A Gift from the Goddess

Book Two - Ch.# 39 This was the riskiest venture I'd done since returning from Ashwood.

Not only was | now leaving the protection of my father’s reach, but | was willingly jumping down a rabbit hole that could potentially bring more problems in its wake. Opening myself up to secrets | might eventually regret uncovering.

But | couldn't go on like this anymore.

To continue as | was would only lead to destroying myself or others, possibly bringing more harm than | knew how to fix. *If it was even fixable. | could only hope that Zac would recover and stop treatinglike... whatever that was.

However, it was clear that there were things at work behind the scenes that weren't immediately obvious. Things that might cback to bitewhether | liked it or not.

And so | had to start with what information | did have.

... Information that ledto staring at an old iron woven gate, a chilling familiarity about it.

Because it was this very gate that belonged to the place I'd called hfor stime.

The orphanage I'd been adopted from.

| took a moment to calm my nerves, contemplating whether this was really a good idea. But the drive here had already taken several hours to arrive, it now being morning already, and it was tthat I'd spent mulling over this very dilemma.

And, ultimately, | went through with what | chere to do.

....I entered through the gate.

The orphanage looked to still be in business, several children running around in the distance on a grassy green field. From the path, I could hear their laughter, hear how they were all enjoying themselves. A vastly different experience than what | could remember of my own. there.

“Can | help you?” | was greeted inside by an older lady attending the counter. She looked vaguely familiar, assumedly someone who had been here during my residency. | hoped that was a good thing.

Upon walking in, her eyes immediately scrutinised me.

“Hi... yes,” | said, approaching. “I'm sorry to bother you, but | was just looking to get sinformation. I ah... | used to live here and was hoping that you might have my old records still available. My nis-.” “Rheyna,” she finished, her face lightening in recognition.

“You remember me?” | asked, a little shocked.

It'd been sixteen years since my adoption.

She had to have seen thousands of children cthrough these doors since then.

“Yes...,” she said slowly. “It’s not often kids leave such an... impact... as you did.

Your there was as memorable as your distinctive appearance. It's hard to forget golden eyes such as yours.” “Ah...,” was all | could say.

| was sure the memorable impact was referring to the incident I'd caused. Hospitalising children was sure to traumatise a person.

“I'm happy to see you've grown up well despite having a difficult there,” she said, a small smile on her lips.

“A successful adoption is all | can really hope for the kids here. To this day, it still breaks my heart whenever | see any return. Failed adoptions happen only too often. Though....” She then paused to look atcloser, confusion showing on her face. “I am a little surprised to see you back here. Mr Reid paid a significant donation to our facility upon your adoption. It was clear that the lifestyle and devotion he could provide for you was a head above the rest for candidacy. | would have thought that you'd have all but forgotten about your there.” Something about what she’d said struckas odd and, as | took a moment to think about it more, | realised what it was.

... ‘Head above the rest for candidacy.’ As in, there was more than one candidate asking to adopt me.

In a place where children were lucky to have even one person express interest, this seemed very odd to me.

Especially considering the behavioural record | must have had here.

“My father providedwith a... fulfilling life,” | said carefully. “To this day, I continue to work for the family business with him closely.” “I'm happy to hear that.” “But... | naturally have questions about my past,” | continued. “If possible, | was hoping to look at my records.

Perhaps anything to do with my adoption or... how | cto be here.” She looked serious as she listened to my request, the lines on her face creasing.

“...You are of age now,” she said slowly. This request is within your rights. Please wait for a moment as | find them.” And with that, she disappeared through a back office door where she remained for stime. | paced in the lobby as she searched for the records, doing my best to remain as patient as possible despite the loud thumping in my chest.

I'd stopped caring for my birth family once I'd been adopted. | never so much as had an itch to go looking for them. To me, only my father had mattered. The one who had liftedout of this place and givenshelter.

Givena life and purpose, someone to nurture the issues I'd presented with as a child rather than fearfor i) Now | knew that sthings couldn’t be ignored for long. That | couldn't change my blood, change who and what | was. Ashwood had made that perfectly clear.

“I should start off by apologising to you first,” said the lady, entering the room once more. “From the very beginning, your there was filled with difficulties outside your control. | can see you've grown into a well- adjusted, beautiful young lady, and I tell you these things now not to upset you, but to provide you with sunderstanding.” | walked back over to the desk and saw she’d retrieved my records. Only, in the place where my nshould have been, it looked like someone had gone over it with a black marker to censor it. Almost as if someone was removing my identity from it. Perhaps just another way my father hid my existence.

“Please tell me,” | said, tearing my eyes away from the folder.

She took a deep breath in, her expression becoming solemn.

“From the very beginning, you were treated... different,” she started. “It was something | was aware of but not in its entirety. | now know that the extent of that treatment went beyond the norm... and | need to sincerely apologise for my lack of vigilance. | should have tried to protect you better.” | frowned. “You mean the bullying from the older children?” She paused before shaking her head. “...] wish it had just been from the children. After your adoption, | started to hear whispers of how happy the staff were to see you gone. | was appalled. Especially since the horrific incident that day could have cost us significantly in potentially losing Mr Reid's donation, something we were in dire need of. Immediately, | began looking into it and realised that I'd missed all the signs. It becobvious that most of the bullying was being orchestrated by the staff, urging the children to be cautious of you. All because She paused, looking unsure how to proceed.

“I won't hold any resentment towards you,” | said, trying to encourage her to continue. “I can’t change the past now. All I'm looking for is the honest truth. No matter how difficult that might be.” Slowly, she nodded her head in understanding.

“...It was because of the circumstances surrounding your arrival,” she finished.

“How | cto be here?” “Yes...,” she said. “The staff were... spooked, | suppose. You were found by a truck driver on the side of the road, miles away from here. Nothing in sight for as far as the eye could see. Just an area completely overrun with deserted woods. You were brought to us covered in blood... and wouldn't speak a word.” | looked down at my hands and, for a split second, thought | could remember a flash of the memory. The feeling of being numb and afraid.

“You didn’t speak a word for two whole months, no matter how hard the police and I tried to find out where you cfrom or what happened,” she continued. ” You'd just... stare at us with those intense eyes of yours silently.

An air about you that unnerved many with uncertainty, wondering what your true origins may be. It wasn’t until we found you playing with a large dog one day that you did eventually speak.” ...A large dog? “...You spoke... and told us your name, she said. “But it was unfortunately too late to stop the rumours and superstitions from the staff at this point. | found out later that this bias would go on to create the foundation of your mistreatment. | wish I'd known back then how bad it really was. Maybe then | could have stopped... no, maybe | could have helped you feel more accepted, having no need to lash out as you did.” I swallowed back the discomfort from her words and tried to focus on what I'd chere to do. But it was difficult not to realise what she was saying. I'd been so worried that the incident was going to make getting answers problematic but, instead, she was the one apologising to ...She was saying that it hadn't been my fault.

“Did you... Did you ever find out anything about my birth family?” | asked, clearing my throat.

But she shook her head. “No... nothing officially.” Though | found that a strange way to phrase it.

...What about... unofficially?” And she immediately hesitated, confirming my hunch.

“We normally can’t disclose information relating to other parties...,” she said slowly, placing a hand on my file. ” However, | feel as though your there was filled with... special circumstances.” And | watched as she then opened my folder up and began rifling through the papers inside.

“There was one other person bidding to adopt you,” she said as she looked through it. “They... claimed to be related to you.” My breathing stopped at hearing that.

“She seemed like a sweet girl, albeit looked very young, however we unfortunately couldn't verify her,” she said.

“She had no papers or identifying documents. Nothing to prove her relationship to you. Unfortunately, we couldn't hand you over and she was subjected to the normal channels of the adoption process. Of which, she failed in almost every aspect. She couldn't even hand us a driver's license.” ...She was a werewolf. She had to be.

Kieran had mentioned that Ashwood had only opened up trade with humans in recent times. Before this, they had kept completely to themselves. So, of course she had no paperwork... their entire lives were separate and secretive.

But it still left one very important question; ...Who was she? The sperson who was helping my father? But if that was the case, why hide her existence from me? She was clearly trying hard to adopt me. Seems like a lot of effort for someone to go through before erasing themself from my life entirely.

Perhaps there were more people involved in this than | realised.

“...Did they leave any contact details? A name?” | asked. “A phone number?” That seemed like wishful thinking considering it was a punishable offence to use a cellular device, but | had to try.

“No... it was too long ago forto recall her name. She also didn’t have a phone.

Yet another of her oddities,” she said.

And my heart sank. | knew it had been too much to hope for.

“That being said...,” she continued, and my eyes immediately snapped back up to look at her. “...She did leave an address. If that’s what you can call it. It was the only bit of information she filled in on her application.” “...Where is it?” “I don’t think it'll help much,” she said. ” There's no specific street nprovided. Just the nof a place I've never heard of before.” “Where?” | pushed anxiously.

And she proceeded to turn the folder around forto look at the form in question.

Just three words printed there that | wasn’t expecting to see, knowing immediately what it meant.

“..."The Silver Mist’,” she read.

And, instantly, | felt myself freeze up.

The Council of the Silver Mist, created by the forming of two packs: The Winter Mist and The Silver Lake.

The place of my birth family’s pack. A pack said to all be dead now after losing the war with Ashwood.

It was information that therefore meant one very crucial thing.... 1 Either, someone had left this here as a trap to one day baitinto showing myself or....

... Or I might not be the only survivor. 3