Page 66 of Wolf Bound

“That’s quite alright. I’m thankful she wants to speak to us when I know it must be incredibly difficult for her,” I answer and walk up to him with confidence.

Going from fear and anxiety to this confidence and empathy must be confusing for Wes and Forr, but I wouldn’t be able to explain it to them if they asked. My healing magic has a way of driving my instincts to act in accordance with what’s needed in the situation.

The doubt that was there before I was in the presence of Nick, and close to his mother, has disappeared. My magic innately seems to know that we’re not only safe, we’re exactly where we need to be.

Maybe it’s instinct, or maybe it’s divine guidance. Either way, I know deep in my soul that this is where I was always meant to end up. My peryton preens in agreement, bolstering my confidence even more.

We step inside the cozy cabin, the inside warm and lived in. There’s medical equipment around the place, however it doesn’t take away from the loving and inviting nature of the furniture and indoor decor.

“Talia,” Miranda murmurs in a raspy voice.

My head whips to the side, finding her propped in a chair by an electric fireplace. Her white hair is pulled back in a low ponytail, showing the scarring of her skin on her face. One eye is closed, the skin around it deformed by the scarring.

There’s an IV hooked into her right hand, while her left arm is completely gone. She is missing both legs from the knees down and is wrapped in a fluffy blanket, obscuring the rest of her.

“They did this to you,” I say in a soft whisper, a statement of fact not a question. Her pain wraps around me, but my magic slides off of it like oil on water. “Why? Why did they do this to you?”

“Come sit down. I promise I’ll answer all your questions, but we don’t have much time.”

I sit down on the part of the couch closest to her. Wes sits beside me while Forrester stays by the door, near where Nick ispropped up against the wall, seemingly keeping an eye on him and the whole room.

“Is something wrong?” I ask, confused by her comment. There’s a weight to her words that tell me there’s more to the lack of time than just our trip here.

“It is nothing for you to worry about. I am dying and while I am glad I got to speak with you in person, I do wish I could have connected with you sooner. Such is the will of the goddess, however,” Miranda explains, her voice soft and raspy from damage I can now sense in her throat.

“That’s why my magic is falling away from you,” I respond, my heart pinching in my chest. “You can’t be healed.”

“No, I can’t. It is my time to go, but before I do,” Miranda explains, and motions to her son. “I will not be leaving you with nothing. I had my son scribe things for you, about your mother and father, the goddess, and the Croises. In case we can’t get through everything, I wanted you to still know it all.”

I nod, admiring her acceptance of death even when I wish I could offer her more.

“To answer your earlier question; yes, they did this to me.” Miranda uses her hand to motion to herself. “This is what they do to those that defy the order. I was a blind follower for far longer than I should have been. I did and saw many horrible things while I was there. I justified it as doing it for the greater good, but eventually I couldn’t do that anymore.

“Once the doubts started, they grew and grew until I couldn’t ignore them any longer. The day you were born was the day I finally rebelled. I became a doctor to bring life into this world, and instead I was bringing pain and death.”

“They did this to you because you wanted to leave?”

Miranda sighs and smiles at me. “When I saw you, I knew you were the closest thing to a God that any of them would ever see and I told you as much. I hoped that one day you would makethem regret all the awful shit we were doing. I was going to try to stick it out longer as my kids were both still being held by the Croises. That evil bastard, Arthur Beaumont, overheard me talking to you and ordered my execution.”

“I’m so sorr—“

Miranda cuts me off with a grunt. “None of that. I let your mother die in that room after your birth and I did horrible things while I was with that group. There will be no sympathy coming from you. Not for me.”

Wes grips my hand beside me and I silently nod, a single tear slipping from my eye. I don’t brush it away, I let it fall for her, whether she wants it or not.

“I have found solace in the Goddess Adessa after she saved me from the brink of death,” Miranda continues. “She told me that one day I would need to pass on information to you, to tell you of your ancestors. To give you the information you need to find The Middle and to join with her to awaken The End.”

“To awaken The End?” I ask, my heart racing.

“That’s your role in this coming war. To awaken the dormancy of the shifter race which is how you will find The Middle. Once you have The Middle, you must awaken The End. The Champions of Adessa are the only ones that can end the tyranny that’s coming from Poliaris, The Croises, and the human race as a whole.”

“What?”

“This is why I wrote everything down,” Miranda grimaces. “There’s far more to this than meets the eye and not nearly enough time to cover it all. So, let’s do what we can, shall we?”

I look back at my mates with my mouth dropped open, the weight of the world suddenly heavier than ever on my shoulders. A god, a cult, and all humans against us?

How are we supposed to overcome this?

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