Wolf Sprite

POV – Lillia

“The start, the start,” Danni ponders. She takes a deep breath in and looks at me again.

“I guess the start would be your grandmother, Luna Eveleigh. I grew up thinking of Luna Eveleigh as my aunt; she was good friends with my mum,” Danni smiles.

“When Aviary and I were six, Eveleigh and mum went out for their daily runs in their wolf forms. Unfortunately, a young teen wolf was out hunting with his father. They were practising his bow and arrow skills, and he went to shoot at a target, but Luna Eveleigh ran through the shot just as he let the arrow go… and the teen hit her,” Danni says, looking into my eyes before looking away.

“They rushed her to the pack hospital, which wasn’t where it is now, but the arrows were tipped in silver and… it was too much for Eveleigh’s system.”

I furrow my brow at this.

“But Eveleigh was a Luna wolf; surely, she would have been able to get it out of her system in time?” I ask. Danni shakes her head.

“No. He hit a main artery close to the heart. The distance to the hospital from where they were was further away. They couldn’t do anything more. On Eveleigh’s deathbed, I remember, because I was there. I remember she held Dustin, the teen that shot her, and Alpha Brent’s hands, and she made them both promise not to ruin their lives because of this. She said it was a freak accident and nobody’s fault.”

“What happened to Dustin?”

“I think you met him. Dustin became a doctor. He wanted to pay Eveleigh back for what he had done. He’s Doctor Parnell,” Danni nods slowly. I remember Dr Parnell. He was the friendlier of the two doctors who treated mum the other day.

“Alpha Brent went into mourning, of course, but he eventually bounced back. Then one of his deltas passed away, and he married his widow and made her the next Luna. Luna Hailey Smith-Redclaw. She was a bitch, and not just because she’s a werewolf,” Danni smirks.

“Aviary and I were fifteen. Hailey, well, Hailey was all the bad things stereotypically talked about redheads. She was angry and hot-headed. Hailey would throw tantrums when she didn’t get her own way, and she loved ordering the omegas around. Hailey may not have been born a Luna wolf, but if you didn’t obey her and she went to Alpha Brent, then you were in trouble. He was smitten.

Everyone, and I mean everyone except my family, her son and Alpha Brent, had to call her Luna Hailey, and the omegas had to curtsey to her when they saw her. Even your mum had to call her Luna Hailey,” Danni says, looking at me.

“Except when Alpha Brent was around, of course. She was sweet as pie then. Luna Hailey hated the fact that Aviary was going to be the next Alpha and that Aviary was involved in all the pack business she was not privy to. Hailey wanted her son to be the next Alpha, even though he didn’t have alpha blood.

Anything Aviary said or did or didn’t do rubbed Hailey the wrong way. I remember sitting with Aves and doing our homework once when Hailey asked her to make her a cup of tea. When Aviary didn’t move straight away, she got backhanded across the face.”

Danni stops as if thinking about that incident some more. She takes another sip of her tea before continuing to talk.

“Aviary pleaded with me not to say anything. She made me promise. Luckily I didn’t because a week later, an omega wolf from the kitchens had reported seeing Hailey hit Aviary to Alpha Brent, and the omega was transferred to another pack. Aviary was sent to stay with us for a week.

Your mum was scared because her dad didn’t believe her over Hailey, and Hailey just got worse because of that incident. I finally managed to get her to start writing the incidents down, dating when it happened, what, where and why. I got her to study at my place once a week, and she kept the diary of the abuse at my home for safekeeping,” Danni continues. A tear rolls down her face, but she ignores it and continues talking.

“…Your mum had all this light, and it was being destroyed. It was sad to watch, and I wanted to help, but I couldn’t. After what happened to Suzy, the omega… I was scared too.

It was getting worse. A lot worse. Sometimes your mum would disappear for a few days at a time. Hailey would say it was woman’s cramps,” Danni laughed, looking up at the ceiling.

“And it wasn’t?” I ask.

“No, no, it wasn’t,” Danni says, shaking her head and smiling sadly.

“I sneaked a peek at Aves’s diary once. Hailey was beating Aviary so severely she would lock Aviary in her room until she recovered. Hailey used the excuse that Aviary had her period and wanted to be alone. And stupid Alpha Brent believed her. Women don’t get their periods more than once a month on a regular basis unless there is something very wrong with them. At the time, I thought he didn’t give a flying toss about his daughter. I think he just believed anything that came out of Hailey’s mouth.

And, of course, Aviary made me promise not to tell. We were going to Alpha training together after high school, so she was just holding on to that.”

Danni sighs, and I can tell that recalling all this is hard for her. I want to ask if she questioned Hailey and Alpha Brent regarding mum’s whereabouts when she was locked up or if she tried to visit mum during these times. I’m sure she did, though.

I watch Danni eat a biscuit and then another one.

“What do you know about fairies?” Danni suddenly asks. I didn’t expect that. What do I know about fairies? Not much.

“Er- they can fly?” I ask seriously. This response, though, makes Danni chuckle.

She gets up from her spot and walks over to the bookshelves, sliding the ladder along until she gets it to where she needs to be. She climbs to the near top of the ladder and looks at the heavy books on the shelf, then climbs down the ladder with a large book in her hand.

Walking back, she passes me the book, ‘Encyclopedia of Sub Species, Volume 5, Land Sprites.’

“What’s an encyclopedia?” I ask, looking up at Danni. She snorts.

“It’s what the old folks used to find information before we had the internet or google,” Danni replies.

I open the book and flick through the pages.

“Okay…” I begin.

“Did you know this pack shares a boundary line with Fairy territory?” Danni asks. I look up at her, thinking Fairyland, but don’t say it out loud.

“This pack has been close allies with the fairies for centuries. But we almost lost that, thanks to Luna Hailey. I suggest you keep that book; you’ll want to know more about fairies in a moment,” she says as I shift the heavy book on my lap.

I watch Danni as she settles back down in her seat. I go to open my mouth and say something when she begins to talk again.

“Every ten years or so, a Fairy delegation would visit us to update and review our alliance. The week your mum turned eighteen, the Fairy delegation came for their annual visit,” Danni smiles, remembering.

“I was already eighteen, and I hadn’t found my mate yet, and I must say, those fairies were hot! Especially Major Greystone. Of course, Luna Hailey was being a bitch to Aviary about the whole thing. Jealous that she couldn’t be part of the meeting with the fay.

They were meant to stay a week in Worthington. But things happened. Firstly,” Danni says, stopping and smiling at me.

“Aviary turned eighteen and shifted into her wolf for the first time. Then she found her mate. Major Greystone,” she says with finality, smiling at me.

“Major Greystone… is my mother’s mate? You’re saying that Major Greystone is my mother’s mate?” I question.

“Yes, I am. I’m also saying that Major Greystone is your father,” she says.

I sit back in my chair. That’s… not possible, is it?

“But… but… he’s a fairy…” I mutter.

“That he is.”

“But my mum told me I’m a wolf; her pregnancy with me was a healthy six-month wolf pregnancy. The only issue was that I had a twin, which mum lost, and she almost lost Calla and me in the process...” I begin to blabber.

“She did? You’re what?” Danni asks anger and surprise in her voice.

“Aha,” I nod, “mum told me she didn’t even know she was pregnant when she arrived at Urban Wolves. She thought she was having an awful period. It wasn’t until she collapsed one day that they learned about me. I was pushing on the scar tissue left behind by my twin. It is why Calla has never been a strong wolf. She spent all her energy saving me,” I explain.

“Did your mum tell you that?”

“No,” I reply, remembering. I was being a brat once to mum, as tweens often are, and Calla came out and stood up to me, “Calla did.”

“When I spoke to Aves this morning, she told me all about you, but not about that….”

I watch the sadness flow over Danni. I know it’s not an easy topic for mum to talk about. She wasn’t even the one that told me; her wolf had to.

“Well, after your mum met Dorian, she was besotted. Everything was going well, and then she just… disappeared again. Period cramps. I knew that was bullshit, excuse my language, but what could I say? Then about a week later, it was an extra-curricular excursion outside of school grounds that Hailey had agreed to let Aviary go to.”

“Did you question that?” I ask.

“I did, finally. But I stood with my parents when I did. Alpha Brent was so proud of Aviary. Luna Hailey just gave me an evil, knowing look. But what could I say? Mum and dad believed them; no matter how much protesting happened, they wouldn’t budge. They actually grounded me,” she snorts, shaking her head.

“It wasn’t till three weeks later that all shit hit the fan.”

~

Edited with Grammarly