Chapter 64

Elena

The journey to the Lycan Realm last the rest of the day and into the night.

We walked for hours, first in precautious silence and then allowing conversation in hushed voices. I had so many questions to ask, but was still so overwhelmed that I didn't know where to begin.

My mother.

Even though I had never seen this woman’s face before, there was no question she was telling the truth. Our physical similarities aside, there was an indescribable feeling of becoming whole the moment I saw her. An empty part of my was being filled, like sand filling an hourglass.

“I looked for you,” the Queen, Lorena, said, “I spent years after you were taken, hoping to break whatever spell was used to hide you from me. I never believed that you were truly gone, but I knew you would need to find your way back on your own.”

As the story went, I had been kidnapped by a rival gang of wolves when I was four years old. Just young enough to eventually forget my origins once I was given to a new family in Waning Moon. I wondered how much Alice knew about her adoption, but pushed the negative assumption aside. I would keep my memory of Alice a positive one.

“Your father,” Queen Lorena’s voice cracked slightly, but she held her regal composure. “He was a brave man, and he died while searching for you. I’m so sorry you couldn’t meet him again.”

“My father…”

I felt like I had been struck dumb by this information, but the Queen didn’t seem offended by my awkward silences. Eventually we made it to a road where cars were parked. Almost as soon as I climbed into the backseat, I fell asleep.

Whether it was the adrenaline wearing off or a bit of Lycan magic, I slept for the rest of the journey in a steady and dreamless state. I wondered later if they were concealing the entrance to Lycan territory from me, not ready to reveal all secrets to me. I woke up in the early light of dawn.

The compound didn’t look all that different from those of the Werewolf Packs in the area, but there was something about the aura of the place that set it apart. The architecture style was modern but with a few vintage details in the swirling lines of the gables and the rounded cupolas on bigger structures.

Old stone interplayed with new wooden panels, and I felt like I had travelled to a different country. Which, having slept through the journey, maybe I had.

And everything was so clean. I took pride in the community care that kept Waning Moon well-cared for, but this felt like the streets and houses themselves repelled any sign of soiling or staining. My own skin felt like it had been exfoliated as I took my first steps in this place that was once my home.

And then the house I was led to defied all my dreams and expectations. It was not quiet a castle, but the stonework and turreted corners evoked power and prestige without seeming pretentious. The interior stood in contrast to the austere exterior, and the rooms and walls were covered with dark wood and gilded furnishings.

I followed the Queen as she glided up the large center staircase. Down a corridor and through a door that blended in with its surroundings, we entered the private wing of the fortress.

“I’m afraid we didn’t have much time to prepare for you,” my mother said, the first sign of human uncertainty entering her voice. “And of course, I don’t really know what you like, what you are like.”

I looked around the room she’d brought me to. It was simple, ruled by a four-post bed in the center with a canopy of rich crimson. One corner had a circular nook, one of the turrets I had seen from outside, and a window made up most of it. I looked out onto a backyard and gardens and tall trees beyond.

“It’s perfect.”

And I meant it. I kept squeezing my eyes and touching things lightly, just to be sure it was all real.

“I will let you settle and wash up,” the Queen said. “Come down when you like, or someone will call you for a luncheon.”

“Thank you,” I said, not sure if there was some way I should be addressing her. Your Majesty? Your Grace? Mother?

She looked at me for an extra moment, a sad and hopeful smile on her face. I could not imagine what she was going through, and how odd it must be to meet the grown version of her daughter. I held still as she looked me over, maybe searching for signs of the child I once was.

Her eyes stopped on my neck.

“How did you…” Her eyes lost all their regal coolness and started to water.

“My… the woman who adopted me,” I didn’t know how to talk about my adoptive family, “she gave it to me recently. She said it came from you.”

Her eyes flew to meet mine, anger flaring. “So, she knew.”

“I guess she did.”

Queen Lorena nodded. “I only hope she did right by you, even if she couldn’t give you back to me.”

“She did her best,” I managed to say. It didn’t feel like the right time to discuss the matter further.

“Hm,” my mother hummed.

We were both awkward then, staring at each other, waiting to see if some lighting bolt would jolt us back together. Then she adjusted herself back into her stately persona, and left me alone in my new room.

I explored my new quarters and enjoyed a steaming hot bath in the giant clawfoot tub. I unpacked the few items I had brought along with me, which included a small picture I’d cut from a newspaper. It was a photograph of me and Killian, taken at one of his campaign rallies in the days just before we went in search of Natalie.

There were images to choose from, but I remembered this one because in it I am not putting on a persona or lying for the cameras. We are standing next to each other, an arm around each other’s back, most looking out to the crowd. But my head is slightly turned up towards him, and my eyes are fully focused on his face. My smile is bright and genuine, and I am almost astonished at how different I look when I am that happy. He is also beaming towards his constituents, but his eyes are pointing down and towards me.

Caught on film, we had shared a small joke and a laugh and I remember looking at him and thinking I wish it could feel like this, forever.

I placed the picture on the vanity mirror over the dresser.

Putting on a dress I found hanging in the closet— miraculously my size, but that didn’t surprise me— I wandered back out of the family wing. The house was three stories and an attic, but I had a feeling it held more secrets than I could guess. Even having never been there, my heart seemed to know exactly where to lead me.

I entered a large room, a dining table on one side and a sitting area of couches and chairs on the other. The wood and brass was offset by deep turquoise in the wallpaper and cushions.

“You look lovely,” Queen Lorena said when I entered. She sat in a straight-backed chair, a portfolio in her hands. “I had a feeling you would be my size.”

My heart skipped a few times, like a child in a field, at the thought of wearing my mother’s dress.

“I still can’t believe I’m here,” I confessed as I sat on a couch next to her. “I don’t really know how to act…”

“You were a Luna in your werewolf pack, yes? Being a Lycan Princess can't be that much of a stretch.”

It took me a moment to realize she was teasing me. I sighed, trying to match her tranquil energy.

“I mean,” I said, gathering courage, “around you.”

Her face dropped a bit. “It’s been a long time, I know. Obviously you cannot remember me—“

“But somehow I do, I think,” I said, embarrassed slightly for interrupting. She let me go on. “It’s like, my body or soul or whatever recognizes this place or the feeling or scent…”

“And more of it might come back, now that you are among your people again.”

My people.

“It will take adjusting,” she continued, “but I hope you will stay with us.”

And then my heart fell into my stomach. Somehow she read my mind.

“Your husband, the Alpha,” I knew I shouldn’t be surprised that she knew about him. “You know what happened in the future?”

“What could happen,” I corrected.

She nodded, tight-lipped.

“But it could be different, we could have a child,” I sounded desperate as I thought of the painful loss of life I’d suffered before. “This time I won’t lose her. I will save her.”

My mother’s face went to an odd place, a light dawning and a comforting plan quickly coming into place.

“Elena, there is another way,” she said slowly, soothingly. I was confused, and she saw it. “There is another way to bring your child back.”