Eden
Leo glanced at Cassian, trying to keep his expression casual, though the air was thick with tension. "We thought we saw something…just had to check it out real quick," he said, brushing it off with a chuckle that sounded a bit too forced. His usual cocky confidence faltered, if only for a second, but Cassian noticed.
Cassian narrowed his eyes, suspicion flickering in the dark green depths. His gaze swept over me, then back to Leo, but before he could press further, a call from one of the pack soldiers cut through the silence. "Cassian, over here! We've found something!"
Cassian hesitated, his brows furrowing. He clearly didn't buy Leo's story, but whatever was happening at the location where the fight occurred demanded his attention. "We'll talk about this later," he said, turning and taking off toward the soldier's call, his movements fluid and powerful as always.
As soon as Cassian was out of sight, Leo exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his neck. He cast a quick glance at me. "Go home," he instructed through the pack link, his voice unusually stern, leaving no room for argument.
I nodded, my heart still pounding from the earlier encounter. I looked at Elvion, who was floating nearby, half-hidden in the trees. "Goodbye, Elvion. We'll need to talk another time," I whispered, sensing that it was no time to chit chat with more werewolves than usual in the forest at this time of the night.
Elvion's usual mischievous grin faltered, and for a moment, he looked like he might say something. But then he nodded and vanished into the forest, leaving me with an uneasy weight in my chest.
By the time I returned home, the adrenaline had worn off, replaced by a bone-deep exhaustion. Aunt Mira was in the kitchen, her hands working rhythmically over some dough, but when she saw my face, her expression shifted to concern.
"What happened?" Mira asked, wiping her hands on her apron and walking over to me.
I explained everything—what Elvion had seen, the strange lights, and the unsettling way Leo had brushed it all off. As I spoke, Mira's brows knitted tighter and tighter, but she said nothing at first. She was hiding something; I could tell from the way her aunt's fingers fidgeted, from the way her lips pressed together as though holding back words she wasn't ready to say. This was the exact same thing she usually does when she's hiding something.
"Mira?" I prompted gently, trying to catch her gaze. "What is it?"
Mira hesitated, a shadow passing over her features. "It's nothing," she said, too quickly. "I'm just glad you're safe, Eden. Get some rest. We'll talk in the morning." She turned away, busying herself with the dough again, but the tension in her shoulders betrayed her worry.
Eden wanted to press her further, but exhaustion weighed too heavily on her. "Alright. Goodnight, Aunt Mira."
I go into my room and my body slumped into the bed. My eyes were too heavy to fight off.
I guess doing magic makes you incredibly tired. Emrys says and I agree. That's probably it because I'm usually able to do more even but not today. I'll worry about it next time. I closed my eyes finally and fell asleep.
Sleep didn't bring relief, though. Instead, it brought nightmares.
I found herself in a dark forest—one she recognized but didn't want to admit to knowing. The air was thick, stifling, and the towering trees closed in around me. Shadows flickered at the edges of my vision, and a low, constant shuffling echoed through the underbrush.
"Hello?" she called out, my voice trembling in the heavy silence. Nothing answered. Not even my wolf, Emrys, whose comforting presence I always felt inside my, seemed absent, a hollow void where my instincts should have been.
The shuffling grew louder, closer. My pulse quickened, and she spun around, searching for the source of the sound. "Elvion?" I called again, desperation creeping into my voice. I couldn't move much from where I was. I try to wriggle my way out but then, suddenly, the shuffling stopped. Dead silence fell over the forest.
A cold dread washed over me, freezing me in place. A sudden of blowing of wind made me turn around and close my eyes. Waiting for any further wind attacks but when a few seconds pass and nothing else was moving. I opened my eyes slowly and just when I was about to relax. Someone—or something—lunged at me, slamming into my chest. I gasped, stumbling back, struggling to breathe as the weight of the figure pressed me into the ground.
"Be careful," a voice hissed faintly, barely audible above the pounding of my heart. "They're after you."
The words echoed in my ears as darkness closed in around her.
I jolted awake, my body drenched in cold sweat. My breath came fast and shallow, my heart racing as though it was trying to burst out of my chest. I glanced toward the window and saw the faint light of dawn creeping through the trees. It was barely 5 a.m., but the dream had set every nerve in my body on edge.
I knew that place from her dream. It was a part of the forest I had visited many times before—a secluded area where I felt most connected to my fae heritage and the most entertaining spot in the forest. It was also where the veil between the magical world and my world seemed thin. Most of the time, I could see sprites dancing in the shadows, hopping around the trees and doing their chores, or elves watching from the treetops and playing with their tiny flutes. The magic there was palpable, raw.
But in my dream, it had been empty. Hollow.
I couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Without thinking, I jumped out of bed, threw on my shoes, and darted out the door, the cool morning air biting at my skin as I sprinted toward a forest clearing deeper into the woods.
When I arrived, I immediately called out, "Elvion!" My voice echoed through the trees, sounding too loud in the early dawn quiet.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, Elvion appeared, his ethereal form emerging from the shadows. His usual playful grin plastered on his face. "Eden, what are you doing here so early? Why do you look so disturbed?" he asks his grin replaced by a somber, almost grim expression.
I swallowed hard, recounting the dream in quick, breathless sentences. "I had a dream back to the spot we usually go to when I feel lonely or bored. The spot where I can see more of you but it was empty and dark. Somebody leapt to me and pushed me down. Telling me to be careful, that someone's after me. What's happening to the forest, Elvion? Is our spot okay? Are the folk people there okay?"
As I spoke, Elvion's face grew darker, his bright green eyes losing their usual glow. When I finished, he didn't respond right away, staring down at the ground as if weighing his words carefully. Silence filled the air and it was unnerving. He was never like this. Last night, he told me they had to start evacuating. That must mean something is seriously wrong.
My stomach twisted. "Elvion, what is it? What's going on?"
He sighed, running a hand through his shimmering hair. "I think it's time to tell you," he said quietly, his voice devoid of its usual lightness. "There's something you need to know."
My pulse quickened again, but for a different reason this time. "Tell me what?"
Elvion met my eyes, the weight of centuries behind his gaze. "Around last month, there were bodies of the folk people turning up in our homes… they were weak and their magic sucked out. We thought it was one of the goblins going overboard but turns out, there are vampires, Eden. Vampires who are working with the Unseelie fae. And they're breeding… experimenting. They've been trying to create hybrids—powerful beings with magic and strength, like you for years."
Me? But why me?
My mind blanked, and for a moment, I couldn't process the words. "Like me?"
"They see you as the perfect combination of both worlds," Elvion continued, his voice low. "You have the magic of the fae, the strength of the werewolves. They've been... watching you apparently, trying to figure out how to replicate what you are. But with vampires instead."
The revelation hit me like a punch to the gut. My breath came in short, shallow bursts as I struggled to make sense of it all. "H-How did they know?" I ask him.
He paused, watching me carefully as the weight of his words settled in. "No one anticipated what would happen next—the possibility that a child born of both worlds could exist. You were that possibility, Eden. You were a shock to everyone, even among the fae. You were born with the magic of your mother's people, yet you grew and aged as fast as a werewolf pup. You were... both. And it terrified those who feared what such a being might become."
I swallowed, my heart racing as memories of my fragmented childhood began to make more sense. Elvion continued, his voice softer now. "I was chosen to watch over you from the moment you were born. You were too powerful, too unique to remain hidden in plain sight. Your mother and her fae allies knew that the only way to keep you safe was to protect you in the magic realm, where no one from the outside could reach you. And so, I became your caretaker, watching you from the shadows, shielding you from threats you were too young to understand."
He took a deep breath, his expression tightening. "Your mother... she handled her duties as a leader of the fae realm with grace, and your father—he was one of the pack's greatest warriors. The plan to keep you safe was working. But then… your father was killed. During a battle with the Unseelie fae, they ambushed him, desperate for information about you. That was the beginning of the end."
Elvion's voice faltered for a moment, and I saw a flicker of pain cross his usually calm demeanor. "Your mother was never the same after that. Losing your father shattered her. The fae draw their strength from joy, from life… and when her light, her reason for happiness, died, she began to wither. It broke her in ways none of us could repair."
He clenched his fists, his voice growing heavy. "The Unseelie fae saw their chance and attacked, invading your home in the magic realm. Your mother fought with everything she had, pouring all of her remaining power into protecting you and creating a barrier that made outsiders not see you and your home. She destroyed them, but in the end, it cost her everything. With her dying breath, she entrusted you to us, her closest friends. We did everything we could to shield you, to keep the barrier she created intact… but without her magic, it was only a matter of time before the veil weakened."
My throat tightened as I listened, the pieces of my past falling into place like shards of a broken mirror.
"When the barrier finally collapsed, we had no choice but to bring you here, to live as a werewolf among your father's people. It was the only way we thought you could remain hidden from the Unseelie fae and their allies."
Elvion's eyes dropped to the ground, guilt creeping into his voice. "But I made a mistake. I started speaking to you too early, revealing parts of your fae nature before you were ready. That's when they began to notice you—when they realized you could see us, talk to us. I should've been more careful."
He looked back up at Eden, regret written across his face. "I never meant to expose you to this danger. But now, it's too late."
I stood there, frozen, my mind struggling to process everything Elvion had just revealed. I had always felt different—like I didn't fully belong in either world. But now I understood why. I wasn't just different. I was hunted.
It was all too much to take in one sitting. I finally knew the reason why both of my parents died and it shocked me. It broke me. I'm the reason they are dead and why the pack is attacked. A tear drop slides down on my face and I wipe it off.
Fuckers. Emrys angrily says. My wolf being in a turmoil from anger.
"What do they want?" I ask him my voice shaking from crying. I have a hunch why but I don't want to believe it. I don't want it to be true.
"Because they want to take over—both the land of mortals and the realm of magic. And they think the key to doing that is by breeding beings like you. Only... stronger. More controllable."
My knees felt weak and I sank to the ground, my mind reeling.
The weight of Elvion's words settled heavily on me, suffocating. My breath quickened again, my chest rising and falling in rapid succession as I tried to wrap my head around the terrifying truth.
I was no longer just another werewolf trying to figure out my place. I was a goal that the dark forces wants to achieve. Not for greatness but doom.
My very existence caused death to not just my parents but other people.
Most importantly, I'm mated to someone of significance. Someone born into a powerful bloodline. Did the Moon Goddess really expect me to stand by and watch history repeat itself? I could never forgive myself if something happened to Cassian—if someone hurt him just to get to me, like they did to my parents.
The comfort and reassurance I once felt about this mate bond was gone, evaporating like smoke in the wind. If my parents' bond brought nothing but tragedy, what hope was there for us? This mate bond... it had to stop. I couldn't let it go further, not if it meant putting Cassian in danger. He didn't deserve to be pulled into the chaos that seemed to follow me. Not him, who had worked so hard, proven himself worthy of the Alpha title time and again. He deserved more—more than this curse that hung over me.
I glanced at Elvion, his usual lighthearted demeanor replaced by an expression of guilt that weighed heavily on his face. He was blaming himself for things that weren't his fault, shouldering a burden that belonged to me alone.
"Elvion, don't. Please don't blame yourself for any of this," I said, my voice softer than I intended, hoping to ease some of the guilt weighing on him. "None of us could've known they'd bring so much chaos again."
He nodded weakly, but it didn't seem to lift the heaviness in his eyes. I sighed, my mind racing. The weight of what I had to do next settled on my chest like a stone.
"I can't keep this from the pack, Elv," I murmured, the enormity of my decision sinking in. "I know there'll be consequences, that it'll stir up fear and uncertainty, but this is too big for us to handle alone."
Elvion nodded solemnly. "Yes. This matter is beyond us now. We'll need the pack's strength… we can't fight it on our own."
We both sighed at the same time, and despite the seriousness of our conversation, we caught each other's gaze and couldn't help but laugh. The sound was hollow, more of a release than anything else, but for a fleeting moment, it felt like we were shaking off the weight of the bad news.
But deep down, we both knew. This was just the calm before the storm.
When the laughter faded, I stared down at my hands, fumbling with them as I tried to find the right words. "Elvion… I don't think I should go through with this mate bond. It's too much. For him, for anyone. I can't do that to Cassian."
The words hung in the air, heavy with doubt and fear. Cassian deserved better—better than the fate that seemed to follow me like a shadow.
I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of my decision settle heavily in my chest. "Elvion, it's not just about me anymore," I said softly, my voice carrying the unspoken fears I'd been trying to suppress. "Cassian... he's strong, yes. But strength isn't enough when you're the target of something so much bigger. I can't be the reason he's pulled into this." My hands trembled slightly, and I clenched them to stop the shaking. "He deserves peace, stability—everything an Alpha should have. Not this... not me."
Elvion's gaze softened as he listened. "Eden, you're forgetting something," he said gently. "Cassian isn't just an Alpha because of his strength or his title. He's chosen because of his heart, his ability to protect what he loves. You're not a burden to him; you're his mate. That means something sacred to him, to the pack. Don't take that away because you fear what might happen. He deserves to make that choice too."
I blinked, Elvion's words sinking in, though doubt still clung to me. "But... what if I'm wrong?"
Elvion smiled sadly. "What if you're not? You owe him the truth, Eden. And you owe yourself the chance to believe in something good. Strength doesn't come from avoiding the storm, but from learning to stand in the rain." he says and I look up to the sky. Hoping someone would give me the answers.