Mother's Diary

[Danica's POV]

"Come inside and have a seat first." Nigel instructed, grabbing my arm. "You shouldn't have even came."

Rolling my eyes, I let Nigel lead me into their unusually messy cabin. I found myself wishing that they would stop treating me like I was fragile as I took a seat in the recliner.

"Why did you bring her?" Nigel asked Mason once I was situated. "Are you that ready for her to give birth?"

"I have a few more weeks." I huffed, trying to hide my annoyance. "All of you need to stop babying me."

Three separate sets of eyes shot at me as I spoke, sending another wave of annoyance through me.

"Dammit," I growled. "If you keep this up, I'm going back to the packgrounds alone."

"I dare you." Mason challenged me, giving me a suggestive look. 

Blushing, I turned away as a smirk of victory crept across his face.

Due to my breasts being too sensitive from milk development, Mason had taken to driving me mad by playing with them and then doing nothing as punishment. Despite it being frustrating, I couldn't stop my body from craving his touch. It was a miracle we didn't have more than just one child, and one on the way by this point.

"If you two are done flirting." Nigel huffed, causing a laugh to escape Ash. "Can we get down to business."

"Sure," Mason snapped, stepping behind the chair I was in and massaging my shoulders.

For a moment, Nigel didn't speak; instead, he watched us with annoyance. Even though I felt embarrassed by Mason's open PDA in front of the two shamans, I wasn't about to stop him.

"Go on." Mason insisted, reminding Nigel and Ash why we were here. "I want to hear what you have to say."

"Right," Nigel huffed, shaking his head. "The main purpose of calling the both of you here was to inform you of the struggle in the north."

"What kind of struggle exactly?" Mason asked slowly, stopping his hands that were kneading my shoulders. "Is it a power struggle or something more?"

I could feel my heart drop as Nigel's expression darkened.

"There seems to be a new group of wolves trying to claim power from all the packs."

"New group?" Mason repeated. "What do you mean, new group?"

"They're rogues, but they aren't the mindless ones you usually see."

Rogues... images of the rogues I dealt with in the past appeared in my mind. Back then, we were so concerned with dealing with the harpies that we never truly questioned where those rogues that survived went.

"Could they be similar to your father?" Mason asked as my mind began to race.

"Hm?"

Similar to my father. I supposed they could be. I did remember Marie mentioning that my father's pack resided in the darlings. Maybe these rogues also came from there?

"It's a possibility." I murmured, rubbing my chin. "Unfortunately, if you want more information on them from me, I'm of no use."

"Maybe you aren't." Nigel began with a smirk. "But what about your mother?"

My mother...

"Isn't she dead?" Mason asked in confusion.

"Yeah." I confirmed, keeping my gaze locked on Nigel's. "How would she be able to tell anything?"

Was there suddenly a way to speak to the deceased and they were going to show us? Was that the reason we were brought here? It all just seemed too good to be true.

"You remember recently when Ash went on an exhibition to the Arcadian Islands?" Nigel began. "Well, while there, he found something both extraordinary and heartwrenching."

"Could you just spill." Mason huffed, earning himself a glare from Nigel.

"Patience is a virtue." Ash laughed, meeting Mason's gaze head on.

"Don't make me give you a new face." Mason warned.

"Could both of you shut up?" I sighed.

I didn't know about Mason, but I wanted to know what was found and what relation it had to my parents.

"Hold on." Nigel huffed, moving to his desk and rummaging in a drawer. I watched in anticipation until he pulled what looked like an old leather diary from it. "Here." He said, handing it to me.

"What is it?" I asked.

The book looked as though it would break at any second, and loose pages threatened to scatter about.

"Why don't you look at the first page." Nigel suggested, giving me what I assumed he thought was a gentle smile.

Nodding, I held my breath as I did what he said and began to read.

Rayne G. Rivers,

Born February 2nd 1969

Parents: Unknown

Pack: Unknown

Rank: Experiment

Confused, I looked to Nigel for some sort of clarification as to what exactly I was looking at.

"Does the name ring a bell at all?" Nigel asked as I waited for an explanation.

"No, should it?"

"Rayne was your mother's name." Nigel said slowly. "We believe that this was a diary she kept while stuck in the Midnight Fire concentration camp."

"The what?" Mason asked as I stared at the book in front of me in a daze.

"It was before your time." Nigel responded. "There was this pack that took in orphan wolves and taught them to be superior warriors. Their ways were supposed to be considered cruel and unusual, so they were taboo amongst the rest of us. "

"So you're saying my mother was amongst those orphans?" I asked, finding my voice.

"That's correct." Nigel conformed.

"Then that means..."

"Your mother was amongst those that underwent cruel training and possible experiments."

It felt like the world around me ceased to exist as Nigel's words hit me. 

How was I supposed to take learning something so tragic about the woman that gave birth to me? Was I just supposed to smile and say, "Oh really?"Or was I supposed to burst into tears?

"Cruel training?" I repeated slowly. "Like what?"

"It is all written in that diary." Nigel explained. "I think it would be better to figure it out yourself slowly."

"Fair enough." After all, what else was I truly supposed to do? "Thank you for this."

I suddenly didn't want to be here and just wanted to go home. I felt like I was suffocating and I didn't want anyone to see me if I broke.