Chapter 49

"I don't understand," I said to Lilith. I looked around and all I could see was white smoke, or was it fog? "Where are we?"

"You're with us," said Lilith with a wide smile on her face.

"Us? What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, confused, which was then instantly replaced by panic as it just dawned on me where I could possibly be. "Wait... Did I die? Is this the afterlife?"

"Not quite. You're still in the Holy Mountains."

"If that's true, then how come there's nothing here no matter where I look? It's not even cold here."

"We don't feel that here, Milena. This is the most peaceful place in the world--- we call it The Sanctuary. Our kind lives here. If we walk more, we'll reach a town where the others are."

I gasped at what Lilith said. "Then we're not in the mountains anymore, are we? This doesn't feel like anywhere in the mountains."

"It's because this is a secret place. Only our kind can reach this place, Milena. The only way to get here is when a witch's physical body dies."

"Then I'm really dead," I said, my heart skipping a beat. I just realized that Marcus was right, healing my son probably killed me. But I didn't have any regrets, because dying meant I'd saved my son.

"You didn't die. We're different, Milena. Even if our physical body dies, our spirit remains alive. That's different from actual dying, because once you die, nothing is left of you."

"If that's true, then does that mean that I can still go back to my family, even if my body already gave out?"

"You can go back, Milena. But only after your physical body regenerates. For now, you have to stay here because you still don't have a body to go back to. Watch," she said and she waved her hand in front of us. The white smoke billowing aimlessly around us suddenly formed into a cloud, and then it emitted light and then it showed me moving images of what looked like a scene back at the cabin.

"Marcus! Zenith!" I shouted, for I could see my husband in the moving images. He was still inside the cabin, with Zenith in his arms. But I noticed that Marcus was looking around, crying, and calling my name. And then Dex, Dionne, and even Alpha Daniel came in, wondering what was happening. "Lilith, what is happening?"

"Your husband saw your body disintegrate into nothingness after you healed your son, Milena. Now he thinks that you actually died."

"But I didn't, right? You just said that I can come back! How can I do that? I have to go back to my family! They need me!" I was already crying because seeing Marcus crying hurt me so much.

"We'll perform a ritual so that Mother Nature will regenerate your physical body. But once you do that, you can never go back here, Milena."

"I don't care!" I said. "No offense but I'd rather be back to my husband and my son!"

"Then we'll help you go back. But a warning, Milena. Mother nature can only regenerate your body once. You know what that means, right?"

I nodded. "It means that if my physical body gives in again, I can no longer come back here. I'll finally die naturally."

***

There was indeed a town here where everyone who chose to stay here lived. It was a magnificent place. The town was in the middle of nowhere, but then if you wanted to go somewhere nice you actually could. In a short span of time Lilith showed me this unique world the witches had built to protect themselves from persecution and witch hunts. I walked further into town and places appeared in front of me. I decided to stay in a bungalow in the middle of rolling fields because it reminded me of Gloverstone.

Every night, the witches would perform the ritual to bring my physical body back into existence. The chant was in the form of a song. It reminded me of the song that I could hear in my head in the mountains. Lilith told me that what I was hearing was them. "We are the mountains, the rocks, the trees, the water. Everything."

I then remembered something. "Back then, Yul stopped me from drinking the water from the spring. Was that---?"

"Yes. He didn't want you to find us because he wanted to eat you. But he also wanted you to become stronger first before he eats you, so he let you be. But if you had drunk the water back then, you would have been able to contact us before."

"He said he wrote a book with my mother. A guide for half-breeds. Was it true? Or was he lying about that too?"

"Your mother did write that book with him. But when your mother found out Yul's real motive, she never talked to him again and they went their separate ways."

"What was Yul's motive back then?"

"He wanted to find this place, Milena. That's why he lived like an hermit here, searching for clues on how to find this place. But he never did as he was already cursed. Eating half-breeds and werewolves is an unholy act."

"And my mother, did she... Did she come here too?"

Lilith nodded and gave me a sad smile. "She did. But then just like you, she came back to you and lived the rest of her life like anybody else." That was comforting to know that I was like my mother who would choose being with her loved ones rather than staying in this paradise. After all, was this really paradise if you were alone? I had learned that people can be your paradise too, and for me that was Marcus and Zenith.

And so I grew impatient as time went by. I found out that it took time to build a witch's body again. But I couldn't complain as getting a chance to get back to Marcus and Zenith was already a miracle. I waited, singing with the other witches in the hopes that Mother Nature would return my physical body faster.

"I have question, Lilith. Back at that time when I used the Rune you gave me to save us from the Blackholes, why did you sent me back to my old pack with Darren and sent Marcus to St. Pio?"

"Oh, that? It wasn't intentional. I'm sorry. But your wolf, it's stronger than any other wolf I have known that I can resist magic. That’s probably because of your witch blood. So it went with Darren, as he was your mate."

"I see..."

"In a way, mating bonds are forms of magic too, you know. That's why I couldn't do anything. And it’s longing for your mate made it a lot stronger too."

"Now I get it. And maybe that's also how Nightshade manipulated Gil. Gil's wolf probably longed for her wolf too, and he couldn't do anything about it. Mating bonds are indeed powerful."

"But you'll come back without it anymore as your mate is already dead. You and your husband can finally be second chance mates," said Lilith happily.

"Yeah. That's why I can no longer wait to come back to Marcus."

But I did have to wait as it took time before the ritual brought back my body. I was getting impatient already, but then one night when the full moon was in the sky, I suddenly felt pain all over me. Lilith came to tell me that this was it, I now had a physical body again as the ritual was already completed. I was about to thank Lilith when the white smoke suddenly engulfed all of me and then I fell into the abyss.

I hit the ground, literally.

And then I wolfed out because of the full moon. I howled out of pure joy that I was finally back. Then I heard footsteps and I heard a man’s voice.

“Milena? Is that you?” said Marcus, who was on his knees behind me.