Chapter 100

Carol’s POV

By the next morning, the doctor told me that I should be well enough to leave by this evening. They just wanted to keep monitoring me for the next few hours before they discharged me. I couldn’t wait to return home and sleep in a bed that wasn’t from a hospital.

We were woken early by Aiden's phone ringing, and he groaned as he fished it out of his pocket. He was still wearing the same clothes he wore yesterday, and I felt bad that he couldn’t change out of them and into something else. I thought he was going to ignore the call, but his face paled when he looked at the screen and he quickly sat up in bed.

“Oliver,” he greeted into the phone. “What did you find out?”

“Not much,” Oliver muttered on the other end of the line. I was honestly surprised that I could hear him so clearly but if I truly did have wolf’s blood inside of me, that must be one of the things I have… excelled at hearing. “They wiped this e ntire place clean. There’s no trace of anyone being here besides the cell they kept her in.”

My heart fell deep into my stomach as I looked up at a frustrated Aiden.

“What’s he talking about?” I asked, my voice coming out breathy. “Don’t tell me he went to that place they kept me in…”

Aiden glanced at me, surprised that I heard Oliver so clearly no doubt.

“We have to find out who did this to you,” he said, raising his brows. “They found the underground hideout and were hoping there’d be clues left there. But they packed up and left pretty quickly.”

I shook my head, panic striking me.

“He shouldn’t have gone there, Aiden. It’s too dangerous,” I told him firmly. “Besides, I already know who did this to me and I know why.”

Aiden’s mouth fell open.

“What’s she talking about?” Oliver asked. “She knows who did this? She remembers?”

“Apparently,” Aiden murmured into the phone. “Are you ready to talk about it? What exactly happened?”

I swallowed the lump in my throat; how do I tell Aiden that a powerful witch council member was the one who kidnapped me? Would he even believe me if I told him?

“I’m not exactly sure how to say this,” I whispered.

“Hey Oliver, I’ll give you a callback,” Aiden suddenly told him.

“Sure, just keep me updated on what you find out and I’ll investigate,” Oliver told him.

“Thanks, man,” Aiden said just before he hung up the phone and turned to face me. “Tell me what happened.”

I took a deep breath, staring down at my hands, I started to speak.

“I had a dream,” I blurted. “Well, actually I’ve been having recurring dreams for the past year or so. I would hear a woman’s voice telling me that my destiny is waiting. I didn’t know what she meant until I was in that coma, and I had an even longer dream. Turns out that the voice I was hearing was my birth mother and she told me about my powers and my destiny.”

“Your birth mother?” He asked, raising his brows. “You know who she is?”

I nodded, biting my lower lip.

“Emalyn Sawol,” I answered, studying his face to see if he recognized her name.

His eyes grew large.

“The former queen?” He asked, my mouth hanging open. “Queen Emma Sawol?”

I nodded again.

“Yes,” I answered. “She’s my birth mother. She’s not just a queen though; she’s also a priestess.”

He nodded.

“Yes, she’s one of the three priestesses. She’s the most loved and the most powerful of them. I think that’s why the king was so drawn to her honestly. At least that’s what the rumors say,” he said, shaking his head at the thought. Then he froze. “Wait… does that mean the King is your father?”

Now I was chewing on my bottom lip until it ached.

“Yes,” I whispered. “They are my birth parents.”

He stared at me in shock.

“How is that possible…” he whispered. “That means you’re royalty and you have werewolf blood. The king is a werewolf, Carol.”

I nodded again.

“That’s what my mother said too. I have werewolf blood, but not a werewolf spirit. So, I have some werewolf qualities, but I can’t shift.”

“What else did she tell you?” He asked. “Did she tell you about your powers?”

“Yes,” I answered. “Apparently, I’m a rarity because I have more than one power. When I was born, I was gifted by two other priestesses. My mother told me that my destiny is to not only be the leader of the werewolf empire, but also a high priestess of the Moon Goddess.”

Aiden’s eyes widened in shock.

“Are you serious?” He gasped.

“I know it’s ridiculous. I’m practically a human. How can I be a leader of a werewolf empire?” I asked, staring down at my hands and tugging at my fingers nervously.

He grabbed my hands, drawing my attention back to him. When I looked into his eyes, I saw the love and admiration hidden in his gaze.

“You are the most extraordinary person I’ve ever met,” he told me with such honesty that my heart swelled. “I always knew you were special, even before I realized you had magic. This just confirms it. But are you sure it wasn’t just a dream? This was real?”

“I thought maybe it was at first,” I admitted. “But I have powers, Aiden. This is the only explanation for them. I think I’m starting to get wolf-hearing too. I could hear Oliver on the phone clearly as if he was right next to me and you didn’t even have him on speaker. I never used to be able to hear that well before. Not to mention this scent thing; I can literally smell every element on you, and I love it.”

His face reddened at my words, and it made me smile knowing I had that effect on him.

“That’s incredible, Carol,” he breathed, wrapping me in his arms. “Do you want to reach out to the King? As an heir of the capitol, I can get access to his information, and we can call him together.”

I put my hand on his arm to slow him down.

“There’s more,” I told him my face growing and tone growing serious. “Someone else knows about my power and they want it for themselves. That’s why I’ve been watching these last few months. That’s why those men took me. They were planning on doing a transfer ritual and taking my powers.”

Aiden took a deep breath and nodded.

“That explains it,” he murmured. “Oliver mentioned yesterday that they found stuff for a transfer ritual, but everything was wiped clean of fingerprints.”

I bit my lower lip again as tears welled up in my eyes from the memories of my time in that hideout.

“Hey, it’s okay. You are safe now. I’m not going to let them hurt you anymore. Oliver and some of the werewolf police from the Capital are out searching for them as we speak. We are going to get them and make them pay for this, Carol. You have my word.”

I nodded, knowing that he was telling the truth, but that wasn’t what was upsetting me.

“Aiden, you have to know something,” I whispered.

He pulled back to look at my face and I saw the friend decorating his lips.

“Okay, what is it?” He then asked, studying me carefully.

“Those guys were working for someone. Someone who has been waiting for my powers to surface and watching me this whole time. Someone who took me from the King and Queen and brought me to a human family to live out my days. This was all part of a plan that I’m not sure I fully understand,” I told him, shaking my head.

His eyes narrowed and his brows pinched together; I knew he was confused by what I was saying.

“And do you know who this person was? Did you talk to them?”

I nodded.

“That’s why I believe that my dream was real because it matched up with some of the stuff said to me while I was in captivity,” I admitted. “It made the words of my mother make a lot more sense.”

“And who was this person, Carol? Who took you? Who wants your powers.”

Taking a deep breath I whispered, “Morgan Leveau.”

I braced myself for him to laugh in my face at the ridiculousness of my words. Why would the most powerful council member want to take my powers? She already had so much; she not only worked under the jurisdiction of the royals, but she was also very powerful with magic as well. There was no reason for her to want my powers.

Except I had something that Morgan doesn’t, the status of a high priestess.

“What?” He gasped. “She’s the witch’s council member. Are you sure it was her?”

“I’m positive, Aiden. She confessed everything,” I told him firmly. “She wants my powers. She comes from the main empire, and she was a royal handmaid to the current queen, Elizabeth. When she heard of my powers, she went undercover as my mother’s handmaiden and convinced her to give me up to protect me. Queen Elizabeth wanted me dead and asked for Morgan to take me away to kill me. So, she thinks I’m dead. But Morgan had different plans for me and brought me to a human family instead,” I explained. “She wanted to make sure I remained weak so that when the time comes, it would be easy to capture me and take my powers.”

Aiden was quiet as he processed my words. I’m not sure any of this even makes sense to him but he looked so confused and conflicted.

“I’m sorry, Aiden,” I whispered, tears falling from my eyes. “But Morgan is dangerous, and I think we are all in danger because of her.”