Chapter 146

ACHILLES.

It's a strange feeling. I'm surprised by Nana's declaration but at the same time, I'm not. In fact, I'm conflicted about it.

I'm relieved, don't get me wrong. Not because she know Tabitha, but because the Moon Goddess led me to the right path, which I followed, and now I have more chances of following this through and getting to the bottom of it. However, at the same time, I'm also wishing that none of it is true. Because if it is not true, then none of the trouble is real. None of the danger can get to us. And that would mean that Claudia and I would get to live normal, happy lives.

I inhale deeply, filling my air with lungs and letting it all go slowly. Nana sinks back to her chair, her chest rising and falling as she tries to compose herself.

But that doesn't seem to work at all, because after a few seconds, she just glares at me and asks, "Are you satisfied now? The only reason I know is because of an old friend. That's the reason why I recognized it almost immediately when I met Claudia. Do you even believe me? Or do you think I'm just saying bullshit to make you lose track?"

Her audacity is intact, I will give her that. She's as brave and as arrogant as that night when her grandson died.

I want to match her energy, but to be honest, I'm exhausted. I just want to get to the point without as much hostility as possible.

I turn my gaze on her, letting her know how bored I am of this attitude. To my surprise, it seems to work. She inhales sharply and composes herself.

"I do believe you," I say when I see that she's considerably calmer. "But what I am not is satisfied. I can't say I'm happy with this information alone. I need more."

"And I'm happy to oblige," she says, even though she looks far from happy. Still, she continues, "Years of being with Tabitha had taught me how different Siren Wolves are from the rest of us. The manifestations exist, and they start from a certain spark in their eye. The hint of hidden power. Eventually you begin to see bursts of it. A push of strength here and there. A certain brand of defiance, as though they know deep down how powerful they are and they have the right to challenge authority. Then, it all begins when they compel other people to do something they might not want to. In Claudia’s case, she made someone believe that they're weak. And when she stopped them, she also stopped every function inside their body. Tabitha could do the same."

I stay quiet, mulling that over. I can imagine how horrible it must have been for Claudia to hurt someone just when she was discovering her powers.

Nana reaches for the tea and fiddles with it to keep her hands busy. "Tabitha was not afraid of it, though. She reveled in her power, while Claudia on the other hand was wary of it. Tabitha relished in her abilities and loved every second of it. Claudia was hesitant and weak—"

"Perhaps you'd like to square things off with her right now and see if she's still as weak as you thought she was," I interject, looking at her sternly.

Nana straightens up. She looks a little flustered, but of course she talks defensively when she starts to speak again. "I meant weak in terms of hunger. Have you ever seen that girl get hungry for power? Do you think she would ever crave power? She doesn't even seem like she wants her abilities. To me, it always felt like she hated it. Like she hated herself for it. She might be comfortable using it now but that doesn't mean she wanted it. Tabitha was the opposite."

I want to challenge her views about Claudia but I know that she is right. Claudia always tries to use her abilities for good, but that doesn't make her weak. But the mention of Tabitha's name makes me remember that this is not about Claudia. Or at least, not directly.

"How did you know Tabitha?" I ask her.

"How did YOU know her?" she asks back, recoiling from me like a wounded cat. "Your questions were leading me to tell you about her. What do you know?"

Instead of answering, I just take the photo from my pocket and hand it to her, watching her reaction very closely.

Her hands start to shake as she reaches for the photo. She's swallowing hard and I can tell that she's in obvious distress. Her eyes are sweeping along the photo, filling up with wistfulness and longing. It seems that she holds a lot of affection for Tabitha, still. And seeing her in this photo right now is reviving a lot of emotions from her.

"How did you get this photo?" she asks in a low voice.

"We found it under the floorboards of the Moonlight Grove Pack palace," I reply. "She's supposed to be the heir of the pack, right?"

"Yes," Nana whispers, trailing a hand on the photo. "I don't understand why you need to seek her out."

I lean closer to her to make sure she sees my face as I say, "Because Tristan is her son. And she murdered my mother."

Nana's face goes slack. The air in the room seems to be sucked out. I can see her hand going slack around the photo but she doesn’t let it go as though it’s the most prized possession that she holds. Anger is rising out of her and I can sense it, even before she says, “You’re a liar.”

“Test me,” I just say dryly. “Why would I lie about that? Someone else knows Tabitha. Or what she calls herself that time, when she wormed her way into the palace and got her hands on my mother: Medea. Does that ring a bell to you?”

“No,” she says fiercely. “Tabitha might love her powers but she would never use it to hurt anyone.”

“She didn’t use her powers to murder my mom, let me tell you that.” I return her glare. “Do you want the full details? I can get the coroner’s report right now.”

That effectively shuts her up. But after a while, she starts to mutter, "That doesn't sound like Tabitha. She never had a son. She never murdered anyone she would never murder anyone."

"Right," I say. I can tell that she's telling the truth, or at least her version of the truth. "But that is what Tabitha did. Now tell me who you were in her life."

"I was her handmaiden, and her best friend," she whispers, almost to herself. "She is the Alpha heiress, you are right about that. She… had a perfect relationship with her family. They loved her for being a Siren Wolf.”

I freeze. I thought she got kicked out for her abilities but I guess not. Now the question remains….

“But then she gave a prophecy about herself,” Nana says, looking at me at last. She’s frowning in confusion but it feels like she’s connecting her words to what I said earlier and she doesn’t like the picture it’s making. “She said she would bring great shame to her pack. She ran away. She left and her family and I looked for her. We didn’t find anything until one night when she showed up to the pack with someone else, saying that she wished to marry. She was only sixteen at that time.”

I sit on the edge of my seat. “Who did she take?”

“We never really met him, but I did see him.” Nana withers and lets the photo go. “Her family banished her for good when they saw him too. It was a grown man. An old man. Wild hair, sallow skin… and red eyes.”