folded her arms across her chest as she often did whenever she saw me.

“What is this commoner doing in my palace?” Amy asked bitterly.