Okay … I think I’d let that one digest for a bit. Next question. BIG, huge, scary-ass question.
“What am I? And I don’t mean a bear.” For some reason I knew that this question should be directed at Lina. She nodded knowingly as if she expected to be answering this question for me.
“A Light Keeper isn’t always a genetic calling. Being a Keeper can be bestowed upon anyone, although it’s rare, Spirit chooses very wisely. Gavin was born a Keeper but you were made one. You’ve switched. It’s possible with True Mates.”
Each word pelted into me like a heavy rain, but the revelation settled into my bones and it felt good, my bear approved. “So … I’m a Keeper … a witch, but …”
Nahuel stood then and crossed the small space between us. “You’re no longer a werewolf or the Matefinder, Gavin is.”
My breath stopped. What the freaking hell?! It really hit me then, my entire life I had been living in my mother’s shadow. The great and wonderful Matefinder. The savior of our race, the one who brought our population’s numbers up. I had the coaching and pressure my entire life to take up this precious gift of finding mates for my kind but now … I laughed and drew some odd stares from the group. It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t have to live up to that standard anymore, I could be something else.
“She’s taking this well,” Lina observed.
The warrior chuckled. “Because she doesn’t know what a Keeper does yet.”
Fear tightened my belly and I swallowed hard as Nahuel gave the warrior a disapproving look.
“I get to stop time like Nahuel and do werewolf mating ceremonies and … other cool stuff?” Now I wasn’t so sure.
Nahuel gave me a half smile. “There are many shamans that assist in mating ceremonies and in the past I would too, but times have changed. The Keepers have changed.”
The silence settled over the tent to the point of being uncomfortable.
“So … there’s multiple shamans who have some type of magic but only two Keepers?” I realized stupidly that I literally knew nothing about them.
Nahuel smiled. “Yes, you and me.”
But Gavin was Haseya’s son, I wasn’t even related to her or Nahuel. “Does that mean I am part Walker like Gavin was … is?” I was starting to really get turned around here.
Lina frowned and seemed to be scanning my energy, piercing me with a steady gaze. “It’s possible. That’s all I can say. With you and Gavin anything is possible. It’s not you and him … it’s us. We. You’re one. More than any other mated pair alive.”
Jesus. Again with the heavy. I really needed to get around to asking Gavin’s middle name.
I decided to just move on from this topic and focus on the one thing I really needed to know.
“What does a Keeper do?” I asked tentatively.
Nahuel sighed, looking decades older in that moment. “You will have to look out for the fate of all kind and you and Gavin have the power to end the reign of the Skin Walker.”
Chills spread up my arms as I was assaulted with memories of my attack from him. His naked muddy body, all scarred. The skin he wore so comfortably, the evil that leaked from his eyes.
“Look out for the fate of all kind … that’s like … a metaphor, right?” I queried.
Nahuel smiled sadly. “I’m afraid not, and hard times are coming. It will be a lot of work to keep the races from killing each other off.”
My jaw dropped open. “That’s the Keeper’s job? Keep all the races happy and not fighting?”
Nahuel shared a smile with Lina. “No, No. That would be impossible. There will always be unhappiness and fighting between the races but never should one race be wiped out. Otherwise, we will all go out. It will be the end of life on this planet.”
Holy shit. Chills ran up my arms. No big deal, right? No pressure. Was it too late to go back to being the Matefinder again?
Nahuel met my gaze. “Your mother understood this. Not all vampires were purged from this planet in the war, just the evil ones. The ones that remained, conformed into a peaceful existence. But what you must now understand is that you are no longer an ambassador to the werewolves like your mother is. You are now a Keeper, a messenger for all kind. A direct channel of Spirit.”
My eyes widened and my breathing was heavy as I let this information wash over me.
“That’s a lot to take on,” I confessed.
Lina looked sympathetically at me. “It is, but we will be here to guide you. From now on, when you sleep, you will be downloaded with information to widen your perspective and give you the knowledge that you will need to act in the times ahead.”
