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.

reminded of the fact that my absence had been long.

through the motions. I wasn’t quite ready to acknowledge everything that had happened, simply just trying to get through the day without breaking down. To keep moving without remembering

couldn’t think about Kieran anymore. He didn’t exist

was only me vs…

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 let me die of old

Allison’s face still haunted

myself in the confines of a

thing that had started all of this. What

you’d never existed, I could have lived my life in ignorance until death came for me. That sounds better than this…

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

minutes to crack into the lock, Miles clearly not investing

father had been

I could see why.

some point he must have switched sides. Probably working for someone who had it in their best interest to see my father finally go to jail.

to risk it all to get back… even if it meant losing his daughter. All to save the business.

papers back together, I did catch one thing. Something that wasn’t quite like everything else. It looked almost like a journal entry in my father’s handwriting, one

pertained to an associate or partner in crime but… but I wasn’t so sure.

read. ‘What I have, I owe to her, and I am reminded 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 for

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 this

he wrote here… it was nothing like the man I knew of. Not the cold-hearted, business focused

Not Eric Reid.

snapped the folder of documents closed, no longer

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

been wrong about that, if only for unexpected reasons. The new information merely added more questions

And I sighed.

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 to

evil… a mistake. Undeserving.

seat. My father could have them back and secure his business, just as he wanted. It was a testament to my loyalty,

as I threw them down that the juxtaposition

it fell next to the

Ashwood Archives. One I’d picked up out of curiosity at the time but then somehow hung onto

of opportunity for me to take, one that could possibly

as they laid

or a book with a title topic I was slowly starting

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

Silver Lake’.

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 than… being spat. at for

down another

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

My other half.

My… mate.

person I lo-.

No.

going down this path. Not again.

Rheyna…

it was time for

exactly what I did.

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

A needed one.

of the staircase, a light shone brightly through, emanating from

father was awake.

angry? Had he somehow discovered what