A Gift from the Goddess

Book Two - Ch.# 38 Two months had gone by since my escape from Ashwood. 1 The day still hauntedwhenever | thought about it, remembering the faces of loathing, remembering the fear and confusion... remembering the pain of leaving Kieran.

It was that pain which was still the hardest. to deal with, like an aching that never left me. A constant thorn in my side to remindhow we couldn't be together... and it wasn’t just thoughts either.

With the suppressors assumedly now completely worn off, for the first t| was experiencing living with what | imagined our entire species did; feelings that belonged to a creature inside you. Every single day it was like | could feel its pain crying for Kieran, whimpering internally as if I'd amputated its arm off. It was exhausting... and it only made it more difficult.

Sometimes, in my darkest hours, | contemplated taking the suppressors again. There had been one bottle left behind which now stood atop my bedroom dresser, staring atwith the promise of making the wolf go silent once more. To numb myself to the extra feelings that cwith being a werewolf and fall back into my days of ignorance.

| would reach my hand out towards the pills ... but stop myself every time.

And, instead, | would drink.

Alcohol. No fancy ingredients required, just good ol’ liquor. Just enough to take the edge off. Enough to distance myself from the chaos in my head as | continued my work, slipping back into routine with my father.

Things between us had been better, my absence clearly a needed one. He seemed more aware ofnow, even more... gentle? If that was even possible for him. But nevertheless, | was certain that Ashwood would have foundalready had he not done such an extensive job at hiding my existence all these years.

And in return for that protection, | did what | always did.

...I did my job.

“Raven, can | get you another drink?” asked the man, Jack Hamilton.

| sat on a plush expensive couch inside a high -end bar, attentively chatting closely with the man seated next to me. He owned the establishment that we were now tucked away in the private corner of. Just the two of “That's okay,” | said, smiling. “Thank you though.” “You know... I've never seen eyes quite as mesmerising as yours before,” he said, leaning forward. “The golden colour is fascinating.” ... And it was then that his hand reached over to touch my thigh, the intention obvious.

| knew that this would be the case. In fact, I'd been trying to establish this connection. | was here for information today and that was always made easier when a man stopped thinking with their head.

However, it unfortunately caused a stir of something else inside me... because | felt as a small growl rumbled through my chest in warning. A low threat in the tone. Not my doing, of course... but my wolf's. Now choosing to make my life difficult with her inability to letwork. To her, only Kieran was allowed to touch us.

| quickly coughed to disguise it and smiled.

“Apologies... | think | might actually get that drink after all,” | said. “I'll go get it though. Stay right here for me.” And as | stood up, | gently touched his cheek to seal the promise. A gesture that caused another stir inside me, taking all my control to push the wolf back.

Goddammit. They were making this so unnecessarily difficult.

“Your strongest whiskey, thanks,” | said to the bartender. “Add it to Jack Hamilton's tab.” They gavean odd look but did as | asked, and | downed it the second he stopped pouring.

“The person you're pining for has a family trying to kill us,” | said quietly to my wolf. ” Stop making this harder than it needs to be.” And slowly, | closed my eyes briefly as | let the alcohol wash over me, feeling as the wolf quietened inside once more. It wasn’t as good as the suppressors had once been, but it was enough.

“...You're not the only one who misses him,” | whispered sadly.

No... not the only one. But sthings were more important than desires.

Things like... surviving.

And it was with that very thought in mind that | then walked back over to my assignment.

“Tell me, Jack... is this the only bar you own?” | started, touching his arm intimately. “I just adore it so much.

Please tellyou have others in the city. Perhaps closer to town on Central Avenue? I'm dying to visit more often but this one is a little far from my home.” “Well... now that you mention it,” he said, leaning in closer. His gaze was switching from my eyes to my lips, but | bit back my discomfort. “Just between us, | happen to be placing a bid to purchase an upcoming lot shortly. It's too soon to publicly announce it but....” And as he proceeded to tellall of his plans for purchasing, | felt myself regress into my mind a little bit more, going through the motions of doing what I had to do. Giving him my attention in exchange for the information my father asked for.

...Wishing he was Kieran whenever he touched me.

| left the bar that night feeling hollow inside but with a job successfully completed. Which is all that mattered in the end.

Just... living to see another day.

Doing what | needed to do.

...What | had to.

| stumbled back hwith a headache, taking a taxi back to my house. | was welcomed hby the sight of my front gate, the smell of familiarity in the air stemming from the place | grew up. It was here that | took a moment to finally relax, breathing in deeply several times to calm myself.

Because | was fine. | could do this. Just... one day at a time.

But as | went to open the gate, | heard as someone then called to me. My mind immediately jumping to who had spoken.

“Rae.” | looked up sharply, my heart pounding. An overwhelming rush of adrenaline pumping throughover who it was, needing so badly to see him again. To touch him, to tell him | was sorry for leaving. To tell him that I lo-.

...But as | turned around to face him, | found that it wasn’t Kieran who had spoken... but Zac.

I'd been so desperate for him to be here that I'd tricked myself into thinking it could be real. That Kieran somehow knew where | lived and had cfor me.

But this wasn’t a fairy tale. Not anymore.

“...Hi, Zac,” | said, the disappointment thick in my voice.

I'd been avoiding him since coming back, not wanting to deal with the line of questions | knew he had. Truthfully, | just wanted to be left alone. To wallow in my own self-pity by myself.

Something that apparently wasn’t very subtle as he immediately calledout on it.

“You're avoiding my calls and refusing to meet with me,” he said. “I've been trying to get a hold of you for weeks.” “I've got a new phone,” | said. “The last one was lost.” “That doesn’t answer any of my questions, especially when I've called your house phone a thousand times asking for you. I highly doubt the extensive list of excuses the maid givesare all valid.” “I've been busy lately.” “I know you have... which is exactly why | needed to talk to you,” he said. “You've hadcovering up Noah's existence for months now, haddo errands for you that jeopardise my own life. | need sanswers on what exactly you expectto do from here. Or... | don’t know... shelp? I'm doing this all by myself and I'm freaking out.” Irritation flared insideas | didn’t want to deal with this right now. I'd had a long night entertaining a rich man for sbusiness plans and just wanted to sleep.

“Not now, Zac,” | said, turning back to go inside. “Just drop it and we can talk another time. I've just finished a job.” “No, not again,” he said, stepping closer. “If | let you go inside, you're going to start dodging my calls again. Givesanswers. Just... at least tellwhy we're doing this. Just givethat.” “Another time.” But as | went to push open the gate, he walked over and grabbed my hand to stop “No. Seriously,” he said. “This isn’t fair that | have to-.” And he suddenly paused mid-sentence, his nose scrunching.

“How much did you drink, Rae? | thought you said you just cfrom a job? Since when do you-.” “*Don’t callthat stupid name*,” | snapped angrily, ripping my hand away. Just leavethe fuck alone already*.” It had triggered something inside me, my frustration coming to a boil over hearing the nicknagain. It was as if everything from tonight and the past few weeks hit all at once, erupting in a mess of emotions that | wasn’t sure how to process.

But as | said the words, it was if something cover Zac.

He froze in place, his eyes relaxing as his whole demeanour then changed. Instantly, his attitude switched.

“You're right,” he said, stepping back. “I'm so sorry, Raven. | shouldn't have said that.” “What...?"” “I shouldn't have pressured you into talking to me, please don’t be mad at me. | didn’t mean to upset you.” “What are you doing? Is this sarcasm?” His eyes widened in genuine concern. “No! Of course not! | really am sorry. I'll leave you be. | hope you'll ctalk tosoon though. I'd hate for this to have ruined our friendship.” | stepped closer towards him cautiously, to which he kept moving backwards to givespace. Just as I'd originally wanted.

...But not like this. Not in this way which felt so... wrong.

“You were just arguing withand rightfully so,” | said, immediately sobering up. “I have been a complete bitch to you for weeks.” “No, not at all,” he said. “You clearly have a lot going on and it was my fault for bothering you.” “Zac, stop this.” “Stop what? You're absolutely right that | went too far.” “No, | wasn’t,” | argued. “I was being unreasonably horrible because of things going on in my life that are not your fault.” What was this? He wasn’t acting like Zac at all. It was like he'd been replaced by an overly polite doll who just said whatever | wanted to hear.

Was this an ‘order’ of authority like what Kieran had done to Sterling, Allison and Daniel? ...But, no, that couldn’t be the case. That was a system built on hierarchies of werewolves, able to be broken by leaving the pack as Sterling had. Zac was human and hadn't sworn loyalty to me. This didn’t feel like he was obeying an order, it felt more like he was trying to... please me.

And it was then that Allison's words all cback to me, her description of the Devil's * siren call’ and how it influenced those with an aura of reverence.

And | realised what it meant.

...That this was my doing.

Proof that | really was what they said | was.

A monster... a devil.

Had my life actually improved at all since discovering the truth of my identity? Or had I been better off before all of this? Before Ashwood, before Kieran... before | knew what else was out there? “Go home, Zac,” | said quietly. “I'll... call you when | can.” “Of course! | hope we can talk again soon!” And | quickly opened the front gate, entering my house to head directly to my room.

| knew what could help with this. What could stopfrom doing this ever again.

| just needed to go back to where it all started. Back to when my biggest problem was making sure my wolf didn’t misbehave, scared of my father’s punishment. Back when | was weakened... when | was more contained.

When it was just me. Only me.

| opened the bottle and stared at the pill in my hand: ...Just one tiny thing to make half of my problems go away.

To lessen the burden.

To be... almost human again. Or close enough.

| could put the blindfold back on and pretend like all these months had just been a bad dream. Just a mistake.

Hesitantly, | brought it up to my mouth, closing my eyes... and, right before | was about to take it, | felt a force of something protest inside me, freezing my hand.

....Like an invisible barrier stopping me. Just like when I'd tried to kill Noah and Daniel.

It was only more confirmation that something was deeply wrong with me.

My father had known all along that | deserved to be taking this medication. He'd known just how dangerous | really was. I'd resented him for it and yet | didn’t realise just how much I'd needed it. I—.

...Wait.

He knew.

...*He knew.

This wasn’t just to do withbeing a werewolf anymore. Somehow, he'd known the extent of my abilities and had perfectly countered how to suppress it. Almost like he was aware just how problematic it could be.

...And the words from his diary entry then cto mind.

“... am reminded of that fact every day by my fortune; with my business and my Raven, ‘it had read. ‘It is through her continuous. instruction that | have loyally served and been rewarded for my efforts.” “...Her continuous instruction.” As in, someone else was helping him. Could she have been the one telling my father who | really was? ...Was my adoption perhaps more planned than | thought? | leaned backwards, my back hitting my dresser with a loud thud, and, slowly, | sunk to the floor.

| hadn't been back to the orphanage since the day my father had cfor me. Whenever | thought about it, | still recalled the blood of the children I'd hurt. My tthere had not been pleasant. Only full of fear and pain.

Longing for a family | couldn’t remember.

...But what if | was missing something? What if my records had information in them that could helplearn more? ...What if... what if there were others out there who knew what | was? That alone could be incredibly dangerous information.

My eyes glanced over to where I'd stashed the stolen Ashwood book under a pile of clothes. Out of sight, out of mind. Or so I'd thought.

It was clear that there were still many pressing questions that were left unanswered. Questions that | knew my father would not answer easily. And, besides, if all of this was a misunderstanding, | didn’t want to drag him into the mess I'd created. If | was going to accuse, then it was best | understood more first.

Well... if | was really going to go down this path, then | guess | should stop being self- destructive.

And it was with that new determination in my head that | then slowly picked myself back up, grabbed the book...

and left a note for my father.

‘I'm going back to where it all began,’ it read. ‘Be hsoon.’ 2 ‘Sincerely, Your Raven.’