Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

The next day we meet with the Betas

and Gammas in Bronx's office first thing in the morning. They all agree on something right away. I don't

get to leave the packhouse unless I have two security guards at all times. We don't know where Ryan

or his dad are. Bronx is not willing to take any chances.

Ashley picks up her phone and laptop and goes to the back of the office where there is a small

conference table. She comes back a few minutes later with a smile on her face. :

“All set. They'll be here in fifteen minutes," she says cheerfully.

“Good work, Ashley. Alright team, next order of business. We have to do research and figure out why

Kas has powers and if there is anything we need to do to make accommodations for her," Bronx says,

''Kas, tell us what you have experienced so far. Please.”

His demeanor when we are around other people is a stark difference from when we are alone together.

This version of Bronx is kinda sexy, I must admit.

“Well, the first thing that happened was my eyes changed color to violet. The left one first, then the right

one. They started to change when I was in the pack hospital after...well, I was healing from an injury," I

try to avoid getting into gory details, "Within a few days they were both the color they are now. But

before that they were just plain old gray.” Bronx is taking notes on his laptop. The others are just paying

attention to what I am saying.

“T noticed my hair changing color next. It used to be light brown. The color change started just after my

eyes changed. It was a little darker at first and it happened in sections on my hair, but it happened

quickly. Even though it’s long, locks of it would go from brown to silver overnight, until it was all silver. I

think it was a total of two weeks from brown to silver. Once it was all silver, it lightened up and got more

sparkly.” »

“Have you tried to cut it?" Lenora asks.

“No. The last time I had to cut my hair was because someone threw gum at me. That was before it was

silver," I say matter of factly. Bronx lets out a low growl.

“Knock it off, Bronx,"' Milo says, '"We're trying to move forward here.”

It's the first time I have heard Milo speak to Bronx this way, but it works. Milo clears his throat and

motions for m e to continue.

“The burning people with my hands, well, the first time was a day or two before Lex woke up fully. The

second time, she took over and I couldn't stop her.”

"I'm sorry. Did you say burning people? " Reggie looks at me with wide eyes. “Old news, Reggie. Keep

up, Babe," Ashley dismisses her mate, "Keep going, Kas.”

“Oh, also, I'm pretty sure I've stopped time around me a couple of times but I'm still able to move. I

don't know. The second time, it didn't work right and just slowed down time, Lex wasn't able to tell me

why. Just that we don't have our full power until she's able to shift.”

“You already know about me being able to heal Lenora. About half an hour before that, I think I had a

premonition? I can't

be sure but that's the only way I can explain it. We were in the store and all of a sudden I was reliving a

real bad memory that happened before I came to Blood River. It had to do with Ryan, Alpha Graham's

son. The memory was the one I told you about last night, Bronx," Bronx nods and squeezes my hand,

"but then the bad memory stopped and I swear I saw us sitting in the food court and I could smell his

scent. But we weren't actually in the food court, we were still in the store. When he actually showed up

in the food court, it seemed like deja vu more than a premonition, like I imagined it but then I

remembered it while it was actually happening.”

“So that's what happened when you dropped all those clothes in Victoria’s Secret?" Ashley asks.

Bronx growls, "Excuse me, where?”

“Oh relax, big brother. She needed underwear and bras," Lenora says defensively, but her face looks a

bit guilty.

“Obh, you know what, I think I saw when it happened! I saw the glow around you but I figured it must

have been the pink lighting in the store," Ashley recalls.

Just then there is a knock on the door. Bronx bids the person to enter. Two burly men dressed in black

walk in. “Kas, this is James and Marco. They're going to be your personal guards," Ashley stands and

introduces us, "Guys, this is Kas. She's Alpha Bronx's mate.” They look at each other, then look at me

and bow slightly, ''Welcome to Blood River, Luna," the one named James says. Bronx stands up,

"Gentlemen, you're to know where Kas is at all times. If she leaves the packhouse, you escort her.

Even if it's just out to the gardens, eveni f she is with me. Twelve hour shifts while she's in the

packhouse. When she goes out, both of you have eyes on her at all times. Are we clear?”

“Yes, Alpha," they speak in unison. Bronx pulls out a picture of Alpha Graham and Ryan, "These two

men are dangerous and are potentially stalking my mate. The younger one tried to attack her

yesterday. Lenora was able to stop him. If you see either of them, protect Kas at all costs. Consider this

a military escort.”

“Yes, Alpha," they reply again.

Marco steps forward, "Luna it's our honor to serve you," James nods behind him. I bow my head

slightly at them and thank them both.

“We will be here in the back library for the next several hours, gentlemen. Your assignment starts

immediately. You two work out who's on guard first. Wait outside the office," Bronx says. Power seems

to be rolling off him as he speaks. “Yes, Alpha," they repeat. They both bow to me again and leave the

office. “That was intense," Lex says in awe. Bronx stands up and we follow him toa door near the back

of the office. He opens a keypad, punches in a code, and the door silently opens.

“This is your private library?" I look around in awe. There are mahogany tables and giant lounge chairs

all over the huge room. There are large, old books in glass cases and on pedestals placed strategically

around the room. There are two stories of floor-to-ceiling built in mahogany bookshelves packed full of

books that go around three walls. The fourth wall is just windows facing a beautiful pond.

“Alright guys, let's split this up," He pulls out a laptop and pulls up a list of books in the library. He gives

us each ten books to look at. We split up around the room finding our assigned books and finding spots

to go through them.

I find a pad of paper and a pen and start making notes. Three hours later, I'm through eight of the

books I had pulled from the shelves without having found anything useful.

A loud growling yawn makes everyone jump out of their skin.

"Milo! You scared the crap out of everyone!" Lenora scolds.

"Sorry. I just needed to stretch," he says, feigning innocence, "I'm going to the kitchen to get us all

lunch. Any requests?"

"Just get some pizzas. Oh, breadsticks and applesauce for Kas. Do you want anything else, Baby?"

"A banana would be great. I'm really hungry."

Bronx smiles, "Get the lady a banana, Milo!"

I turn back to the book I'm reading. It is written in old English, so it's difficult to understand. I flip the

page to find a beautiful hand-painted illustration. It is a depiction of the Moon Goddess. There's a man

standing next to her that looks like a king. They are surrounded by children. She is holding a baby in

her arms with gray hair and violet eyes. The title on the next page says 'Manae - Children of Selene’.

No freaking way. “Bronx! I found something! I found something!" Everyone comes over to look at the

book.

“Menae? Hmm. I saw something about that in a more recent book. Let me go get it," Reggie muses. He

trots over to a pile of books and brings them over.

He flips through the pages until he finds what he's looking for and starts reading aloud, "The Menae are

fifty children of the Moon Goddess and the human king Endymion. Modern times say they represent

the fifty months of the four- year Olympiad cycle. |

"So basically, a kid a month for a little over four years? It looks like Zeus allowed the Menae to be

goddesses, even though Endymion was human. There is no mention of any names or their powers, but

if they are goddesses, they would have some type of power right?”

Bronx strums his fingers against his cheek as he looks at the laptop screen, " Alright, so this says there

were two Olympiad cycles. Ancient Greeks believed one four-year cycle had forty- nine months and a

second cycle had fifty months. Something to do with the lunar cycle because that is how they kept track

of time. We don't use lunar cycles to keep track of time anymore, so it doesn't matter that there's more

than twelve full moons per calendar year.” I look more at the old English book while he is talking,

"Uhh...my name is here...”

I point to a small print sentence that clearly says 'Iokaste' in the middle of it, but I'm not familiar with the

words around it, soI can't figure out what it's saying.

Reggie looks over my shoulder, "It says Kas in there?”

“No, Reggie, my full name is Iokaste.”

“Oh sick! Like Iokaste the Seer," Reggie says, sounding excited. :

“Who is Iokaste the Seer?” I ask, confused.

“Reggie, Kas is clearly not named after an Assassin's Creed character," Bronx rolls his eyes as he

looks up from his computer. «

“Okay, but Iokaste the character predicts the future just like our Iokaste can. Could be relevant!”

“Please don't call me that. Just call me Kas. Please,'' I request.

“Why don't you like being called Iokaste anyway?" Ashley asks.

“T, um, it was the name on the blanket I was found in. I like to think my parents put a lot of thought into

what my name would be. I always wanted to ask them more about why they chose such an unusual

name for me but I can't. Who knows, maybe they just saw it in a book like this and thought it was pretty.

I guess I may never know," I shrug, trying not to feel down. I feel the familiar lump of sadness in my

chest. He must sense my sadness, because Bronx clears his throat and gets everyone's attention

away from me, " Back to the task at hand. According to this, Iokaste was an ancient Greek woman.

She was the queen of Thebes. Accidentally married her son who just so happened to be Oedipus.

Whoops!” “Ohh-kay, definitely do not call me Iokaste!" I proclaim.

Bronx snorts a little and looks back at the monitor, "And some people believe the word Iokaste

translates to...oh...”

He trails off before he finishes. He sighs and rubs his face in his hands. “TRANSLATES TO WHAT?!"

Lenora yells, throwing her hands in the air. “Violet.”