Page 57 of Reign of the Beast

“No. No, you’re not,” I murmured. “Wait. If you heard all of that, why didn’t you come to either of us, confront us, or ask for an explanation?”

“You weren’t ready for me to know. I figured on building your trust before I went there with it. And, I guess I wasn’t ready to accept it, let alone hear more about it from either of you.” He squared his shoulders. “But I’m ready now.”

“You’re sure?” It was a heavy burden to bear.

“I’m sure, princess. There’s a lot I don’t understand. I mean, why not unbind me? Why isn’t that our first go-to, instead of waiting on the conditions to be right for all four of us to be in sync so we can form that Covenant? With me unbound, wouldn’t I have Immortal-level power, like you? Then there would be two of us against him. That would be a hell of a force to be reckoned with.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“Why? Because you think I’m going to turn dark like Draco, like you’re all worried about, but too afraid to say to my face?”

I took his hands in mine. “I know what you heard, but I’m no longer worried about you turning dark just from inheriting your powers. I know you now. I know your heart. You’re a good man. But thereareother influences that could force you down that path. If Draco got his hands on you when you were unbound, he could guide you toward the evil that he embodies. You’ll be vulnerable when you’re first unbound. It’s a perfect opportunity for him to mold you.” I stroked his fingers, asking softly, “Is that what you want? To actually be unbound? You wouldn’t feel as you do now, as pure Alpha wolf. It would be tainted for you.”

“Is that what happened to you?”

“No. I was never bound. I don’t know anything different than being… this. Something hunted for what I am, for my blood, my celestial link.”

“You think being what you are is a curse?”

“It hasn’t exactly been a picnic.”

“But it’s who you are, your true self. Being wolf isn’t all thatIam, but it’s all I’ve been allowed to be.” He hung his head. “I’ve been trying to deny it all, wanting to hold on to the wolf, focusing on you and me. But that’s foolish.” His hands left mine and he shoved them through his hair. “I mean, how did this even happen? Hank Silver wasn’t my birth father after all? He adopted me? My mother had to have been wolf for that to pass onto me…” he trailed off, his brows knitting in consternation.

It was time for an Immortal history lesson.

I cleared my throat and started, “The True Celestials created Draco long after Cornelius. They wanted a different breed, one that was a true warrior who could carry outdirtier, questionable tasks without the weakness of a moral compass impeding them. Draco was made from a True Celestialanda True Demon. They thought they could control him, anticipating him to be much like a living machine that would in essence be programmable and would carry out orders without question to please his masters. It worked for a while. Until the day that Draco was sent on a mission to this realm and he became obsessed with it. He kept visiting against orders. He rebelled when the True Celestials forbade him from going back ever again. In his rage, he destroyed an entire city, razing it to the ground with his hellfire.”

I shifted my weight as I carried on, “During his time on earth, he laid with several lesser supernatural beings, producing numerous heirs. That wasn’t tolerated by theTrue Celestials, so they ordered Cornelius to hunt and kill every single one of them. They couldn’t tolerate such a violation of the higher order. When Draco discovered the order to kill his heirs, he went on a rampage and killed several Celestials. On the verge of a massacre, they enacted a Law that forbade a Celestial being from killing another of their kind. Not just something written down, but a magical act that physically prevented it from being possible. It cut my father’s mission to kill all the heirs short.”

“And then your father went and did the very thing he’d been on a mission against, having his own kid?”

“Well, after the catastrophe with Draco, everyone was under a microscope. That was when they discovered that my father had fallen in love with a lesser supernatural being. He was cast out from the Celestial Plane and he became Fallen, or an Immortal as we refer to it. Years later, he and my sorceress mother had me.”

“She died in childbirth, like mine?”

“Yes. A wolf or a sorceress, any lesser supernatural being, can’t survive birthing an Immortal Descendant baby. The eruption of magic is too intense.” I continued, telling him, “Anyway, so after all of that, Draco went into hiding. He’d emerge, though, every now and then when his carnal needs became too much. That soon grew out of control and then he was attacking people left and right, violating them, then razing places to the ground. That was when my father banished him.”

“I’m only in my thirties, though, if he was already banished… how did I come about?”

“Remember that sinkhole?”

“Yeah. What about it?”

“Through that, Draco was able to affect this realm, to actually touch and impactyou, actual beings of this realm,despite him being bound and banished. I believe that’s what happened to create you.”

“So, he’s been reaching out every now and then whenever he could muster enough power, and infecting supernatural beings with his spawn? Going on and on until he finally found somebody who could hold his power?”

I winced. “Yes, I believe so.”

He frowned, thinking on things for a moment, before asking me, “So, somehow your father bound my abilities, made it so that only my wolf side shone through?”

“Yes. Bound you, erected a veil around you so nobody could scent your Immortal blood, and he hid you behind layers of magic to ensure we’d never meet.”

“He didn’t want his own daughter mixing with somebody of Draco’s bloodline.” He shook his head with disbelief. “That’s some intense helicopter parenting.” He blew out a breath. “Thanks for telling me all of this. I get that it’s not easy for you either. We’re in the same boat, I guess. The only two Immortal Descendants in existence.”

“I’m sorry you’ve been carrying it on your own.” I closed the distance between us again and gazed up at him. “You aren’t alonenow. Tell me you know that.”

He beamed down at me. “Yeah, I know. After the other night, and the last couple of days since, I really do know, princess.”

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