Chapter 5

Viola’s POV

We stopped at Cade’s door and he rapped on it twice. 

“Coming!” We hear from the other side. Some shuffling and something falling was also heard as he quickly got to the door. “Derek, Viola.” He smiled but the curiosity lingered in his face. “Please come on in.”

We walked past him to his living area. His home was littered with books and notebooks, pens, and yet it had a very cozy feel to it.

“What can I do for you?” His eyes flickered between us both. Derek nodded to me.

“She just shifted for the first time.” He looked at Cade meaningfully. “She has some questions.”

“Oh sure!” His face brightened immediately. “C’mon, I’ll make some tea and we can have a chat.” He headed for the kitchen.

“I’ll leave you to it.” Derek smiled at me. He brushed hair from my face and placed a soft kiss on my forehead before leaving.

I went to the kitchen and sat at the table.

“So how was it? Finally joining the ranks?” He smiled, Cade always had an easy nature about him. A very likable guy. 

“I, that was blissful. But it’s.” I stopped. How was I going to talk about this.

“Overwhelming I’m sure.” He spoke as though I just couldn’t find the word. 

“Yeah.” 

‘Just spit it out, we haven’t got all day Viola.’ Vex sounded frustrated.

“What do you know about, about mates?” I hesitated. “Specifically, having more than one?”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Not much, it’s a pretty rare phenomenon. But I have read some about it. Hold on.”

He shuffled to the living area and I could hear him rummaging through papers and books. “Ah ha! Here it is.” He came back and shoved a dusty book on the table towards me.

I sneezed as the dust flew up. Wiping my hand over the cover I read. “Dyad’s from the Night Goddess.” I squished my face, “Dyad?”

“It means two. It’s the only book that I have ever come across with that sort of scenario. Go ahead and take it.”

I nodded my head. “Thanks. And-”

“Don’t worry I won’t tell Derek. This is your deal.” He smiled.

My cheeks flamed at the comment. “Uh great, but I was going to ask about being bound, and well poison that lasts for nineteen years.”

“Oh, right, sorry.” He took a deep breath. “We should go into my study.” I followed him down a narrow hallway that opened into a small study.

“I had already started looking into this, however, different poisons have different times and acts differently with other ailments. Nineteen years is pretty specific, and that is one that I was able to find.” He walked to the desk in the center of the room and ran his finger over pages as he turned them, skimming it. “This here, it’s called Valencien, it’s a rare form of Wolfsbane and much more deadly. However, when used with a spell and mixed with other ingredients it actually transforms into a binding agent. Being that you were also bound at this time I would say that this Valencien had actually kept you bound for even longer. I am actually surprised that it only lasted nineteen years.”

“You’re surprised?” I pinched my face up. Nineteen years seemed like a long time to be bound for.

“Yeah, when Valencien is used the binding is supposed to last a lifetime for a wolf. But it couldn’t have been anything else that I had found because then your wolf would have submerged when you hit puberty.”

My cheeks flamed again.

“Uh sorry.” His cheeks burned as well. “Anyway, yeah. It’s surprising. There is only one other type of root that it could have been but it is much harder to utilize, not to mention it likely would have made you much weaker.”

*****

Derek’s POV

The alpha’s daughter was my mate. I couldn’t believe it. It was no wonder I hadn’t already found her. Standard timing was at fifteen, the beginning of high school. I remembered finding it curious, but it happens. Not finding a mate bond until your twenties, hell I had even heard of people being in their thirties. But it wasn’t a common scenario unless someone had lost a mate. The Night Mother always had her reasons. I always believed my family abandoning me was the main reason I hadn’t found her.

‘Let’s go find her! We have to talk to her.’ Duban whined.

I shook my head. ‘She needs some time clearly Duban.’ He growled in my head frustrated. I was right there with him.

I watched as Viola left Cade’s, her strides were more confident than they had been before she had her wolf. She was slowly coming into herself, her ability to partially shift so quickly with no training completely astounded me. Drew had been practicing for years as most of us do and he barely had his claws out when I got there. 

Viola stopped in front of her house as though debating on whether she would go in or not. Abruptly she turned and went the other way, her eyes looked red from here. 

‘That must be her wolf on the surface, get over there now you idiot!’ Duban yelled in my head forcing my limbs to her quickly. I easily caught up to her fading figure.

“Viola, what’s wrong?” She had slumped against a tree trying to calm down her breathing. Her eyes glowed red as she pulled at the grass.

She let out a deep breath and looked at me seeming completely vexed.

“Vex was right.” She made no attempt to continue her thought process, but her eyes slowly began to turn to her usual violet color.

I dropped next to her on the grass as she leaned back against the tree closing her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

She opened her eyes and they were glistening with tears she wouldn’t allow to fall. “She had me bound and poisoned. She isn’t even my real mother!” She squealed.

My eyes widened in understanding. “Your wolf thinks Dalia did this to you?” 

She glared at me as the red came back into her eyes. “Knows. Vex Knows what she did. She remembers. And when I went there and smelled her, I knew she was right. The memory came flooding back Derek.” She slumped. “Do you think my dad knows?” She shook her head. “Of course he does. How could he not?”

“No. I absolutely do not think he knows.” I scratched my head and stood up pacing in front of her. ‘Are you sure he doesn’t know?’ Duban asked carefully. I give him the same answer.

“Derek, I can’t stay there.” She looked at me still rattled.

“Stay with me.” I put my hand up to silence whatever she was going to say. “I am not pressuring you and I refuse to mark someone who is unwilling. But I won’t make you stay in the pack house with her any longer.” She pursed her red lips and nodded.