Chapter 41 41
Chapter 2 – More Secrets
“I want to hear everything about this new flying superman stunt you pulled on Lukas yesterday,” my older brother Damien greeted me at the breakfast table.
“When did you get here?”
“Just this morning. I drove in with Grammy and Papa when their jet landed in Athens.” Damien is working on his master’s degree in Athens and stays in the city most of the time. Kyros will inherit the pack, but Damien will become in charge of our family business and pack finances.
I made my way to the end of the table and greeted my LaRue grandparents before I took a seat beside my brother Damien. We shoveled heaps of food onto our plates and started eating. Damien was telling me about his spring break plans for Mykonos when jealousy filled me. He was two years older than me, and no one seemed concerned about Damien finding his mate. No one was trying to play matchmaker with him and push him at all the unmated shifters of the opposite sex.
“Are you bringing a date with you tonight?” I asked him in a low whisper.
“What? And deny myself the opportunity to mingle with the singles?” He grinned.
Damien got away with more because he was the second born. Kyros is the oldest and heir to the pack. Lukas may be the youngest, but his wolf is the Alpha of Alphas. With my
wolf being as large and powerful as she was, most of the attention was focused on the three of us.
We continued with breakfast, and I was seriously reconsidering my life. Perhaps I could attend the university and live in the city as well. I know I could certainly use a spring break vacation in Mykonos. It’s not like I was going to find my mate after all. I had spoken the words of rejection when Aleksei still wanted to be with my sister after discovering we were mates. The Moon Goddess rarely granted second chance mates, especially not to those who rejected their fated mate.
“Anabeth, your father was telling me you’ve mastered water shapes with your element, I’d love to see it,” my grandfather said. Papa Diesel was one of my favorites. He also possessed the water element and used it to make animal shapes out of water to entertain us when we were pups.
“Maybe next time Papa, I have a lot to do before the guests start arriving today.”
It wasn’t my grandfather I was trying to avoid, it was my grandmother. Grammy Lucy possessed the fire element, but she was also a golden wolf. Hiding things from her wasn’t easy and I was still trying to keep my secrets buried.
Elemental wolves have the power to control one of the four natural elements. My mother was the first known wolf to possess two elements. She inherited both the water and fire element from her parents. When my mother found her mate, she discovered my father had the earth element. Ever since their union, my family has been obsessed with a prophecy that intertwines my LaRue and Theodorus families.
A prophecy about war and possibly the extinction of our kind. It was a burden none of us wanted.
When my youngest brother shifted at the age of fourteen, he not only discovered his water element, but he discovered his wolf was the Alpha of Alphas. When he turned sixteen, he discovered his earth element. He’s not eighteen yet and everyone is anxiously wondering if he will also inherit the fire element. All the expectations are accompanied by a great deal of pressure and stress for my brother. I almost feel sorry for him.
When my oversized wolf surfaced for the first time, my family questioned if the prophecy could be my destiny. Kyros and Damien had the earth element. Alice and I had the water element, but it was my brother Lukas that had both. At least, that’s what they believed.
There was a second secret I was keeping. A secret I discovered six months ago.
Kyros and I were having a race at the southern end of our territory. I had taken the lead and he tried to cheat by sending a plume of dirt into my eyes with his element. Before I could register what happened, I willed the dirt back at him and it hit him in the face. Naturally, he blamed my brother Lukas, but I knew it was me. The energy of earth pulsed through my veins, and I told no one.
The uniqueness of my situation and the possibility of carrying the burden of the prophecy kept me from sharing my discovery. I knew I would remain mateless. The size and strength of Azura was guaranteed to intimidate most males. I just wanted a normal life, maybe become a chief warrior or a Delta, but nothing seemed normal in my life. I had two
elemental gifts and kept one hidden for the sake of having some peace in my life. Maybe I was just selfish and bitter.
I had already buried one secret to keep peace in my family. What was one more secret to help keep the peace in my life? I don’t want or need the extra attention and pressure from my family.
After breakfast, I retreated to my room. I didn’t really have anything planned but I needed to look busy. I decided to pluck my eyebrows, shave my legs, and paint my fingers and toes. Nail polish was a rarity for me, and I hated the smell. It was close to noon when I was done and Azura was getting restless. In a few more hours, this place would be crawling with family, friends, and guests. I decided to let Azura out for a run and made my way down to the kitchen.
“Oh Alice, you’re glowing!” I recognized Aunt Payton’s shriek.
“Do you know if it’s going to be twins?” Thea asked, cradling her four-month-old daughter.
I entered the room and all heads turned in my direction. “Hello Anabeth,” my twin greeted me. Her hand was
placed over her baby bump, it was small, but she was
expecting.
“Alice,” I plastered what I hoped would look like a happy smile. “Congratulations, I’m sure your mate is ecstatic.”
“Thank you. Yes, he is. He’s just gone off with the men to have a drink.”
“I made baklava, who wants some?” Aunt Odessa offered.
“I just heard the news. Where is she?” Claire came dashing into the kitchen to hug Alice and I used the distraction as my opportunity to slip out the back door.
My relationship with my sister had been strained since that night two years ago. I’d spent many sleepless nights wishing I had exposed them, yearning to see her fall from grace. Sure, she had no idea Aleksei was my mate when she was dating him, but she had sex with him. Alice had managed to keep the intimate side of their relationship hidden by using evvie tea to mask her scent.
Evvie is a special wild weed that has been used by werewolves in Greece for a long time. It grows in the northern mountains of Greece and when it’s steeped in tea, it can hide your scent for three to five days. The plant is indigenous to Greece, and we prefer to keep it a secret.
Alice stopped seeing Aleksei that night and begged me to give him a chance. The damage was already done because Aleksei was in love with her, and she had already slept with him. Thinking back to the way his demeanor had changed after his eighteenth birthday, he had to have sensed I was his mate.
A month later, Alpha Cortez from Spain visited Olympus Blood Moon to meet with my father about the olive business. That’s when Alice found her fated mate. The Moon Goddess smiled upon Alice, again, and gave her a strong and handsome mate.
Sitting through her mating ceremony and watching her live her happily ever after left a sting in my heart. My mate didn’t want me, he wanted her. Most suspected I didn’t like her mate, or that I was jealous. It was neither. Alpha Cortez seemed wonderful and worshiped the ground she walked
on. I was happy she found her fated mate… I only wish I had the same chance with my mate.
I stepped behind a beautiful oak tree and stepped out of my clothes. Three seconds later, I was running on all fours and turned control over to Azura. She aimed north and ran for her favorite ancient olive grove at the top of a beautiful cliff.
Azura ran so fast that the scenery was mostly blurry. She was the product of two Alphas who descended from gods and royals. Azura was strong and proud. If we had been born male, we could have easily taken a pack of our own. In our world, a ranked female was rare, but my aunt Payton served as my grandfather’s Beta. She was the only female known to hold such a high rank.
An hour later, we sat at the top of the cliff overlooking the stunning view. I could see the gulf in the distance. Our territory was on the Aegean side of Greece, so we had beautiful sun rises in the east. Azura regularly sat in silence in the early mornings watching the rise of another day from this spot.
There was something about the size of the ancient olive trees and their gnarly twisted trunks that had such beauty to them. In ancient Greece, the olive trees represented peace and friendship, but to Azura, they represented home and tranquility. She moved into the shade of the biggest tree in the grove and curled herself under it for a little afternoon snooze. After spending the last hour consumed in thoughts about my sister and Aleksei, I closed my eyes and allowed the peace to wash over me.
I wasn’t sure what time it was when Azura’s low growl stirred me awake. The sun was low in the western sphere of
the sky which would give me about an hour of daylight left. Azura could sense someone near, and it only took her a moment to realize who it was.
“He’s here,” she grumbled. Azura turned her head and I saw Ash. He was a lighter shade of black with gray in his underbelly. Aleksei’s father was Alpha born, but his mother was an Omega. Azura gave him a hard stare, she was bigger and stronger.
The wolf shifted and a naked Aleksei stood beside an olive tree in all of his icy perfection. I assumed he wanted to talk, but I had nothing to say to him. Azura stood, stretched her legs, and trotted off, completely unaffected. She had felt the same sadness, loss, and confusion as I did for weeks after. He didn’t deserve us, and we knew it.
“Anabeth, wait!” He called out. “I need to talk to you.” I paused. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. I repeated to myself. “Please,” he pleaded.
It seems I’m a glutton for punishment because I moved behind a tree and shifted. Some things were better left alone, but I was driven by curiosity.
“What do you want?”
“It’s been two years. How long are you going to stay mad at me?” He asked.
“Did you know?” I glared at him. I would have turned myself inside out for him when I was younger.
“What are you talking about?” He was hard to read.
“You turned eighteen four months before us. Your behavior towards me changed. You knew, didn’t you?”
“That doesn’t matter, Anabeth. I made a mistake, and I’m sorry.”
“You knew I was your fated mate and you continued to date my sister. You slept with Alice. That wasn’t a mistake Aleksei, you chose her. Even after I discovered you two that night, you continued to declare your love for her. You begged her to be your chosen mate.”
“I was wrong,” he tried to take a step in my direction, and Azura released a growl.
“Don’t come near me. You didn’t want me. I was forced to reject you so I could protect myself and my wolf from the cheating pains of a mate who didn’t want me. We are no longer mates.”
“Neither of us will have a second chance mate. You know how it works. What about pups? Don’t you want pups?”
A burst of crazed laughter rocked through me, surely, he wasn’t asking for a second chance. Was he?
“And yet you begged Alice to be your chosen mate knowing that chosen mates rarely produce offspring. Is that what this is about? Alice is expecting her first pup with her mate and now you’ve got baby fever?”
“This has nothing to do with Alice,” he said unconvincingly. “I want us to spend time together.”
“We’ve spent most of our childhood together. Your parents are practically family. I kept the truth hidden to protect everyone. I’ve lived with this lie, this burden
because I didn’t want to upset our families over your selfishness. Uncle Hades would be disappointed and hurt.”
“It’s all my fault.”
“Yes, it is. I’ve had to lie and put on a show, pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t.”
“We can fix it. Start over.”
“The mate bond is already broken. I spoke the words of rejection and you accepted. We may look alike, but I can’t be my sister for you. You knew all along I was your mate and still wanted her.” This conversation was over.
I crouched down and shifted back into my wolf. For a fleeting moment, I caught the scent of sandalwood, vanilla, and a hint of coffee. Wanting to put some distance between Aleksei and us, Azura didn’t wait to investigate the new scent.
How dare he ask for a second chance! Two years and he’s finally come crawling back. I’m sure he’s had plenty of women to distract himself within the last two years. I wasn’t deaf, I’d heard tidbits from my Kappas cousins and brothers about their shenanigans.
I reached the tree I started at and shifted back to dress. When I stepped out, my Uncle Hades was sitting on the back patio sipping his Greek coffee.
“Theíe!” I greeted him.
“Anabeth, shouldn’t you be upstairs beautifying yourself for tonight? Not that you need any more beautifying,” he winked.
“Azura needed a run.”
“Did you run into the stag chase out there?” “Stag chase?”
“It’s an old Greek tradition for ranked wolves. Five wild boars and a stag are released into the territory for a hunt. The stag can outrun a normal wolf, but the ranked wolves can usually catch a stag and take it down. Some wolves get distracted and hunt the boars.”
“What do they do when they catch the animals?” I asked, though I had a feeling I knew.
“They become part of the evening’s meal. It’s supposed to bring health and prosperity to the new Alpha if he catches the stag. All the ranked wolves who arrived early are out there right now.”
Howling rang out in the distance, and I recognized the victorious howl of Kyros’ wolf. He had caught the stag. I turned to look back at the tree line, expecting to find someone standing there. I had a strange feeling someone was watching me but saw nothing.
I made my way through the buzzing household to my room. I had about two hours to shower, dry my long hair, get dressed, and do my makeup. I didn’t usually do the whole dresses and makeup thing, but this was a special occasion. My mother had taken me dress shopping to ensure I didn’t wear jeans and runners.
My heart pinched for a moment, the silence in my room seemed unbearable. I didn’t want to think about Aleksei, what he proposed, or that he was right about pups. Forcing
the thoughts from my head, I turned the music up and started the beautifying process.