Chapter 12

ALEXIS

My dad just stared at the older man incredulously, "You can't be serious. Charles, werewolves haven't had interaction with griffins in ages."

"I can recognize this scent from anywhere. I may be old, but I will never forget the scent of griffins. I hate those creatures," Charles said, glaring at the rogues.

Throughout this exchange, I was silent and confused. I had no idea what griffins were, but everyone else seemed to have an idea from their grim looks. I stepped backward towards Hudson and leaned over slightly so he could hear me.

"What are griffins?" I whispered, looking at him from the corner of my eye. His head turned to me and a frown formed on his face.

"You don't know what griffins are?"

I shook my head.

"Have your parents ever told you that story about the great war? The one where werewolves fought against creatures that were part eagle part lion? Those creatures were griffins."

My mouth fell open, "That story was real? I thought they told that just to scare kids."

My mom had told me the story several times. It all started when a griffin had killed a werewolf that was wandering in the mountains, which was where the griffins resided. The werewolves got angry and attacked the griffins, which led to a two-month war between the two species. In the end, the griffins surrendered after losing so many of their kind and disappeared. No one saw them again after that war.

Hudson shook his head and turned back to the conversation my dad was having with Charles.

"If griffins are still around, why are they attacking us now? They had decades to get their revenge," My dad asked.

"I don't know," Charles shrugged.

"I don't think they're planning for revenge," Hudson interrupted, "If they are, why would they use rogues? Rogues are werewolves after all. It would make more sense if they killed the rogues themselves."

I stared at the dead rogues as if they would give me the answer. Hudson had a point– if the griffins wanted revenge on werewolves, why didn't they kill the rogues?

My wolf stirred in my head and she started pacing back and forth in deep thought.

What do you think about this?

Boston said mate's dad went to witch. Witch said something about rogues and Moon Goddess's blessing. You are blessed. Rogues want you.

My face paled as my wolf continued to piece things together. If she was heading in the right direction, it meant that the griffins wanted something from me. What could they possibly want? My blood only healed werewolves, it wouldn't benefit them in any way.

"Alexis, sweetie, what's wrong?"

I snapped from my daze as my dad stood in front of me with a concerned look on his face. My mouth suddenly felt very dry and my heart started pounding in my ears. I was going into panic mode.

"The–the rogues, they," I stuttered out in a rush, my head snapping back to the dead wolves. My dad looked confused, but I kept panicking. It was as if I expected the rogues to come back to life and take me away.

A warm hand pressed against my stiff back, causing me to relax almost immediately. Hudson massaged my lower back gently, trying to send some comfort through the mate bond.

"Calm down Alexis," he murmured, "just speak slowly. Don't panic."

I wet my lips and turned to him with a determined look on my face. "Your dad went to see the what the witches had to say about the rogues, correct?"

He seemed a bit lost, but he nodded anyway.

"They said something about gold and the Moon Goddess's blessing, right?"

"Shit," My dad muttered as he caught on to what I was getting at and rubbed his face in frustration, "Of all the people to go after, they have to go after my pup?"

Beta Mitchell patted his back, "Horris, we all knew that it was possible for a situation like this to arise. How many people are blessed by the Moon Goddess? It was the reason we kept Alexis's gift a secret."

"What is her blessing?" Hudson asked curiously, staring at me like I was some sort of specimen.

This was one reason why I liked keeping my blessing a secret. People stared at me like I was some sort of creature from Pluto. I had even heard a few pack members call me a freak because my blood was a different color. It wasn't that I wasn't proud of my blessing, it was more that I didn't want to deal with people asking me questions or spreading nonsense rumors.

My dad pursed his lips and gave me a small smile, "You want to explain it to him, sweetie? We'll deal with the rogues in the meantime."

I nodded and grabbed Hudson's hand, tugging him back to the pack. He followed obediently, but I could feel his gaze on me, traveling up and down my body. I wanted to shiver, but it would make it obvious that I was affected by him. When we reached the cabin we were in before, I let go of his hand and plopped on the couch with a sigh, tossing the baseball bat on the carpet.

"So," he trailed off, picking his clothes up from where he had dropped them. I let him get dressed privately and turned around when he said he was done, only to be surprised by his hoodie that was in front of my face. A curious look formed on my face, and he shrugged in response, "Your jacket and shirt are ripped up on the back."

I took it hesitantly and slipped it on, trying not to enjoy the lingering scent of him too much. He smelled like cologne and fabric softner, although that was probably because he washed the hoodie. There was a soft creak as he sat on the couch across from me once again and eyed me with approval.

"Now," Hudson said firmly, "what is that you have that those griffins want?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, my blessing only works with werewolves. You see, several years ago, my grandparents decided to perform a ceremony in honor of the Moon Goddess."

"The one where they make ceremonial fires and chant old scriptures?" He asked in surprise. As easy as it sounded, the ceremony was very elaborate and had to be perfect. From what my parents told me if something went wrong during the ceremony, the Moon Goddess would punish the pack. It was why several wolves were hesitant to perform such ceremonies, but my grandparents wanted to take the risk.

"Yep, and the Moon Goddess was very pleased with their efforts so she decided to bless them. She told them that their first grandchild would have a heart made of gold. The only problem was that she never said what I could do with a heart of gold. I found out that I could heal when I was about five, but that was it. I don't know if there are any other uses for it."

I paused to let him process everything and resisted the urge to laugh at his facial expression. He looked like I told him his hair was on fire, but I couldn't blame him. This whole thing was bizarre.

"Let me get this straight," he swallowed, "your heart is made of real gold."

I nodded slowly.

"Isn't that heavy though? How do you–?" He trailed off and stared at my chest with wide eyes as if he could see through the cloth.

"It doesn't feel heavy. I assume it feels like a normal heart would."

"So you're basically like Rapunzel in that movie, Strangled or whatever, except you use your blood instead of your hair."

"Tangled," I corrected, "and as far as I know, yes."

He pursed his lips, "Have you tried healing other species just to see?"

"The Elders had me try it on a vampire. It didn't work."

He scratched the stubble on his face as he glared at the coffee table, deep in thought.

"So what would the griffins want you for?" He muttered rhetorically. I bit my lip and thought about it myself. Obviously, there was something that the griffins knew that we didn't.

Hudson stood up and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm going to see if there is a witch nearby that could help. They might know something more about your blessing."

I stood up as well, "Great, but please don't start talking about my blessing in front of random people. You can tell Boston and Matthew, but no one else. The last thing I need are people trying to kill me to get my heart."

He gave me a curt nod and marched towards the door, before pausing. I froze in my spot as he turned around and gave me a small smile, "Thank you for telling me."

I shrugged, "You were going to find out at some point."

He looked like he was going to say something else, but someone pushed on my mind-link.

Alexis, Beta Mitchell's mate went into labor.

I wanted to face-palm. Everything was happening so fast, and I wasn't sure if a newborn pup in the middle of it would be a good idea.

"Everything alright?" He asked as a look of concern flashed across his face.

I sighed, "I have to go down to the hospital again. Beta Mitchell's mate went into labor."

"Why do you need to go?"

I smiled slightly, "I'm a midwife. So is my mom."

"Oh."

I cleared my throat awkwardly and moved to the door, "Well I'll see you later then."

He nodded and opened the door for me. I thanked him and quickly made my way down the path back to the pack hospital. The firm footsteps behind me told me that Hudson was right behind me. As I reached for the door knob to enter the pack hospital, the door opened abruptly, causing me to step back and bump into Hudson.

My eyes widened at the man standing in front of me. I felt like burying myself in the dirt. Why did he have to show up now? My wolf wanted to rip him to pieces.

"Alexis," he breathed out with a smile, as if we were on good terms.

I glared at him harshly. "Monty."