Ascension of a Gamma novel Chapter 52

Chapter 52 Dying Man

-Anna

“Thank you,” I said to the Omega as she laid down two glasses of mango juice and a tray of treats. She smiled at me then left the two of us alone in the balcony of my mother’s study. Much like the library, there were shelves of books here too, except that it didn’t feel as stuffy.

It was a hot mid-afternoon, and Alpha Emery was seated across the round table from me. I took a sip of the juice, savoring the cold that ran down my throat. We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke.

“Here,” he said, handing me the necklace. “Have you seen what’s under the cap?”

I took it from him and checked what was under. I stared at the shaped “A” on the glass.

“A?” I asked, confused.

Emery softly smiled.

ery softly smiled.

“Your mother,” he began, then cleared his throat before adding, “_ was wolf less.”

I gulped at the juice, almost choking on it.

“Easy, dear. I know it’s almost impossible, but it does happen on our kind,” he said, chuckling. “She was amazingly unique in so many ways.”

“She was wolf-less?” I asked. I could’ve been hearing things. Two wolf-less werewolves in succession?

The odds are astronomical!

“Yes, she was. But it didn’t matter. I loved her far before I knew she was my mate,” he replied. “Would you like to hear the story of how we met?”

I nodded, choosing a brownie.

“Hmm… are brownies your favorite?” he asked.

“Don’t get comfortable,” I answered coldly. I was yet to wrap my head around *this whole thing

“Arabella loved them. She used to have

rabella loved them. She used to have them almost every day when she was pregnant,” he said, with a tone of sadness in his voice.

I shouldn’t sympathize with this man. However, he had nothing to gain from lying

“They’re my favorite,” I said quietly as I nibbled on it. When was the last time I had one – I couldn’t tell anymore, it’d been so long!

“It wasn’t exactly romantic, how we met. As a young boy, I was already attracted to her. She was lively and kind, and she always had a smile on her that everyone around her admired, including me. I always saw her as a butterfly – a free spirit, she was. Ella was four years older than me, and so you can imagine how nervous I was when she was about to turn eighteen. I didn’t know what I would do. What if she was mated to someone else? What was I going to do if she fell in love with someone else? As a young boy, I

couldn’t tell her my feelings – not because I was afraid of rejection. I think I was more afraid… that she would misunderstand my feelings as that of a

isunderstand my feelings as that of a child’s.”

He reached for a brownie and finished it i n three bites. Then he drank a quarter of his juice.

“What happened when she didn’t shift?”

“She was… shocked. We all were. I could still remember how upset she was, standing in the middle of everyone, holding back the tears and forcing a smile. I was worried then, worried that m y father, your grandfather –” he said, glancing at me as he emphasized the word, then adding, “- will banish her.”

«Did he?”

Alpha Emery smiled.

“No. He walked up to her and announced t o the pack that we have a new healer.”

“Healer?” Could this explain my blood?

He leaned closer to the table and I did the same.

“You have to promise me not to tell anyone outside of our pack. This is a secret known only to us. Can I trust you with it, Bella?”

WII, Denah

I nodded, dubious that he was trusting m e, a stranger… uhm… lost daughter with a pack secret two hours after he dropped this bomb on my true roots.

“In our pack, there have been eighteen werewolves who were born without wolves,” he said.

I slowly pulled back until my back hit the backrest as I looked at him dubiously. Everyone knew those like me were… rare. So rare in fact that most believe we were just a story. Born millennia apart that there was almost no known fact about us. Stories even say that in the olden times, w e used to be killed, because we had no use in war.

“It’s true. The pack records prove it. Your great, great grandmother was a wolf-less Luna. And although they have no werewolf, they are gifts by the Goddess. Your grandfather told me they were healers, the most powerful there is,” he explained.

“That’s… impossible. They can’t even heal themselves because they don’t have a wolf. How can they be healers?” This could be a set-up.

www

CPLL up.

Does he know about my blood? Is this what he’s after?

“It’s their blood,” he said, then drank more juice. He leaned back and sighed. He seemed to be growing more tired by the minute. 1

“Do you know the story of the witches, dear?” he asked as he closed his eyes.

It was one of the stories Father shared while he was drinking

“They used to be humans but their jealousy for the werewolves drove them t o search for power. The Goddess’s twin, pleased by their hatred, granted them power. She was jealous of her sister since the werewolves only knew to look up to the Moon. She was in the Goddess’ shadow, the New Moon, the phase where nights are darkest and werewolves are at their weakest,” I answered. It was a well known story, often told as bedtime

stories to children.

Alpha Emery inhaled deeply and loudly exhaled.

“My father said the witches only knew to destroy, and so the werewolves, who can

troy, and so the werewolves, who can only heal themselves, had to watch their own kin succumb to the witches’ power. Our kind had enough. The first Alpha prayed to the Goddess to save his people. I tis said that he prayed as he held his deceased Luna who was carrying their child.”

He fell quiet after, his chest heaving slowly.

Was he asleep?

As if on cue, his chin dropped. I waved a hand on his face. He really was asleep!

es unat say about TTC

“Is that why you killed them?” I said slowly, my nails digging into my palms.” I was there. I remember that scar. I remember the blood. I remember everything that happened like it was yesterday. What am I doing here anyway? You said I was a mission. Why? What do you want from me? To fill my head with these stories… these lies?” I questioned, my voice getting higher, but I didn’t care. “What do you want from me!”

“It’s me, old friend,” he said. “It’s just m e.”

“Over the years, our pack has lost many. Some in attacks, some left only to die. My wife… she left. Our pack was no longer safe to raise a child. Before I could find them, my wife died on the same day. She was pregnant with our daughter.”

I looked away and eyed Alpha Emery – m y maternal father. Was all that I had thought about my father, all this time, a