A Gift from the Goddess

Book Two-Ch.# 37

“NO!” Kieran roared.

And right as the dagger pierced the surface of my shoulder, Daniel was promptly pushed off me.

“I said *don’t touch her*,” he growled.

The weight of his words fell over everyone in the room, and once again I experienced the tangible sway of his order.

“Kieran,” Daniel huffed out, unable to get back up to his feet. “She-.”

“No, enough! You’re hereby forbidden from moving until further notice,” Kieran said. ” That goes for you too Allison. Sit down. Now. And I don’t want to hear another word from either of you.”

Allison gritted her teeth but did as she was told.

“What… What is that?” I asked. “What did you do to them?”

Kieran looked defeated as he straightened back up, unable to meet my eyes. He simply stared at two people he held dear as they were trapped on the floor.

“An Alpha heir order,” he said. “It’ll only hold them long enough until a full ranked member arrives though.”

“Kieran-.”

“Leave… Rae,” he said quietly. “I can’t do anything else for you now.”

The pain in his voice was clear, an echo in it that stung me. I didn’t want to upset him further, and so, with one hand covering the shallow new wound to my shoulder, I hobbled back to my feet to grab the book and dagger.

“There’s a cupboard to your left which has an emergency hidden staircase inside it. Use that and follow it all the way down. It’ll take you to the car park outside safely without being seen.”

Just as he’d said, upon inspecting the cupboard, there was indeed a staircase inside. But as I stared into the dark passage ahead, I hesitated once more.

…This was the last time I might see him. Did I really want to leave things like this? With lies intended to push him away and a head full of questions?

“Kieran… I…,” I said, my voice trailing off.

So many things I wanted to say, to explain, to ask about. All of which would take too long to get through. And so, in the end, I settled for one thing.

Just one line.

“…I’m sorry,” I whispered.

And I slipped through the doorway without another word, beginning the descent down.

“This isn’t over, Rae,” he called out behind me. “I’ll find you. I promise.”

But I just wiped at the stray tear that had escaped my eye and kept walking.

There were a lot of promises that were made lately. Too many.

“Do yourself a favour for both our sakes, Kieran,” I said quietly. “…Forget about me. My survival might just rely on that very thing.”

I knew what awaited me now. The only remaining path left.

A path that would lead me to the one place I ever truly belonged.

Back into the shadow of my father.

But first… first I had a job to do.

and drove like hell out of Ashwood, I was reminded of the fact that my absence had been long. Perhaps too long for an impatient

that had happened, simply just trying to get through the day without breaking

about Kieran anymore.

only me

to work even harder to hide my presence, an entire species probably soon intending to hunt me down. Because if a war could span over fifty years because of one pack, then I was sure that they weren’t keen to just

Allison’s face still haunted

to myself in the

floorboard, promising to give me the very thing that had started all of this. What my father had been desperate to get

ruined because of you. Perhaps if you’d never existed, I could have lived my life in ignorance until death came for me.

pain because I was fine. Completely fine. Just… a

couple of minutes to crack into the lock, Miles clearly not investing enough in security,

documents my father had been

could see why.

at some point he must have switched

all to get back… even if it meant losing his daughter.

wasn’t quite like everything else. It looked almost like a

written pencil notes around it, wondering if the passage pertained to an associate or

I have, I owe to her, and I am reminded of that fact every day

as I read the snippet, confused by who he was talking about. Because for as long as I could remember, my father had always been alone; both in business and in personal life. Never even so much as bringing a casual one-night stand over to the house, let alone ever speaking about a woman with such adoration; not like in the way he did in

man I knew of. Not the cold-hearted, business focused

Not Eric Reid.

documents closed, no longer wanting to

to begin with, such a thing would get me in trouble. But I’d figured since I’d already broken every

if only for unexpected reasons. The new information merely added

And I sighed.

Truths that would only lead me into situations I was better avoiding. Just like how chasing after Kieran had led me to the state I was

evil… a mistake. Undeserving.

gritted my teeth and got back into the car, throwing the documents on the passenger seat. My father could have

it was as I threw them down that the

to the book

at the time but then

now opened a new path of opportunity for me to take, one that could possibly lead to more

as they

a book with a title topic I was slowly starting

Council of the Silver Mist’ the front cover read. ‘A history of The Winter Mist and

Silver Lake’.

my birth family’s history. Or… as was told by Ashwood, at least. I could only imagine the bias I would find inside upon reading. Though some information was better than nothing. Better

chase down another search into who I

ached for Kieran for the millionth time. It felt as though I’d had a part of myself torn away when I’d left, tearing more and more the further I

My other half.

My… mate.

I lo-.

No.

going down this path. Not again.

wasn’t Rae or Rheyna…

time for me to

is exactly what

finally got back to Lockdale City. The familiar scent of my home greeted me as I entered the house, the place quiet now within the late hour of the night. This was my

A needed one.

staircase, a light shone brightly through, emanating from down the hallway.

was awake.

be angry? Had he somehow discovered what I’d been up to in my absence?