Chapter Fifty Five

Brielle's POV

The drive to the pack there brought memories, one that I spent an awful lot of days putting behind me. I remembered him forcing himself in on me, the look on his face as he tried to take me and the revolting thrill that came from it.

“Enough,” The priestess voiced disrupted my thoughts. She sat beside me in the back passenger seat.

“Listening to your mind whisper such toxic words is distracting. I am trying to prepare for a spell that might finally kill me,”

“Thank you for coming with us,” I said, trying not to look into her old pale eyes. Their slit shape like a cat always spooked me.

“Your mother won't allow me to do the opposite,” She replied. My attention was triggered and so was that of Zane and Lucien that were seated up front.

“You knew her mother?” Lucien asked, staring at her from the rear view.

“Her mother knew me,” she answered with a deep sigh.

“She wanted to escape all of these issues, the power struggle that you are now trapped in. She wanted peace, a good marriage,”

“Why? What was wrong with the life she was leaving?” I inquired curiously. “What was so bad about her former life that she had to drop everything to marry my father,”

“People didn't want her just because they loved her or because of her exceptional personality. They did because your mum was different,” She spoke with an eerie tone that fit the moment.

“She was the first wolf that was imbedded with the witch’s power within her,”

“My mum?” I reacted, surprised that my mum who couldn't seem to ever find her keys could be something as unique as she explained.

“I'm not sure. My mum can't even go a day without catching a c__”

“Cold?” She completed my sentence.

“It's the side effects of the herb that kept her witch’s power dormant. One of the side effects though and it's also the cause of her death,”

“Then why did she continue? Wasn't living for her daughter far more important than whatever she was trying to hide? Why would she pick death over me?” I questioned with a fierce tone as the hurt burnt through my chest.

“Brielle,” Zane called out to caution me.

I took a deep breath, calming my nerves with every exhale before an inhale. The priestess sat beside me like a statue, paused and confused.

“We are here,” Lucien announced when he got a spot in the parking space. It was nightfall and the quiet sound around didn't help the suspense.

“Whatever issue we have to settle would be done in our convenient time,” Lucien said as we alighted the car.

“Manners please,” He added but this time staring at me when he uttered it.

“Welcome,” cooed by the entrance. Her smile that was supposed to be elevating was the complete opposite because our situation didn't warrant a smile at that point. We were all on edge to the point that Zane was even startled when she spoke.

“I didn't mean to spook you, but welcome to the house of Alpha Rio,”

“Is this his way of revenge?” Lucien asked the strange lady by the door as he led us to the door.

“Your master sent you to greet us instead of being here by himself, is that his way of disrespecting me?”

“Time of war, Lucien,” Rio’s voice shot from inside the house. My heart skipped a beat when I heard his footsteps approaching slowly and all I could do was wait to see the face that had scarred my life.

The imagination of having to paint that face into a family member was even more tormenting. It was going to be hell to feel.

“I didn't think that customs apply in such trying times,” He pulled the door open and his annoying smug face came into light. The heavy breath that had been hanging on my chest finally came out as a frustrated sigh. I couldn't look at him without feeling the loss he made me bear.

“Welcome everyone,” He said, looking at everyone until his gaze paused on me.

“Enough,” I muttered, fighting back my rage and tears.

“Let's get this over with. I need Zane out of whatever bondage he is attached to. Now!”

“Of course,” he responded with a light smile.

“And then we are going to have our talk,”

“Whatever you say, Rio,” I said as I walked into the house. The whole place was just a trigger for a bad memory.

“Follow me,” He instructed. We followed behind him calmly through the hallway to the study. His workers stared with concern and curiosity, accompanying us with their whispers and murmurs.

“Stop slacking,” Lucien held my hand.

“Remember the reason why you are here. Let's focus on that and stop looking for a reason to torture yourself,” He whispered calmly to me. His voice was like a soothing balm to the hollow feeling I had and I immediately pulled myself together.

Rio pushed open the door and it revealed a huge dinner room with a big table in the middle. The chairs were all properly set, to show he was expecting us for the feast he had planned.

“Take a seat,” he offered as he took his seat by the head of the table. I sat across from Zane and Lucien while the priestess sat by my side.

“What is this?” The Priestess asked.

“Ik sorry for not properly paying my respects, Loretta," Rio said to the priestess.

“You would excuse me for not greeting the woman that poisoned my mother's mind to leave her family,”

“First, don't ever mention my birth name from your filthy mouth,” The priestess demanded with a stern voice.

“And second, your mother came to me in pain. She couldn't beat another child for your father because she was scared they will all turn out to be a disgrace to society like you,”

“Wow,” Rio chuckled softly. The deceit in his smile was noticeable by anyone with eyes.

“You helped a woman abandon her son and you are judging the end result.”

“We are not __”

“If she was here,” Rio blurted, interrupting Lucien.

“If my mum was part of my life growing up, my life would have been so much different. I grew up with a father who was hurting and in pain. Everyday I was a reminder of the woman he lost and he took it out on me,”

“You are the young puppy,” I muttered when a childhood memory came to my mind.

“My mum told me of the time she left home but was hurt because she had to leave her pup behind. It was bedtime story,”

“Nice,” Rio remarked.

“Good to know that the guilt still existed in her mind. The guilt of having to make me suffer for her freedom, her only son,”

He tossed a photograph to me and my eyes widened when I saw my mother in the picture.

She was beside someone looking so much like Rio while holding a baby. She was so young and different, like a different person.

“I didn't want it to be true,” I admitted.

“But it is, little sister,” Rio said with a blank look.

“Erm!” Zane cleared his throat.

“I don't mean to interrupt your reunion but I believe there are better times to do it. I need the witch out of my head, as soon as possible,”

“Bring her in,” Rio commanded and the door behind him creaked open. His men dragged in a sack with a pungent stench of blood and silver. They opened it by the dinner table and pulled out the little girl. She was looking pale with blood all over her body. They placed her by the other end of the table and restrained her to the chair.

“Wake her,” He instructed his guards. They injected her with a fluid and almost immediately she gasped for breath as she opened her eyes fiercely.

“Oh my,” The Priestess muttered.

“So much power in such a little body,”

“Power that wasn't enough to take me down,” Rio commented as he took a bite from the apple on the table.

“No,” The priestess shook her head in disbelief.

“She wanted us here,”

Suzie beamed with a smile as she began to laugh hysterically.

“Father was right, you are all gullible,”

“It's a trap,” Lucien groaned furiously.