Ch. 42

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO:

~Drake:

“Queen- what?” I asked Beatrix, looking away from Beth and Alec.

“And you,” she added, closing her syfy eyes, “You are no regular werewolf either.”

“Lady Beatrix, what do you mean?” Alec asked from behind me someplace.

Beatrix opened her gaze and looked between all of us meaningfully before saying, “Let’s talk someplace private. There’s a lot to explain.”

“Let’s use my office,” Alec offered, walking briskly ahead of us.

I rose from my knees, confused at the turn this had all taken. We entered a small, ornate building that looked like it had been carved from a giant tree. The closer I inspected it the more details I could make out in the wood. Little moons of various stages, treelines, mountains, even a bat now and then.

Beatrix’s steps clicked on the hardwood as we entered. The hair on my arms stood up as soon as I passed the inner door.

“Beatrix spelled this space some years ago. Soundproof against supernatural hearing,” Alec explained to me when he noticed my reaction.

I nodded.

“First, before I dive into everything, I want to explain that while I can see many things, I can’t see everything,” she explained facing me. “Secondly, I want to make it clear that when I glimpse the future, some things are sharp, clear - these things will most definitely happen. But - there are also a majority of things that appear fuzzy or grayed, less vibrant - these things may change. The future is always evolving, it’s influenced by every little thing we do or don’t do.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, listening.

Beatrix adjusted her stance, facing the three of us now. She pursed her lips for a moment, a clear look of thinking on her face.

“One thing is exceptionally clear. Avery and you,” she nodded to me, “are going to parent a new race. Or, at least one that hasn’t existed for a millenia.”

‘Parent? Wait. We haven’t - that means she will live!’ Dane thought aloud in my mind.

I breathed out at his realization. That is exactly what that means.

‘Yes, but is she telling the truth? How accurate are the differences in her visions?’ I asked him back.

‘She’s truthful. Trust me,’ Dane proclaimed, sure as hll.

Well that’s something I will try to hold on to.

“Trix, what do you mean?” Alec asked slowly.

“Lycans. They will return. And not just that, but they will unite the wolves under one kingdom,” Beatrix answered. “Their son will be the first king in a long line of Lycans to rule.”

All of the air left my lungs. My son? Our son?

Trying to weigh all of this with all the chaos of having Avery still missing, there were more questions than answers. While hope fluttered in my chest at the idea of having a child, a son, with Avery, my heart still felt heavy with the need to find her. I needed to refocus everyone.

“Where is she now?” my voice cracked just a tad.

Everyone stopped what they were saying or about to say and looked at me.

“I wish I could say. I can make out some sort of former hospital on the inside. The cell she’s been in… There are others being held there too,” Beatrix said seriously. “For some reason the entire outside, the where, is totally blurred. I can’t make out any markers. Not even what kinds of trees. I will keep trying but I think how you find her will be up to you both. You are destined. Your union will save the werewolf species, and there’s a reason for that.”

“But you said she’s blocked. What can I do?” I ask her, desperate.

Beatrix pursed her lips. “Let me see what I can do on my end… I have some old contacts who may be able to help. But it’s going to take some time-”

“I don’t have time,” I grunted through my teeth.

“I know,” Beatrix raised a hand. “In the meantime…”

She turned her focus to Alec, eyes saying something I couldn’t read.

“Are you sure?” Alec asked her in response. His tone was more serious than I had ever heard.

Beatrix just nodded before turning on her heel. “Well, I’m off. I will get started on some leads and will contact Alecxi once I have something. In the meantime…” she looked between Alec and I, “You both can work on connecting with the future Queen Mother.”

The hair on my neck stood on end at that remark. As many doubts as I personally had about witches, magic, and anything a random stranger would tell me, there was some ethereal, otherworldly aura in everything she did and said. Like when you have that nagging feeling that someone - or something - is watching you. You can turn around and around, you can stretch your senses, but even though there appears to be nothing there… you can’t shake the feeling.

I looked over to Alec, trying to read him. There was something unspoken that had gone between him and Beatrix earlier… What about him made him the guy to help me reach her? He had been screwing around with me before she got here. What could possibly be different now?

Beatrix moved across the room, opened the door to this office space, and began muttering to herself. She was saying something over and over, a short phrase, in a language I didn’t understand. Something not quite latin sounding… Light broke out from her palm. Dane growled in my head, ready to attack at the first start of trouble. She moved her hand in a circle, continuing to mutter the same phrase. The circle began to hold a shape. It started to look like a glowing, invisible mirror, with light along the outline. Her hand moved straight forward then, like she was punching someone at chest level, then she slowly dropped her hand. The light stayed up. She looked over to me and nodded very seriously, weight in her gaze. Something about it had me nodding back even before I realized what I was doing.

She winked at Alec, smiled at Beth, and then walked into the mirror. At that next second she was gone. She and the mirror totally disappeared. Like they were never there. To add to the crazy level, her scent was already disappearing at a strong rate. Like she had last been here one or two days ago, not a second ago… I breathed in deeply, trying to figure out more about it, Dane still ready to act. This all felt so wrong, against the senses we could trust.

“Well, we better get started,” Alec remarked, looking at me with a new curiosity.

“Yeah, I mean we were making so much progress before,” I darkly replied with heavy sarcasm.

“Well now I know what we’re dealing with,” he answered simply, like that phrase answered all questions ever.

He and Beth continued out the cabin space to the outer door. He turned to give Beth a kiss on her hand, before they both took off in different directions.

‘Well don’t just stand there like an idiot,’ Dane grumbled.

‘Ah if it isn’t Mister Helpful,’ I replied in the same tone.

“Let’s go, pup!” Alec called from up ahead.

An automatic growl left me and he chuckled.

We backtracked the way we had come until instead of veering left, the direction we’d been in earlier with all our fake meditation practice, we continued on straight.

“Try to keep up,” Alec quipped, leaving Beth there and taking off at full vampire speed.

“Is he serious?” I ask Beth.

She just grins at me, still mooney-eyed after watching Alec go, and nods.

“You better move quickly, you could lose him,” she remarked.

Grumbling, I began to undress behind a tree. I shifted, picking up my things, and took off following the scent of the annoyingly evasive vampire.

We moved at a good pace. Not pushing it completely, but enough to increase our breathing pretty well. It felt rejuvenating to be back in the trees, running on all four paws, skirting around trees and over stones and bushes.

We went on for some time, the area coming to a slow incline. His scent was fresher here and we slowed our approach as we came to a hillside with a cave in it. Odd. We hadn’t really seen anything like this in this area.

“Are you coming in or what?” Alec’s voice echoed from inside.

‘Are you sure about this guy?’ I linked Dane as we stood swaying on our paws a bit.

Instead of answering, he just pushed us forward.

Well, okay then.

Inside was a stark contrast from the bare and rough exterior. There were smooth walls and ceilings, like they had been polished by years of water. The smoothness and shining colors reminded me of the inside of an oyster shell. We moved forward and saw more surprising things. Tapestries lining inner rooms. A big flat stone table in the center of all the rooms.

“You’ll want to shift back for this part,” Alec said, coming out of one of the rooms with some odd objects in his hands. He set them down on the stone table. “Let’s get started.”