Part Eighty-Nine

I took one of her hands and brought it up to my lips and kissed it. Karani had told Adara it was because of her love for me that she could heal me, but so far, she hasn’t been able to heal anyone else.

“I know,” I said to her and wondered what would happen to the little boy. I hoped they would find a match for him and save his little life. He looked like a very brave, intelligent little boy and the world would lose a prize should he die.

I woke up again and Adara was still asleep on my shoulder, the plane was descending, and I woke her up. We ordered coffee and waited for the plane to land and unload. We entered the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam and went straight to our boarding counter and stood around. This layover was only an hour and a half. We stretched our legs and I wondered where the little boy’s family was heading.

We boarded our final plane to Dublin and landed exactly two hours later. The atmosphere in Dublin was electric with anticipation, but maybe that was just us. Malachi rented a car and frowned when Karani suggested we go window shopping first.

“Karani, Peter is expecting us. He has planned a feast for tonight,” Malachi told her and she pretended to be annoyed. We all got into the car and started our journey towards Castlewellan. Adara had done her research and talked about all the touristy things we were going to do.

We drove down Main Street and it was a beautiful place! There were plenty of old buildings, probably centuries old, and Adara pointed out places and shops that she had found on the internet. I smiled contentedly at her happiness.

We drove to the address Peter Gillian had given us and stopped in front of his house. He came outside with his wife, Claire, and they gave us a proper welcome. There were five other cars parked close to his house and I could only assume that they belonged to his pack. It was only fitting for his pack to be present when Adara arrived.

Peter Gillian walked up to Adara and hugged her tightly. She smiled and then hugged him back. She looked so at peace that for a second, I was afraid she might want to stay here when it was time for us to leave again.

“Adara! Welcome home!” Claire said to her as she also hugged her tight. Peter welcomed the rest of us with a big smile and he shook hands with Malachi and then with me.

“You look just like your mother, dear,” Claire said to Adara as she led us all inside. She led us through the house and out to the backyard. There were five men, five women and lots of children in the garden. They all stopped talking when we walked into the sunshine. There was a table set up with drinks and glasses, food platters and a very large cake.

Peter and Claire introduced us to everyone. Father Clyde was a priest, Ian owned the hotel where we would be staying for the duration of our trip, Jackie was the local butcher, John owned the pub down the street and Gary was in real estate. Peter himself was a lawyer like Malachi.

As we were introduced, each person hugged Adara as they welcomed her home. Those words haunted me. They all had an anecdote of her parents to tell her, and she listened patiently to each one and memorized their names, along with their wives’ names and their children’s names.

“Malachi, I appreciate the journey, and what you are doing for Adara, but no negotiations with us are necessary. You saved her and accepted her into your pack,” Peter said to Malachi.

“It feels like the right thing to do, Peter. I would like for Adara to get to know her birth pack and know that she also has a place here, with you. She has to experience her heritage and perhaps even more so the surprise you have planned,” Malachi said and I wondered what he was talking about.

We traded wolf stories and Adara spoke of her transformation ceremony, the imprinting, and my proposal. They admired her ring and Claire frowned as she held Adara’s hand.

“My dear! I knew you were born special…but you’re a healer!” Claire exclaimed and the pack grew quiet. Claire could sense other wolves’ powers and help them advance it, though Peter had no powers.

“Your mother could heal too,” Claire said and told Adara how advanced Elizabeth’s powers were.

“She could tell what was wrong with a person, take that illness away and give it to someone else,” Claire said and Adara’s mouth was agape with shock.

“You will be able to do that too. I will teach you in the time we have together,” Claire offered and Adara immediately accepted. Karani smiled as Claire took her hand and then instantly let go.

“You my dear have a sneaky power.” She laughed as Karani smiled.

The others looked at her, it had turned into a power identification session as Claire took turns with everyone. She was amazed that one pack family had so many different powers.

“I can see memories, take them away and give you new ones,” Karani said to the crowd and Ian whistled.

“Can you give me the memory of a rich man please?” he asked and everyone laughed. Next was Malachi’s turn as she took his hand and narrowed her eyes.

“The Alpha can read your minds, lads!” she boasted and Gary’s wife blushed as he whispered something in her ear.

She took my hand and I saw her eyes roll to the back of her head as she fainted. I caught her before she hit her head on the tiles of the patio. Her eyes fluttered open almost immediately and Peter frowned at me.

“He…he sees Death and emotions, he has not developed fully yet, but Kiran you can take emotions away and replace them with whatever you want. You could control any person’s emotional spirit,” she said in a way that made me unsure whether it was a good or a bad thing.

After many drinks, jokes, and rowdy stories, we went to the hotel with Ian, and he checked us into two rooms right next to each other. He bid us goodnight and said we had a busy day and had better get some rest.