Chess.
A game I use to play with my dad on the days when it rained and he didn`t have a lot of work. He said it was all about strategy and to think three of two steps a head of your opponent. I never really got it but I would at least win one or two games against him. Or rather I think dad let me win just to see what I would do.
Which wasn`t Peter`s thing. He didn`t let me win at all. I was frustrated but I didn`t want to leave him. We were playing in his suite. Yeah, he had an entire suite to himself, complete with a study and a personal bathroom. Lucky Apex Alpha.
When he led me in, Richard was waiting there with a board already set with coffee mugs. Peter helped me sit and then pulled himself a chair while Richard in the corner with a tablet and headphones on.
"Does he have things to do?" I asked Peter while gesturing to his second.
"He`ll go when he needs to go, and he knows when, "Peter said as he moved his knight.
I nodded and sat back in my chair to think about which piece I would move.
I lost the first game but he asked for a rematch. The first match was just us thinking and moving pieces. In the second game, not so much. The questions had started right after my first pawn was taken. It was about my name.
"Thalia was one of the daughters of Zeus and was a Muse," I answered as I studied the board," My mother loved her in particular so she decided that when she had a girl, she would name her Thalia. So I was born Thalia."
I moved my rook and sat back as he leaned forward and moved his rook as well, "Do you have a middle name?"
"Genevieve, after my Grams," I answered.
"I heard you were homeschooled; why did your family decide that?"
"They didn`t want me to be drawn into the human world, I was already causing trouble by going to arcades, watching cartoons and chatting online with people about Pokémon."
Peter coughed and I ignored him, "The cartoon?"
"Yes, plus the other witches didn`t want me to be learning about human education," I added.
"Something I never agreed on, "Peter muttered.
I stopped and looked up at him with a frown, "You`ve met witches?"
I noticed that his upper lip twitched, he had nice lips, "I was close with them at a certain point in my life, something that they all resented to this day."
Funny, I never pegged him as someone with ties or run-ins with the witch community but then again, Marcus said that he would able to plead my case so he must have some standing with them. But if they knew him and his werewolf nature, why wasn`t I told of their existence?
"Why?" I questioned him.
"A story for another time."
My frown grew and I leaned back with huff as I thought about my next move.
"Richard you may ask," Peter said out-loud.
I paused in mid thought and looked up at Peter before glancing at Richard who took off his head phones," What kind of magic did you declare?"
Sighing, I shook my head sadly as I remembered how I struggled with that, "I didn`t declare one."
"What?" Both men said in unison and I nodded. Richard looked to Peter who tilted his head to the side," Why couldn`t you declare one?"
I remembered the conversation I had with my parents and Grams about my magic and I winced. They were so scared and the night Andromeda and those witches made their observations to us, they had become more guarded.
"I just couldn`t. A part of me didn`t feel like I needed to," I answered. "I was always content with what I had. I wasn`t bound to a single element or sphere and Oracle said that that was fine."
"Oracle?" Richard asked.
"My familiar, she a cat and yes, I already know how rare that is," I replied as I rolled my eyes. Richard looked like he wanted to say more but stopped himself. I picked up one of my lost pieces and fiddled with it.
Finally, Peter spoke, "Were you happy?"
I nodded with a sad smile," Always. A small part of me didn`t to leave my family to live in a Mansion of Power but it was expected so I just…got excited to please them. It was expected."
Richard cleared his throat and Peter studied me when I put my piece back. I noticed their expressions and began to shuffle uneasily. I moved a piece before speaking," Any more questions?"
"No more for tonight," Peter answered before turning to Richard," Would you go in and bring in her dinner to her room. Her friend should be done with her studies."
Richard nodded and left without a word. I watched him go before turning back to the board, "Don`t you want to beat me before sending me away?"
"About school…"
I groaned and covered my face," I had just fully forgotten about it."
"Thalia, it is important that you should everyone that you can handle our world, our rules and one of those ways is to show that you can handle school."
"No, I don`t want to go to school!" I exclaimed.
"If you don`t, it will prove to the Witches Council that you cannot be trusted to live at all," Peter said in a tine that suggested that it was fact. I knew that but I just didn't want to face that.
I sighed," This isn`t fair."
"It isn`t about fairness, it`s about keeping you alive, and part of that means you behaving and getting your new powers under control in a social environment like school," Peter said.
"And you`re going to bring someone to teach me?"
Hearing the chair scrape against the floor, I got that sense that he had stood from his chair, "I`ll be teaching you how to control your magic."
I snorted. Like he could teach me a witch about power, what did he know?
My hands were pried from my hands and I was surprised to find that Peter was now sitting on the table in from me. Whatever he was saying was slowing down and his voice was becoming a drone.
"Peter?" I asked.
Time slowed down and the sound of wind howling were heard. I turned in my chair and saw that I was outside in a forest. It was bight out and the sound of leaves rustling were heard. The smell of real honeysuckle assaulted me and I felt so calm. Hearing a laugh, I walked forward and kept going until I reached the edge of the forest where a field of yellow and green greeted me. A woman was standing in the of the green and yellow with her arms spread out like she was about to fly. I recognized her. It was the older me. She was wearing a simple dress that looked something like from the middle ages.
"I thought your husband told you to stay at home, it isn`t safe for you to be outside, "I heard someone say from beside me. I turned to see who it was but then vision changed to show Marcus`study. It was late at night inside and Peter was standing by the window with Richard. He was looking out the window when he spoke, "How did this happen?"
"I don`t know," Richard said slowly. What were they talking about?
"What did they say when you caught one of them?" Peter asked.
"They were given instructions by a wolf to kill her, not change her," Marcus answered. I saw that he was bowing and he actually looked scared. Peter turned with his eyes flashing red though he looked calm, "She survived and now is showing signs of her magic from her time as a witch. "
They were talking about me. Those wolves were there that day to kill me. I wasn`t supposed to change.
"What your saying is impossible, "Richard said," Every witch who has been turned has died. Their magic rebels against the Change. She should have died. How did she survive the change?"
Hold the phone, I wasn`t supposed to survive the Change either?!
"I don`t know," Marcus admitted," Rachel has her thoughts but I...I think it has something to do with her lineage."
"My lineage?" I muttered to myself.
Richard stepped towards the Alpha, "What lineage?"
Marcus risked a glance at Peter before speaking, "She`s a Dimants, the same ones from Afrika."
Peter looked like he had just seen a ghost.
Suddenly, I was back in the study and I was not in my chair. I was on the floor in Peter`s arms with Rachel looking over me and Olive standing behind her," Lia?"
"What happened?" I croaked.
"You fainted and you wouldn`t wake up," Peter explained. His brow was furrowed and his shirt was all rumpled and all I could do was smile at him because he didn`t have to be that worried," Sorry. I think hunger finally got to me."
Olive caught my eye and she looked like she clearly didn`t believe me.