"Anyway," she went on, "we also brought Trenton's Alpha, Nathaniel, with us."
"Wait..." Confusion furrowed my brow as I tried to piece together what Becca was saying.
"Nathaniel? My father?" He had always been a Gamma in my memories, never an Alpha.
"Let me finish," Becca interrupted, holding up a hand to stop my questions. Her expression was sombre as she locked eyes with me.
"Yes, your father was an Alpha werewolf, and your mother was the priestess witch of the coven I belonged to."
I felt like the air had been knocked out of me. All this time, I had thought my father was just a Gamma, loyal and supportive, but not an Alpha. And my mother, a powerful witch? The truth was as shocking as it was disorienting.
"Erica," Becca said softly, her voice pulling me back from the whirlwind of thoughts ravaging my mind. "I know this is a lot to take in, but we're not done yet."
"Are you saying... the prophecy is true?" I asked, my voice barely audible as the weight of what Becca had revealed hit me.
"Erica," she said, nodding solemnly. "I believe that the sorcerer could sense that Andriana, your mother, was going to give birth to the child mentioned in the Key Stone Prophecy. He wanted to harness that power for himself, or someone else."
"Then that means... it's all connected," I realised, my heart pounding in my chest. "The sorcerer who cursed Liam and his pack, the one who's now working for the Shadow Night pack... It's Myron Tressier!" Becca's eyes widened with shock at my revelation.
"You're right. Myron Tressier was the sorcerer who found us twenty years ago, the one who brought the attack on our pack."
My breath hitched as everything started to make sense, yet the reality of it all was too much to bear. I clenched my fists, trying to keep the anger and despair from overwhelming me. The image of Liam's tortured face flashed through my mind, reminding me of the curse he still suffered from, and the thought of this same sorcerer being responsible for so much pain and chaos made my blood boil.
"Becca, how could this happen?" I asked, struggling to hold back tears. "How could one man cause so much suffering?"
"Sometimes, Erica, people are drawn to darkness," Becca replied, her voice heavy with sorrow. "Power can corrupt even the most virtuous souls, and Myron Tressier was no exception. He sought control over others, and when he discovered the extent of the power he could wield, there was no turning back."
As Becca spoke, a vivid memory surfaced, the night my parents were killed. The fear and grief I had felt in that moment resurfaced, now coupled with a burning desire for justice. I couldn't let Myron Tressier continue his reign of terror, not when so many lives were at stake. The realisation that Felix Blackwood, the man who had haunted my nightmares for years, was the one responsible for the deaths of my parents hit me like a ton of bricks. My heart pounded in my chest as I recalled the piercing coldness of his eyes when I saw him when I was imprisoned at the Shadow Night pack.
"Erica?" Becca's voice pulled me back to reality, and I looked up at her with a mix of fear and determination.
"Becca," I whispered, "Felix Blackwood... he killed my parents, didn't he? And... he tried to kidnap me." Saying it out loud made it all too real, and I could see the pain in her eyes as she nodded slowly.
"Yes, Erica. It was them, the Shadow Night pack, we've been running from our whole lives."
"Because of me," I breathed, feeling the weight of responsibility settling on my shoulders. The guilt gnawed at me, knowing that so many people had suffered and died protecting me from a threat I hadn't even known existed. I stared into Becca's eyes, searching for any hint of regret or resentment.
"Did you really sacrifice everything for me?" Becca smiled softly, her gaze never wavering.
"I have no regrets, Erica. You're like family to me, and I know your parents would have done the same if the roles were reversed."
The turmoil inside me swelled like a stormy sea as I stared at Becca, searching for answers. My mind raced with thoughts of all the times I had complained about our nomadic lifestyle, never truly understanding the reason behind it. The weight of my ignorance was crushing.
"Wait," I said, my voice cracking with emotion. "Trenton...was it really just a car accident?" Becca's eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head slowly, confirming my worst fears. My heart shattered into a thousand pieces at the realisation that Trenton, who had been like a father to me, had also been killed because of me. My legs gave out beneath me, and I sank to the floor, sobs wracking my body.
"Erica," Becca whispered, kneeling down beside me and wrapping her arms around me. "I'm so sorry."
"Why?" I choked out between sobs. "Why would you all sacrifice so much for me? What makes me worth it?"
"Because you are important, Erica," Becca said firmly, her voice full of conviction. "There are forces at play here that we can't even begin to understand. Everything that has happened, everything that will happen, it's all meant to be."
"Meant to be?" I struggled to wrap my head around what Becca was saying. How could any of this pain and suffering be meant to be? It didn't make any sense to me. "How can you say that?"
"Erica," Becca's voice trembled as she reached out to touch my arm gently. "The connections between all of us, they run deeper than you can even imagine." I searched her face for some kind of explanation, my heart aching with the weight of everything I'd just learned.
"What do you mean?"
"Your mother helping Liam's parents, you and Liam being fated mates..." Becca hesitated, her eyes filling with tears. "It's all entwined, Erica. There are so many puzzle pieces we don't know yet, but when we have access to them, the bigger picture will reveal itself."
