Page 50 of Old Secrets

I eyed Jake with interest. “How is it you’re balanced?”

My mother laughed. “It is because of you. His spirit has struggled, as has he, but he has found a harmonious balance with you. It is simple, my daughter. You have accepted him for everything he is and is not. He, in turn, has done the same. The marks of adversity are upon you, but neither of you allowed it to defeat you. You rose above it.”

“From ashes,” I muttered.

My mother sighed. “Sometimes, that is what it takes. It is hard to know when to cease walking along a hard path. You both opted to continue the journey despite its perils. You have found balance as a result. And for as long as his wolf spirit remains whole, he will walk through the ages with you. Neither of you would have that strength without that adversity.” With a hint of steel in her eyes, my mother glared at my mate. “I will have words with the ones who forced such a tempering upon you, but they served their purpose, so I will leave it at words. There is no need to add to the tragedy of your forging.”

Jake eyed Mellisa.

“Don’t look at me like that, Jake. I only told her you were a submissive puppy nobody realized was submissive because you are the product of two dominant people who were convinced they would have a dominant child. It took some explaining, but they understand the roles of the pack now. We will be checking to see if you’re actually an Omega, however. That’s the only theory I have for how you, someone displaying submissive tendencies, could withstand so much abuse without breaking underneath it.” Mellisa rolled her shoulders. “The state of your wolf spirit supports the theory you defy submissive roles. But you wouldn’t be a classic Omega.”

“I don’t fix things in the pack or bring stability,” Jake muttered.

Mellisa graced my mate with one of her rare, loving smiles. “Oh, you do, Jake. You just do it in a way nobody expects. But we’re learning that people defy classification as often as not. I suspect you were, in truth, born a submissive, but exposure to Karma has been changing you, and you have, over time, become an Omega.”

My father cleared his throat. “I do not understand this Omega term. Can you explain it, please?”

“In Fenerec society, wolves are always at the risk of running wild. Only one class of wolf can avoid this. Running wild means the wolf spirit has taken over and has eradicated the humanity in the Fenerec. This is not reversible that we know of. Omegas are immune to this. There is one Alpha who was born as a submissive who can run wild but his wolf spirit and human nature rebalances after calming. He is not precisely the most stable of Alphas, but he is unique.”

“Richard Murphy of Yellowknife?” Bryce asked.

“Yes, that is the Alpha I speak of. Nobody is willing to do what was done to him because it was cruel. But his wolf’s spirit is different.” Mellisa dug through her briefcase, pulling out several photographs.

I winced at the state of the two bodies, which had been ripped to shreds. As far as I could tell, they’d been killed in a cabin, which had been painted with blood.

“This is what happens to anyone near a Fenerec when their wolf runs wild. In this case, these are the bodies of Richard Murphy’s parents. Richard went wild after one of his parents struck his mate. He killed them before dragging his mate away to a safe den. He attempted to care for his mate, although he was trying to use a wolf’s knowledge, eyes, and heart rather than a human’s. It went about as well as you might expect from a wild animal attempt to care for a human. He was spared because his mate protected him when her family found them. The Inquisition exists to protect humanity from this reality—and the reality of witches abusing their powers.”

My parents examined the images, and my mother pressed her fingertips to the photographs. “These wolves had tattered spirits, too—I can feel the echoes of their sins. That poor child.”

My eyes widened, as did everyone else’s at the table.

Jake recovered first, and he leaned closer to have a look at the photographs. “You can feel things through the photos?”

“Rabten is better at it than I am.” My mother slid the photographs over. “What can you see?”

“I will need sand and water for this.”

Aiko bowed and left the room, returning shortly after with a tray of sand and a small cup of water.

My father pressed his hands together and bowed his head, breathing deeply. After a few minutes, he relaxed, placing the fingertips of his right hand against the tray and resting his palm over the photograph of the bodies.

The sands swirled and took the shapes of a man, woman, and two children. The older of the children, a teen verging on becoming an adult, stood between his parents and the younger child, who could barely toddle.

Whenever the adults moved, the teen grimaced.

“The older was born with his wolf’s spirit, but he was a quiet and reclusive child. He lived to please, but he could never please those who had given him life. His wolf spirit wept, for he too wished to help but could not.” My father lifted his hand from the tray, and the sand fell.

“This is Nicole’s mate?” I asked.

Mellisa nodded. “He is.”

I understood, a little better, about Charles Desmond and his daughter—and why they were as they were.

They refused to do what his parents had done.

Jake leaned back in his chair. “Huh. That cringing child was Richard when he was young?”

My father returned his hand to the tray, and the scene changed. I recognized the child depicted, although Richard had been much younger.