91. Calm Energy

91. Calm Energy
Torin’s pov

I could feel how learning all this new information was freaking Raelyn out, even if she wasn’t showing it on the outside.

And as much as I wanted to sit down with her to discuss everything so she could maybe come to terms with some of it, I was mindlinked by my sister, telling me to hurry up.

‘Willow was impatient and asked if we could use the cabin tonight, and they said it was fine. Not everything is moved out, but it’s not like they’re living there anyway. So it was easy to lend the house to us for one night.’

‘What?’

‘The old people who sold us that cabin where Cerce used to live?’ Enya replied. ‘Willow wants to do the ritual tonight because it’s a full moon and everything. Apparently, they’re important to witches too.’

‘Okay.’

‘So, what time can you be here?’ Enya asked impatiently.

I looked over at Teddy and Patty and smiled, “thank you for your hospitality. We won’t forget it.”

Patty looked at me, then around the room as if she was checking to see if anyone was listening. “I have to ask. Are you that… Torin?”

“Which Torin?”

“The alpha?” She whispered.

I nodded.  “Well, not anymore.”

“But they said your mate was human.” Patty looked over at Raelyn.

“Not anymore,” I joked.

“People are looking for you, you know. There’s been some chatter among the lone wolves out there. We try to keep in touch with each other to make sure we don’t go rogue. Create our own pack, in a way.”

“But we’re not snitches,” Teddy soon added. Patty pretended to lock her mouth. “We never saw you two.”

Raelyn smiled, “thank you.”

“You be safe out there, okay?” Patty said.

“You too,” I replied with a smile. Colton had shared Felix was looking for me. Apparently he had complained to his allies about me as well, that I could be a danger. I don’t even know; he’s not worth my time right now.

But it is good to know people might be out there looking for us. It means that everyone who crosses paths with us better watch their back, or I’ll break it. And break some other bones too, while I’m at it.

“Enya asked us to meet them,” I told Raelyn as we stepped out.

Raelyn just stared ahead.

“That was a lot, right?”

Raelyn took a deep breath and another, “I feel like I should… I don’t know, write it down? Make it make sense? Make a timeline or whatever? Because it’s starting to all jumble in my head and confuse me.”

I shrugged and opened the door for my mate. Once she was seated, I buckled her seatbelt, “sounds to me like you were the second werewolf your grandma took in.”

“So what happened?”

I threw my hands up, trying to come up with a theory, “maybe your mom and your dad were mates? He snuck out to town to meet up with her.”

“And then why not bring her back to his pack?”

“She must have been hiding too.” I replied.

“From who?”

I sighed, “yeah… that’s the big question, right?”

“Were my parents murdered? How did Grandma escape with me?”

“I don’t know, dimples.”

Raelyn stared out the window as I began to drive off. She was silently coming to terms with everything.

“But if my mother left with Grandma as a baby…”

“Yes?”

“No.” Raelyn shook her head.

“Say it.” I wanted to hear her theory.

“What if my mom was a member of the first pack?”

“The Lunar pack.” When I said the name, Raelyn shivered, the skin on her arm turning into goosebumps.

I reached for her hand, steering with the other, “let’s take it a step further. What if she was a member of the first family? It could explain why she was hiding. It could explain the color of your wolf. It could explain why you’re so damn strong.”

Raelyn laughed nervously. “So you’re saying I’m the daughter of an alpha heir and of a descendant of the first werewolf. That’s crazy.”

I stared at the road, almost bumping into another car. Too overwhelmed with my emotions and that of my mate.

It was crazy. To go from thinking you’re human to being not just an alpha-ranked wolf, but one that’s related to the very first wolf ever created.

“Torin, watch out!” Raelyn warned me just in time.

“Sorry…”

I focused my eyes on the road, but my mind kept wandering off.

Was this all too much?

The time we had spent in the woods on our way here was a nice break from everything. But it wasn’t just a break; it was a chance for Raelyn to become stronger.

She could now shift into her wolf in seconds; she could defend herself in wolf form and in her human form. She was stronger and faster than before.

We had helped shape her body into that of a werewolf, as much as we could in that amount of time, at least. But we hadn’t paid attention to her mind.

Raelyn went from seeing her therapist several times a week to not at all. Everything that happened with Dylan, all those years of abuse—they don’t just vanish because her body is stronger now.

Raelyn still has nightmares some nights; some words or situations still trigger her. I don’t know if she’ll ever be completely healed from it. Some events shape a person.

Like when my dad died. It changed me forever.

Can she handle this?

We both were quiet until we reached the small house near the woods.

It was small, not well-kept, but you could imagine it once was a beautiful cottage with flowers and herbs growing in the small patch near the house. Or maybe vegetables, like Raelyn said her grandma used to grow.

Raelyn chuckled awkwardly, “this looks like a place Grandma would like, yeah.”

“Let’s see what Willow’s ritual will uncover. We don’t know anything for certain.” I tried to sound reassuring, but I wasn’t sure if I was reassuring Raelyn or myself.

I knew she was special, but this… I wasn’t sure if I could protect Raelyn from this.

“Finally,” Willow exclaimed as she opened the door to the cabin. “Let’s do this!”

We entered the small cabin, where candles and other objects were placed around the living room. Everything was moved to the side, and Willow had drawn some symbols on the floor and walls.

It smelled really nasty, but I knew better than to say anything.

“What is that smell?” Raelyn asked, not used to her new sense of smell.

“Don’t start. Just sit. I need some blood of yours to see if your parents visit this place as well.”

I sighed and sat down, pulling Raelyn on my lap, “they most likely did, because we found out Cerce had been raising Raelyn’s mother since she was a little girl.”

“And…” Raelyn added, “apparently my dad is the lost alpha-heir of the Moon Valley pack.”

“What?!” Enya shouted before Willow told her to shush.

“I need calm energy all around me for this ritual, and if you can’t be calm, you can at least be quiet!”

“Like you’re so calm,” Enya mumbled under her breath but sat down beside me.