SWNOVELS Chapter 36 –
Saoirse POV
I knew we needed to get Cara's training started quickly. Rumors always flew through a pack. I hated the fact that Cara had admitted that she hadn't been trained yet. I knew why she did it. She was defending her sisters. She was a good sister and hated that they were spreading malicious rumors. But it left her vulnerable against them. They all knew that to hurt Brenna and Luna, they should just hurt Cara. That wasn't a good spot to be in at the moment. Those girls were furious. They wanted to get Brenna and Luna back, and it would be a short time before they figured out how to do just that.
I will not leave her alone for any reason for the next week. I will also be telling Alexei what happened when he came to our home tonight. I have already spelled my home so that she will be safe in there, but if she were to leave with me or him, she would be fair game to these vicious she-wolves. They would not fight one-on-one they would all come after her and then dispose of her body. If that were to happen, I would make them sorry, but it wouldn't bring my daughter back.
So I hope that Cara is ready to work because we are not leaving training today until she can protect herself. I needed to let her know why we would have to train hard. She needs to understand why she must never say anything like that again. I hate to do it, as we are just building our relationship, but it has to be done.
"Cara, I know why you felt the pressure to tell them that you were not trained yet. You were defending your sisters against their lies, but you have placed yourself in a dangerous position. They want to hurt your sisters, but your sisters can take care of themselves. What do you think will happen when they figure out that the best way to hurt your sisters is to hurt you? It would hurt your sisters very badly for them to know that you had been hurt, to get back at them. I need you to pay close attention to what I will teach you today. You need to learn to protect yourself very quickly. You are the weakest link, and you need to protect yourself. I am not saying this to scare you. But I want to warn you that some people carry evil in their hearts. Those girls are not good at all. They carry darkness in them. They would not hesitate to try to cause your sisters or yourself a great deal of suffering to get what they want. Do you understand what I am saying?" I asked her.
"I am sorry. I have spent my whole life assuring my former pack that I was not a witch. Telling them that I didn't have any power in me so that they would leave me alone. I can feel it now that you have unbound me, but I don't know how to use it. I was just so used to saying it. I know I messed up. I am not scared of hard work. I will not allow myself to be alone with any of them. I promise. I know they cannot be trusted. I could feel it," Cara replied.
"I am not mad at you. I am just worried. We will go to the town hall tonight. We need to pay special attention to who those girls sit with and remember them. You will need to look out for all of them. The instigators will not be the ones to come to lure you away. They will send someone else, someone that you do not know, to get you away from us. I worry because I won't do well to lose you again. I would make everyone involved with it suffer greatly before I allowed them to die. So this is very serious. I need you to focus on what I am telling you. You were born to do this. I promise you that it will come naturally to you if you trust me and do what I tell you to do. One day soon, you will have to protect yourself. I won't be there to save you, and I will need for you to save yourself. Can you do that, Cara?" I asked her. "Yes, I can do that, Mother," Cara softly replied. I tried, and failed, to suppress how much it meant to hear her call me mother again. I had to stop and pull her into my arms. Brenna, Luna, and Robert walked up behind us as I let her go. Kevin and Jaxon had gone back to the packhouse to finish their meeting. I was so happy to hear her call me mother. Twenty-one years in the making, but she showed me that she completely trusted me. I was glad to finally be able to teach my daughter what she needed to know to protect herself.
I had walked to the edge of the training grounds. The woods were about fifty feet to my left, and the expanse of the training grounds was to my right now. I didn't want any prying eyes on us, so I created a dome over us. An illusion that allowed us to look out of the dome, but no one outside of the dome could see us anymore. It was about a hundred feet long and fifty feet across, as we needed room to work. They would just see the woods if they looked this way. I didn't want anyone to learn my daughter's gifts. Knowledge is power, and I will give no hint to someone who might wish ill will towards her. Not on my watch.
I had a small seating area on both sides of the dome. Robert took one side with his back to the woods, and Brenna and Luna took the other side with their backs to the training grounds. They seemed to know what I was doing without me having to say it. I knew that we would be drawing in the curious sooner or later. I would only allow a few trusted people into our training.
"Cara, the first thing you need to learn is how to protect yourself. You need to learn to make up a dome around you, not a big one like I just created, but a smaller one. One that can keep you safe from harm. Think of it as a safety bubble of sorts. Big enough to cover yourself or even include your sisters. There may be a day when you need to protect all three of you from a potential attack. Just stay calm and feel your connection to the earth. The earth mother will always protect you. She has helped each one of the strong women who came before us. Granting powers that she willingly shares with us. She is just one part of us, but she holds great power in her hand. Always be thankful to her for her gifts because they can be taken away if you don't appreciate them. Those who do black magic believe that they are more powerful than she is, but they are wrong. They have to make do with what is left of their power. Take your shoes off, Cara. Stand in the grass. Tell me if you can feel her power," I told her.
I watched as Cara took her sandals off and stood on the grass. I knew it the moment the connection hit her. I felt it as well, as the earth mother accepted Cara as one of her own. Our line is a direct descendant of her as her daughter fell in love with a human and stayed behind on earth to live out her days. They lived out hundreds of years together, creating the line that we came from. The Earth Mother is also called Earth Goddess, Mother Nature, and Mother Earth. She existed and was worshipped at one time. She still welcomes her children into her fold. She is not the only source of our powers, but she was the beginning of our powers. I needed to explain to Cara just how strong she really is. Right now, she doesn't understand her full potential.
"A few hundred years ago, a strong warlock fell in love with your great-grandmother. His power was added to our line, and we grew even stronger then. People started to hunt us. They wanted to try to get control of our powers. It was why I was living alone in the woods when your father found me. I had always dreamed of a love that would sweep me off my feet. I guess it was naïve of me to think that it was him. He poured attention on me until I fell in love with him. I wish I had looked into his thoughts. He didn't love me. He just desired me. He loved how I looked and had given up on finding his true mate. He felt my strength and wanted strong pups. I should never have fallen for it. I should have taken you with me. All I could do was leave the letter for you and pray that James would give it to you one day. I am just glad that it finally ended up in your hands. Now, you need to focus. I need you to place a buffer between you and me, Cara. Focus on blocking me and whatever I send your way," I told her.
I could feel her attempting to raise a shield between us, but it barely formed. I need to take it up a notch. She needs to be worried about if it connects. She will not fear as much for herself, as much as she would fear for one of her sisters. I will have her complete attention on me now as I increase the difficulty substantially. I needed her to focus on making the barrier strong because I would test it. You don't get to be strong until you learn how to use all of your powers. Cara must learn to use all her powers, starting with her own protection. "Cara, I know that you are trying, but keep going. Make it stronger. What if I threw a fireball at you? Would you be able to block it? We need to up the threat. Brenna, would you come and stand next to Cara? Cara, pay more attention. Your sister's safety is in your hands now. Concentrate, feel the wall going up between us. Feel it surrounding you, protecting you. Make it strong, Cara, so neither you nor Brenna gets hurt. I am about to attack. Protect yourself, protect Brenna," I called over to her. I could feel her working on it, but it wasn't where it should be yet. I have to show her I won't take it easy on her. Either she forms a barrier, or this is about to go very badly.
I formed an ice arrow in my hand. It was about 3 feet long and had a serious point on it. If it gets through and connects, one of them is definitely going to be hurt. I held it in my hand to let Cara know I was serious about the threat I posed. I could feel her fear increase before I drew back and let it fly. It headed straight towards them. I can see that Brenna is nervous. She should be, as she cannot see anything in front of them to protect them. I suddenly felt a surge of power explode from Cara a moment before the ice arrow struck.