Chapter 40 — Calvin’s Help

Aqua’s POV:

I stared up at the ceiling trying to convince myself to make my next move. “Aqua, how long are you going to be here?” Mom asked.

I had been staying with my mom for a few days ever since I left Gram’s. “I don’t know.”

She sat across from me on the other couch. “Konain and Lexus were already here looking for you, they might come back.”

“What did Lexus say?” I didn’t know how he felt about me anymore.

“He promised me that if he found you, he wouldn’t let you go back to the castle. I kinda made him promise but he seemed like he didn’t want you going back himself after I told him what condition you were in.” 

“Maybe I should find him… ugh.” I sat up. “I should have let him find me…”

“Don’t have regrets baby. But seriously you need to leave, or all Gram did for you would have been for nothing. “

I got up, grabbed my bag and Dad’s portal splicer. “Okay, okay.” I hugged her before I left. I took my phone out and made a call. “Hey, you answered so you don’t completely hate me right now… I need to see you, it’s important.”

He was the only person I could think of who could be willing to help me. “I heard you were missing. Why should I listen or believe you? Why would you want to see me? What about Lexus?”

I sighed. “This is bigger than any drama we have going on, Calvin. It’s about the holder stones and Diana. I need help but no one can know I’m back, not yet.” Not even Lexus could know.

“Fine I’ll meet you in the forest near the pack house.” He hung up.

I put on my necklace enchanted by Gram so no one would see, hear, sense, or smell me. I used the portal splicer and walked through the portal into the forest by the pack house. Once I saw Calvin, I took my necklace off. “So, what’s this about Aqua?”

I explained my holder dream about Diana to him in detail but left out the part about me and Lexus being mates. “You know a lot about Diana so do you want to help me figure out what I’m supposed to do next?”

“It seems like she wants you to steal back the gemstones. I’m not sure how you’re going to accomplish that, but I’ll help.”

“Actually, I know how. During my first holder dream I heard the code to the safe where they keep the stones. If they haven’t changed the code all we have to do is get in there and take it,” I suggested.

“Fuck.” He turned around.

“What?” I asked.

“The alpha, Luna and the next alpha can communicate with the rest of the pack telepathically. It’s how we know when someone needs us or if something is happening. The guards of the castle are attacking. They’re after the sixth stone.” I didn’t even know there was a sixth stone.

I put my necklace on and Calvin shifted and ran towards the pack house. I followed him and watched as wolves fought off the guards, but the dragons were stronger. While guards in the dragon forms fought outside the house guards in their human form slipped in. I closed my eyes so I could see into the pack house with my third eye. It was too late. They had already taken the stone and now the guards were retreating. 

It was a hard lost. I went walked in the forest for a while because it seemed like Calvin needed to be with his pack. Then I got a text from him: Come in and show yourself to the other pack members. There’s no way we can retrieve all six stones from the castle without them. We need to do this as a team effort. Trust me no one’s going to want to turn you over.

I replied: What about Sadia?

He replied: I already told her; she understands.

I took a deep breath and took my necklace off and walked into the pack house. Everyone was staring at me. Sadia wasn’t around. Calvin walked to me and explained my dream to the rest of the pack. Ruben and Calvin were the main ones coming up with a plan. “This is what Diana wants, she wants the new holder to be as they were always meant to be.”

I didn’t quite understand. “What do you mean?” Diana vaguely implied something like that too, but I still didn’t get it. “The holder has always worked alongside the king and queen.”

Calvin scoffed. “who told you that? When Diana gifted the holder, she told them her intent was for them to help the people of new kingdom among the people. That’s what they did, they connected with the people while protecting them. They didn’t stay in a castle all day doing the work of the queen and king. We keep detailed records. One holder became close friends with the queen, and they decided to work alongside her. The holder family line has lived in the castle since. Now they raise you guys to do the work of the royal family while teaching you loyalty and obedience, it’s disgusting. You were lucky enough not to be raised like that.”

“Aqua what’s the code?” Ruben asked. 

“Um…” All I could do was think about my dream, about being responsible for losing the stones. Why was I still in the castle? It didn’t make sense. “33…”

“Write it down.” Calvin suggested. He handed me a notebook and pen. And I wrote it down: 336543. 

The next few days we planned. I was staying in the pack house to have their protection. I was in one of the lounges late at night with Calvin. “So, what do the stones do?”

He looked at me like I was crazy. “You don’t know? Wow, okay, there are six. One helps increase your third eye while the second helps have more clear holder dreams and the third helps your intuition. The fourth and fifth give you knew abilities. The fourth stone gives you the ability to have visions of specific events while awake. You can even share those visions with others. The fifth one gives you the ability to see the aura of others.”

“And the sixth stone?”

Calvin sighed. “I don’t know, only the alpha and Luna know. It was the only stone we ever kept. It’s apparently the most powerful and it’s a threat to all of us being in the hands of the royal family. They didn’t know the stone existed until they had their castle’s mage use a truth spell on my father. My father is the alpha’s Beta. He went with the Alpha and Luna to speak with the king and queen. Truth spells don’t work on the alpha and Luna because their will too strong to succumb to it. My father isn’t as strong…” That sounded terrible. 

We sat in silence for a while before I broke it. “I’m really sorry about what happened between us.”

Calvin shrugged. “I would have chosen a Prince over a future Beta too,” he joked.

“I didn’t tell you all of my dream… me and Lexus are mates. In the dream she explained why she chose us to be. I needed a mate to ensure that I’d come back and not stay in the human world.”

“What? I guess that’s possible, Diana has the power.” He turned around. “Wait, someone’s up. Sadia?” My heart skipped a beat. 

Sadia walked from around the corner into sight. “I was coming to let someone in…” This was the first time I saw her since I had been here. “Are you and Lexus really mates? Or is that just another lie?”

I didn’t know what else to say. “We are…”

She stared at me for a while. “I gotta go let them in…” She turned around.

“Wait who?” Calvin asked.

“Cade.” 

“You can’t let him in Sadia.” He turned to me. “You have your necklace, don’t you?” I nodded and pulled it out of my pocket. I wanted to see my brother, but it wasn’t the best idea. 

“Are you serious? Cade’s been worried sick about Aqua.” I wasn’t sure if Cade would care at all after how terrible of a disappointment as a sister he said I was. “Everyone in the castle already knows she’s here.”

I frowned. “How?”

“They have an oracle who they had a vision. I just found out now. Cade isn’t going to drag you back.” She walked out of the longue and down the hall to the entrance. 

I put my necklace back in my pocket and took a deep breath. I stood up when Cade walked into the longue and the first thing he did was hug me. “I’m sorry about what I said.”

“It’s okay… I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.” It felt like we hadn’t seen each other in so long but it was only a few weeks. “I’m better now, I promise I won’t push you away.” I wanted to be a good sister. 

Cade pulled away. “The king and queen want you come back but I’m not going to force you.”

“No way.” Calvin said. “That’s not what our goddess wants.”

“If you come back, you can be with Lexus. They know your mates now. They’re fine with you being together just not in the public’s eye. They’re giving you two options. That or using the sixth stone we can transfer your holder abilities from you to someone else. They won’t bother you anymore and you can be with Lexus. Either way you can be with Lexus, if you don’t take either offer, they won’t stop trying.”

I didn’t love either of those options. I loved my abilities, and the moon goddess chose me to have them for a reason. “Aqua, we already have a plan, you don’t have to go along with this,” Calvin reminded me.

“But what if it doesn’t work?” I asked. “Where’s Lexus now Cade?”

“He’s back at the castle. They’re not going to work you as hard. Me and Dad are going to make sure of it.”

I turned to Calvin. “Let’s hold off our plan, I just want to see my family and Lexus. I’m not going to take their deal; I just need to talk to them.”

Calvin looked upset. “Fine Aqua, go with him.”

I left with Cade. “Would I be transferring my abilities to you?”

“Yeah… but only if you want to. I don’t get it, you told Calvin you wouldn’t take their deal.”

I shrugged. “I won’t, I can’t but I still was curious.” 

“What do you mean you can’t?” 

“I was chosen by the moon goddess, and it wouldn’t sit right with me if I just reversed her decision. I know she’s fine with me making my own decisions, but I believe in her goal and I’m the first holder in a while who’s willing to help her achieve it.”

Cade laughed. “You weren’t chosen, the holder inherits the power at random.”

I shook my head. “Diana chooses, at least I know she did this time because she told me in a holder dream.”

Cade stopped. “She specifically chose you. What but…” I didn’t expect him to be jealous.

I stopped and turned to him. “It’s not like that, I’m not special or anything. She chose me since I wasn’t going to be raised in the castle.”

We continued walking. “Why wouldn’t she want the holder to be raised in the castle. They’re supposed to be.”

“No that's bullshit. The royal family has been manipulating our family for generations. I know that now so I can’t work for the royal family anymore and I can’t give my abilities to anyone else to work for them,” I explained. 

“That’s a big accusation Aqua.” Cade sighed. “Maybe other kings and queens knew about it, but the current ones couldn’t have known. They were probably taught the same as us.” He could have been right. They might have not known they were passing down a lie. “We’ll explain what Diana said to you and maybe they’ll leave you alone.” I’m glad he believed me about the dream.

We didn’t talk for a little while before I asked, “Are you… with Sadia? Does she hate me?”

“We’re together, yes but she doesn’t hate you. She’s still hurt by what you did. She misses you but she doesn’t know how to forgive you or trust you.”

“I get it. I miss her too, but I don’t know how to apologize in a way that she’d appreciate. She knows me and Lexus are mates now but that doesn’t really justify what we did.” I didn’t know what it was going to be like to see Lexus again.

“You’ll both figure it out.” Cade opened the door for me, and I walked into the castle it was late so no one was really around except guards. We walked up the staircase and my heart dropped when I sensed Lexus. It felt so intense.