CHAPTER 68: CHAPTER 68

Maria’s POV

"So, my parents are long dead?" I asked, dropping the cutlery in the plates and they made a clanking sound.

"Yes."

I was about to ask another question when my mother stood up from the table and walked inside.

I sucked in a deep breath as I sat alone at the long dining table, forcing the rest of my food down my throat. Being upset at my mother’s revelation wasn’t enough reason to sleep with an empty stomach.

My sense of smell and taste were heightened. I could pick up a stronger scent of the things around me. That must have been one of the perks of having my wolf back.

Now that the truth of who really owned the alpha position was revealed, there was no need to fight for it. I didn’t need my wolf to prove to everyone that I could lead the pack. Instead, I needed my wolf to stand and fight against this forger.

I thought about Trevor’s lands, wondering if anyone had contacted the blight since I left. If Alice had been found, and if the blight occurrences had died down.

I could still feel the bond that we shared pulsing through me. I could feel that he was healthy and normal. Apart from those minimal shared feelings, I couldn’t feel any more connections. I wish I could feel more of what was happening within him.

As for me, I still felt an ache in my chest from everything that happened tonight. Perhaps, he would also feel an ache in his chest from the mate bond.

Triton had revealed to me the circumstances surrounding how Trevor became a rogue. How the father didn’t hesitate to cast him out because he was a bastard son.

As absurd as a petal that granted unique powers of immortality sounded, I was forced to still believe the story. Why else would Triton cook up a lie for me? After all, this was a paranormal world and it was possible to experience things that were out of the ordinary.

The book of guardians had revealed that there was also a world of other supernatural beings. I had heard of vampires, merpeople, tree spirits, but never encountered them.

I only knew about the demons that lurked around the borders of secluded parks. Most times, the demons only attacked when they sensed that the person was weak.

Normally, werewolves were stronger than demons, so they only preyed on weak or wolfless werewolves. I wondered why they would attack a strong wolf like Triton, maybe he was travelling alone.

I recalled my first weeks with Trevor, when I saw him chopping wood outside and was astonished because it didn’t seem like a King’s job.

A creature had emerged from the forest and lunged at me before he fought it away. I tried to remember the features of the creature. It didn’t look like an ordinary wolf. It seems to have scales and horns, and so far I was concerned, a wolf creature couldn’t have such features. Maybe it was a demon.

I headed to my room even though I knew I would barely have any sleep for the night. My former place was covered with white shrouds. The white cloth covered all the items in the room from the window, to the bed, and even the dresser and the table.

They obviously covered my things up after they thought I was dead.

I lit my way with a candle and took off the cloth that covered most of the items. Even the bed was a bit dusty.

A maid passing by saw me as I tried to clear the room by myself and offered to help. She packed the clothes away and replaced the bed with new sheets. She cleared the cobwebs that hung around the corners of the ceiling.

I thanked her and hurriedly got into bed. The satchel that I’d carried along with me from the rogue lands was still with me. I had picked the two books that I’d read while there. One was a book on the mating bond and rituals, which was the first book I read while curious. The second one was the book I found when I came across Kelin at the library, the book about the various werewolf packs.

I don’t know why, but my mind kept telling me that if I read harder, I could see something useful between the pages that could be helpful in fighting the forger.

Well, I did read through the book and there was nothing helpful about fighting the forger. The only thing that the book about mate bonds did was to remind me of Trevor over and over again.

I closed the book and picked up the other about packs. I focused mainly on reading about Veilwood. Before the event of the forger emerged, women didn’t need to hide their faces under veils.

Veilwood got its name because of the tradition of veiling the faces of couples during the mating ceremony. It wasn’t until the sudden disappearance of women that it now looked like wearing veils was part of their dressing.

The book also made mention of another pack besides the ones I knew that had gone extinct. They were known as the hybrids, and there was little information about them. The little that I read was that there were a mixture of various supernatural elements.

That was quite confusing to understand, but I took it like that and continued reading.

My eyes began to get heavy from the straining on the book covers. I blinked my sleepy eyes multiple times before finally setting the book aside.

I laid on the bed and closed my eyes, trying hard to sleep. It seemed like my eyes only felt heavy but I couldn’t fall into sleep.

I just kept staring at the dark walls which were slightly illuminated by the dim candlelight.

Then, I saw it again. Those visions appeared. It wasn’t a vision of Freye this time. It was those familiar appearances on the wall. This time, I had gotten my memory back and I could recognize the familiar lands of Veilwood that were soaked in fire.

My chest thudded as I saw the packhouse also being consumed in flames. Then, there was a man whose face was hidden behind a mask, wielding a blade that he used in slashing through the already collapsed bodies on the floor.

I grimaced at the sight and immediately snapped out of the vision. My breathing was a bit rapid than earlier and I sat a bit upright on the bed.

That single revelation made sleep to escape from my eyes. I was now stuck between staying awake all night or just lying in bed until sleep passed by again.

Well, I did the later which was lying in bed, but sleep continued to elude me.

I heard distinct voices from outside my room. The door was partly closed to leave a little space for breeze. It sounded like mother’s voice and the voice of another woman. I knew it wasn’t Sasha that she was speaking to. Perhaps it was one of the maids. But all the maids were young women, and the voice I heard talking with my mother sounded like that of an older woman.

It sounded almost like someone I knew. It sounded like Alice.

Curiosity got the better part of me as I walked towards the door. I stepped outside my room, and suprisingly, they weren’t standing outside my door. Mother was standing in the long dining hall with a woman who I could only see the back view from where I stood.

I think it was my heightened werewolf senses that made it feel like both of them were closeby.

As I moved closer, Mother saw me and the woman she was talking with turned to face me.

My guesses weren’t wrong. It was Alice. The nurse from the rogue fortress that had brought tonic for me each day. The same woman that said she was from Veilwood, but Veilwood hadn’t sent any rogues out in the past years. She had also disappeared in the morning, leaving us at the rogue fortress wondering where she went.

"Alice? How did you get here? Did the blight allow you to cross? What of Trevor, can he cross too?" I asked all these questions at once, without even waiting for her to give a response to one.

"I’m not a rogue, Maria."

I narrowed my eyes a bit. Trevor and Aria had already mentioned something like that to me so I wasn’t perturbed about her revelation.

"Maria, I have to tell you something,"

"Don’t!" Mother cut Alice off immediately. "Don’t ever try it."

I looked at both of them in a confused manner, wondering what they meant by this exchange. Mother’s expression wasn’t gentle. She looked like she was obviously agigated.

Alice opened her mouth to say something, but mother put her hand over Alice’s mouth. Alice brushed off her hand, and they resulted in arguing, but in low tones.

Then, I heard Alice’s voice break out amidst the argument. "I am your mother."