Dark Secrets (7 page)

“Living life, oh so free

Loving life, the way it should be

To him I am now drawn

There’s a severe possibility

That I may fall

Falling in love

Losing our guard

This road will be hard

Lives separate, the universe follows

Guiding us through our darkest hour

Our fate uncertain, our journey mistaken

It may be wobbly

But we’ll get through

I’d go through anything just to be with you

Love so pure

With the power of distraction

The path we are to take will lead us in the right direction

Trust in us

Trust in this, Let fate guide us

In life and all its mysteries

Intertwine our destinies”

Fourth Chapter: Questions Unanswered

              I woke up, stretching. I went to look out the window and realized the sun was just coming up. How long have I been out? Wasn’t it morning time when I was speaking to Derek and Damien? And where’s Kai? I look around the room, no sign of him anywhere. I look down and realize I am wearing a very simple nightgown that doesn’t cover much of my body. It barely touches my knees and has a long V-neck, not to mention it’s see-through. There’s no way I can walk out like this.

              I walk to the door and slowly crack it open, just enough to peer out. Luckily, a woman was walking past as I did. “Excuse me, ma’am? Not to be a bother, but could you get me some decent clothing to wear?” I ask, sheepishly.

              The woman stops to look at me immediately, a radiant smile playing across her features. She has long, curly brown hair and the same crimson eyes as Derek. She has soft facial features and prominent curves, although not as prominent as mine. She’s dressed in a half top and shorts, covered in dirt and carrying a pot of daisies.

“Ember, dear. I’m so glad you have woken up. My name’s Laura, I am Derek’s mother.” She opens my door more to get a good look at me and cocks her head to the side. “You wait right there and I’ll see what I can do about clothing. You’re not quite my size... But, maybe you can wear something of my daughter’s.”

              “Oh, thank you! It’s a pleasure to meet you.” I pause a moment, organizing my thoughts. “I didn’t realize you had a daughter?”

              “Derek didn’t tell you? Oh well, you’ll learn all there is to know soon enough. You’ll have to in order to fit in the family.”

              “I’m sorry? Why would I need to fit well in the family?” I ask, confused.

              She covers her mouth and her eyes get large. “Oh dear, I’ve said too much. I’ll just go get those clothes now” She saunters off quickly before giving me a chance to respond.

I step out into the hall fully clothed in a plain white T-shirt and straight-legged jeans. They fit alright, albeit a bit tight.

              There are pictures all along the walls of Derek and what I am assuming is his sister. She’s quite beautiful, looks almost identical to Laura.

At the end of the hall is a huge living room with burnt orange walls, tiled floors, a grand piano in the center, a 52” flat screen TV on the far left wall. There are also two couches the same color as the walls and sitting upon them are Derek, Damien, and Kai. A man walks in from the doorway to my right.

              “Miss Ember, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you!” He says as he grabs my hand to kiss it. “I am the Alpha of the Black pack. My name is Robert.” He smiled keenly.

              I stare in shock a moment. Just as the girl in the pictures looks like Laura, this man is the spitting image of Derek, but with gray hair.

              “The pleasures all mine, sir.” I smile politely back.

              “Mommy!” I turn to see Kai running towards me. I quickly swoop him up in my arms and regret it immediately. I feel weak in the knees.

              “Are you okay, Ember?” Derek asks. He followed behind Kai, getting up as soon as he did. He grabbed hold of my arm to steady me.

              “I’m fine. Just give me a moment.” I might have asked him to take Kai but he had a stranglehold on my neck.

              “Are you sure? I can take him back.” He offers softly. Kai tightens his grip.

              “No, that’s okay. It seems Kai really missed me.” I say as I hug him closer to me.

              Derek just nods his head and smiles. Damien walks out the door.

It’s been three days since I woke up. Lachlan still hasn’t figured out the tattoo. But, we’re supposed to go meet up with a coven when we get the chance to see what they can do about it. In the meantime, Kai and I have been hanging out with Derek and his family. I finally met Derek’s sister, her name is Lily. She’s the sweetest thing. I can tell her and I will be very close friends.

I got to see the rest of the house: there are seven bedrooms, three bathrooms, two kitchens, two living areas, one dining room, and a wrap-around porch. It’s made entirely of brick and surrounded by rose bushes.

His family is pretty nice people; I have no idea where Derek got his attitude problems. Every now and then his jerk side comes out and he goes off on me for no apparent reason. For the most part though, he’s been pretty sweet; constantly getting things for me, asking how I am, and taking care of Kai for me. He’s great. Sometimes though… it seems he doesn’t want to be anywhere near me, especially if his family is around. Which brings up another peculiar thing… his parents are
super
excited to have me around. At first, I thought it was just because I was the elven princess but that subject never came up. They keep smiling at us and whispering to each other anytime Derek and I are in the same room together, even if we’re not talking. I’m not sure what’s going on here…

We sleep in Derek’s room with him. Kai and I get the bed and he sleeps on a pad on the floor. Apparently, that’s how it’s been since we got here. His parents insist that he, and only he, be the one to watch over me and Kai.

We’re currently trying to sleep and Derek is tossing and turning, making a lot of noise. Kai is asleep on the side of the bed closest to the wall; it doesn’t seem to be bothering him.

“Are you okay down there?” I whisper.

“I’m fine.” He grunts back.

“You don’t seem fine…”

“It’s just this damn floor. It’s killing my back!” He throws his hands in the air as he says this and then just lays there, exasperated.

I ponder this a moment before responding.

“Why don’t you just sleep up here with us?” I pause a moment. “It’s your bed after all. I feel bad that you have been sleeping on the floor for the past week and a half.”

He looks up at me in shock. “Are you sure that won’t bother you? If it really makes you feel bad I can just stop complaining.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! Get your ass up here.” I say as I back up closer to Kai, leaving Derek enough room to get under the covers. He chuckles at my outburst.

He climbs up slowly and lies beside me, sighing with relief. “Oh bed, how I have missed you!”

I laugh gently. I am about to say something about his elbow being in my side when he starts snoring. I gently turn towards Kai instead.

Never again did he sleep on the floor.

“Do you believe in God?” Derek asked as he played with the flowers in his hand. We’re sitting in the middle of his backyard watching Kai play on the swing set. Derek said that swing has been there since he was five years old.

              I look towards him and cock my head to the side.

              “Sometimes I do. Why? Don’t you?”

              “Not really… I think ‘God’ is a figment of someone’s imagination; that the idea of him was created to keep us from fearing death.” He replied softly.

              “That’s a very interesting concept.” I waited a moment, but he didn’t respond. “Well, if you don’t believe in God, what do you believe in?” I asked as I nudged his shoulder. He seemed to be lost in thought.

              “I guess the universe.”

              “That’s it? What about the universe?” I look at him quizzically.

              “The universe created us, its scientific fact. That’s what I believe in.” Derek smiled wryly at me as he said this, “What about you? What do you believe in?” He asked dubiously.

              “I believe in nature and spirits of the nature. The universe created our solar system and something created the universe, although I don’t know what. But, the earth created us and the spirits that keep the earth healthy, protect us. So, I worship the earth and its spiritual inhabitants. I do my best to preserve life in their honor. Kind of like pagans… like my mother. She’s really where I got this particular belief system.”

              He gave me that smile, that mind blowing smile of his that I’ve only just gotten used to. I had never seen that smile until we came here.

              “I like that idea better. It resonates well with me.” Derek winked at me. “Here, I made this for you.” He held up a flower wreath and placed it atop my head. I guess he wasn’t just playing after all.

              “Thank you. It’s beautiful.” I say as I smile and pat the wreath gently.

              He seems so relaxed here; more gentle and caring than ever before. Almost like all he needed to cure his attitude was a good dose of his homeland.

              “What is it about this place that makes you so happy?” I ask, curiously.

              “What do you mean?”

              “You’ve only yelled at me, maybe, three times since we got here. It’s like the land itself calms you.”

              “Ha. That’s actually right. There are special qualities in the dirt, grass and flowers around here that help the werewolves to stay calm; without it, we can get pretty aggressive.”

              “Oh! That’s interesting. Did you, the werewolves, design the plant life to do that?” I ask in surprise.

              He started shaking his head no before I had finished speaking. “It’s there naturally. Before we came here we were nomads: constantly moving from place to place in order to keep out of trouble with the norms, humans. We have a difficult time controlling our emotions. Before long the locals would catch on and oftentimes people would die, on both sides.”

              “That’s so sad. Being here really helps that much?” I frown.

              “Oh, yes! It’s almost as if we are constantly sedated.” He smiled hugely as he said this. I giggle a bit.

              The house is quiet as a mouse. I marvel at how intricately designed the house is. I realized that the two living areas have real trees growing into the walls. I don’t know how they managed that but it is beyond beautiful. However, my favorite room in the house would be the bathroom closest to Derek’s bedroom. It’s set up like a garden with flowers, trees, and grass growing in various places, and the shower is much like a waterfall. It’s exquisite and I could stay in there for hours if I were allowed to do so.

I still have yet to go outside the property grounds but from what I have seen while peeking over the wraparound fence, the land here is lush beyond compare. I can see why everyone loves living here so much and I can definitely sense the magical properties in the air. This land has been blessed. But, by whom I don’t know.

Kai and Derek are in bed now. Everyone in the house is fast asleep and I’m just sitting there watching two beautiful boys sleep. Derek has gotten extremely close to Kai as of late, he’s Kai’s new favorite person. Sometimes I wonder if my son likes him better than me. I giggle at the thought; Kai has always been a momma’s boy. I quietly step out of the room and walk outside.

It’s bright out for it being so late. I have never seen so many stars in my entire life. This whole place is so serene. I sit on the grass and ponder my own existence in this vast world. So much has changed these past couple months. Sometimes it’s hard to believe. I lay back and gaze at the sky. It’s a full moon tonight. Its light is shining so bright it’s almost mesmerizing.

I do not know how I feel about this journey as a whole. Sometimes I find myself enjoying my new life while at other times I am wishing that it could all go back to normal. I am especially confused about the men surrounding me in this new life. Soon after I woke up Damien led me away from everyone else to ask me quietly how I am doing with all of this. After all the ignoring and avoiding he has done to me lately I didn’t understand why the sudden responsiveness…

I confronted him on that fact; a bit irked that he only paid attention to me when he thought I might need a shoulder to cry on. He simply rolled his eyes at me at the time and stormed off. Later that night he came back and apologized for his rude behavior before kissing me rather roughly and running off yet again! No one else knows this happened… and I plan to keep it that way. There’s enough drama as it is.