Page 45 of Cursed Wolfsbane

Feeling discouraged, I open the last drawer. At first glance, there’s nothing helpful in here. As I’m pulling the notebooks out, one of them catches on the bottom of the drawer. I tug on the notebook, trying to free it. While the notebook comes free, the bottom of the drawer comes up too.

I gasp softly when I realize the drawer has a false bottom. Sitting on top of the stack of documents is a letter with my name written in large flowing letters. From the looping cursive, I know it’s my mom’s handwriting. My fingers shake as I pull out a letter similar to the one in the safe-deposit box.

Part of me isn’t sure I really want to know what’s in the letter. The last one led to major revelations that shook the foundation of what I thought my life was. This one will probably too. Taking a deep, fortifying breath, I slip my thumb under the flap to open it. I delicately pluck the letter out, not wanting to damageit before I can examine it. Unfolding it, I start reading another letter from my mom.

My sweet Briar Rose,

I am so very sorry if you have to read this, baby. It’s not fair that you lost both your father and me. You deserved so much more, and I’m sorry you got swept up in a war you’re too young to really understand.

Hopefully Vale found this letter first and read my instructions to keep it from you until you’re eighteen. If not, I would tell you to stop reading, but I know your curiosity will get the best of you.

I had to take your memories, Briar Rose, because you are one of the descendants of Dido, as am I. There are people who would and have killed for that information. Unfortunately, Patrick figured out our family secret somehow. That’s why we moved to Wolves Hollow.

But what Patrick didn’t know is that you are also the first mage-wolf hybrid in millennia. What used to be a common pairing, mixed species fated-mates groups, has died off as supernatural groups became increasingly insular. It is in part due to the threat of the growing non-magical population, along with a general distrust for other species.

Children from two different supernaturals are impossible if they are not from a fated-mates pairing. While this knowledge used to be well-known, leaders of each supernatural faction have destroyed many of the records of these pairings. Our family has the documents from Dido and her ancestors passed down throughout the generations, which is how we know about it.

Hybrids are extremely powerful, able to draw twice the amount of magic as others. You have magic both from your mage powers and from your wolf. That is another reason this knowledge was erased. Hybrids can overthrow even the most powerful leaders of the supernatural factions. They can do things that should be impossible.

I had to take your memories to prevent Patrick from finding this out. He thinks your father was your stepfather and doesn’t know you’re part mage. While we didn’t teach you of this, your memories had enough information in them to help Patrick find out this secret, which would be the most dangerous of all for him to discover.

Along with records from Dido’s line spanning many millennia, we also have the original text of a prophecy from over two thousand years ago. The prophecy says the first wolf-born mage holds thekey to returning what wolves lost—the ability for female wolves to shift. While some wolves know of this prophecy, they don’t know about the mage part.

I don’t know what the key is or how you can restore shifting for female wolves. I also don’t know how you can unlock your wolf, but I know it should be possible. Your mage magic should override what’s keeping women from shifting. What I do know is you will need every ounce of power you have to win the upcoming battle.

To find out what the prophecy says and how to unlock shifting, you need to travel to our family library in Paris. It’s the same library that Dido had in Carthage, but it’s been added to by each generation since. There, you should find what you need to accomplish what you were destined for since before you were even born. Your blood is the key to unlock it.

The road ahead of you will be hard, Briar Rose. I won’t lie to you about that. But if there’s anyone who can do it, it’s you. You have a strength of character and conviction that is rarely seen in anyone, much less someone as young as you are. Paired with your pure, kind, and empathetic heart, you are exactly who our world needs.

Believe in yourself, Briar Rose, and know that asking for help isn’t weakness. It takes strength to recognize when you can’t do it yourself, and, I’m afraid, this will be one of the times you cannot do it alone. You will need your mates. Saint is the first one, but you should have three more. All of Dido’s descendants have four mates. Find them before you go to the library.

Remember to always be as sweet as a rose and as fierce as its thorns.

I love you so much, baby.

Love forever and always,

Mama

Blinking my eyes to try to clear the few tears that have escaped, I look up at the room in confusion.

It’s snowing.

Inside.

What in the fresh hell is happening?

CHAPTER 21

BRIAR

Fluffy white snowflakes rain down from the ceiling, already accumulating in some parts of the room. My lashes have a few flakes clinging to them, and I’m sure my hair is speckled with white. Inhaling sharply, I realize the whole room smells heavily of lavender and sunshine, which is my scent.

Did I do this? Did I somehow cause it to snow indoors?

While mages generally have an affinity for a natural element, like water, fire, ice, or earth, mages can’t create something out of nothing. If I were outside, I could theoretically pull on the water droplets in the clouds, freeze them, and cause it to snow. But inside, there’s no natural source of precipitation that I can use to make snow.

At first, the snow was strange. Then it was kind of cool. Now I’m just freaking out. In my panic, books start floating off their shelves, surrounded in an ice-blue glow. Yep, I’m definitely the one causing the freaky indoor snow. The books begin to dance around the room, not helping the situation any.

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