Chapter 33
Chapter 33
Gideon
We step into the bedroom. “Amelie, what’s going on?”
She’s pacing and biting her thumb, “I think you might want to sit down.”
I sit on the bed, “So are you going to tell me what’s going on or chew your thumb off?”
She turns and gives me her one-eyebrow raise, “I just learned some critical information today. Dad said, if you have any questions, I can’t answer, he will. He expects you will want to talk to him tomorrow.” She’s talking so fast, and her pacing quickens. I stand up and grab her shoulder to stop her and make her look at me.
“Amelie, tell me what the hell is going on!” She looks at me wide-eyed.
She blurts out, “the moon goddess is messing with your bloodline!”
“Please make sense. You sound crazy right now.” I sit down on the bed and set her next to me. “Take a deep breath and start from the beginning.”
“I am a direct descendant from the first werewolf. The Ashwood bloodline is a divine bloodline directly influenced by Selene herself.” She pauses and waits for my reaction.
I take a moment and think, “That makes sense. Your family has always held a lot of power and influence.”
She continues, “Dad said he knew you were my true fated mate as soon as he found out you had a tree as your mate mark. All the mates of the Ashwood family they all have trees, and they are all the most influence packs across the US.” She looks down.
“Wait, what do you mean?” Where the Ashwood’s collecting power?
“You can look at the family tree with dad tomorrow. I guess when Selene wants to strengthen another Alpha bloodline, she allows daughters to be born in the Ashwood family. She uses the Alpha’s daughters to strengthen another Alpha bloodline. That bloodline becomes blessed by her, and she controls it directly from then on. She did not have many daughters born to the Alpha over the years. So, she has chosen to bless your bloodline directly with an heir mixed with Ashwood blood. Blood from the first werewolf.” Amelie looks at me. I can see she is nervous. I can’t believe what I am hearing. I know the goddess influences mates and has a strong will, but her direct involvement in a bloodline is outrageous. At the same time, too many things are lining up.
“What do you mean by blessed?” I needed more details.
“It becomes stronger, more purified scared even. In other words, our son with superseding even you and expand the Druit Guard. He will be a divinely blessed leader and warrior. He will be directly related to the Ashwood pack, the Black Hills pack, and the head of the Alpha Council. He will be one of the most influential pack Alphas of all time. I know most of that you already knew but maybe didn’t realize.” The last part I did already know but didn’t really think mattered, but now that she said it out loud, it hit me.
Something still didn’t add up, “All werewolves are descendants from the first werewolf? What makes the Ashwood line so special?”
“We are direct descendants from the first werewolves. Selene created a fated mate for her first werewolf after becoming so lonely that he was kidnapping other species. It is glossed over in our creation story we are taught as pups. Most werewolves are from a half-werewolf bloodline. Only the Ashwood bloodline came from the first mated pair. Something they don’t also teach is his name Rene Bois de Frene. Bois de Frene is French for Ashwood.” I have never heard that name before, and our creation story always seemed more of a myth than truth.
“If what we were taught was wrong, what’s the correct version?”
“Rene was born a human. Selene loved him because he was physically handsome and pure of heart and had highly intelligent. He didn’t know the moon goddess loved him. She could only watch over him. One day Rene fell in love with a girl from the neighboring village. He would visit her often. One night on his way back, he was attacked by bandits and left for dead on the side of the road. Selene sent a pack of wolves to save him, but he was on the brink of death. To save his life, she merged the pack Alpha’s wolf soul with his. This is close to what we are taught, and it’s left there. What we are not taught is this next part.” Amelie took a deep breath and paused before continuing. “Rene was not the same as before, and neither was the wolf spirit. The wolf longed for a pack and a family as it’s his nature. Rene became feared by the other villagers and was rejected by the women he loved. This enraged him and the wolf, and they went on a rampage. The surrounding villages would force young women to become part of his harem to keep the wolf calm. He fathered many half wolves during this time. Selene felt sorry for the women and children. She gave the children wolf spirits to help Rene feel that he had a family. He was still lonely none of the women loved him, and his human heart longed for love, and his wolf heart longed for a life mate like in the wild. Selene found a woman shunned by her village due to a birthmark on her face. She was an amazing beauty otherwise. She had a pure and loving heart even after being treated poorly by others. Selene sent a pure white wolf to talk to the women to see if she could love the lonely werewolf. The women’s name was Fleur. When she heard the tragic story, she cried for Rene for the other women and all the children. She accepted Selene’s offer. Selene merged the white wolf with Fleur. Fleur became the most beautiful woman in all the land. Rene fell in love with her at first sight. They were the first fated mate pair. Fleur calmed Rene, and she helped him create a new village where his children could live in peace. This was when the first pack mark was created, the tree of life or the Ashwood pack mark. Rene had many children but only one male heir and one daughter with Fleur. The direct line of Ashwood has only split once, and that split brought Raphael Bois de Frene to America to establish a pack. All the Alpha daughters who have been born are mated to Alphas. Those packs become larger and more established, and the bloodline is purified and blessed by the moon goddess.”
“So, do you have superpowers or something?” I was only half-joking.
She whips her head around to look at me, “I asked the same thing!”
“Well, do you?” Now I wasn’t joking!
“No, dad said no superpowers.” She looks highly disappointed. “We are blessed, so we are talented and are more skilled. We are born leaders and don’t let power taint our hearts. Dad said we have the strength of mind and strength of heart.” The picture was getting clearer.
“When you say Selene has a direct hand in the bloodline, what do you mean?” What was going to happen to my children and grandchildren? I was a little worried.
“From what I gather, it means she is selective with both the human and wolf souls she releases in the world. After seeing the family tree, no one has more than three children. Most of the time, it is one heir. She does not allow the Ashwood bloodline to overtake the wolf population. It’s too strong. Too much power can be as bad as too little. I am a pure werewolf. There are no other species mixed in my DNA. When a mixed wolf and an Ashwood mate, all other species’ DNA gets canceled out, and only werewolf is left. Also, all our wolves are the goddess’ personal companions when in the spirit realm. Meaning I have a direct connection to Selene.” Amelie looks glazed over. I understand why it’s a lot of information.
“Can Inari talk to the goddess?”
“I don’t know. Our wolves still get reincarnated just like all wolves do; ours are just stronger. I don’t know if she can communicate with the goddess. We just found this all out this morning. I do know after the mate bond was established; I could feel Inari was stronger. We are going to look into how to fully unseal her since we no longer carry the black scar.” She touches her mate mark, and a small smile comes to her lips. “This is all pretty weird, isn’t it?”
“Well, it’s weird, but at the same time, so many pieces fit a bit better now. How about you? How are you doing with all this?” I was starting to feel some of her emotions ever so slightly through our bond. I knew she was feeling confused, hurt, scared, and even a bit of pride. She takes a deep breath in and lets it out, then leans on my shoulder; I put my arm around her, “come on, you have just been giving me a history lesson. What’s going on in your head?” I kiss the top of her head.
“I have a ton of thoughts, feelings, and emotions pulling me in a million directions. I can’t help but feeling on guard, like I’m waiting for something to happen. But I also feel like there are missing pieces of information.” I pull her closer, and she wraps her arms around my waist.
“Well, what kind of pieces of information do you feel are missing?” She was a natural investigator like me.
She sat up and looked up at me, “Well, to be honest, with you. Why did the moon goddess pick now to strengthen your bloodline? What is your family history? I understand my role and my family’s role, but what is yours and why? Dad told me about your Delta Force and how your family is the vice-head of the Alpha Council. I guess with as important as your family is to all werewolves, why did she wait so long to bring in an Ashwood?” I guess I had to give a history lesson, but I didn’t have all the answers.
