Rise of The Phoenix Alpha

Bellamy's Secret

Bellamy (Before Chapter One)

Rushing through the hallway, I almost bowl over one of our workers.

“Sorry, Emma. I didn’t mean to run you down.” I apologize. She laughs and waves me off.

“You must be racing to see your grandmother. She isn’t going anywhere, Bellamy. Careful.” I nod and take off a little slower this time.

I raise my hand to knock on her door, but halfway to it, I hear her lilting voice. “Come in, little sparkle.”

I smile despite my reasons for rushing here. As I open the door, I find her sitting in her chair by the window. She is working at her embroidery but turns her gentle violet eyes toward me.

Morgarella Farrington is deceptively young looking. You would never know she is over a hundred years old. With her platinum blonde hair and porcelain skin, she almost looks like a walking painting. Flawless is the word everyone always uses to describe her. She has the most calming presence also; one of her gifts. Even the most nervous will be comfortable when she is nearby.

“Mimi, I missed you.” I hurry into her open arms letting her embrace fill me with peace.

“I missed you too, little sparkle. You are troubled. Tell me what has been happening.” I sit in the chair opposite her and tell her about the strange pain.

“I only recall having it once, but it felt so familiar. Like it had happened multiple times in the past. It was like my entire body was being crushed in a vice. And I heard someone calling my name. But the voice was so far away and distorted I didn’t recognize it. Couldn’t even distinguish if it was male or female.”

Her sharp eyes are laser focused on my face. “Have you told your father about this child?”

I shake my head vehemently. “You know he would only worry more. Especially with my birthday coming up soon.”

“Yes and the anniversary of her death. He will always worry about you considering you inherited her gifts unlike your brother. The hunters will only be able to sense you if they begin searching. The pains are not related to them though. I believe something much more powerful is going on with this pain. I will do some research to see if I am correct, but we may not have an answer until you have another attack.”

I breathe a small sigh of relief that it isn’t the hunters causing the pain. “I won’t tell him until you can discover the source.”

She stands and opens her top desk drawer. As I watch she pulls out a small blue vial. Tipping it over, I watch the light blue sparkles fall into her palm. She says a few whispered words that sound more like song syllables and then blow them into the air. It swirls around the room and forms a dome inside the room encompassing us.

“Total shroud.” She says before I watch her press a button in the drawer. A hidden one pops out on the bottom, and she pulls it out. I see glittering jewels and other small vials nestled in it neatly. She reaches toward the back pulling out a small pink velvet pouch.

“This is very old little sparkle. It has been passed down to each Farrington daughter as her twenty-first birthday approached. Your mother had it and wore it until you were born. Then we secured it again. You will do the same. It cannot be removed by anyone other than your mate or yourself. The Pendant of Praesi will hide your identity while your sparkle manifests. That may commence any time after your birthday.”

I stare at the delicate almost translucent chain with the brilliant lavender teardrop that hangs from it. It sparkles so brilliantly.

“What is the chain made of?”

“Fannidite. A metal found exclusively in our tizzies. And it can only be worn by our kind. It is stronger than any other metal on the planet. And it cannot be melted, broken, or destroyed by magic even. The stone is the same way. The only way it can be shattered is if you die while wearing it.”

I lift my hair so she can fasten it around my neck. As she lays the chain on my skin, I feel a sudden burst of warmth flood over me. It seems to start where the pendant touches me and spreads outward. Mimi watches me closely as she takes a step back. A sudden gust of air brushes over me, and I can smell her. My mother… her scent, that gentle lavender vanilla that was her signature. I close my eyes breathing it in as her voice echoes in my mind.

“My beautiful little Bellamy, time to find your gifts. Keep me close in your heart, my little sparkle.” I cannot hold back the tears that stream out from my closed eyelids.

I open them to find Mimi crying also.

“Did you hear her?” I whisper afraid to be too loud and disturb this wonderful moment.

She nods slowly, her own eyes tearful. “I did. That gem also holds a memory from the last wearer when they remove it to store for their daughter.”

With a whisper, the dome falls in a cascade of shimmering blue waves.

As I walk into the dining room in my father’s suite, his eyes immediately find the gem around my neck.

“Bell…” He says softly and I am sure he is picturing Mom wearing this necklace as I walk toward him. She had strawberry blonde hair whereas mine is more of a coppery red, deeper than her.

“I was wondering when Morgarella would give you that. Getting a bit worried I will admit.” He smiles sadly and I lean down to hug him. Mimi joins us and we reminisce about some of Mom’s funniest moments after she met Dad.

Before we leave the table, he looks at me very seriously. “I do not have to tell you to be careful and aware as your birthday nears. One of the reasons why we are going to Cold Spring. Being in a different location even though it’s your uncle’s pack will at least slow them down a bit. The daughter of the Alpha would be expected to have a big celebration in her pack. And that’s why I am throwing one but it will be explained that you couldn’t make it back in time. No outside visitors allowed.”

Guilt fills me that he has to take these kind of measures. But when you are hybrid, a forbidden one at that, you can never be too careful. My mother thought she was careful enough. The fairy hunters found her somehow though even with Mimi enchanting her to make it appear she had a wolf.

And now I am half fairy, half wolf. Mimi isn’t sure what my abilities will be yet as there hasn’t been a hybrid like me in a very long time.

Right before it was banned to have a mate other than another fairy in the Tizzy Kingdom. The Werewolf World doesn’t care who your mate is, but the Fairy King did after his daughter mated to a wolf and she was killed by a rival Alpha to her mate. He thought she could use her fairy gifts to help him conquer other packs. The old tale of power and greed. He died painfully per legend, the Fairy King himself hauling him away after locking him in his own mind. They say he was tortured daily for fifty years. Her mate was heartbroken when she died and he didn’t survive long afterwards. He would have died at the Fairy King’s hands as he held him equally responsible for not protecting his daughter’s life.

Technically since I am half fairy, I am forbidden from having a wolf mate. I know that I will though. My wolf can feel it. I will not have two which had been another fear of mine; a fairy mate and a wolf mate to match each side of my soul.

Mimi used her abilities and gave me that answer when I confessed how worried I was about that. Then I would definitely be found out by the fairy world and executed or they would execute my wolf mate. One of the reasons I am not anxious to meet my mate. I worry about what they will feel to find out I am a forbidden hybrid. Will they be upset that I may always be in danger and that our offspring will be too? Or will they think I can give them some kind of advantage and only want me for the reason?

Things that have kept me awake more nights in the last year than they should have. Dad always says not to borrow trouble and the Moon Goddess knows what she is doing when she chooses my mate. I’d like to believe that but I’ve seen bad mate bonds many times.

Axton’s face is a fleeting thought in my mind. If he were my mate, he would understand I like to think. He’s already passed his twentieth birthday and his wolf would have scented me as his mate since he is a Beta. I’d been so nervous seeing him right after that week. I truly tried not to set myself up for disappointment but it happened regardless. So now, I have to hope for someone equally wonderful.