The Broken Wolf
Chapter 69

While the men all gather at the dining room table, Alex included, Lily takes my hand and guides me outside. “They can fill you in later,” she says with a smile. “You have more important things to learn right now.”

We go outside and sit on the stairs of the porch. Neither of us say anything for some time, when I finally decide to break the uncomfortable silence between us. “Can I ask you something? You may not even know the answer,” I ask, dying from curiosity.

“Of course,” she says with a nod.

“How is it that most Royals and Alphas have such difficult pregnancies, but that’s not an issue out here?” I ask her, completely confused.

She laughs a little. “You can thank Benjamin’s first wife for that,” she says with a smile. “She came from a line of herbalists, and they had a few tricks. Don’t worry. When the time comes, I have the information for you, if you want it.”

“Really?!” I ask, looking at her, as she smiles and nods. “Thank you”.

“You’re thinking of kids, already?” she asks.

I nod and smile. “Yeah. Most wolves meet their mates younger than we are.”

“That’s wonderful, Molly,” she says. “You should know though, pregnancy can make your magic become unstable.”

I look at her, a fearful expression on my face. “It’s not exactly what I’d refer to as stable now.”

“What happened?” she asks, taking my hand in hers and looking at me intently. It’s a little intimidating, to be honest.

“Seth and I were hiking when he smelled Stevie. I was trying to mind link Albert to get more help because we couldn’t see Stevie at first.,” I begin to tell her, her eyes never leaving me. “You can’t link since you’re not a wolf, can you?”

Lily shakes her head at me and I realize I need to explain in more detail. “I’ve just really learned. I was only able to link my dad when I was younger, and then my brother when he became Alpha,” I tell her and realize I said my dad and brother. To her credit, her face doesn’t indicate that it upset her, so I continue to tell her about what happened. “I have each person in something like a mental box, and I can open or close it as I need to reach them. I was trying to replace Albert in my mind, but a tree kept appearing, blocking me. I couldn’t see around the tree, no matter how hard I tried.”

“The tree in your mind, correct?” she interrupts to ask me, trying to understand.

I nod in the affirmative. “It was a mental image, but of an actual tree that was really in the woods. I got frustrated and moved the tree in my mind, but then I heard a loud thud and when I opened my eyes, I had pulled down the actual tree. It was the tree Stevie was standing behind.” I look down at my feet, so upset about what had happened. “What if it had gone in the other direction and I had hurt him?” I ask her, finally voicing my fear.

“It’s important to remember that you DIDN’T hurt him. Everything is alright,” she says. She releases my hand and moves to sit on a step higher, and directly behind me. She places her hands gently on my shoulders and squeezes lightly. “Look ahead, and close your eyes. Block everything out. Don’t think about the boxes, or anyone. Just an empty void.”

I nod and attempt to do so, but I replace it difficult and replace my mind constantly wandering back to Seth. The box he’s in never leaves me, and I replace it difficult to remove him from my mind. Finally, I close the box, and can move him from my mind. “Feel your feet on the ground. Can you feel the energy there?”

“I think so,” I tell her, feeling like there’s SOMETHING there, but I’m not sure what.

“That’s the magic from the earth. That’s where it comes from, the energy. You can manipulate it, but you have to know how. You were afraid before, and it helped you to move the tree to protect your mate. Pull the energy up in your mind.”

She doesn’t tell me HOW to do that, but before I can ask, I just think about it moving up and it does it. That’s pretty cool.

“Everything has energy,” she tells me, squeezing my shoulders gently. “Open your eyes”.

I comply and look ahead. There’s a large oak tree in the distance, the ground underneath covered in the beautiful leaves that it has shed this fall. “I think I can feel the energy,” I tell her, looking at the leaves on the ground.

“Good,” she says and I can hear her smile. “Now move the leaves.”

I think about it, and try to feel the energy in the leaves, but I get distracted by the energy of the cool crisp air. I close my eyes to try to focus, trying so hard to move the leaves. I keep feeling the air and try to mentally swat it away.

“The leaves,” I tell myself. “Just move the leaves.”

“Holy s**t,” I hear Seth say from behind me, and I open my eyes, worried about my mate. Instead, though, I’m greeted by the sight of hundreds of beautifully colored leaves swirling in the air.

“How?” I whisper, in disbelief that I’ve done this.

“When you feel the energy of something you don’t want, push it down,” Lily tells me. “You’ve been pushing it aside. Don’t move it, push it down.”

I nod and try to do as instructed. It’s hard now, though, since everything is swirling together. I push down the air, but the leaves go to the ground with it. Damn.

“Don’t be disappointed, Molly,” Lily tells me. “That was amazing. You’ll learn quickly.”

I look over my shoulder and see that they have all come outside to see, my mate standing there with a look of pride on his face. He looks down and his eyes meet mine and I smile at him. “I think that’s enough for today, if that’s OK,” he says and I realize he’s talking to Lily, not me. “I can feel how tired she is from that.”

Lily smiles up at him, and stands to walk over to him, taking his hands in hers. “You’ll take such good care of our girl,” she says and he nods at her. “And our grandchildren. There will be many.” And with that, she walks away, leaving Seth standing there, confused. He looks at me and smiles though, and I feel something tug at my mind.

I reach into my mind and take the lid off the box his link comes from.

You closed me out? he says in my mind, with a tilt of his head.

I couldn’t concentrate. I don’t know how to separate everything yet.

You’re amazing, Love. Is Lily psychic?

I don’t know. But I’ll tell you what she meant later.

“I’m still not sure I can really control it,” I say aloud, unsure of everything I’ve just learned.

Seth shakes his head at me, almost in disbelief. “You’ve always been stronger than you think you are. I have no doubt that you will be just fine.”

My dad looks at me, a frown on his face. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I think we really need to talk to you about the situation here.”

“Oh, OK,” I say, unsure why a Prince, three Alphas, a Beta and the beloved Albert need me for, quite literally, anything. I follow Robbie back into the house and he pulls out a chair for me at the dining room table as everyone gathers around as well.

“Benjamin needs to tell us about his pack, but he requested that you be here,” Robbie tells me, and he looks pretty unhappy.

I look to my biological father, noting that he does, in fact, look less tired than the last time we were here. The cane he used then is nowhere to be seen. I was so lost in my feelings when we got here that I forgot to even look.

“I’ve requested you and your mate,” he says, a hint of disdain in his voice as he says the last word, “be here in an official capacity. To receive the information though, I require a guarantee of a full pardon for any and all crimes that may have occurred and a guarantee of my receiving my pack back.”