Secret Worlds (326 page)

“Marren?”

He turned. Worry creased his forehead and saddened his eyes. His lips were pulled down at the corners. He took his human form. I had forgotten that night and day held no bearing on our appearance on the immortal realm only. Here, on the mortal realm, we were human during the day. He sat on the side of my bed and gripped my hand into his. The warmth of his skin seeped into me and brought a slew of memories from a time that seemed so long ago.

He smiled.

“You are…beautiful,” I breathed the last word.

“You are even more so.”

I reached up a hand to touch my face. I forgot how my face felt as a human. Smooth subtle skin in place of the skin of a werewolf—strong and hard.

“Naloud?” I asked, sitting up.

Marren nodded toward the direction of where the sitting area used to be. The furniture was missing, likely moved by the Cyrs or maybe Marren and Enid. Tucked into a corner and held in place by a pillow lay Naloud, bouncing her hands and kicking her feet. A loud coo filled the room. We laughed.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I will tell you later. First, you need to learn what happened to our home.” Marren’s voice cracked on the last word. His face became solemn and worn. That was the first time I spotted any age on his face, shocking me and making my heart dip a little lower in my chest. Of course, that could have been Marren’s emotions, but it still hurt to experience it nonetheless.

“What about Naloud?”

“She’ll be fine. She’s quite entertained,” he assured.

Hesitantly, I stood with him and let him escort me—hand in hand—to the hall.

I was glad Marren told me not to worry about Naloud. I nearly fell to my knees with how much destruction was done to our beautiful home. The enchanted carvings were cut and removed from the door. The wooden posts in the stair railing were completely missing. Only remnants of what they once were remained. The wolf embedded into the floor of the foyer was broken apart into pieces.

Everything beautiful in our home was destroyed. Not one thing was left untouched, unmarked, or intact. The library inside Marren’s study was destroyed. Many of his family’s priceless heirlooms were gone, burned by a fire that was held in the middle of the room. Blood covered everything, staining the once brilliant white marble.

While he gave me the tour, he told me of how he found the Cyrs that followed us. He and Enid broke their necks before they had a chance to react and alert the others of their coming. Every room, except for ours, had bodies of dead girls in them. Mauled and barely recognizable as having once been human. Marren thought they were there so the blame could be placed on us. An attempt to expose us for what we were and create such an enormous fear that we would be hunted. He and Enid killed most of the Cyrs. The rest ran back to where they came from. Whether their plan would still work or not would remain to be seen.

We walked outside so I could view the damage done to the garden. I had been so consumed by my emotions, I didn’t pay attention to anything but the mounds of dead bodies burning. Lives lost so needlessly. I was saddened, but not surprised to find that the statue of the woman, who once appeared as though she stood at a perfect peace was now reduced to mere pieces of rubble.

My beautiful home, in pieces.

“Why didn’t you come back to get us?” I asked as soon as I found my voice.

“Because we were clearing out as much of the mess as possible. You loved this place, if not more than I, and I realized how much it would’ve affected you.”

I listened as he explained and formed his apologies. I smacked tears from my cheeks as the last light of day faded beyond the horizon.

“I’m so sorry I made you worry and you had to find this.” He gestured to everything around us.

I nodded, realizing night had fallen, I hadn’t changed, and Marren still appeared human. “Why haven’t we changed?”

“Dark night. No moon, no werewolf.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever learn enough about this,” I said.

He chuckled. “Trust me, you will…Someday.”

“So what do we do now?”

“Now we take things a day at a time.”

“What about Jiren?” It would only be a short span of time before he would start to worry about him again. Even I thought of glancing over my shoulder after every turn just to make sure that the shadow in the corner of my eye wasn’t him.

“We follow the plan,” he replied.

Nodding, I turned and walked into our sad and debilitated home and straight to Naloud, still playing on the stone bench. Marren followed behind me.

“Why did they leave our room alone?” I asked.

“That’s hard to say, but the doors won’t let anyone who’s out to do harm through them. It’s likely they couldn’t scrape enough of the carvings off to be allowed in.”

“Like that night it wouldn’t let me through. I hit it because it wouldn’t open. I was angry and willing to fight if necessary.”

“Very likely,” he said as his eyes darkened. I knew he remembered that night.

The cry of a lonely wolf, seeking his mate, filled the air. The hairs on the back of my neck would have risen if I were still human.

“Home sweet home,” I murmured.

Five incredibly short years passed without a sign or word of Jiren. For months, Marren and I were antsy, jumping at the slightest creak. Slowly but surely we relaxed into a steady rhythm. Enid and Raden took turns traveling across the country to find other immortal races and to see what they’d learned of Jiren and how to kill him.

The last few times took longer and longer for them to come home with word that more and more of our kind were disappearing. With no trace or word to follow, they would come home. This last time they left together, finding it safer to travel as a pair than alone.

If our kind were disappearing, it meant that Jiren either killed them or they crossed back over. Believing the first to be the more realistic of the two, we were aware our time rapidly ran out. We needed to find a way to bind Jiren to something or kill him. Needless to say, the disappearance of the immortal races put us all back on edge.

Naloud had grown up stronger than Marren and with more attitude than me. Strong, stubborn, and beautiful. She was trained by the best fighter around. The human age of five, she was actually the size and intelligence of a young adult. With no word from the rest of the therianthropes, her ceremony for changing never happened. Instead, she had the company of me and her father. A private affair in the woods, near the cave where she was conceived.

She begged for us to let her travel with Raden and Enid. I wouldn’t allow it. She sulked for weeks. I almost gave in until she turned around. She would leave every morning to pick fruit, berries, and nuts. She seemed so excited to leave that she couldn’t be bothered to take her basket the last two times. Every evening, she’d come home, dragging her feet with the biggest smile on her face.

“Marren, our child is up to something,” I said over dinner.

“She’s just enjoying the taste of freedom. She’s ready to be on her own…find a mate, have some kids.”

I smacked him on his arm. He pulled me into him, squeezing me with his strong arms.

“Don’t you dare say that. She may be ready, but I’m not.”

“It’s not up to us.”

“You say that as if she’s already found someone.”

He stiffened and fell silent. It was the slightest of movements, almost escaping my awareness. I gazed into his eyes. He avoided returning my gaze. He usually did that when he gave into our daughter’s wishes after my explicit demands otherwise. He couldn’t hide anything from me, no matter how hard he tried.

I sighed. “Who is he? Do we know him?”

“I promised I wouldn’t say anything about him. I did say that I would talk to you about meeting him tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

He nodded.

“When?” My heartbeats quickened and my palms started to sweat. I wanted to find Naloud and wrap her in my arms and prevent anyone from taking her from me forever.

“Over lunch.” He smiled.

“You know who he is, don’t you?”

“No,” he said it so assuredly I believed him.

“Okay.” I let my head rest on his chest.
Something isn’t right about this. The timing of it all. It could be Jiren.

Jiren wouldn’t do something like that. He lacks the patience.

I hope you’re right.
I lifted up on my toes and pressed my lips to his.

I am uwoduhi
. His arms tightened around my waist as he lifted me up and carried me upstairs and to the bed.

***

Morning came with the break of dawn along the horizon. I understood it meant I had little time to get up and try to stop Naloud from making a big mistake. Marren still slept, which meant my time to go arrived.

“Now or never,” I told myself then slipped my clothes from the previous night back on and went to the room that used to be Marren’s study, remodeled and made into Naloud’s room. I knocked on the door. It pushed opened at the force of my subtle hits. Her room was still dark. The sunlight usually hits her room around the mid-day point. Even in the lack of light, I could tell she wasn’t there. Panic struck me. I was too late.

I turned to Enid’s door, wishing he were there to help with some fatherly wisdom, but he was out trying to find what he could. Even Marren spent most of his days with the few books he salvaged from our return. He would pour over them, searching for clues that would hint to him the way to end the one and only threat in the way of rejoining the two realms. Whereas I spent my days practicing with my sword, tending to the garden, or working with Raden’s tools in his forge. He had taught me a few tricks of the trade over the years.

Giving up, I deciding bed with Marren was better than standing around and waiting for time to slowly trickle into afternoon so that I could meet this boy that dared to take my daughter from me.

Once I entered the room, my eyes found Marren in the same position I left him in. I smiled to myself and walked gingerly to the bed and climbed in even more so. I scooted up close to him, then propped myself up on my elbow. It had been so long since I just gazed at him. His golden bronze skin, his long, dark, and slightly wavy hair. The arch of his eyebrows, the shape of his lips and how they tilted slightly to the left. I remember once thinking he wasn’t perfect. What he lacked in symmetry, he made up for in passion and desire—tenfold. So, for all intents and purposes, he truly was perfect. Especially lying in front of me so calm and so peaceful. I decided to let him sleep and find something to eat for our “guest of honor.”

***

For the umpteenth time, I found myself pacing the length of the dining hall. Marren left to meet Naloud and her beau. I waited patiently for them to come, but I swore it took longer than it should. Familiar steps padded against the floor. Only one set. But that was okay.

Marren stepped into the room and found me wringing my hands. His eyes fell onto them as I dropped them to my side and gripped the ends of my shirt.

“You’re not going to believe who it is. You won’t even recognize him. He’s grown so much!”

I raised an eyebrow at him.

He cleared his throat. “Sorry, have you been waiting long?”

I eyed the food growing cold and drying out. “You could say that.”

“I haven’t been gone
that
long.” He approached then wrapped his arms around me and pressed his lips to my forehead. “You will be happy about this. I promise.”

I nodded and let out a deep breath I didn’t realize I was holding. “Alright, let’s get this over with.”

Marren walked through the foyer. I listened as his steps went out toward the garden. I stepped closer to the doors. Inching at a pace slower than my human self ever moved. By the time I caught the sound of footsteps again, they were accompanied by giggles and whispers.

Marren entered the room first, taking my hand and standing beside me. Then Naloud came in, with a strangely familiar boy. His eyes, black as onyx, his hair kept shorter. His smile reminded me of a familiar face. I scrunched my eyebrows together and cocked my head to the side as I tried to figure it out.

“Guess who?” he said with a tone of arrogance that grated on my nerves.

I shook my head squeezing Marren’s hand. He cleared his throat. “Better make this a little easier on your mother.”

“Mom,” Naloud said, then smiled while turning her gaze to the boy next to her. She held onto his hand and practically bounced in her spot.

Oh wonderful, she has it bad.

Just listen.

“I’d like for you to meet Serid,” she finished.

It hit me with the force a wave that hits the side of a cliff.

“It can’t be!” I laughed and walked toward him. I wrapped him in my arms and then held him at their length. “You’ve grown up!”

“I have, indeed.” He flashed a smile that was full of danger and warning.

“Well, how did you find us?” I asked, trying hard to force back the growl rising to my throat.

“I was walking through the woods in search of berries, and a rabbit or two, when I found Naloud,” he stared down at her with a smile much like the kind Marren gives me.

Oh my.

“And we’ve seen each other every day since,” Naloud finished excitedly. Her long brown curls bounced with her enthusiasm. Even her onyx eyes shone with more light than I’d ever seen her hold in them. Her smile, how bright it was, forced my anger away. I couldn’t be mad at her or Serid. You can’t always choose what the heart desires.

“Come,” Marren interrupted, “let’s discuss all the details over lunch.”

Serid walked holding himself high and tall, like a prince. I couldn’t help an eyebrow from lifting. Marren’s hand pressed on my back as he escorted me to the table. If I said anything to him, in our private way or otherwise, he wouldn’t believe me. He would disregard my feelings as those belonging to a worried mother.

After we were all seated, Marren started with a toast. “To Serid, a man back from the dead.”

He smiled as he lifted his goblet in the air toward Serid, who sat across from me, next to Naloud. Marren, as always, sat at the head.