SWNOVELS Chapter 29 –
Cara's
POV
"Um, I don't know if you'll like this, but we may have a guest coming. Apparently, my mother spelled this letter. It was like a beacon for my location when I opened it. I don't know how long it will take for her to get here. But she is coming," I announced to the group. I am stunned. I didn't expect this to happen. I actually got upset at reading the part about 'if I am still alive' as I realized that I really needed her to be alive. Very much so, I wanted to get to see her and spend time with her. Tears are building up again in my eyes at the thought of her not coming. She is supposed to be a powerful witch. How is she not here already?
"I just mindlinked my ranked wolves to let them know that we may be having an unexpected visitor. They will alert the warriors. She may appear at the gate, or inside the pack. I don't want my men to get hurt if she believes that you are still in the Kamaria Pack," Jaxon announced to the room. I am sure he wanted to go and check and make sure that there were no problems inside the pack.
"I know exactly where I am, dear. Thanks for the concern," a strong voice rang out in the room as my door was pushed open. It was very clear that she was my mother. She hadn't aged a day since I was born. She was still as beautiful as she was in the pictures I had in the duffle bag. I let out a sob as she crossed the room quickly to come and hug me. Alexei stood up and watched her carefully. Jaxon was also watching her carefully. I guess it is not that often a witch manages to infiltrate a wolf pack.
"My darling, I am so happy to get to see you," my mother said before hugging me again. I could tell how much she missed me. Her hugs were tight as if I would disappear if she didn't hold me close.
"I missed you too," I sobbed out. I didn't realize just how badly I had missed her all these years.
"Alpha Jaxon, thank you so much for taking care of my daughter. I very much appreciate your pack being so accepting of her. Most packs aren't as, how shall I say it, progressive as yours. I would have come straight into the room, but I sensed it was full. Plus, I didn't want to take the chance on the vampire attacking me if I just popped in without warning. He is very attached to you, Cara. I don't usually condone mixing species, probably because it really didn't work out well for me. But I like him. He cares for you, and that is all I wanted for you. Someone to love and care for you. I took a little extra time to read the room before I entered. I needed to know what I was getting myself into and make sure it wasn't a trap," my mother advised.
"I have to say that I am impressed. You got here very quickly, and I feel the power coming from you. I hope that you understood when you read the room that none of us are a threat to your daughter. We are very accepting of other species in our pack. As long as there is no intent to harm a pack member, that is, without cause. I am sure there will be some jealous girls getting their feelings hurt when they find out that Brenna is their Luna. It never fails for that to happen, and I hope I am there to witness it when she puts them on their asses," Raven replied. "Thank you for accepting me here, Luna Raven. I truly appreciate you allowing me to be here. I want to request permission to stay inside your pack and train my daughter here. I need a spot of land. It can even be in the forest if that is more convenient for you. I don't need much room. I can pop up what I need in about a minute. I just need your pack to be alerted that I am here. I don't want to cause problems here with pack members thinking that I am trespassing here or a threat to them. I don't want anyone to try to attack me. I don't think that they will be happy with a witch here," Saoirse replied.
"I am no longer the Luna here. Jaxon has found his mate, and Brenna is the new Luna for Black Adder. It is up to them to them to decide who can or can't stay here, but we do have a witch living here on our packland," Raven replied with a smile.
"Ah, yes. I also wanted to thank Brenna and Luna personally. I owe you two so much. I know that you were the ones who got my daughter out of that horrible pack. I am so very sorry that they killed your parents. I want to sit down with you both and talk. I know I can never replace your parents, but let me know if you need anything from me. You took care of Cara when I couldn't. You even went against your father's wishes to do so for the last five years. I am happy to care for you both for the rest of your lives. Take these," Saoirse stopped talking momentarily to remove three necklaces from her pocket. She handed one to me and the other two over to Brenna and Luna.
"If you ever need me, just press your thumb against the back of the crystal and think of me. This is a clear quartz crystal. It will let me know that you need my help. I will come straight to wherever you are. It will act as a transmitter, and the crystal also amplifies the range. No matter where I am, I will know you need me. I promise I will be there for all of you. If at all possible, I would like to meet your resident witch," Saoirse told us with a smile.
"Saoirse, you don't have to give us anything. Cara is our sister. We love her. We didn't do it for any other reasons than those. We disagreed with what Dad did to Cara when she turned eighteen. He could have reacted better to it and not allowed Cara to be bullied. But there is nothing that we can do to change it now. They raised us that way. They always reminded us that we were sisters from the moment we were born. Mom may not have loved Cara as much as she loved us. But she did take care of her. The older we got, the more we understood how jealousy played a part in it. They made mistakes, but they never punished us for defending our sister. No matter who we pissed off doing it. I think deep down they realized that forcing you to leave Cara there was the wrong decision. One that it was too late to correct. I think Mom understood it first after she became a mother herself. They messed up, but no one is perfect or without flaws. I know that I speak for both my sister and myself when I say we would do it all over again in a heartbeat to save our sister," Brenna replied.
"I know that, and your parents took very good care of you for the last twenty-one years. Nineteen for Luna," Saoirse said with a wink towards Luna. "Just give me the same amount of time to do the same for you. I knew some of what Cara went through at Kamaria. I had wanted to protect her, but I had sworn to James that I would leave his precious pack alone. He forced me to swear I wouldn't do anything to harm anyone there. He thought I would return and get rid of your mother to try to get him back. He didn't want Cara to pay the price for my actions if I had attacked Kamaria. I didn't want James back after what he did to me. He pursued me daily for over a year. Telling me how much he loved me. I found myself falling in love with him and accepted him. I trusted him when he said he would love and care for me forever. I never knew he was lying to me. I haven't been able to trust anyone else for the last twenty-one years. Cara is the highlight of my life. I am over a hundred years old, but I would go through all the pain again to have her."
"How long do you want to stay here, Saoirse? Do you have a time frame in mind? Or did you want to play it by ear?" Jaxon asked.
"I honestly don't know, Alpha Jaxon. If everything goes well, I would like to ask you to live here near my daughter. That way, we can see if this will work out. I don't want to miss out on spending time with my daughter or my potential grandchildren. I don't know if that would be a possibility or not. I do not want to just assume that I would be welcome here. I can just put up a small temporary shelter for me to stay in by using my powers. If it would make you feel better, we can do this as a trial living situation. That way, it gives you time for you to confer with your parents and your Luna to see how they feel about it. I don't want to impose upon you, especially with a vampire coven in close proximity," Saoirse replied.
I didn't want to call her Mom just yet. I feel like we need to talk more about what happened. I knew Dad had threatened her. Did he make her promise not to go against the pack before he forced her out? Is that why she had to leave me behind? For both our safety? I knew who my father was now. He was not the same sweet man who tucked me in at night and spoke nicely to me. Or at least he wasn't that man anymore. Not once he found out I didn't have a wolf.
It suddenly hit me: Dad did the same thing to me that he did to Mom. I was dead to him once I didn't fit his vision of a 'proper' daughter. Once he found his true mate, he cut Mom off without giving her time to grieve the loss of their relationship. A relationship he pushed on her. He pursued her; that was a pride thing then, too. He considered my mother to be the best of the best until he met his mate. Then, my mother was suddenly disposable.
It worries me, as Alexei is pursuing me. How can I know if he is going to be like my father? Will he show himself as a good man until I accept him? Wait for me to let my guard down and then flip the switch on me. I don't want to sign up for what my mother had to put up with. I don't want to give someone my heart only for them to crush it under their heel ten, twenty, or fifty years later. I want someone who will love me. Someone who wants to be with me until death do us part. Is that too much to ask?