Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future
Chapter 196

Chapter 64

I pull away from her but replace myself still holding her hand as I turn toward my friends. I don't want to let go. This warm, comforting feeling can last forever as far as I'm concerned.

"Reggie, I'm going to try. Anything for Ashley. I just need to speak with these ladies first. I want to make sure that I won't do anything that will hurt her or your baby, okay?"

Reggie exhales a ragged breath and pulls me into a tight hug, "Thank you, Luna. Thank you."

I hear Bronx clear his throat behind US, "Gamma. Do you mind?"

Reggie looks up and quickly lets me go, "Oh, uh, sorry Alpha."

"Kas, we will be over in the weight room. Just let US know when you're ready," Bronx says with a loving look. 1

I smile as he brushes his fingers against my chin. I lean against his rough palm, holding it against my face with my hands. Even though I didn't know I was missing for two days, I hadn't seen Bronx for five days before that. I miss him. I move my nose into his hand taking a deep breath of his dark chocolate and coffee scent. He bends down and gives me a deep kiss, before he claps Reggie on the back and heads down the hallway. I watch them head into the weight room. Beyond that, there are several guards standing at attention in the hallway.

What's that about?

"Ladies, after you," I hold the door open to the meditation room to let the three powerful women I'm standing with go in first.

Once we are all settled. Lady Camille takes charge of the conversation," Luna lokaste, I have been alive for a very long time and in all my years, I have never heard of a healer from any species able to change someone's blood. Pull out poisons or add healing energy, of course, but never change it. The thing is, well, you're more special than we could have ever imagined."

I look at her confused, "Special?"

"Kas, when we allowed you to come to the Coven, we just knew you were a goddess. We knew you were something that we had never seen before and that you were special," Delilah chimes in now, "What we didn't know is that we should have never given you a glimpse into your past because, well..."

Delilah pauses. She looks like she practiced what to say, but now she doesn't feel like it suffices to say out loud.

"lokaste," Amari saves Delilah.

"Please, call me Kas," I beg.

"Alright. It will take some getting used to, but I will try, Kas," Amari emphasises my name with a smirk, "So modern. Not like the traditional lokaste I have known in countless past lives."

'You knew me in past lives? How do you remember that?" I lean back on my cushion, feeling a little confused.

"Well, in this lifetime, I have known five of your lifetimes," her eyes flick away from me and back.

"Five? H-How old are you, Amari?"

She smiles, 'Well, next month I will be a hundred and sixty-two."

I feel my mouth drop. She doesn't look like she could be older than thirty.

A thought occurs to me, "Amari, i-if you're almost a hundred and sixty-two... how short are my lifetimes? That's an average of a little over thirty years per life."

"It's a conversation for another time, lok- Kas," she pauses for a moment, "I know time is of the essence, but actually, I think having this conversation now may actually help you heal your friend."

"Okay? Why do I feel like you're about to give me bad news?" I ask suspiciously.

"Well, in some lifetimes, we let you be. we don't have to get you involved in our messy family drama, we don't. Granted, we monitor you from a distance, but that isn't important right now," she waves her hand at me as if the fact that she just told me I am constantly being spied on is insignificant.

"In some of your lives, when we have to reach out to you, you don't take it very well. In others, it's not so bad," her eyes roll a little as she thinks to the past. She takes my hand again, letting her ambient energy soothe me, "Kas, you are now and always have been Mother's warrior child. So is our sister Tessa. That's how you and Lex get your incredible strength and willpower. Probably stubbornness too. But you are so much more than that." 1

'Tessa? Is she the one that looks like our Beta, Lenora?" I feel a little angry at being compared to someone who kidnapped me.

"She does look like your Lenora. I can explain that to you when it's more appropriate," Amari pats my hand reassuringly, "So, you now know I'm a healer, like you and I've heard you met Cora. She has a wild spirit, which is where you get your will to live against the odds and your courageousness. Our sister Katherine, you haven't met her yet. She is the oldest. She's our Luna. Knowledge is second nature to her. From what I hear, you graduated with straight A's. in this lifetime and you are an accomplished businesswoman."

"Well, almost. I didn't do so great in history," I confess, "And I wouldn't be successful in my business without Delilah."

I look over at my best friend and smile. Her eyes are as blue as the sky on a summer day as she smiles in return.

"I am sure Elexis had something to do with that history grade," Amari chuckles and elbows me.

"Amari, why are you telling me about my sisters' abilities? Aren't we all the same? Even if we are stronger at some things than others?"

"No, Kas. We are not all the same. My only ability is healing. Tessa's only ability is warrior strength. Cora's only ability is primal freedom. And Katherine's only ability is unrelenting knowledge," she looks to Lady Camille, then back to me, 'You have all of those abilities and more. The ability to harness your power to defend yourself through burning people. As well as your ability to manipulate time. Not to mention the gift of premonition."

"Oh, trust me, Amari. That one is more of a curse than a gift," I interrupt, shaking my head.

"Kas, what I'm trying to say is, the strengths you share with our sisters are just as powerful as theirs are. And your own mystical abilities, you are by far the most powerful goddess that walks the earth today."

I shake my head in disbelief and stand up. She's wrong. Who is this woman, anyway? She doesn't know me. She doesn't know what my life has been. If she had, she would have saved me from it.

"I don't think I'm the person you think I am. Until two years ago, I was a slave. I didn't know I had abilities or powers," I feel tears welling up in my eyes. My breath becomes heavier as I tell her about my past, "I can't tell you how many times I almost died at the hands of a drunken psychopath."

"I-I know, Kas. We saw it through the security cameras in the packhouse," Amari looks at her hands in her lap. I watch as she frowns, wiping a tear from her eye, 'We weren't able to interfere. Mother's orders. Your mate needs to replace you first. In every lifetime, Bronx has to replace you before we can summon you. The last straw for Katherine, this time, was when you had to have surgery to get the shards of glass taken out of your back. She sent the money to that nice nurse, anonymously of course, to buy you furniture for your room."

I freeze at her confession. There are security cameras all over the Silver Moon packhouse because Alpha Connors was so paranoid about anything getting stolen. The hallway of the dungeon, the kitchen, the schools, all the hallways, the hospital wing, even the stock rooms.

She knew. My mother knew. All of them knew. They knew everything. They left me there to rot. They left me there to die. They sat back and watched while he tortured me and left scarred. I feel like someone struck a tinder box inside me. Icy flames of anger consume my soul. I stand up, letting my violet aura glow brightly. I can't keep my emotions in anymore.

Tears blinding my vision. I feel Lex take over and I let her. For the first time in a long time, I can't do this.