The earth shook beneath Esmerelda's lifeless form. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. Visena's eyes could not process what had just happened to her mother. 

The clearing undulated underfoot, and the trees swayed dangerously close to the species gathered there. The Vampires backed away in fear while the Earth Fae drew nearer. 

Thana called her kin closer with a hiss. "Get back..."

After a localised blast, blinding light poured from Esmerelda's wound and seeped into the damp earth. The blood, sap, and resin drenching the dirt retreated instantly as if it were alive. 

Time slowed as the Ancient Fae Princess turned to pure, liquid gold. Her essence plunged into the trembling ground, and life sprung forth. Lush vegetation sprouted, forming an organic Fae ring, while a solitary Blue Star Lotus flower bloomed from a shallow spring. The bioluminescent water held creatures of the forest—tadpoles, minnows, guppies, and iridescent dragonflies, all shimmering with an unearthly glow. 

The two distinct crowds stared in open-mouthed disbelief until blood-curdling screams broke the trance. Visena wasn't even aware she was doing it. Every head turned in the direction of the pained sound. The Fae stood frozen, mouth ajar, still restrained by the silent Witch's taloned hand.

Until we meet again.

There was no time to grieve her mother's death. Instead, every memory Visena had ever experienced in her short life flooded her mind.

Esmerelda broke the bonds entrapping Visena's memories. The dam had burst.

In a fraction of a second, she saw it all—too many memories for her even to comprehend. Only a few powerful images held space long enough for Visena to decipher them.

In the girls' mind's eye, she saw her mother scolding her, teaching, healing, and holding her. Esmerelda cherished Visena more than she could have ever known.

Until we meet again.

She cringed from the pain in her mother's eyes when she renounced her birthright. Instead of following Esmerelda's footsteps and taking over the guardianship of the Veil, Visena chose to hide in the human realm on her twenty-third birthday. All because of the incident. 

In a rage, Visena had vowed never to return. She finally understood why running away seemed like the right choice, but guilt still stabbed her heart. Why didn't she say anything to me? Then, after suppressing the memories of her mother and their secret, another painful image surfaced—her father.

His lumberjack-Esque figure rounded the path to their hidden cottage with a kind smile. He would bundle Visena up in his arms and sprinkle scratchy kisses atop her head. After years without knowing of her existence, Darius was eager to make up for the lost time. He would have been content just spending time with her, but his spritely preteen had other ideas.

When she decided she was old enough, Visena demanded her father train her to fight. Visena picked up skills fast despite her petite appearance and wasn't afraid to use them, even creeping up on her ethereal mother from time to time.

For years, Darius would continue to sneak across Malum's borders each day and teach her everything he knew. He had realised that if Visena were ever discovered, she would need every skill he could offer to survive.

But she wasn't like his other trainees; she was smaller and more delicate. Visena was slower to heal and wouldn't stop despite the pain. After seeing her daughter thoroughly battered each night, her mother had to lie down. But by morning, the girl would be as fresh as a daisy.

Esmerelda warned her daughter of the risks of fighting. Incessantly. She disapproved of her lover's consistent rule-breaking but always caved after a few hundred compliments and cheek kisses. He loved her desperately, but there was always an emptiness in his eyes, only partially filled by his feisty daughter.

Visena begged him to keep training her despite Esmerelda's qualms, and he reluctantly agreed every time. Truthfully, she wanted to be just like her father and copied him in more ways than one.

Darius didn't know she would glamour herself and spy on him, training the werewolf children her age. Nor did either parent know she would cross the Pack borders and watch Malum's neighbours train. 

The green-eyed boy always stole her attention. Then her heart.

Her mind shut off the thought before her memories plunged into a dingy, black mould-riddled apartment. Dark auburn hair and chestnut eyes stared back at her through a cracked mirror. Her mother would hate this place, she had thought. 

A year had passed, a monotonous, plain, but delightfully carefree year in the human world, when she was whisked through a Fae ring in her sleep. Visena tried to comprehend what she saw through bleary eyes. Fae rings had always disoriented her. 

Her heart hammered when she realised a sneering monster had a death grip on her father's throat. Alpha Zeir.

Darius didn't even fight back. Instead, he pleaded with his eyes before screaming. "Run, baby. Run!"

Their Witch and two wolves restrained Esmerelda. The wolves her father had trained were no longer children but heartless animals. 

The Alpha demanded she stay with him and be his mate. Visena couldn't think of a worse fate as she stared at his piss blonde hair, but the words he spoke next made her pause.

"Stay with me, and I'll let them go, I swear it." He wouldn't hurt them... The way his tongue darted out to wet his lips sickened her. 

But he promised! Nobody makes promises to Faeries and breaks them, right?

Then, when she agreed, her mother escaped her bonds and used her magic to drag them apart. Before the Witch yanked Esmerelda back into her clutches, Zeir appeared to strangle on air. Then, he lashed out in a rage, tearing Darius' throat from his neck. Darius gargled and choked on his blood, asphyxiating with tears in his bloodshot eyes. 

He never got to say goodbye.

Searing white-hot pain had radiated through Visena's body. "Go through to the Veil!" Her mother had screeched, creating a portal at her feet. 

Esmerelda hadn't realised the grief had triggered her daughter's first shift. Visena was never supposed to turn; her grandmother had forbidden it because the act went against the laws of her blessing. Shifting into her wolf form should have taken her life, but instead, Visena awakened her inner beast and felt more powerful than ever. 

The silver beast went to escape when the Alpha captured her hind leg in a crushing grip. He would have broken it if she had not retaliated. Instead, she lengthened her claws and swiped across his grinning face in a rush. The adrenaline she received from wiping that smug smile straight off went to her head, and she turned and dived headlong through her mother's portal as a wolf. 

She could still hear her mother's screams. Harsh and Ragged. Despairing. "Visena!"

Until we meet again.

~~~

A/N 

two :)

Anyone surprised? Or curious about their 'little secret?' - I would love to read your musings if you have any- and be prepared to wait a while for the truth to be revealed hehehe...

What do you think of Darius? I think he would have loved Gideon if he had stayed Alpha. 

And, did anyone catch the little nod to the first chapter? I love it when I can make loops in the story. There's something so satisfying about it. 

Don't forget to vote, loves.

See you soon!

K <3