A Ribbon Strand: Raised Hackura

Knowing Pt. 2

      I said, “Blah blah blah tell me what your beta blood can come up with plan wise so I can meet Haley.” Dylan said, “My beta blood can’t help you meet a baby that lives in the Hackura realm.” Caleb said, “He’s right Eric…. we keep our ears out for word about her. If she truly is the princess...she’ll have missions.” He tailed off. Then he said, “And…. Alpha Allister found Eddie. Opal killed the Beta Female to be Beta Alfred’s chosen mate. Alpha Allister is trying to track down Tenley. This is all seeming really legit.” I smiled, “Then my mother can f**k off.” Dylan said, “LANGUAGE!” I said, “You already said bullshit.” Dylan said, “I think we can all agree…. bullshit is not as high on bad curse word scale as f**k. Plus you threw in your mother.” I said, “She was being a b***h. She won’t keep me from Haley.” Dylan snorted, “How could she? Your mate could kill her…. easily. Or you know…. our new best friend Bjourn could kill her…. or any of the other Hackura princes…. Isn’t Prince Harper our age Lucas?” Lucas said, “Yes.” Dylan said, “PLAY DATES WITH A PRINCE! Heck…. I’ll even go with the youngest one. Prince Logan….” Jackson said, “If Haley is their siblings…. she’s the youngest.” Dylan said, “She’s not a prince, Jackson...duh. She’s a Princess.” Jackson sighed. 

        Lucas said, “Then who is my mate…. her cousin doesn’t narrow that down at all!” Dylan said, “But it does. The only royals besides the queen that would have a partial fairy child….is a fire or water fairy. It’s insane the queen had a partial fairy with how they feel about their blood. The queen isn’t related to the fire fairy’s...which means….” He paused and we all looked at him. He threw up his hands and said, “Caleb, come through for me. Come on Beta blood! Bring it home for our clueless one day to be Alpha’s.” Caleb said, “A water fairy. Your mate is a partial water fairy Lucas. Most likely a child of Prince Marcious.” Dylan said, “DING DING DING! We get a Duchess, Lucas. Eric always has to one up people. Why are we friends with him again?” I rolled my eyes, “Feel free to not be my friend Dylan.” Dylan said, “Aww…. you make me blush with your declarations of everlasting friendship Eric.” I sighed. It was like talking to an obnoxious toddler with a large vocabulary. Jackson said, “I want to go to Yellow Hills.” Dylan said, “YES! Let’s go talk to Molly! I’d say Chase but...he’s three and can’t say much.” I rolled my eyes. “Come on Jackson.” Caleb said, “Ummm we didn’t get permission to cross the border.” I said, “They’ll be busy with all this news. They won’t notice.” Caleb sighed, “Alright.” 

        Dylan said, “She’s like ten. She’s not going to believe you’re her mate.” Jackson growled. I said, “Dylan...shut up.” Dylan said, “Shutting up.” I snorted. That would be the day. We walked over to the border. Dylan said, “You do realize you’re going to tell a ten-year-old you’re her mate? This is something we realize, right?” Jackson said, “She smells amazing. I’ve always thought so.” I asked, “What does she smell like?” Jackson smiled, “Ginger.” Dylan said, “Sure…. that totally answers what I said. We are in complete control of knowing exactly what crazy thing we are doing.” Lucas elbowed him in the ribs. Dylan said, “WHAT? She will think he’s crazy.” Jackson said, “She’s mine. She won’t think I’m crazy. Shut up Dylan.” Dylan sighed, “I’ll just get myself a parrot. The only phrases it will know are, Dylan is right and shut up Dylan.” No. That could not happen. Ever. We crossed the border. I was right. They were too busy to notice us. Molly was playing with her little brother. Jackson said, “Pssst. Molly!” Molly jerked her head up. She smiled and said, “Come on Matt.” He held her hand and walked over to us. 

        Jackson grabbed her and smelled her. Dylan said, “Good opening move Jackson. Going with creepy weirdo.” Molly blushed, “Jackson?” He said, “Have you heard about the notes?” Molly nodded, “My dad and Alpha Frank went to Alpha Allister’s pack. He’s so upset…. I think…” She looked at Matt. He puffed up his chest, “I’ll be the beta one day.” Molly rolled her eyes, “Yes, you will. I think they are going to kill Opal. Eddie’s first words to Alpha Allister were mommy said you didn’t want me. He’s enraged.” I would be too in his situation. I said, “He did just also learn Opal wanted to kill him.” Molly winced, “Opal admitted she killed the Luna too.” My eyes went wide, “WHAT?!” Jackson said, “Anyway…. can we go talk Molly? Privately.” She said, “I’m watching Matt.” I said, “We can watch him.” Dylan said, “That’s us. Future Beta and Alpha babysitters. We have a club. We sneak over borders, talk to girls, and babysit. We are bad boys.” Molly said, “You’ll have to take him to find Chase. They are playing hide and seek.” Dylan said, “Just the three old I wanted to talk to.” Matt said, “Come on Dylan!” Dylan said, “Of course I’m the chosen one. Children sense how fun I am.” Molly raised an eyebrow, “You’re a kid too Dylan.” Dylan said, “I am wise for my age.” Molly laughed and Jackson dragged her off. Dylan mockingly said, “Let’s go see Molly and make Dylan try to find Yellow Hills future Alpha. It will be fun, they said. No will notice they said.” I said, “No one has noticed.” 

        Dylan said, “If you’re going to point out I’m wrong I’ll just be off to find the future Alpha of Yellow Hills…” He turned to Matt, “Do you still wear diapers?” Matt said, “No….” Dylan said, “Good. I don’t change those. Let’s go, future Beta Matt. Finding Alpha’s is what we do. It’s in our blood.” Matt said, “it is?” Dylan said, “Among other things like asking the right questions, and keeping our alpha’s calm. We are also good at finding them.” Matt laughed, “You know lots.” Dylan said, “I was wrong…. children are my people. They understand me.” I said, “You’re nine for god’s sake.” Dylan said, “We established I’m an old soul.” He left to go find Chase. Caleb said, “Do you really think Princess Haley is your mate?” I said, “I do. I was intrigued by the first memo we got.” Caleb said, “I know. You stole it.” I said, “My mate said we didn’t meet until I’d given up. That’s at least a decade of waiting. Why else would it take so long for her to get to me? She’s a baby. That’s why.” Caleb bit his lip. I asked, “What?” Caleb said, “I read your note Eric…. I think…. I think she was in the ring in her reality.” I growled, “No!” Caleb held up his hands, “She suffered. Fabian…. maybe he ran the one in Faerie.” I growled again. Lucas said, “Shh!” I seethed. I said, “She won’t be in one here.” Lucas said, “It’s surreal. There are other realities. Ahead of where our lives are. How crazy is that?”

        I said, “It’s really cool.” Dylan said, “Yeah, and it’s all brought to us courtesy of Eric Conners. Ain’t that just a kick in the teeth. It’s so hard like you sometimes.” I said, “Don’t be jealous.” Dylan snorted, “Hey, your mate is my friend, and my mate is my best friend's little sister. Dylan’s life is good too. Look who we found. Baby Chase.” I said, “He’s a toddler not a baby.”  Dylan shrugged, “It’s future Alpha Baby Chase to you Eric.” Chase said, “I’m not a baby. I’m a big boy.” Dylan said in a baby tone, “Of course you are future Alpha Baby Chase.” Jackson came back holding hands with Molly. Dylan said, “Just out of curiosity…. Does anything go for you Conners boys how it goes for the rest of us? I’d be slapped if I told some girl, I was her mate because some alternate reality fairy mate of my brother said so.” I said, “We don’t phrase things like that.” Dylan said, “You don’t go with the truth?” Jackson said, “I told her the truth. I just didn’t phrase it that way.” Molly blushed. Dylan said, “OHHHHH Jackson and Molly sitting in a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G…. first comes Eric’s mate to spill the beans. Then comes waiting until we are all eighteen.” 

        I asked, “Lucas…. does he EVER shut up?” Lucas said, “No. No he doesn’t.” Dylan said, “Lucas loves my gab.” Lucas said, “I do. He’s my best friend.” Dylan said, “Now I’m feeling all twitterpated.” I said, “Well yay for you.” Dylan said, “Don’t be grumps because your mate is a baby.” I said, “Yours isn’t even conceived yet.” Dylan said, “Ahhh but I’ll know her as soon as she’s born.” I growled. Molly sighed, “You guys had better go.” Jackson pulled her to him. He rested his forehead on hers. He said, “I don’t want to go.” Dylan said, “Oh for craps sake man! Get it together. She’ll be fine.” Molly ignored him and whispered, “I don’t want you to go either.” I said, “We’ll come back Jackson. We can set up a border meet.” Jackson nodded. Dylan said, “Look at you…. that’s a good plan.” I said, “I am an Alpha. I’m good at plans.” Dylan said, “Oh yeah? What’s your plan to get into the Hackura realm and track down a part fairy part Hackura baby” I growled at him. Caleb said, “Your dad is looking for us Eric.” I sighed, “Let’s go.” We took off running. We were faster than most even without our wolves. Jackson and I would be really fast once we had our wolves. We made it back to the spot we’d run to. My dad was observing the tree I’d punched. My hand had healed by now. My dad said, “Boys, you snuck off to see Molly I’d venture.” Jackson said, “How….?” My dad laughed, “I’d have done the same thing. Just ask permission. Obviously, this is different. We know a few of you boys' mates. Beta Isaac already knows what the letter said. He asked Molly if you smelled strongly to her, Jackson. She shrugged saying you did. You two always gravitate towards each other. I’d suspected she was your mate already.” Jackson said, “You didn’t say anything.” My dad shrugged, “It’s not a guarantee. Sometimes we swear pups are mates and they aren’t. Run on to the house boys.” We turned. My dad said, “Not you Eric.” Jackson stopped and stayed back with me.

        My dad said, “Go on Jackson.” Jackson looked at me and I nodded. My dad waited until Jackson was far enough away. He said, “My boys are good brothers to each other.” I smiled, “He’s a very good brother.” My dad said, “Don’t lose that son. I always wished I had siblings. Your mom has a big family.” I bristled. My mom’s family had a few cousins I liked. The girls were obnoxious and annoying. Especially Nikki. My dad laughed, “Yeah…. I feel the same way. Some of those girls…. Gonna be a handful to deal with.” I snorted, “Nikki will cause problems everywhere she goes. She’s an entitled brat.” My dad said, “She is. We need to talk, Eric.” I said, “I’m not apologizing to mom.” My dad said, “Did I say you had to?” I said, “Not yet.” My dad sighed and sat down on a tree we’d cut down. He patted the tree next to him. I walked over and sat down. Nathan said, “Your mom is the love of my life. I will love her until my dying breath, but she’s not perfect Eric. When she gets an idea in her head…. it’s hard for her to deviate from it. She had hoped your mate would be one of her friends’ pups or a strong she wolf. Hearing your mate was fairy…. Given what we know of fairies. She worried that your mate would cheat on you.” I growled. My dad said, “She’s not with the fairies though.” I said, “No.” My dad said, “You think it’s Princess Haley Holloran, don’t you?” My eyes jerked up startled. 

        My dad laughed, “I know you stole the memo about her birth. Your eyes lit up when I announced her name.” I said, “She’s the only fae we know that was just born.” My dad said, “We do not know about many fairies that are born. Haley is historic. No partial fairy has been born a princess and lived in Faerie.” I said, “She doesn’t live there anymore. They hurt her.” My dad said, “Her oldest brother seized power today from his mother. I have reports that say he’s very angry with his mother. It seems…. our visitor visited him too.” I said, “Did we get word on Haley?” My dad said, “Porter just told me…. She’s missing.” I smiled, “She’s not missing.” My dad said, “Yes, that word came from Queen Alania. I’m sure King Aiden will correct it soon. Do you know where she is?” I said, “I have a guess.” My dad asked, “Where?” I said, “The Hackura realm. I think she’s King Titus’ daughter.” My dad gaped, “Why?” I said, “I met Bjourn…. he told me to call him Bjourn and said we would be friends and we’d see him again. He’d been visited by my mate too.” My dad was silent for several minutes. Then said, “That would be astounding, son. I always knew from the moment you were born…. you’d be responsible for big things. I’ve always felt you have such a big destiny in front of you Eric. I don’t want you to forget to live your life though. She’s quite a bit younger than you if you are right on who she is. Even if you are wrong, we know she’s a baby.” I nodded, “She said the same in her note.” My dad said, “The Hackura and the Fae view relationships differently than we do.” I said, “The Hackura’s relationships are based on respect. She will be raised there.” My dad said, “King Aiden will do everything in his power to be a part of her life. If she has powers…. he will insist on it.” I said, “Partial fairies don’t have powers.” My dad said, “None are princesses. She’s one of a kind son.”

        We sat there in silence. I said, “You can keep mom from being mean to her…. right?” My dad said, “Your mom isn’t directly mean.” I growled, “I don’t want her to be mean to her! Lucas’ mate is a fairy. I bet his mom is fine with it.” My dad sighed, “Debbie and your mother are very different people.” I said, “So Debbie didn’t care, did she?” My dad said, “No, Debbie pointed out partial fairies aren’t the same as normal fairies. We don’t know much about them, but clearly your mate is different. She didn’t have to give us all those details to warn us. Whatever reality she’s from…. she loves you son. Porter is looking into being twice light bound. We all know a fairy sharing their light is a big deal. They are far too selfish. That your mate did it twice…. It means she is fairly unselfish. It also means the two of you are very much in love and eternal mates.” I said, “What does that mean?” My dad ran a hand through his hair, “From what Porter was able to find out….and it’s just rumors it means that you are always each other’s in all realties. Gosh this is weird. Alternate realities. We will keep digging, but not a lot is known about fairies. Porter thinks being twice light bound is incredibly rare…. We haven’t been able to find anything on jumping realities, but we keep trying.” I nodded. I didn’t care. My heart ached to meet the fairy princess.

        I said, “I want to meet her.” My dad said, “If she turns out to be King Titus’ daughter…. I don’t know how we work that out Eric.” I set my jaw. My dad said, “I’m not saying we don’t try. I’m just saying…. you’re thirteen. They don’t meet their mates until they are sixteen….and she’s the only girl in that family. They will be protective. Especially given what this letter implies. If you saw Prince Bjourn…. then we know they probably met her. They are going to be even more overprotective than normal.” I sighed, “I just want to protect her dad.” My dad rubbed my back, “We will gather as much information as we can on her. We will do what we can. We will protect your mate from afar.” I said, “You believe me?” My dad said, “You’ve always had good instincts Eric. if this is what your instincts say...until there is proof you are wrong...I believe you.” I said, “What about mom?” My dad said, “You will not speak to your mother with that disrespectful tone. Your mom has plenty of time to come around about your mate. I’ll work on her. Alpha Allister has his son to raise now because of your mate. He’s looking for the other one. Your mate saved his life…. they’ve found Opal’s plans…. she was going to kill the Gamma’s too.” I said, “How is he going to keep Wyatt away from Sophia?” My dad shrugged, “I’m sure he will keep a close watch on them. He can’t do anything because Wyatt is just a child, and he’s done nothing wrong in our reality.” 

        I nodded, “I can’t tell you how I know…. but we need to protect Elias from Blue Moon. He could die if we don’t.” My dad was quiet, “Did you get more information I didn’t get from your mate?” I nodded, “Yes. She didn’t mean for that information to be hidden from the larger group though.” My dad said, “But there is something she wants kept from the larger group that she shared with you…. or one of the other boys.” I said, “There’s a reason.” My dad nodded, “I told you before Eric…. I trust your instincts. I’ll let Dale know to watch out for Elias. Any ideas on when?” I shook my head, “It’s a rogue attack.” My dad sighed, “Your poor mate probably doesn’t know when she’s going to get pulled in and doesn't know when she’s leaving. She was obviously popping all over the place to get us information. I won’t forget that when we meet her son. She saved us a lot of heartache.” I said, “What are we doing about the Alpha of the Ducants and Alpha Hammond?” My dad said, “We are watching both of them. We are gathering information. Based on what time it seems to be in the other reality your mate came from…. It was their sons that you were dealing with. We are trying to see if they inherited their practices from their father’s or did this on their own.” 

        I studied my dad, “You don’t think they did it on their own. You think their fathers started it.” My dad snorted, “No. I had Porter check on the blow by from the Ducant pack in the past six months. Three humans are pregnant in our territory. They have progressed faster than normal human pregnancies. The doctor believes they are wrong about conception dates. A month to two off.” I said, “What are we going to do?” I said, “Our job. We protect them. We can’t bring humans into the pack, but we will protect those women. They are in our territory, and they are our responsibility. We will crack down on the Ducants coming through this area. They will be watched closely. We will monitor the pups…. we may have to bring them into the pack. They will be half werewolves. They could get a wolf. Either way before their sixteenth birthday we will have to meet them and explain.” I nodded, “I understand.” My dad said, “This is our territory son. We don’t just look out for wolves here. We are the law in this territory for supernatural’s. We do what we can to protect the humans here because we are protectors. That’s in our blood.” I nodded, “I will do the same when I take over.” My dad smiled “I know all you boys will. I know my boys will all have their own packs one day. I feel it.” I stiffened, “They won’t leave. We are stronger together. They can have their packs here. We can expand our territory instead.” My dad startled, “Son, that’s not how things are done.” I stood, “Things will change. My brothers and I are at our best together. We are stronger and safer together. I won’t stop them from running a pack. I will just have that pack be merged into our territory.”