Jane Doe
Aubrianne said goodbye to Zayne and then to a few members as some had gathered around to say their goodbyes.
Jada had already said goodbye to her over the phone as she had left so suddenly, but Aubrianne could understand, but she also felt for Mekhi.
On this trip, Kirrah and Shawn were a part of Aubrianne's security detail. They moved with Aubrianne and two others, along with a driver.
Then there was a full jeep in front and one behind them; Aubrianne turned, tiptoed, and kissed Zayne in front of everyone, whispering, "I love you." And he groaned out the same as he bent to reach her, engulfing her in a warm and comforting embrace.
Aubrianne held onto him for dear life before they parted.
They all filed in and went off.
Zayne stood there till the vehicles went out of sight before he summoned the team that came in that morning and Mekhi to the situation room for debriefing.
Meanwhile, when Aubrianne drove out of a Ragnuff Crescent Moon community, Jane Doe, over at the hospital, opened her eyes to the real world for the first time in over five years…
Jane Doe woke up unknowingly to everyone, and it was as if the comfort of a warm blanket had been ripped off of her and left her in a blizzard storm that caused her to jerk awake.
She did not know or understand where she was or how she got there, but she knew one thing.
What she felt was remnants of her magic leaving.
Suddenly, at the thought of her magic, Jane Doe's memory of her life and all that happened suddenly overtook her body, forcing its way back in.
Her body shot back straight on the bed, and her chest rose as she convulsed, and her eyes twitched rapidly while they rolled back in her head.
All her memories came flooding back.
Soon, she stopped moving, her memories back in full force, and she realized it was HER daughter Aubrianne she could have felt; she had given all her magic to protect her daughter.
Athalia also realized how she could have reached here. Aubrianne must have found the box. Her baby girl has her wolf and powers.
The next second, she let out a gut-wrenching scream as she screeched her daughter's name. "AUBRIAAANNNEE."
In pure joy and agony…
Seven years ago, Athalia knew she was being hunted, and she used every method and magic at her disposal to prevent her hunter from coming into contact with her daughter.
Her work was flagged by the pharmaceutical company she was working for. It got flagged the moment she introduced her daughter's blood in the mix.
She was trying to make an antidote for the poison she stumbled across that her employers were steadfast in perfecting and fast-tracking.
She knew it was lethal to the werewolf kind and worked tirelessly for a serum that would counteract that poison.
She regretted introducing her daughter's blood because even though she deleted everything, believing she wiped the system, they must have a backup or something. Else, how did they catch on to her?
Maybe they were alerted the moment she placed those drops of Aubrianne's blood on the glass, but Athalia could not figure it out.
She never thought they would end up there. To her, it was a pharmaceutical company. One of many.
She did not believe they would be interested in what one employee thousands of miles away in one of many companies owned by the White Foundation was doing.
But she chided herself even though she tried to convince herself otherwise. She knew she made a rookie mistake in her desperation to do this without testing it on Aubrianne herself.
Which she would never do, and her job simply provided the means. She had access to one of their fully automatic hematology rheometer, and so much more was at her fingertips to get the job done.
How could she not risk it?
Nevertheless, Athalia was able to make four of the serums before being found out, and she was summoned to hand over her work, or she would be fired.
That day, Athalia held her head high and quit. There was no way in hell she would hand over details of her work and her daughter's blood.
However, that night, she did not make it home as she was run off the road, and it was not by accident. It was on purpose.
Athalia, the quick thinker she was, did a spell that would allow her to transmigrate to another body, as this one would soon be crushed to death.
However, her spell did not work flawlessly in her panicked state with the sound of the blaring trunk horn she would crash into and the jerk of her vehicle being hit from behind.
Sadly, it caused Athalia to be stuck in some type of physical plane of her own doing.
A plane that can only be shattered by the magic that created it. Sadly, Athalia could not wield magic trapped in the plane.
She tried tirelessly to contact her daughter, her blood kin, through the years, but that failed as she had bound her daughter's powers, which meant she could not contact her in her dreams.
It was not until one horrid night that her daughter was attacked, and she ended up in the hospital. It was an attack that set about a string of events.
Not only did Aubrianne find herself on the radar of a psychotic doctor, but her injury caused Jada to secretly use magic on Aubrianne's deadly wound to heal her.
Now, a sleeping Aubrianne in her hospital room had traces of magic in her system, which was all Athalia felt and knew.
It allowed Athalia to have but a brief subconscious moment with her daughter, but there were barriers every time she tried to be clear about what she wanted to say.
Nevertheless, the real breakthrough came days after when Aubrianne opened that box that one faithful, curious Wednesday.
Only then was Athalia's magic released to serve a purpose; however, sensing its owner's distress, some magic diverted to shatter the plane Athalia was stuck in.
She took form, landed in someone's backyard, deliriously grabbed a white sheet off the line, and ran aimlessly through the woods.
She had been running haphazardly in her delirium for a day and more until she stumbled into none other than Alpha Zayne's community the Thursday night after their burial, and he and Leandra went frolicking in the woods.
By then, Athalia was weak, dehydrated, and in a state of shock.
When Aubrianne returned to Martha's ---------
"It was because half of the magic went towards freeing the owner. Had the entire essence of the magic stayed and carried out the task intended, Aubrianne, you would have been completely freed from the binding spell."
"But the only way it goes to its owner is if the owner of the magic will it to them or the magic sensed the owner in danger."
"If Athalia had ever willed it, the moment it was set free, the magic was split; part encompassed you, and the other was willed away."
Martha finished her explanation enthusiastically and waited for what would happen next.
But nothing, just a blank stare from Aubrianne, "So, do you see?" Martha encouraged Aubrianne to get it as her hands flicked over the map.
After another moment, Aubrianne finally spoke, "OK, so let me get this straight. You are saying the magic was willed to whoever owns it?"
"Yes, yes," Martha answered quickly, shaking her head up and down.
"But the person who owns it is dead, that..that..that is my mother, and she..is..is…dead? Aubrianne stood there, eyes still like saucers, not leaving Martha, searching her face for trickery or lies.
She felt none nor saw any. The words came stuttering out of Aubrianne's mouth.
"Isn't she?" Aubrianne questioned, her emotions spiraling.
"Well, not according to that." Martha pointed at a vast, gorgeous, detailed map on the table. "I swiped something of hers from your mom's house."
Martha gave an embarrassed smile and continued as her fingers moved across the map. "I found a location; that is why I asked you to return. I was waiting till you came, but I could not help myself. I just did it before you arrived."
She smiled awkwardly, "I should have waited a little longer."
Statue Aubrianne looked on, shocked and afraid this would be a bad dream.
Martha mumbled some incantations and continued, "So it was your magic, and your wolf powers were not being freed; the necklace was not working as it should, and this," Martha waved her hands over Aubrianne.
"It was too sloppy to ever be considered Athalia's work, which can only mean one thing. That's why I intended to do the location spell after more extensive research."
Aubrianne's eyes went wide, her intake of breath was loud, and her knees suddenly felt limp and gave away beneath her; her mind short-circuited and went blank, and then she fainted.
