Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 109

LUCKY’S POV

**4 weeks since last chapter (3½ months since Hycinth left)**

I watched Hycinth from the corner of my eye. True to her word, she was doing all of the things I wanted her to. She got up, dressed, went to work and then went home. But she was only going through the motions. There was no happiness in her expression, ever. I didn’t think she’d even smiled since we left Leander.

She’d opened up a few more times about her pain and grief. We were making progress, slow, but progress. I could see her opinion start to sway. She wanted to fix what was wrong inside of her, but she just didn’t know quite how to get there. And even if she did, she feared it was already too late to get Leander back. I didn’t think so. That male would do anything for her…in the same way I would do anything for my mate one day. It would be painful for both of them, but they could get through it. I had to believe that. But her self-criticism and self-doubt kept her bound up unable to break free.

And we were getting too close to her delivery for my comfort. I hadn’t been successful in replaceing a Healer.

“Are you finished with your station?” Hycinth interrupted my internal worrying. She was wrapping up cleaning her tattoo equipment.

“Yeah, I’m done,” I replied. “I’m just waiting for you.”

“Okay,” she murmured, moving around the reclining leather chair to adjust the seating. “Just give me five more minutes.”

The bell tinkled an announcement that the door behind me had opened. My nostrils flared and I instantly spun around my body quivering on full alert-Wolf!

I let out a snapping snarl of warning and repositioned myself in front of Hycinth who stood frozen with wide eyes.

But the older shewolf standing in the doorway was unaffected by my aggressive posturing. She simply nodded politely and took another few steps into the room so that the door could close behind her.

“What do you want?” I growled. There had to be a reason she showed up. It couldn’t be random. And she certainly didn’t look like she was in the market for a tattoo.

Disregarding me altogether, she spoke to Hycinth over my shoulder, “Your child will not be who she is destined to be…without the influence of her father.”

All of the air went out of the room…

What the hell was happening?

Hycinth stepped to my side. “She?” Hycinth’s eyes glistened as she stared at the stranger. She instinctually wrapped her arms around her belly, protecting the little life inside.

The woman continued, deadly serious, still assessing Hycinth with her too-knowledgeable gaze. “Yes…and her army will be born with her.”

Her army? What the f**k?

Hycinth’s hands trembled. She was just as confused as I was. She also feared for her unborn child.

“Wait just a damn minute. What are you saying?” I demanded. This Wolf had another thing coming if she thought she could come in there and spout whatever nonsense she wanted. “Who the f**k are you exactly?”

“My name is Memoree,” the older Wolf stated simply.

Oooh…understanding lit my expression. Tension ran down my spine. I had never met her, but I knew her name and stated flatly, “You’re an Oracle.”

Hycinth’s attention snapped to me, shock evident in her features. I gritted my teeth. We had to be very careful. Few Oracles existed. I’d only ever heard of two, and safely dealing with one was tenuous at best. Their powers were not fully known or understood as they did not reside within any pack but on the peripheral. They existed on the edges. And they were certainly never meant to be trifled with. She looked harmless enough, but I had no intention of being deceived by her benign appearance.

“May I sit down?” She was the epitome of calm.

At this point, we really didn’t have a choice. I motioned toward the waiting-area seating that contained for comfortable chairs and mumbled, “Yes. Please…”

Following my lead, the Oracle crossed the room and easily relaxed in one of the upholstered chairs, adjusting her long flowing skirt to cross her legs comfortably. Smoothing a stray strand of silvery hair away from her face, she rested her hands in her lap. Bright green irises settled on Hycinth as she sat across from her.

I preferred to stand.

If this was going to be a fight, particularly when we were so handicapped as to be fighting against an Oracle, I wasn’t going to be caught sitting down. I asked stiffly, “What do you know about my sister?”

She turned her gaze to me. “Very little, actually. I’m not here for her.”

“What the f**k does that mean?” my nervousness caused an edge to my voice.

Again, the strange shewolf didn’t seem affected. She simply nodded toward Hycinth’s rounded belly. “It has never been about the female but the life she carries inside.”

Her answer didn’t make me feel any better. Hycinth also didn’t like her response. She stiffened in her chair, tightening her arms around her belly.

“What does that mean?” I asked through clenched teeth.

“Everything that has led up to this point…every choice, every decision…has been to ensure this second-chance baby lives.”

“Second-chance baby?” Hycinth breathed the same question on my mind. Nothing this woman said made sense.

“Yes. That first child was ripped from this world, murdered in cold b***d, a beautiful light snuffed out.” Her eyes fixed on Hycinth’s stomach. “She has come to take her place, to fulfill her destiny.”

“What?” Hycinth gasped, her heart racing in her chest.

“What the hell?” I didn’t like how this conversation was affecting my sister. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and demanded harshly, “What first -child are you talking about and who killed her?!”

A great sadness came across the Oracle’s face. “Her name is no longer important.”

I noticed she didn’t answer my second question, but she went on before I could press her on the topic, her next words just as confusing as her last. “The future you carry in your belly was created from her ashes.”

My brows slammed together. A dead baby, killed in cold b***d, destiny, and now ashes??

“Is that a m-metaphor?” Hycinth asked in confusion.

I sure as hell hoped so….

…but I was wrong.

Memoree replied softly, “No…it is quite literal.”

My Wolf rose up inside of me. He didn’t like the anxiety rolling off of Hycinth in waves. He tried to reach out to Hycinth’s Wolf but she remained silent as always. I hissed, “How is that even possible?”

“My sister had the skill to perform such a transfer.” Her lips tilted up just a little, a hint of fondness in her expression.

“Who exactly is your sister?” I demanded.

“Miriam.”

“Mimi?!” Hycinth gasped. “Mimi is your sister? Is she an Oracle too?”

“No. Sadly, she did not inherit our mother’s gifts. But that does not mean she is without power.”

I felt like I needed to sit down, but my brain was too stuck on the bizarre conversation to be able to tell my legs what to do.