Forbidden Mate: Awakening

What was he doing back here?

“I need to speak with Lily. It’s urgent.” Jaxon told Sarah.

I had already walked up to them and Jaxon’s eyes met mine. I could see the desperation in them.

“Anything you want to say to me, you can say it in front of her too.” I said, gesturing to Sarah.

Jaxon looked confused, “But Lily…”

“I’ve told her too. I told you we need to get as many helping hands for you…”

“But not just anyone.. I told you trusting people is the last thing I want to do now.”

“I’m not just anyone.” Sarah responded to Jaxon.

“Lily…” Jaxon pleaded to me with his voice but I was firm.

“She’s already part of this too. We only want to help you.”

He sighed and we motioned for him to enter. As he was about to, someone called him from outside.

“You’re needed by the commander, Jaxon.” It was one of his colleagues.

Sarah and I exchanged a look then glanced at him.

“I’m sorry, maybe another time.” As he’s about leaving, Sarah wanted to call him back but I pulled her in and shut the door.

“But he said it was urgent! Why can’t he just quickly tell us?”

“In his own time, he will.” I defended him.

“I can’t still shake off the inconsistencies in his story. He has a ton of explanation to do.”

“Let’s just do some research now.”

“On?”

“The rebel group.”

“Word of mouth or internet?”

I rolled my eyes, “I’ll do B, you do A, since you’re the better socializer.”

“Okay, cool.”

°°°°°°

I couldn’t help but sense a lurking presence. I realized someone else except from Sarah and I knew about Jaxon’s predicament and wondered who was behind it. Who could we actually trust when the pack’s foundation had been shaken by the capture of that vampire?

Unknown to us, there was an ominous figure watching, and the uncertainty about the future overshadowed everything else we were doing.

Worse still, if only we realised Jaxon’s facade in all this, a lot damage that was caused after this day would’ve been avoided.

••••••••••••

After convincing my mom to let me visit him just once in 2 weeks, I walked into the dark cell where Adrian was being held, feeling both excited and worried. The situation was very serious, and I approached him with concern. When our eyes met, we silently understood each other.

“Adrian,” I gasped quietly and rushed to hold the bars. He quickly noticed me and walked out of the darkness into the little light which shown on the bars and I saw his hands cover mine. They were still soft and I slowly saw his face. He looked fine, but hungry and exhausted. Had they been starving him?

“I hope they’ve not been starving you?”

He still had the energy to chuckle, “What else did you want them to do to a prisoner? Pamper me?”

“You’re not a prisoner, you’re an innocent person who’s been detained for no reason.” I said gritting my teeth.

“I’ve been fine , Lily.”

“I miss you.” I said, staring into his ever emerald eyes.

He smiled back and held my hands more tightly.

“Adrian, you need to tell me the truth. You need to break that ice that’s still holding me from fully trusting you. I need to know everything about you, please, so I can help you.” I began, almost whispering. “I need to know the truth. About your past.”

He hesitated for a moment before nodding, accepting my request. He took a deep breath and started telling me the story that had troubled him for a long time. I almost felt my breath caught in my throat.

“I can’t tell you everything about my past now, but I promise I will, in bits. There’s an old prophecy,” Adrian began, his voice filled with pain but firmness. “It talks about a special person who has both vampire and werewolf blood and not just any kind of blood, a crescented one which is one of the most powerful ones ever birthed in existence. This person has incredible power and can either bring balance or cause great harm to the world we live in.”

I listened carefully, my heart pounding. His words felt significant, as if they held the key to our future. Adrian continued, his voice shaking with emotion.

“I am that person, Lily. I have had both vampire and werewolf blood in me since I was born. I never understood why, but people would always tell me that I was strange. It was only my foster mom who told me I was special. My foster mom told me my parents died about a century ago and I was raised till I was a toddler by a secret group of people…”

When he paused, I wanted to ask a question but I let him continue. My throat went completely dry.

“But it’s not just the prophecy that troubles me; it’s also my past. I used to be part of a secret group called the Shadows, remember the ones who raised me till I was a toddler? They had told me I had to serve them for saving and raising me till my foster mom got me. Turns out they wanted to control and manipulate supernatural beings. I was also part of the vampire army during this time and when they found out that I was a Shadow, that’s when I started running. They had wiped out most in our brotherhood and our leader told me I was obligated to stay alive even though the rest of them died.”

His words gave me a chilling feeling, and I couldn’t help but feel both fear and sympathy for Adrian.

“Wow. That’s…I can’t even…” I was short of words.

“I know.”

“But if you were a hybrid since you were born, why did the Limean transformation affect you like that?”

“No, it didn’t. I…lied to you.” He said starkly. “It didn’t turn me into anything and that night I transformed, it was because it was a Quarter moon. It doesn’t affect normal werewolves but it always affected me. Throughout the week, I felt that way not because of what those magicians did to me but because I was going through a phase.”

I opened my mouth. Gosh, everything I thought I knew felt like a lie at that point.

“Why didn’t you tell me this before, Adrian?” I asked, feeling curious and frustrated.

He looked at me regretfully. “I was afraid, Lily. Afraid of the darkness inside me and scared of what might happen to you because of what we shared. The Shadows had always told me I would never end up with anybody because of my destiny and my nature. I didn’t want to corrupt you. I wanted to keep you safe from the chaos that follows me.”

I saw the turmoil on his face and understood his struggle. His past and the prophecy had made him into the conflicted person standing in front of me.

“But now,” Adrian said firmly, “I realize that hiding the truth only makes things more dangerous. I can’t avoid my destiny, but I doubt if I can face it alone.”

His words deeply resonated with me, and I knew that our paths had crossed for a reason. I reached my hand in through the space between the bars and held his cheek.

“We’ll face this together, Adrian,” I said with determination. “Thank you for telling me this. I promise we’ll face whatever comes our way together.”

Adrian’s eyes softened as he held my hand on his cheek, and a faint smile appeared on his face. “I really don’t want anything to happen to you. You’re too precious, Lily.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

I felt butterflies engulf in my stomach.

“Adrian…”

“No, Lily. You aren’t just precious to me. You also have a-”

The door opened and I jumped back. A guard had appeared to inform me my time was over.

As I was walking away, I realised that Adrian still had a lot to tell me, and I hoped I would have another time to hear what he had to say.

But first, I needed to sit down and take in all what he just told me.