Delilah looks up to meet my eyes again, nodding as she holds my gaze and smiles.
She pulls off the scarf covering her neck, revealing an identical pendant on her gold chain.
“Of course, I've heard that name before. That’s the coven I’m linked with.”
“C—coven…? You're a witch?”
“A witch slash werewolf,” she corrects with a grin. Her skin is soft like silk when she takes my hand and leads me back onto the bed, taking a seat beside me. “It appears you are one, too.”
“It's not possible,” I say in denial as I shake my head slowly. “I'm not—I can't be…”
Behind her, Tyler clears his throat and draws our attention to him. He goes on to explain everything I've told him to Delilah, and when he brings up the part about me finding the journal, Delilah turns to me and spots the box opened on the bed.
“Is that the book?” she points to the box, and I nod.
“It's a book of spells. And a few journal entries. But there's no name, except the initials on the front, so I don't know who it belongs to. It's not my mother's, those aren't her initials.”
Delilah reaches into the box and gasps, her finger tracing the embossed initials on the cover.
“Azura Badillo…” Delilah whispers in awe, then looks up with a frown. “Azura was a well-renowned white witch in the coven. She was one of the best, and she'll forever be remembered for her sacrifice in the Blood Moon War.”
“Blood Moon War? What does any of this have to do with me?” I ask, still confused.
Delilah sighs, placing the book on her lap as she takes my hands. “Azura was killed during a battle with witches who practiced dark magic, Arianna. She saved the lives of her friends and is considered a hero amongst our sisters. But she didn't just save her friends, she saved her mate and the child they had together, protecting them from ever being exposed to the dark magic.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “I still don't understand. Am I like her? Am I like you?”
“It depends, if you're connected to her somehow. The mate she left behind was a Moonshine werewolf. The daughter they had was named Beatrice Sanchez.”
“My mother?!” I gasp, realization hitting me like a ton of bricks.
“You’re Beatrice Sanchez's daughter?” Delilah quizzes with intrigue.
I nod, my eyes growing wide. “That means… Azura was my grandmother!”
Chapter 18 - Tyler
I have the sudden urge to go to Arianna and comfort her, sensing her shock as if it's physically pulsing off her.
I'm hardly surprised that she's a witch, much like my good friend Delilah.
When I first met Delilah in black ops, naturally, I had my reservations about her. Not only was she the only she-wolf brave enough to join the squad, but she was also witty and sharp-tongued, much like I've noticed with Arianna. But as time went on, Delilah and I grew closer, and I'd dropped the preconceptions I'd grown up having, like seeing witches as the enemy.
From Delilah, I learned that there are two types of witches—white witches and dark witches who wield black magic. Good and evil exist in every species, just like there are rogue werewolves out there.
There was always something different about Arianna, and our true mate bond brought my attention to that every time I touched her.
She's always been special, and right now, as she listens intently to Delilah speaking highly of her grandmother, she needs me.
Not vilified by my inability to get over her moving on and having a pup with another wolf, not cold and heartless and unfeeling, as if the true mate bond doesn't transcend everything of the past.
She needs me present, and that's why I push away my inhibitions and go to her, crouching in front of her to join her in listening to Delilah recount tales of her grandmother, AzuraBadillo—one of the most powerful witches to exist in the Golden Tree Sisters coven.
“No one knew that Beatrice had a daughter,” Delilah explains. “I guess because she didn’t have powers, the coven didn’t think it was important to keep tabs on her. But this right here isn't any ordinary journal, Arianna. It's a grimoire, and only the most powerful witches in the coven are allowed to formulate original spells and potions, like your grandmother did in here.”
“My mother didn't tell me anything…” Arianna laments.
“She probably had no idea. The magic must have skipped her, and your grandfather must have hidden her things after Azura died, and didn't tell your mother about it.”
