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.

that my absence had been long. Perhaps

simply just trying to get through the day without breaking down. To keep moving

think about Kieran anymore. He didn’t exist as of today.

only me vs…

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

still haunted

in the

at me from within the floorboard, promising to give me the very thing that had started all of this. What my father

my life in ignorance until

bit my tongue. There was no pain because I was fine. Completely fine. Just… a girl doing her job. And I pushed back the feelings threatening to break

minutes to crack into the lock, Miles clearly not investing enough in security, but soon enough I caught my first glimpse of

my father

I could see

must have switched sides. Probably working for someone who had it in their best interest to see my father finally go to jail. Some of the information in here would

even if it meant losing his daughter.

Something that wasn’t quite like everything else. It

it, wondering if the passage pertained to an associate or partner in crime but…

of that fact every day by my fortune; with my business and my Raven. It is through her continuous instruction that I have loyally served and been rewarded

long as I could remember, my father had always been alone; both in business and in personal life.

knew of. Not the cold-hearted, business focused

Not Eric Reid.

snapped the folder of documents closed, no longer wanting

with, such a thing would get me in trouble. But I’d figured since I’d

wrong about that, if only for unexpected reasons. The new information

And I sighed.

felt like the more I looked into the reality of my world, the more dark truths I discovered. Truths that would only lead me into situations I was better avoiding. Just like how chasing after Kieran had led me

a mistake. Undeserving.

passenger seat. My father could have them back and secure his

them down that the juxtaposition of my life really

it fell next to the book

at the time but then somehow hung onto during the chaos.

path of opportunity for me to

as they laid side

documents… or a book with a title topic

the front cover read. ‘A history of The

Silver Lake’.

bias I would

I really going to chase down another search into

more, my heart ached for Kieran for the millionth time. It felt as though I’d had a part of

My other half.

My… mate.

I

No.

down this path. Not again.

Rae or Rheyna…

was time for

exactly what I did.

hours of driving before I 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 longest time being away and it felt

A needed one.

staircase, a light shone brightly through, emanating from down the hallway. I knew what it meant.

was awake.

Had he somehow discovered what I’d been up to in my