My True Self

Chapter 3

“I’m your mother.” The woman before me silently said. My legs began to tremor and my heart skipped a beat. I was told over the years that my parents had died; my mother through a car accident and my father from the war across seas.

She wore a black laced dress that touched the ground and swayed with her body elegantly as she walked. All that ran through my mind was that it was impossible that this beautiful woman would be my mother.

I slowly begin to step back and try to understand what is going on. She notices my reaction, and smiles gently at me.

“I can understand your confusion, but I have answers to many of your questions.” She calmly reassured me. I looked around and gathered my surroundings around me once more, making sure Carol or Ron didn’t see or follow me out here. The woman notices that I am near panicked and slowly reaches out to me and grabs my hand. Almost instantly, a field of flashbacks and memories that were not mine traveled through my head.

The woman is holding a baby; so small with black hair and bright blue eyes. She is singing a soft lullaby to the baby. As she does, a smile and sight of love from the child grows, and the woman’s smile does as well. “My beautiful Gwenniver.” The woman whispers softly as she leans in and kisses her forehead.

The memory flashes forward to the baby being a few months older. The woman is sitting in a chair across the room, reading a book as the baby plays with blocks and toys. A man with a heavy, muscular built body walks into the room and picks the baby up, caressing her and giving her kisses. He walks over to the woman, while still carrying the child, and gives her a kiss and caresses her as well, telling them both how much he loved them.

Another flash, the woman and the baby are hiding in a dark closet. Muffled sounds of screams and distraught outside of the door. The baby is staying quiet, but clinging onto the mother for dear life. The door suddenly swings open, revealing the man from before. He grabs the woman’s hand and she carries the child. They run out of the home and through the forest that surrounds the buildings. Fire and smoke rose from every direction. The man continues to lead the woman and child until they reach a hidden vehicle in the forest. The woman straps the baby to the car seat as the man starts the car. They speed off and drive for what seems like hours. In the meantime, the woman and man talked.

“It’s not safe, they’re after Gwen because of her gifts.” The man spoke. Harshness in his voice.

“We can go somewhere else! The pack can follow us!” The woman pleads. The man shook his head.

“We have to let her live among humans. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to go looking for her in cities or other territories.” He looks over to the woman, she is beginning to cry. He grabs her hand to sooth her as a silent tear rolls down his face. “She will find us again one day. Her wolf will send her back to us. I know it…” he whispers, his voice trembling.

The woman releases my hand and I am back to reality. Her warm smile met my eyes as I looked at her.

“How did you-“ I say and trail off as she laughs silently to herself.

“My gift is showing memories through touch. Each higher-ranked wolf in our pack, including you, has gifts. We are called silver wolves.” She explains to me, yet I am still confused about all that is being said.

Wolves? Pack? Ranks? What does that even mean? I thought to myself. I didn’t understand at all. It’s all too confusing, yet it felt like it was starting to make sense to the dream I have been having more frequently.

I gazed over the person who claimed to be my mother's shoulder at the other people standing nearby. One person stood out to me more than anyone; a tall, tanned, handsome man who stood with the group. His eyes were silver and gold, and his muscles looked like they were about to bludge out of his shirt. He looked back at me, yet I noticed that when he did, he tensed up like something was wrong, yet also at ease and hopeful. The woman squeezes my hand, bringing me back to focus on her. She smiles softly, tears filling her eyes.

"Your wolf must have told you to come out here tonight. She knew where to find me," the woman whispers before pulling me in for an embrace. I stood there, unsure of what to do. I have never gotten affection or love before, never had my hand held or a hug when needed most. The feeling felt different; calming and loving, yet hard for me to grasp the idea of having someone hold me. I slowly raised my arms around her, pulling her close as I could feel the tears filling my eyes as well. I've always wanted to gain love from someone. She gave out a heavy sigh and chuckle as she pulled away from me.

"My love, you haven't said a thing, and yet I know that you have questions," she says as she looks around, until setting her gaze towards the full moon in the sky. "Gwenniver, it is your birthday at last. The moon is at its fullest setting, meaning it is midnight."

"It's not my birthday..." I quietly said to her, reminding myself that I still had a couple of weeks at least until it was. The woman looked down at me and smiled.

"A mother never forgets their child's birthday. When you were brought to live with humans, I believe they set your birthday to a different date." She looked at me, blissfully. Her excitement shined in her eyes. "My dear, your 18th birthday is a great deal for wolves. It is a time where they meet their mates and fully connect to their wolf. Usually, a ceremony is held for the transformation on a full moon, but since yours is on a full moon, it may even happen tonight!"

She must have seen the confusion on my face, still trying to comprehend all that was going on. Yet, her gaze on me became loving and gentle, alert and uneasy quickly. I suddenly heard rustling behind me in the trees,along with the crunching of snow. A woman chuckled that I wish I would never have heard again in my life, as a shotgun was being loaded. The group before me took a stand and stood around the woman and I instantly, as Carol rose from the brush. Her messy hair in a bun and a cigarette in her mouth, with her gun at her side.

"Oh my, my..." Carol laughed. "We got ourselves a little family reunion. I'm sorry to break it to y'all, but the party's over!" A moment of realization kicked in as she stated that. She knew who I was and who my real family was this whole time.

" You lying son of a b***h," I nearly shrieked at her. Her cackle filled the open air. "You told me that my family was dead, that I had nobody and that you knew nothing about my past or family! You told me all these years that I had nothing, and you-"

"I would shut the f**k up if I were you, sweetheart!" Carol interrupted. She stared into my eyes as she walked forward towards us. The men of the group moved forward as well, blocking her way from coming closer, breaking her glare at me and having her focus on them. Carol laughed as she raised her gun and pointed it at the man who I was looking at before. Carol pointed the tip of the barrel under his chin and grinned.

"Funny that y'all think this is gonna stop me." Carol grunted between her teeth as she stared the man in the eyes. He held his ground, not flinching or moving at all. When Carol finally noticed that no one was moving out of the way, she stepped back while still holding the gun up. Before she could move the gun to her shoulder to fire, the woman, my mother, stepped forward. She walked over to Carol, only a couple of inches between her and the gun.

"I'm taking my daughter home." she softly said to Carol. Carol stared at my mother with disgust and anger, yet she lowered the gun.

"You remember why the curses were set in place? Witches don't set them in place for nothing!" Carol said coldly. As Carol looked at my mother, her eyes began to change color; like something was controlling her and her thoughts at the same time. Once her eyes went to normal again, she straightened herself out and began to walk back to the house. She disappeared into the trees and mist, not looking back once. My mother looked over at me, calmly.

"We must go, before anything or anyone else comes back." She instructs the group. They all nodded and turned to me. The other woman in the group smiled at me, slowly raising her hand towards me to take.

"My name is Vanessa. It's good to finally meet and see Luna's daughter." The woman said as I stared at her hand for a moment. I hesitated until I finally took it and led me the other way. As we all walked away, I looked back past the stream and towards the woods where Carol had been. I was finally leaving the hell I had grown up with and lived in, but one thing kept running in my mind. What did she mean by the curse?