The Broken Wolf
Chapter 34

“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.”

I sit there, too stunned to say anything. She’s my mother?? My own mother put a spell on me and sent me to live somewhere else? She came after they found me and lied.

“You came. After they found me.” I stutter out. “You told them there was no magic.” I whisper, folding my arms to wrap them around myself, feeling completely rejected.

“We were trying to hide you to keep you safe,” she says “That was one of the hardest days of my life. We never expected that the Alpha and Luna would take you in. It killed me to lie and leave you there, but it also helped, because I could see how much they seemed to care about you.”

I can’t take it anymore and I finally allow the tears to fall. “I’m sorry. This is just a lot.”

“I know. The events of your early life were tragic, and none of them were your fault.” She says and moves her hand to gently rub my back.

“If I go with you tonight, will I be safe?” I ask her and she nods at me.

“No one would dare try to do anything to you on rogue lands.” she says and I don’t understand, but something inside me tells me it’s the truth.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, listening to my intuition. Seth may murder me and half the kingdom if I go with her, with my Dad coming close behind him. It’s right though, I can feel it.

“I’ll come with you.” I tell her and he smiles at me brightly “but you have to let me link my brother just before we cross.” She looks at me puzzled. “I don’t want them to kill Albert. It’s not his fault.”

She nods and smiles at me. “You just let me know when you’re ready to go.”

I take a few deep breaths and decide it’s best to get going, just in case Seth decided my feelings through the bond were enough for him to come. “Let’s go.” I say to her with a smile and stand up.

“My Molly, always so brave,” she says with a look of pride on her face as she hands me one of the two lanterns she has. “I’ll let you know when we’re close to the boundary.”

I nod to her in agreement and follow her through the cave. It’s pretty amazing that this was here all this time. It seems like an enormous cave system that has room for people to move through. I wonder for a moment if it was used in the war. Dad didn’t know about it, but maybe the rogues did then.

I can’t believe I have parents- who are still alive! And my mother is here with me, leading me to my father. His scent was so, so familiar the other day. It makes sense now why I couldn’t place it. Seth is going to be absolutely furious with me for leaving with her, but I hope he understands. I just know it’s what I should do. I have so many questions- starting with why my life was in so much danger that they had to block my memories and leave me in the woods for days when I was… who even know how old.

They’ll know, I realize. They’ll know how old I am! They’ll know when I was born, and how big I was. Maybe they’ll even have pictures! I start to tear up again at the thought of replaceing the answers to all the questions I had as a kid but right now I’m riding a high just knowing that I WAS wanted.

“OK, Molly. The border is just past these rocks here. If you still want to tell him, go ahead.” she says, stopping just before a line of rocks that were clearly placed there and not naturally formed. “But you should remind them that they’re not allowed on the land. You’ll be perfectly safe, though.”

I nod, nervous to tell them what I’m doing. I take a deep breath to gather my nerves and try to reach my brother.

Hey, Robbie.

Molly? What’s going on? Are you OK.

I am. I’m great! But, umm… I’m leaving with her and going into rogue territory.

NO! DON’T! It’s not safe. I’m coming for you now.

Don’t, I’ll be fine. There’s questions I need answers to and someone there that can answer them. Please don’t hurt Albert, he doesn’t know anything about what’s going on. He’s still waiting for me outside the cave.

Molly. Don’t leave.

I’ll be fine. Please tell Dad and Seth I’m really sorry. I just need to do this. Tell Seth I’m trusting my gut.

He’s going to kill me for letting you meet the witch.

He won’t. I’ll be back soon and it will all be fine, I promise. This is just something I have to do.

Please, let me come with you. I’ll be there in just a few minutes.

You can’t, Robbie. I don’t think they’ll let any of you on the land right now.

What is so important that you’re willing to leave the pack territory for, Molly?

She may be able to fix my wolf, but first, I need to meet with my biological father.

WHAT?!

I’m stepping over the border now. I love you. Try not to panic. I have enough information to know that I’ll be safe. Tell Seth I love him, please.

And with that, I take a step over the border, into rogue territory for the first time in my life. Well, in my life that I can remember. Lily steps over and takes my hand. My mother takes my hand. She leads me through a few more feet of the caves until we finally walk out into the woods in the rogue lands. I stop for a moment and just look around. It looks just like the woods in our territory, nothing terrible and scary like I’d always been told growing up. I guess the scary part is the rogues themselves, though.

“This way, dear. It’s not far.” Lily tells me, leading us to a well worn path. “We always have lived near the cave, just in case something happened and we needed to get to you quickly. It’s the quickest way into the property.”

“So when my mate and brother came earlier they took the long way here?” I ask.

“No, I have a small cabin further out that I go to sometimes. That’s where they went. One of us is always as close to you as we can be, though,” she says, smiling at me.

It warms my heart a little to know that they’ve always stayed close. They really did want me. I’ve spent so much of my life thinking that I wasn’t wanted, but I was.

We walk just a few more yards up a pretty steep hill and come upon a log cabin under a thick forest filled with pine trees. It’s not huge, but it’s not tiny. It looks very run down, though. As I get closer, I get an overwhelming feeling of familiarity, but I’m sure I’ve never been here that I can remember. It’s like my soul knows this was my home.

“I lived here before, didn’t I?” I ask her.

Lily turns to me and nods with a smile. “Yes, you did. It’s worn down through the years, but this was your home. You used to play in this forest. There was a tire swing on that tree,” she says as she points to a tree just to the side of the house. “You would play out here for hours.” She finishes with a wistful smile.

“Will I ever remember that?” I ask her, hoping so.

“I hope so, Molly. Let’s meet your father and talk to him. Once he says what he needs to, I’ll explain more about how to try to break the spell.” She says, gently squeezing my hands and walking me up to the front steps.

She continues walking up the stairs but I stop, afraid to take another step. I look up at the door and I can smell him- the scent of dark chocolate returning to me again. I can feel that it’s a safe scent, my mind remembers that, but I’m so nervous. Lily turns back to me but doesn’t say a word. She just stands there, holding my hand, understanding that I need a moment.

“What if he doesn’t like me?” I whisper to her.

“Oh, Molly, “ she says, moving to stand in front of me and taking both of my hands in hers. “He will. He’s been waiting for this day for so long. But you do need to know something.” I nod at her slowly, waiting for her to continue. “We never dreamed that you’d be found by the Alpha, or that they would keep you themselves. We never could have dreamed they would want to, or the king would approve, your b***d adoption. We thought about trying to stop it when we found out, but you were safe and loved, so your father decided to leave you there. In doing so, though, the moment the ceremony was complete, it weakened your father. He’s not in great shape, that’s why he didn’t come to the cave with me.”

I hadn’t considered that a b***d adoption would have affected my biological parents at all. I’m not sure how to feel about knowing that. I want to ask her what danger I could possibly have been in, but the time isn’t right, so I just nod to her in understanding.

“When he saw you the other day he said it made him feel stronger.” She tells me, cautiously. “I don’t want you to think that’s why we asked you to come though. He’s so happy that you’re old enough to know the truth, finally.” and again, I don’t know what to say so I just nod.

We stand there for a few more minutes. To her credit, she’s been amazingly patient. I look at her face, really look at her, and realize just how much I look like her. My eyes are the shape of hers, though a different color. I have the same shape face, though my jaw line is a little sharper. We have the same small nose, and the same full lips. I suspect that my hair is the same color as hers before she had the silver strands in it. We’re nearly the same height, and seem to have the same curves, though my chest is a bit larger. She truly is beautiful. I wonder what my father looks like for a brief moment before I decide I’d rather just go inside and see.

“I think I’m ready,” I whisper to her and she turns to lead me in. We walk up to the door and she waves her hand in front and it opens to her. Woah. I’m pretty sure I just saw magic. All thoughts of the magic are lost, though, as I see the man who smells like dark chocolate sitting in a chair across the room looking up at me.

He smiles at me, a weak smile, but it’s heart-warming. His frame is that of a large man, but he looks very weak and feeble sitting there. He moves to stand and I notice he’s using a cane. As he gets closer, I can see that his hair is almost entirely silver, and it’s pretty unkempt, nearly to his shoulders and sticking out in various places. He’s almost in front of me now when I look at his face, noticing the wrinkles that seem advanced, but when I meet his eyes I can scarcely breathe. They’re the same dark green eyes that have watched me in my dreams for so many years. The dark green eyes of the little, gray wolf that I recently met.

“Molly,” he says, his voice raspy, and I realize it’s the same voice that told Seth and Robbie they could enter the rogue land.

“You’re the Rogue King?” I ask, my voice barely a whisper.

“I was once, but more importantly, I’m your father.” He tells me with tears in his eyes. “I’m so glad you’re home.”