The gift of Fae

The Truth?

"You've been expecting me?" I question 

"Why yes my dear, I've been keeping tabs on you your whole life, I knew your mother would never tell you the truth" she said as she gestured for me to have a seat on the plush silver couches. "Would you like a cup of tea?" 

"Ahh sure" I responded after a moment of silence, "What do you mean my mother would never tell me the truth? The truth about what?" I asked

"The truth about what you are dear, it was bound to come out next week when you don't shift into a werewolf" she stated so easily, like that wasn't just earth shattering news to my ears. 

"Am I not a werewolf?" I ask in disbelief.

"No, sorry dear, I don't like being the person to tell you this, especially when you have been raised your whole life believing your a werewolf. If only your father had a say in it." Madam Prea's hint of sadness as she mentioned my father hit me as a bit strange. My father was Alpha King Marcus' younger brother, he wasn't really around much throughout my life, mainly just me and my mother. Is that what she is talking about?

"What do you know about my father? He is a royal werewolf, it makes no sense to me that I'm supposedly not a wolf? Your going to have to start at the beginning so I can understand" I ask

As Madam Prea brings me a nice warm cup of tea, she places it in my hands and stares in my eyes with a questioning look, what is she thinking? She sits on the other couch opposite me, with her own cup of team takes a sip, crosses her legs and clears her throat. 

"Right, from the beginning" she starts, pondering how to begin this story, "Your father is not the King's younger brother Dominic, he is just the man that claimed your mother for his own, she was not his" she says full of sorrow.

"Your real father was my son, David. Your mother and David were inseparable, it did not worry either of them that they were not of the same species, their love was so pure." she continues. 

I just sit there in complete and utter shock, this woman who I don't even know has just told me my whole life is a lie and I for some compelling reason feel she is telling me the truth and that I can trust every word she says.  I suppose she is my family if what she is saying is actually true. 

"Dominic believed that he had a mate bond with your mother and she claimed that she felt mated with David and rejected Dominic. Dominic did not like this and as he is a Royal, he was very used to getting what he wanted. He orchestrated the murder of my son, your real father" she paused hitching her breath, a glisten appearing in her eyes as she relives this moment in time. I can't even process what she is saying properly, being told my father is another man but that man is dead and my fake father killed him. How has my mother kept this from me over the years?

"After David was gone, your mother was taken by Dominic and nine months later you were born. The timeline was very close, you really could have been either mans child, but I performed a special burial for my son and it was shown by the spirits that he had an heir, he had no other children, so when I heard news of your arrival, I knew you were his" she confided in me her conclusions on my origins. 

"Why would my mother keep this a secret from me? If there was a chance I wasn't going to be a wolf like her and my father... I mean Dominic, then I should have known" I asked confused as hell. 

"My guess dear is that your mother believed you to be Dominic's child, no one knows what he did to her when he locked her away in that castle" she responded so gently to reassure me that my mother is not entirely at fault here. 

"Well can you tell me what I am?"' I plead.

"We, my dear, are Fae" she said with a smile.

Fae? Like a fairy? I wasn't aware fairies actually existed in the real world. I think Madam Prea could see the confusion on my face, she stood and grabbed a book off her shelf and handed it to me, 'Fae Lore' it read. 

"You can keep that one, it will provide you with a lot of information you need on what you are and how to harness your power and be at one with the Fae. I will always be here for support and guidance as well, you are my grandchild after all my dear" 

"This is a lot to take in, I'm not sure where to even go from here with this information. What will happen to me when in seven days I don't shift into a werewolf, everyone in the pack will know" I reply as I let her know all my concerns. 

"This is something I have worried about for quite some time now, you need to tell your mother that you know the truth and that you are of Fae and not Werewolf.  I know she will protect you. But you must not tell any other soul about this, or you will be in serious danger" she warned. 

The moment she said I could be in danger I felt a tingle up my spine and broke out in goosebumps, the threat is all too real. I need to see my mother, find out what she knows and how we are going to escape the pack. 

"Thank you for all your guidance Madam Prea, it's been most insightful, I do hope I see you again and we can talk more about who my real father was. But I must go, my friends will be getting worried and I have to get all this sorted as soon as possible before my birthday" I tell her as I stand to get up to leave. 

Madam Prea picks up the 'Fae Lore' book and taps it twice and it turns into a tiny little block no bigger than my thumb. She passes it to me with a smile on her face "Just tap twice and it will turn back into the book, it is very important you read this. Until we meet again my dear" and the yellow door opens back up for me to exit. 

Making my way back out the tunnel and up the ladder I try to compose myself and figure out what I am going to say to the girls about all this. Do I tell them about me being of Fae? I can trust them. But I have a strong feeling that I shouldn't go against Madam Prea's words, or at least until I have spoken to my mother and confirmed everything.  The entrance on the stump opens up and I can hear the girls running over. I get out of the stump with Nicola's help and get two feet back on solid top ground. 

"Felicity are you okay?" "We were so worried" the girls all chime at the same time. "I'm okay guys, really, Madam Prea was actually a really nice older lady, she wasn't scary at all and she has a beautiful little cabin down there, was so nice and inviting, she even made me a cup of tea!" I let them know. "Oh good, so we have been up here stressing, worried you were never coming back out and you were just enjoying a cup of tea" Therese bursts out with a bit of sarcasm. "Yeah, sorry guys, if I could have let you know I was fine, I would have" I tell them. 

"As long as your okay that's all that matters to us, isn't it girls?" Nicola questions, as all three girls just smile and come in for a group hug around me. These girls really are the most important people in my life to me, how can I keep such a big secret from them? What if they hate me when they know I knew this whole time and didn't tell them. Will they understand that I am worried for my safety?

"Now tell us everything, what did she say about the henna getting soaked into your skin?" Alice asks. They all stare at me wide eyed and doughy waiting for me to reveal some epic story, and I had actually forgotten to even ask about the henna thing.  I just got so sidetracked with all the other revelations... Going to have to make something up here so they don't get super suspicious. 

"Well, Madam Prea thinks that it may be because I am so close to my birthday where I will shift for the first time, that my skin is in a constant state of renewal or something like that. She said she hasn't heard of this exact thing before but things similar" I try to say confidently. Is this going to work, will they believe that?

"Well that does actually make sense, my skin was hella itchy before my first shift" says Therese.  Giving me some confidence that I'm safe from having to explain everything to the girls right now. 

"Did she say anything else? You were down there for ages" Alice asks. Starting to feel a bit nervous now and my brain forgetting all the plans I had come up with on my way out of the cabin. "Ahhh not much else really, just that she wishes me luck with the shift and that I'm welcome to come back anytime, like I said she was really friendly and I did ask a few questions about the crystals and things she had in her cabin" I question my own confidence as I waffle on, 't hoping it didn't seem obvious I was making that up as I went along. 

"Ooooh crystals, that would have been pretty cool. Going to have to all jump in together next time so we can all go down" Nicola laughs. Not a bad idea in my opinion.