Alari's pov
My hands were shaking, and my heart was beating so loud nothing made it past my ears as my parents pulled towards an office. How did they even know how to find it?
The truth! They were finally going to tell me the truth! But… why did it feel like I wasn't ready? Why was I feeling all this dread?
I know I've asked them time and time again, fought them at one time but was I really ready to know?
That woman, why did she looked so much like me? Why did mom call her my mother? Where was she this whole time?!
She was wearing a crown on that picture! Did that mean she was royalty? Was I royalty? Then why did I have to suffer at the hands of that Goddess awful pack if I was royalty.
“I can hear the wheels spinning in that little head of yours, calm down love, all your questions will be answered” dad said, squeezing my hand before letting it go.
“And knowing you, you have a lot!” Mom giggled, also letting me go, walking towards a book shelf on the far right.
For a moment I felt alone, naked before everyone but Damien wrapped his arms around me from the back, covering me with his warmth.
“It's okay baby” he said, kissing the back of my head.
“Would I be wrong to say you knew?” I asked, hearing him sigh against my head.
“Yes, but not all of it and I didn't want to flip your world upside down without knowing the entire truth” he said and although a part of me was a little bitter that he knew and didn't tell me, I understood why he did it.
And I was a little jealous he knew something about me before I did.
Mom and dad pulled a few books forward but not completely out and they didn't fall. When Mon pulled the last one, the sound of a lock opening echoed and a shelve pushed forward from the bottom.
“I didn't know that was there” Damien said, his voice laced with awe.
“Elven engineering” mom said with a huge smile.
Dad brought out a big brown book with a golden spine that extended around the book in a intricate design, dusting it off as he placed it on the large oak table.
“I always wondered if Lylla knew what would happen, and she prepared for it” mom said, a solemn look on her face as she approached me.
She took out a pin from the book's spine and grabbed my hand. “It will hurt a little” she said and pricked my finger.
“Ow!” I moaned, pulling my hand from her.
“I warned you” she said as she quickly went to the table, holding the pin with a drop of my blood over a small hole on the front of the book.
“That wasn't a warning!” I said, a little mad but the pain was already fading.
“It's probably already healed” she said but before I could say something, a much smaller click was heard and the golden spine fell off.
“Wow” Pearl whispered, reminding me of her presence.
“Here lies the history of both this Kingdom and the Kingdom of the dark elves” mom said, smiling as she opened the book.
“Wait, I thought you were going to tell us about Alari” Pearl said, sounding as confused as I felt.
“Because her story starts at the very beginning of it all” dad said, smiling my way.
But I was even more confused, I was only nineteen! Almost twenty, how could my story start at the beginning of whatever they were talking about?
“Pay attention now” mom said, looking at me sternly and putting a hault to my racing mind.
“Centuries ago, before greed turned our world upside down, the dark elves roamed the forests freely. And they protected it with their magic, along with everything that lived within it” dad said, putting the open book on my lap and I saw pictures of people that looked like me.
“They had all kinds of magic, from making new trees grow, to changing the direction of the wind. They made the rain fall and nurtured life” he continued as I flipped through the pages.
“And their eyes would be the colour of the magic they held, the elements of nature, well, all except one” he said, making me look up at his burning stare.
“Mine?” I asked and he nodded.
“Only the most powerful of them all had purple eyes and even though hierarchy wasn't acknowledged, they were seen as somewhat royal” he said and I felt my heart skip a few beats.
“They had the power of frost and how magnificent their creations” mom said, a little excitement shining in her eyes.
“You speak like you've seen them” I said and she looked at me, a sad smile adorning her pretty face.
“I have, your mother was so powerful, she could make it snow for weeks! She did it a lot when she was pregnant with you. Said the snow calmed her” she said, losing herself in the memory.
“I remember it snowing a lot in the summer when I was a kid” Damien said and I felt a little envy hit my heart, how I wish I could have seen it, seen her.
“And it was like this way for centuries to come, until the witches learnt of blood magic” my father's face fell as he said this.
“What's blood magic?” Pearl asked before I could, and honestly, I didn't think I could even speak with how dry my mouth was.
“It's a dark magic, born from taking life, draining all pure energy. A darkness that consumes the soul, leaving nothing but a deep hunger for more” mom said, her face knitted and angry as she spoke.
“And when they discovered the power they gained from killing shifters, they enslaved them, using them to conquer everything and everyone” she continued, tears welling in her eyes.
“They destroyed everything, even turned on their own for that evil power” she said, her hands trembling from what I assumed was anger.
Dad held her hand, pulling her to lean on him.
“But even that wasn't enough, they sought the power to create, the power of the Goddess” she continued, her face looking like she was there when it all happened.
“Then, one witch figured it out. Helena, the mother of beasts” she said, her voice now hard.
“Helena used elven blood to open a gate way into hell, gaining herself the power to create creatures that were never meant to live in this plane” she said, her anger turning horrified.
“And so began the enslavement of elven people, slaughtered for their power and without them to protect nature and it's dwellings, chaos rose and those monstrous creatures ran wild. Some of them still haunt our mountains even now” dad said, making me draw a ragged breathe in as the picture of that shadowy creature pushed forward.
“So all those creatures humans are afraid of are real? The Appalachian mountains are really haunted?!” Pearl exclaimed and my parents just nodded.
“Decades went by and this continued, almost wiping out so many of us. The only reason vampires even exist now is because a few managed to flee and hide, no one knows where they are now” dad sighed, his hands running up and down mom's arms.
“It went on until the wolves and Lycans grew tired of losing their mates and children and so they started fighting back” he continued, a look of defeat as he shook his head.
“But it wasn't enough, they were no match for those creatures” mom said after a few moments of silence.
“And so twelve Lycan Alpha's went before the Goddess, to beg and plead for her help and she saw the purity in their hearts, the hurt and desperation, she granted them power like no other. The Goddess made them faster, stronger, and she gave them authority over all other wolves” mom said, a bit of light returning in her eyes.
She turned to me and smirked, “your ancestor was one of them” she said, although the sadness and anger was still there.
“Mine?” I asked, pointing at myself and see nodded with a smile.
“He had just lost his mate and was the one that rallied the others, and because of that, she made him the King, embedding his soul with her command and power” she said, making me wish I had met him, how powerful he must have been.
“I remember the stories of the first King, the most powerful Lycan to ever exist and with his power, he led the war that took back everything the witches had stolen from us. He fought and won back our freedom” Damien said, a deep respect for the Alpha radiating from his words.
“King Marius, the first of his line! It all started with him, he brought hope to our dark world and when news of his victories against the witches spread, the elves started rebelling. Escaping their chains one by one until the witches had none to kill and abuse” mom said.
“And without the power they needed to create their monsters, they were defenceless, making it easier for the Lycans and wolves to burn them to the ground, though some did manage to escape” dad said, his face relaxing a bit.
“Marking the beginning of the golden era of the Lupine Kingdom. Organising themselves into houses under the blessed Alphas, creating borders to keep themselves safe and thrived under their Goddess blessed King” mom said, her eyes now twinkling with joy.
“He was the very first to get a second mate” mom laughed, “the Goddess wanted to keep his line alive and he didn't want a chosen so she gave him the connection he craved, a true bond” she said, her head laying on in my father's chest.
“More packs emerged and the Kingdom grew, as did King Marius’ family” dad said and I felt warmth bloom in my heart.
“Dot dot dot a few generations down the line and your father was born” she said, amusement in her eyes but I saw it fade quickly, knowing the story was about to take a turn for the worst.
“It was around the time the elves felt it was time they returned from hiding, their location your mother kept a secret from everyone. And to ensure their safety, they brokered a deal with your father and his council, a marriage that would make certain of their safety and birth a powerful heir for both Kingdoms” dad said, looking straight at me.
“Your father had just lost his mate to an unidentified illness and was in desperate need of a Queen, so it worked out perfectly” she said but there was something in her eyes that said this was not the part where they live happily ever after.
“They married and soon enough announced her pregnancy, which was around the time she came to find us, saying the Pixies led her to the greatest healer the lands had ever seen” dad said with a small chuckle.
“The King of course refused us but she held strong, telling him the Goddess had brought us together and after some time and earning his trust, the King welcomed us into the Kingdom as his royal healer and seer” mom said, a sad smile on her face.
“Nearing your birth, Lylla learnt of Narcissa, a secret your father had kept well hidden but the bitch refused to remain in his past” mom growled, the energy around her electrifying.
“She revealed to anyone that would listen that she was the King's mistress and she deserved to be Queen. The King of course shut her down, clarifying that he hadn't touched her even once after he married his Queen and she was soon forgotten, a mistake we later paid for” she said with a sad sigh.
“On the last month of your mother's pregnancy, the King started to change, kept us at arm's length and eventually forbid us from seeing his Queen” she said, her sadness morphing into guilt.
“I should have know it was all Narcissa! I should have seen it!” She growled, tears falling down her face.
“You couldn't have known, and the Goddess didn't show you because it had to happen Beth” dad said, comforting her.
It took a while to calm her down and the whole time I didn't know whether to cry or scream, my emotions were everywhere and I didn't know how to process them.
“Your mother suddenly appeared on our doorstep the night you were born, said the Kingdom was in flames and Narcissa was working with the witches” dad said when mom couldn't continue.
“She told us to take you and run. We hoped she would find us but when we started feeling her presence around you, we knew for sure she was gone” dad said, a sadness in his voice I had never heard before and mom cried.
“It wasn't a dream” I said, my voice void of any emotions as I remembered the nightmare I had just a few days ago.
“It wasn't a dream” I whispered again, Damien holding me tighter as the floodgates opened and everything cane crashing down on me.