The Broken Wolf
Chapter 33

Albert and I leave the packhouse and begin our way to the cave. I turn around to take one last look at the packhouse and see my dad standing in the window of his bedroom. He slowly waves to me, and I wave back to him with a smile. That man is always looking out for me.

Albert trips a little but catches himself.

“You’ve been given an impossible task, huh?” I ask him and he nods at me, slowly.

“I don’t know why she chose me, but I feel like if anything goes wrong I’ll be a dead man.” He says, looking very nervous.

I feel bad for him. He didn’t ask for this, but he’s still here. “I really appreciate all you’ve done for me. You’ve been a good friend, even though we haven’t been that close.”

“You’ve always been the kindest person, Molly,” he says to me. “Any of the Omegas would be here to help you if asked.” We continue on, Albert following me most of the way and marking the path.

“Don’t trust me to get us back?” I ask with a smirk.

Albert laughs a little. “I don’t trust us to get back when it’s completely dark. I brought a flashlight for you on the way back, though.”

That’s really thoughtful and I’m thankful, because I definitely didn’t even think about the way back. I was just so excited about getting there. We’ve been walking a while and the terrain is starting to get a bit more steep. Albert is struggling a little bit, but still with me.

“I’ll never understand why you do this for fun,” he says, and I can’t help but laugh at him.

“You can shift if you want. It’ll be easier for you,” I tell him.

Albert shakes his head at me slowly. “The witch said that I needed to bring you there and I don’t want to risk doing anything that could mess that up. They told me how bad your finger is, I won’t take a chance at being the reason it’s not fixed.”

We walk for nearly two hours, deep into the woods to nearly the edge of the property. “We’re almost there, Albert. Why don’t you wait here?” I say to him.

“How far away is it from the cave?”, Albert asks me.

“Just a few yards,” I answer. “You’ll be able to hear if anything goes wrong.”

Albert nods and stops walking, handing me a flashlight. “If you’re sure.”

I nod to him and continue on alone. I reach the entrance of the cave and stop for a moment, taking a deep breath. “This is it” I think to myself, sniffing the air for any hint of the stench of rogues. I determine it’s safe and take a few steps into the cave, illuminating the flashlight as I walk in. I take a few more steps and see light coming from a little farther back.

Heading towards the light, I can feel the butterflies in my stomach begin to do somersaults and I grow more and more nervous. I get close enough to the light that I can turn my flashlight off to see and slowly continue forward. I turn a slight corner and see her, sitting on a rock between two lanterns. She looks a little different than I remember. Her dark, curly hair now has gray throughout and when she looks up at me, she seems less sad than before. She smiles brightly when she sees me- a smile so bright it could radiate throughout the entire cave. She stands up and walks towards me, reaching out her hands and I place mine in hers.

“Oh, my Molly. You look absolutely beautiful.” She tells me, her voice laced with emotions that I can’t quite identify. And did she say ‘my Molly’?

“Hi.” I begin cautiously, unsure about how friendly she is towards me. “I’m so sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Lily,” she tells me, squeezing my hands. “You don’t remember me, but you knew me before.”

“I remember meeting you before. You came and checked me for magic.” I tell her, confused because she told Seth she remembered me.

She smiles at me kindly, with a hint of sympathy upon her features. “No, before everything happened. Before and during the war, before your father had me cast a spell on you to hide you.”

What did she just say? She knew me? And SHE cast a spell on me? My head starts spinning and I feel a little faint upon hearing this information.

“I need to sit down.” I tell her and she doesn’t move, she just grabs my arms to help steady me. “No. I have to sit down. If my mate feels anything through the bond he will come directly here, which you did not want.”

“OK, Molly. Here,” she says, leading me over to the rocks she had been sitting on. “Take a seat. We were surprised to hear that your mate was the Prince. Is he good to you?”

“Yes, he is. But how did you know he’s my mate? We’ve only just met.” I ask her, so confused. “I’m so sorry, this is just so much.”

“Oh, I’m sure you have so many questions. I, uhh, I know your father pretty well,” she begins to explain. “Not Alpha Randall, your biological father. He wants to be the one to tell you what happened, to answer your questions.”

My breath hitches. My biological father is alive. “Is he here?” I ask, looking around and not seeing anyone.

“No, he can’t come on to the Lunar Falls pack lands,” She says, a sad look on her face. “He saw you a few days ago, at the border with your mate and the new Alpha.”

“It was him that I smelled”. I finally realize what it was. “It was familiar, but I didn’t know why. He smells like chocolate.”

“I’m not a wolf, dear. Just a witch.” she says, still holding my hand “I can’t smell the way that you do.”

“Oh, right.” I say, looking down at our joined hands. “Why did you put a spell on me?”

“Molly, I think it would be best for you to hear this from your father,” she says and I’m afraid she won’t tell me anything, but I’m surprised at what she says next. “You were in danger. Your father was worried that someone would kill you to get to him, so he asked me to block your memory and hide who you were. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”

I look at her and I can see on her face how honest she is. “When can I meet him?”

“We can go right now.” She says to me confidently.

I almost tell her yes, but then I remember that my dad making plans for an emergency. The woods are likely littered with wolves from my pack, now. “I don’t think we can, actually. My dad was forming some kind of plan to help keep me safe. I don’t know what it was, but I don’t think I can walk out of here and onto the rogue lands without someone stopping me.”

“I happen to know something that they don’t know about your territory.” she tells me with a sly smile. “This cave has tunnels that connect to the rogue territory. Since they Alphas don’t know, they can’t feel the border being breeched. That’s how I got here tonight.”

“Really?!” I ask her, amazed at this information.

She smiles at me. “You were always so adventurous, I was sure you would replace that out eventually.”

“Were you watching me?” I ask her, so confused as to how she knows so much about me.

“There are some wolves in the Lunar Falls pack that used to belong to your father’s pack before he ended up rogue. They kept an eye on you after you were found and gave your father updates about you. Sometimes they would have a picture or two. He’s cherished them,” she says, tears filling her eyes.

Realization finally hits me. “That’s how you knew Albert.”

She nods at me slowly. “Yes, though he doesn’t know me. He was just a young pup when they came to Lunar Falls. He didn’t know he was helping to keep an eye on you. He would mention seeing you to his parents and they would tell us what he said.”

“Does he know now?” I ask her and she shakes her head.

“Unless his parents told him recently, he has no idea. He was just a friend at school in his eyes and nothing else,” she tells me and that makes me feel better. He was always kind to me and it’s good to know that it was genuine.

“This has been a lot of information.” I say, not really to her, just in general. I’m feeling a little overwhelmed but I’m taking deep breaths to make sure Seth doesn’t feel anything through the bond and come down here.

“May I ask you another question?” I ask her, growing more nervous.

“Of course, Molly!” She says, squeezing my hand.

I take a deep breath. “Was part of your spell to break my wolf?”

“Your wolf isn’t broken,” she tells me, smiling a kind smile at me. “I had to lock the wolf away to hide your identity. You look different, too.”

“Can… can you unlock it?” I ask her, afraid of her answer.

“I think it can be done, Molly,” she says “but it will change things for you. Your looks that were hidden will be released, and the magic may be released, too.”

“The magic?” I ask her quickly, completely confused. “From the spell?”

“No,” she says to me, very seriously. “I didn’t want to tell you this without your Father here, but Molly, I’m your mother. And since I’m a witch, you may also have powers.”