Hope Springs

I recounted everything that had happened last night after I had come home. I told them how I didn’t know where my family was or why they left, and I told them about the men who had come into the house. I also hesitantly revealed that Dad and...Mom knew about Loup Chasseur.

“You are hiding something,” Max said and I looked at him in confusion. A light flush appeared on his cheeks before he muttered, “You’re my mate, I can just tell.”

I looked down at the ground, biting my lip. “I found adoption records,” I revealed, “I....I also found a letter that Dad had written to me. It was about the white wolves.”

“Who are your parents Trinity,” Mr. Judge asked and I glanced at him. Did he mean my adoptive parents or my birth parents? “Your birth parents Trinity.”

“Um....If it said I didn’t really notice,” I admitted sheepishly, “But my name is Trinity Elaine de Luna. I’m related to Karen and Richard de Luna, if that helps at all.”

There was a spark of recognition in Mr. Judge’s eyes and I stared at him, hoping that he would tell me something about my parents since I didn’t know anything about them. “I knew your parents,” Mr. Judge revealed, “Jared and Linia de Luna.”

“Jared and Linia,” I tested their names out on my tongue. “What were they like?”

Mr. Judge smiled, “They were the kindest souls I had ever met, especially your mother. Linia was the perfect Luna and Jared was one of the best Alphas. They seemed to perfectly balance out justice and mercy and as far as I knew they didn’t have any enemies, everyone liked them. When they found out that they were going to have a child, they were so happy. I remembered that they came to tell me right away and they had the biggest smiles on their faces. The two couldn’t seem to contain their excitement and when Linia found out that my wife, Mariah, was pregnant she got even more excited.

“Linia and Mariah spent almost every waking moment together talking about the babies, and it was Linia’s hope that our kids would become mates. When Mariah went into labor, Linia and Jared appeared, even though they didn’t have to and they stayed with me the whole time. They were one of the first people to meet Max. A month later, Linia had you. They visited us every two weeks and you and Max just clicked. That sent Linia’s hopes that you would be mates sky high and she bragged every time that they came over, that you and Max would end up being mates.” He looked between us, “It seems that she was right.”

I smiled before asking what they looked like. Instead of answering me he went over to the fireplace in the living room and took a book off of it. It looked like a photo album and he opened it, flipping to one of the pages in the middle before walking back over and handing me the photo album. I stared at the pictures. There was a beautiful girl with tanned skin and light brown hair and my gold-brown eyes, and beside her was an equally as handsome man with black hair and dark brown eyes. He had a toothy smile and his teeth were pearly white.

In the first picture the man, Jared, had his arms wrapped around Linia’s waist, his chin resting on her shoulder as he stood behind her. Linia was wearing a purple tank top and denim shorts and was grinning brightly. The next picture was a picture from what seemed to be prom. Jared looked absolutely dashing in his suit and red tie and Linia looked absolutely stunning in her red strapless dress. Her hair had been styled into an elegant updo and they looked so happy and perfect. The next few pictures were also from prom and I felt tears stinging my eyes as I looked at the pictures.

I bit my lip, trying to stop my tears as I looked at the next page of pictures. The background of the first picture was a lake and Linia and Jared were standing my Mr. Judge and a woman, I could only assume was his wife. Linia was leaning into Jared’s side, smiling at the camera while Jared was smiling down at her adoringly. I glanced at the other pictures, noting how that in all of them Linia was always smiling at the camera and most of the time Jared was smiling down at her. The last picture on the page took my breath away and a tear escaped, trailing down my cheek. It was a picture from their wedding day. My Mom....My actual Mom looked so beautiful and I choked back a sob, as I flipped to the next page seeing more pictures from their wedding day.

The last few pictures of the two of them showed her with a swollen belly and I traced my fingers over her face. On the last page Linia was pictured on a hospital bed, holding a tiny baby swaddled in a pink blanket. Me. The next few pictures I couldn’t contain my tears any longer. They were all pictures of my birth parents holding me and smiling at me. Mr. Judge slowly took the photo book from me and I closed my eyes as I sobbed.

I wished that I had gotten to know them. I felt Max slowly wrap his arms around me and I turned towards him, burying my face in his chest as I sobbed. He rubbed my back before, burying his face in the crook of my neck and wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. After a few minutes my tears subsided, but I was reluctant to move from Max’s arms. Despite the fact that he was a werewolf and I was insanely terrified of that, he gave me some measure of comfort. Although now that I thought about it, me being afraid of him was kind of silly since I was supposedly a werewolf. I sniffled, and backed away from Max slowly, wiping at my eyes.

Then before I could even think about my actions, I grabbed Max’s hand entwining our hands. Max pulled me closer to him, so I was leaning against his side and I leaned my head on his shoulder.

“Thank you for telling me about my parents,” I whispered and Mr. Judge nodded.

“You deserved to know about them,” Mr. Judge said, “They were good people.”

I nodded. They had seemed to be good people and it made me sad that I would never get to know them. I also felt a sense of anger. If it hadn’t been for Loup Chasseur, for my adoptive Mom’s side of the family, then my parents would probably still be alive. I couldn’t stop myself from blaming Jeanine for their death, even if it was irrational.

“Jared and Linia were werewolves,” Max murmured, “So that means that you are one too, doesn’t it?”

I hesitantly nodded.

“Then why haven’t you shifted,” Max asked, and I knew that he was staring at me in confusion.

“Her parents were white wolves, and she probably is too. She won’t shift until she turns eighteen, how old are you now Trinity?” Mr. Judge turned to me and I thought for a moment.

“Seventeen,” I finally answered, “Today is my birthday.”

“She won’t be able to shift for another year Max,” Mr. Judge murmured, and then added, “Happy birthday Trinity.” I nodded. There was a moment of silence before Mr. Judge said, “Max, you will have to help educate her on werewolves. What the myths are and what is true, and you have to educate her on pack politics. She is your mate it seems, and that means that she is the future Luna. She needs to be prepared to lead the pack.”

“Dad,” Max objected, “She just found out about all of this.”

“We don’t have a choice Max,” Mr. Judge turned to me, “I feel sympathetic for you, since this is all being thrown at you but we only have a year to educate you as best as we can. I know this is a lot to adjust to, but we can’t give you the time to adjust, not yet.”

I nodded. I didn’t agree with it, because this was a lot to process but I could kind of understand the reasoning behind it.

Max let out a sigh, “I’ll take you to the library. Come on.”