Chapter 34
Lola's POV
My eyes widened as realization dawned on me. Marcella, she was that person that my father had tried to save. She was the person that cost him his life, the reason he was dead right now.
My fists clenched in rage as a lot of emotions rippled through me. The hurt and the pain came crashing down all over again, but shadowing them all was the anger.
"You! You are the cause of all of this!" I yelled, standing up, wanting to punish her. How did she dare and then disguise all these months as my friend when she was the reason that I was in this position in the first place?
I clenched my fist in rage, and before I knew it, I was at her, searching for a knife. "You are the reason my parents are dead!" I said, my fist clenched. "You should be dead too!"
Marcella held my hand with surprising strength. "Please calm down," she said, her expression pained.
"Calm down? You expect me to calm down at a moment like this?" I asked. "Are you going to bring my parents back? You said yourself that he didn't deserve to die!" I said, throwing a punch at her.
Her face contorted in pain, but she didn't try to stop me. I knew that I was hurting her, but at the moment, I didn't care.
"Please," she said again. "You have to calm down for the sake of your baby."
I glared at her. She dare talk about my baby? How was I sure she was even a doctor to begin with?
"Everything I've told you is the truth," she said, stepping back from me, keeping a reasonable distance between us in case I would go rogue again. "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you beforehand, but I was scared of this reaction from you."
I glared at her, holding my hands. She would have to do a lot more than that to convince me that she was on my side.
"Why would my father save someone like you?" I demanded, my voice cold.
Marcella lowered her gaze. "A lot of people were after me because I was the moon goddess reincarnation of my generation."
My eyes snapped onto her. What kind of bogus was she spitting out this time?
"You must have heard the myths," Marcella asked me.
"You know all about it too," I found I couldn't ignore the facts.
"It's nothing but a myth, right?" I asked, uncertainty now in my eyes.
"Every generation, the moon goddess was reincarnated. Everyone knew all about it, but that wasn't all," she continued. "The moon goddess was sent to keep the balance between the packs, to ensure peace. But it was more like the moon goddess incarnation only served to spark war between the men that were hungry for power. She became an instant prize for so many people that were seeking power, that were originally searching the earth to find any supernatural strength that would give them a position ranking above that of a lycan."
"You were being hunted down," I said, my voice cold. That didn't mean that I was going to forgive her for the death of my parents.
"If you are so strong, why didn't you save them? You had the power, right? You could have easily prevented their death, but you didn't."
"It is way more than that," Marcella continued patiently. "I told you that I was the reincarnation of my generation, but I lost my powers once another reincarnation was born."
I blinked in confusion. "But you're not dead yet," I said, unable to get it.
"Yes, knowledge is rare but not exactly impossible that two reincarnations can exist at the same time, but one has to lose their powers—the first one."
I suddenly shifted, not comfortable with the way she was staring intensely at me. I had a feeling that I knew what she was hinting at, but I wasn't prepared to acknowledge it just yet.
"Your parents, they knew you were the one. Once I explained everything to them," she said, dropping the bomb on me.
"No, no," I shook my head, standing up. "This is all bogus!"
I wasn't going to believe it. I had been a normal college student. I got my degree. I was going to live a peaceful life. I didn't deserve to be torn into some kind of power-hungry prize by the rest of the alphas.
"I'm going to protect you no matter what. I owed it to your parents," Marcella said, watching me. "You don't need to be scared. You possess powers that are unique to your generation. Voice at the corner, Lola. You alone can stop it," she said.
I sat down on the bed, my shoulders sagging in defeat. Reality came crashing down on me, and it was cruel.
"I don't want to be caught up in any of this," I said, a sob threatening to break out. "I watched my parents leave me trying to protect a stranger, and now I have the same powers as that stranger."
"That's not all," Marcella said. "Something—but if the knowledge is too much for you for one day, I can tell you the rest tomorrow or once we get out of the park," she said.
I shook my head. "No, how much worse can it be?" I muttered. If there was more trying to unfold for me, then I might as well face it all at once.
She nodded, a hint of acknowledgment on her face as she saw that I wasn't going to break down.
"Tyler also captured me about a year ago," she said. "Just like every other person, he believed that I had the powers of the moon goddess."
My eyes widened. "Tyler?" I muttered in shock.
"Yes. You know that you have to believe me. All this while, I've been trying to protect you from him."
I shook my head. It was all too much for me. The one person that I thought would protect me had been working against me all along.
"I cannot tell you the reasons behind his quest for power, but he was ready to perform the sacrifice, and that was why I had to get you out of his manor as fast as possible. Because once he realized that you were the person he'd been searching for all this while, there's no telling that you or your baby would survive it."
I took a deep breath, nodding in understanding. I could trust her. She had been trying to protect me all this while. Right now, she was the only person that I could trust at this moment.
"No one knows that you have powers," Marcella said. "The secret lies with me, so we should be able to escape. Or at least you should be able to."
I shook my head. "Why are you thinking of dying?"
Marcella held my hand. "I suppose I'm still serious. If any scenario comes when we are under attack, I will give my all to protect you and make sure you come out of it alive, even if it means my death."
"Stop!" I raised a hand, having enough for one night. It was enough that I knew that she was the reason behind my parents' death and that a lot of people were going to be after my life, but I didn't need another person dying on me.
She nodded, leaving me to myself. I was secretly grateful for her and needed time alone to think of everything very carefully.
The next minutes passed by with me laying on the bed, staring off at the ceiling, wondering if this was going to be my life from now on. Would I be constantly on the run until someone else appeared who had my powers?
I didn't want anything to do with this at all. No, I shook my head. Even after I would break my powers, I would still be on the run because a bunch of people were power-hungry, and they would kill to get it. Even the rogues would be after me.
I needed to escape from the entire wolf community. It wasn't safe for me. Maybe I could easily blend in with the human world, but even that wasn't going to guarantee my safety.
"I was safe," I tried to convince myself. As long as Marcella was still here.
Marcella walked in a few moments later, carrying a tray of baked beans and bread. She set it on the table. There was a glass of milk on the side and a cup of coffee for her.
I looked at the food, and suddenly I didn't feel much of an appetite.
"Try and eat something," she advised. "It will be a few rocky days from here. The least you could do is to get enough strength."
"I need to be strong to protect myself," I muttered, looking up at her. "I'm not going to let you do all the hard work. I'm not going to be some dainty little princess."
"What are you trying to say?" Marcella asked.
"If I'm going to be in danger, then I'm going to learn how to defend myself," I said. I was done being a pathetic victim of my circumstance.
Marcella regarded me for a while, as if trying to ascertain how serious I was.