273 Unlike Any Other
Ashleigh tiptoed out of the bedroom, carefully closing the french doors behind her. She pulled her robe tighter around her waist as she stepped out into the salty air. Leaning over the railing of the patio that was theirs for just one more night, she looked out at the moonlit waters below. Listening to the waves gently moving against the wooden platforms that held their private villa. She smiled and took a deep breath.
Never in her wildest dreams had she expected this. Marrying Caleb had been a fantasy fulfilled on its own. Traveling? Meeting humans? A private villa in one of the most beautiful places on Earth?
Ashleigh was sure the past two weeks had been a dream. One filled with happiness, love, and hours and hours of pleasure. Thinking about it now, she smiled and bit her lower lip. She knew Caleb was naked under the sheet laid over him, and she wondered how he would react if she woke him with her mouth.
She giggled and turned back to open the doors that divided them. Only the doors were gone.
All around her was a dark blue haze, and in the distance, every way she turned, a bright light.
The air around her felt charged as before an electrical storm, leaving a metallic taste in her mouth.
“Your bond with Caleb is special. Unlike any other in existence.” Lian’s voice echoed in this vast open space.
Ashleigh took a slow breath through her nose and licked her lips as her heart quickened. How long would it be this time? When would Lian step forward and prevent her from knowing her own mind?
The window she had seen the first time she had dreamt this appeared before her. Ashleigh stepped forward to once again attempt to watch as the scene below unfolded…
“Your connection is stronger, purer. You are both descended from the first.” Lian smiled.
“The first?” Ashleigh asked.
“Yes, child, the first Alpha and Luna of your respective packs.”
“I’m a descendant of Alpha Geri and Luna Lily?” Ashleigh asked.
Lian nodded.
“I don’t think so…” Ashleigh whispered.
Lian chuckled.
“I know so,” she said. “Your bloodline, though weakened, is strong and a direct line to Alpha Geri.”
“Weakened?” Ashleigh asked.
“Yes, the power is passed down through the Alpha,” Lian replied. “Caleb’s bloodline is pure. All descendants served as Alpha. Your bloodline is weakened, but very little. Only two generations outside of Alpha.”
Ashleigh furrowed her brows and stared at Lian.
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand… what does this mean?”
“The original Alphas and Lunas of the four packs blessed by the Goddess were special. They were the first of your kind. They were the first werewolves ever to walk the Earth. They were powerful, in ways you do not understand or even know.”
Ashleigh sighed. She didn’t understand.
“You and Caleb, and perhaps even your brother, will have abilities that others do not,” Lian said.
“What? What do you mean? Like what?” Ashleigh asked, sitting forward in her chair.
“Your brother and Caleb will be stronger than any other Alpha they know. Their voices will speak with authority. Their presence will command respect. Their guidance will bring their people together.”
“Are you talking about the hostility between Summer and Winter? Are you saying Axel and Caleb will work it out?” Ashleigh asked excitedly. “That our packs will find peace together.”
“You and Caleb, your bond, that is where the true power lies,” Lian continued. “Axel will be strong, but there is only one of him. As your bond grows, you and Caleb will discover that there are things you can do. Things no other werewolf can do.”
Ashleigh was confused again.
“I really don’t understand what you mean by all of this,” she sighed.
Lian stood up from her chair and walked to Ashleigh, offering her a hand. Ashleigh took it. Lian guided her to the wall across the room, a dark blue wall that suddenly changed. A tapestry appeared on it. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
“These are the original werewolves. The first blessed by the Goddess and charged with ridding the world of the Fae threat.”
Ashleigh lifted her eyes to the tapestry. From the bottom, there were bodies, monsters of all shapes and sizes, large trees with eyes and mouths, ghoulish sinewy creatures with faces that appeared to be screaming.
She swallowed as she lifted her eyes higher. She saw boots of steel grey and gold–
“STOP!!” Lian’s booming voice shattered the memory.
Ashleigh fell to her knees, gripping her head as a sudden sharp pain ached through it.
“How dare you!” Lian shouted angrily.
Ashleigh lifted her head toward the other woman. Lian’s face was contorted in an angry glare.
“I didn’t….” Ashleigh began to defend herself. But she was interrupted by another voice.
“They have sealed their bond. She is stronger now,” the voice said.
Ashleigh recognized the voice, but the pain in her head was almost more than she could bear. She couldn’t focus enough to remember who it was.
“She is not ready!” Lian shouted.
“Holding the memory back is weakening her. Making her vulnerable.”
“You are not bound anymore, but she, like the rest of us, is!” Lian shouted. “You will destroy her by forcing her to remember too soon!”
Lian bent down before Ashleigh, lifting her chin to look into her eyes. Ashleigh saw fear, concern, and slight panic.
“Ashleigh, can you hear me?” Lian whispered.
Ashleigh nodded.
“Good, listen to me,” Lian said. “I cannot help you now. When you wake up, you will have to suffer through the pain. I am sorry. But you must not force your memory. It will kill you.”
“Why?” Ashleigh asked through gritted teeth as another sharp spike stabbed at her brain.
“It is the Goddess’ will,” Lian sighed. “There are things you cannot know until it is time. I was allowed to share the truth with you only because things are coming, things you will need to do, and you needed to be able to agree to them of your own free will. But you agreed to forget until the time is right.”
“How… am I supposed to know… when that is?” Ashleigh pushed through the pain.
“When it is time, you will remember it all,” Lian replied.
Ashleigh cried out as another flare of pain shot through her skull and into her spine.
Lian licked her lips. She looked in either direction and then leaned in close.
“You must discover what Cain learned. Once you know– AAAGHH!!”
Lian screamed as she grabbed her own head and fell to her knees. She lifted her chin, and Ashleigh saw the same bloody tears she had seen on her own face.
“Lian…” Ashleigh whispered, trying to reach out to her.
Lian screamed once more, and then the light around them grew blinding.
Caleb woke with a sudden feeling of dread. He looked beside him and saw that Ashleigh was missing. He turned to look out toward the water.
“Ashleigh!” he screamed as he saw her body crumpling to the ground.
He leaped out of bed and pulled open the doors so quickly that they slammed against the walls inside the villa.
“Ashleigh!” he called out to her, picking her up into his arms and taking her back to the bed.
He turned on the light on the nightstand and gasped as he saw the blood trails coming from her eyes, ears, and nose.
“Ashleigh!”