Chapter 98

Carol’s POV

“Your destiny awakes, child. Your true powers have arrived. You must wake up,” a familiar voice spoke in such a soft tone.

I stirred in my sleep; I thought I would have felt some sort of pain, but I didn’t feel anything. When I opened my eyes, I peeked around the area I was in, expecting to still be in the cell. Everything felt like such a blur; I vaguely remembered the men who stole me helping me escape. But that couldn’t have been real, right? They wouldn’t have helped me escape. Nothing made any sense.

But I didn’t expect a woman to be standing in front of me. She had long brown hair that flowed evenly around her shoulder and she wore a long white dress that hugged her curves perfectly. Her eyes were the same as mine, as was her smile. She had the most radiant and bright aura that surrounded her.

She was beautiful and otherworldly.

“Who are you?” I found myself asking her, resisting the urge to bow to this woman.

Her smile grew as she reached her hand out for me to take. I slowly took her hand and let her pull me to my feet, my heart racing with anticipation.

“My name is Emalyn Sawol,” she told me, her voice musical and lighthearted, like a whisper in the wind.

My mouth nearly hit the ground when the realization struck me.

“Emalyn Sawol?” I asked, lifting my gaze to meet her. “As in Emma Sawol?”

She nodded her head once, a twinkle of admiration in her eyes.

“You’re… you’re my mother.”

It wasn’t a question but answered me anyway.

“Yes, Carol. I am your birth mother and I have been watching you for a very long time now,” she told me gently. “I have watched you grow, and I have watched you thrive. I’ve always watched you fall in love, get heartbroken, and fall in love again. Oh, how I wished I could have been here for you to show you guidance but the most I could do was whisper to you in your dreams.”

It was like everything was now falling into place and things made sense again.

“Are you saying you were the voice I heard in my dreams?” I asked her, my voice coming out breathy.

“Yes,” she answered. “I wanted you to know that you are more powerful than you could ever imagine. I wanted you to be prepared for your destiny.”

“And what is my destiny?” I asked her. “I don’t understand. What does any of this mean?”

“It means that you are the rightful leader of the werewolf nation,” she answered. “You are the one destined to take over the throne. With your incredible powers, you are meant to be the protector of the wolves. The leader of the entire empire.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not a wolf. How can I possibly be the leader of the wolf empire?”

“Don’t you see, Carol, my dear? You have wolf blood inside of you. You might not have a wolf spirit, but you still have the blood of a werewolf. Your father is a werewolf and though I am not, it means you still have some qualities of a wolf. You will soon understand that; your hearing and sight will improve greatly and so will your scent. You are already fated mate with a werewolf; that should be clue enough that you are special.”

“I thought humans could be fated mates with wolves too,” I said, still very confused by her words.

“Not true fated mates,” she answered. “They can indeed choose their own mates, but a goddess-given mate isn’t usually made with humans. They follow a different god or goddess. The supernatural world follows under the Moon Goddess. The Moon Goddess had chosen one mate for each of her supernatural children. You are one of her children, Carol.”

“So, it’s true then,” I whispered, staring down at my hands. “I have powers.”

She grabbed my hands, her touch warm and comforting. I lifted my gaze to meet her kind ones and I saw that her smile never left her lips.

“You have powers,” she confirmed. “Beings with extra powers and abilities are known as witches. It’s rare for a witch to have more than one special power. Such as prophecy, telepathy, potions, curses, and spellcasting. But you, my daughter, were born with the abilities of all 3.”

“What??” I gasped. “I… I don’t understand. How is that possible?”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she studied me.

“You were given blood from each family line,” she explained. “I was the priestess of the Sawol family, loved and respected by all. Priestesses are the most known and the most protected in the world. Each of the three families has a priestess who is tied to the moon goddess like no other and is meant to be the protector of each family. When I married the King of the Wlanc family, the priestess from that clan moved to the clan I originated from. As a gift for the birth of my first daughter, the other two priestesses in the world, the former priestess of the Wlanc. The priestess of the Sawol family and the priestess of the Amyrran family gave some of their powers to you. At birth, you had been named the High Priestess. A priestess of all priestesses.”

“That’s my destiny?” I whispered. “A High Priestess?”

My mother, Emma, nodded.

“Yes, my daughter. You are the High Priestess of the Moon Goddess, the fated mate of the future Alpha of the Capitol, the largest and most popular werewolf pack in the world. This is your destiny.”

Tears formed in my eyes; this was too much for me to take and I wasn’t sure I could cram this much information into my head.

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, hating how weak I sounded.

My mother wrapped her arms around me, embracing me in a tight and warm hug, making me feel safe and loved.

“Meet your father,” she told me. “Embrace your destiny and learn your powers. You have so much to learn, daughter. You have so much to experience.”

I blinked away the tears in my eyes.

“How did you die?” I asked her. “Why aren’t you here with me? Who is Morgan Leveau?”

She gave me a sad smile this time as she rubbed some hair out of my face.

“That is a story for another time,” she told me, sighing. “For now, you are safe. Trust those around you but be wary at the same time. Some might not be who they seem to be.”

“What does that mean?” I asked, panic struck me.

She took a step away from me, leaving me cold and vulnerable. I wanted to step toward her, but I couldn’t. I remained frozen as she got further away. I reached out to her, but she gave me a small smile, waving her delicate hand before disappearing into a cloud. Soon, I was alone once again and another minute later, darkness took over.

The next time I woke up, I was in the hospital room with the heart monitor beeping beside me. I felt an ache in my head and my chest throbbed with pain. I groaned in agony as my eyes opened and flickered open, only to be blinded by the lighting of the room.

“Carol?” I heard my name, and though it sounded distant, I knew exactly who it was almost immediately. “Doctor! She’s waking up!” Aiden yelled before returning to my bedside.

My eyes flashed to his and I saw the worry in his gaze as he peered down at me. He studied me like was reading a book. Not before long, the room was flooded with different doctors and nurses, all examining me at the same time. I’m not sure what they were saying, but they were poking and prodding me until my flesh was basically raw.

Soon, the doctor pulled Aiden aside and whispered something to him and they spoke in hushed tones. I had no idea what they were saying, and it bothered me more than anything. Soon, the doctor turned away from him and looked at me with a faint smile on his lips.

Approaching me, he said, “We were worried about you, Carol. Glad to see you awake. Are you able to speak?”

His voice was much clearer to me now, but I was still a bit confused by this awakening after I just spoke to my mother. Was that a dream? Or was it real?

“Yes…” I whispered, my voice coming out raw. “I can speak.”

“Excellent,” the doctor said with a large smile spreading across his lips. “Your vitals look good, and your injuries are healing nicely. Do you know what happened to you?”

I remained silent for a moment, my eyes flashing to the doctor and back to Aiden.

“I was taken,” I whispered in a raspy tone.

The doctor nodded, taking that as an answer.

“And what is your name?”

I raised my brows, confused by the question but I answered him just the same.

“Carol Miller.”

He nodded, checking something off on the chart he was holding.

“What is his name?” He asked, pointing to Aiden.

“Aiden Cruz, my hockey star boyfriend.”

Aiden beamed at my words, and I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of my lips.

“Perfect,” he breathed. He asked a few other basic questions, like my birthday and who my parents were. Once he decided that I had no memory loss, he started to ask me about numbers. He held up a certain number of fingers and asked how many there were. He would write specific numbers and letters on a piece of paper and ask me to read them as well.

I felt ridiculous, but I did it anyway and once he was satisfied with my results, he told Aiden that I should be fine and there were no long-term brain injuries. I didn’t get hurt in the head, so the testing made no sense, but I didn’t argue.

As soon as the doctor was gone, Aiden closed the gap between us, and his lips met mine.