“As you grew into this extraordinary, smart, and beautiful young woman, I wondered what kind of relationship we would have if I had raised you.I imagined we’d be best friends.We’d do all those charity functions together and go shopping on Saturday afternoons.That’s when I decided to become Persia.I knew it was selfish, but I just wanted to know that I was in your life, someway.It was wrong, I know that.I wish I could tell you that I’d take it back, but I’d be lying.I wouldn’t trade one single second of us being friends.It was everything to me.You see, my child, the prophecy didn’t just steal your life, it stole mine too.”
El let out a broken sob as the realization of her mother’s words sunk in.El was missing out on her child’s life because the prophecy deemed that she had to die in order for her child to live.Her mother hadn’t been given quite the same sentence, but she still had given El up, but she did it to try and prevent El from having to live through what she was currently going through.El had a lot to sort through when it came to her feelings on her mother, but she had nothing but time.
“Do you think you’ll go to my dad when this is all over?”El asked her as she wiped the tears from her face.
“All the time that has passed and even all the anger that I have for the way he treated you, I still feel our bond.I feel him just as clearly today as I did all those years ago when I tracked him down.”
“You tracked him down?”El asked, curiosity taking over.
“Oh, yes.I was nearby when I caught his scent, and something about it overwhelmed me in a way I had never experienced before.I was plenty old enough to know I had a mate out there somewhere, but I wasn’t like most young shifter females.I didn’t really care when or if I found my mate until I scented him.I tracked his scent for miles before I finally tracked it to his audacious house.”
“The one I grew up in?”
“Yes, my Mother, is that thing oversized,” she laughed.
“I always preferred grandpa’s,” El told her.
“He was such a good man, your grandfather.”
“He was.All of my pleasant memories growing up revolve around him.What did you do after you got to the house?”
“Well, with the staff and everyone in and out of that place, I couldn’t be sure who the scent belonged to.I staked it out for two whole days before your father finally surfaced outside.That’s when I knew.”
“Did dad know at first?”
“He did.Our eyes met, and I felt the bond grab hold, and his eyes widened for a brief moment, and then he kind of looked around, you know as if he were checking to see if anyone else was watching what we were feeling.It was really cute,” Persia said, her eyes sparkling with love.
“Dad’s missed you,” El told her.“I didn’t realize it until I knew the whole story, but I get why he was the way he was my whole life.He missed you.”
“I missed him too.My favorite times to watch you were when you and him were together, so I could see you both.I would notice the little ways you resembled him, and when you weren’t looking sometimes he would watch you, and I knew he was thinking of me.I longed to be there with you two, to change the way your relationship with each other was.I never dreamed that he would have resented you or treated you differently because of my leaving.”
El shrugged, she had come to terms a long time ago with her and her father’s relationship.
“I don’t think my mates would ever treat my daughter like that, but if they do, will you promise me that you’ll intervene,” El asked quietly.
A moment passed between her and her mother.The energy shifted, and some of the anger and betrayal fell away from El.There was a long road to go between the two of them, but El had found a little peace.Tears fell from her mother’s eyes, and she nodded as she wiped them away.
Chapter 33
Ryan
He tried notto let himself feel hopeful as they ran through the woods.It felt too easy to find El at his childhood camp, but he also knew it wouldn’t be an easy task to find the spot either.He hadn’t been there for decades, and although he knew it wasn’t too far away, having to get there on foot since he couldn’t shift meant it would take even longer.
The longer they moved through the woods, the less hopeful Ryan felt.At some point, he kept thinking they would start to catch El’s scent, or at least his mother’s since she would have more than likely gone to the cabin through the woods.Three days in and they hadn’t scented anything.
Ryan slowed to a walk, and the others around him did as well.Ryan began to pace back and forth as he tried to remember something from the cabin that could possibly help them find it.
Adam shifted and dragged his hands through his unkempt hair.They were all tired, hungry, and anxious.Ryan felt like he wasn’t just letting El down, but also his brothers and his Pride.Everything was riding on him being able to get to El.Even then, though, he didn’t have an answer on how to keep her alive against the prophecy.It all seemed to just feel hopeless.
“I think we need to start focusing on finding the creek.If we can find the creek, then we can split up and follow it,” Adam said.
Ryan had been hoping to come across the creek at some point in time during the day today, but he didn’t even smell fresh water close by.
Trip shifted, then.
“There’s no sign of fresh water.Maybe we need to go back to the Pride and take the roads.”
Trip had done a good job at stepping up since Ryan was stuck in his lion form.Ryan knew Trip was kicking himself for taking off into the woods after Ryan.They should have split up and had two of them working on finding the cabin in their human form.Trip was right, they could go back now, but they were days behind, and there was no telling how long they’d keep El at the cabin.
