Ezra.

Tomorrow I was taking Orla to the pack. But I had promised to take her out today. I realized we had never been outside campus aside from the time we went to the doctor's. I wanted to spend more time with her away from the confines of school and all the looks and the whispers. I wanted to see her unique eyes turn wide with wonder and curiosity. I wanted to show her the world and be there for every one of her first experiences.

I'd thought I was more excited than she was. But seeing her skip down the stairs with a perky expression and a grin, I doubted it. Her hair flowed down to her waist in bouncy waves, and her figure was hidden away in an oversized sweater and jeans.

"Ready?" I asked, standing up from the island stool. I had gone to change in my cabin. I still hadn't moved my things to her room as she asked. I was over the moon when she did, I doubted she even realized what a big step that was. She was letting me in in every way that counted, and I couldn't be happier.

"Yep! Let me just put some food out for Gray. Haley had him last. But he might drop by here."

She walked over to me after filling the pup's bowl and changing his water. I cocked my head with a frown. There was something wrong. An annoying buzz came from around her neck. I eyed the necklace she wore and it clicked.

"Is that a new necklace?" I asked, pushing her hair behind her back without touching the jewelry.

She looked down at it with a soft, nostalgic smile, sliding the pendant back and forth. It was a wing. The feathers were intricately drawn. Every one of them looked almost alive. But I couldn't enjoy the beauty of it because it was giving me a headache.

"Actually, no," she said. "I had it with me ever since I was a baby. The orphanage mistress told me it was the only item with me when they found me. Well, this and a sheet of paper stating my name. I don't wear it much because I'm afraid I'll lose it."

There was a sadness in her eyes when she talked about her past. It must feel terrible, knowing she'd been abandoned by her own parents. I nudged her chin with my finger and she smiled.

"It's silver," I said.

Orla blinked at me then down at the necklace with a cute frown. "Really? I didn't know. How can you tell?"

"Because it's giving me a little headache," I said. "Silver is kryptonite to supernaturals."

"What?" she said, wide eyed.

"You know how we heal quickly," I said. "Silver wounds are the exception. They might not even heal if they're not tended to. And a high dose of liquid silver injected in our blood stream could be fatal."

She stepped back and fumbled with the clasp of the necklace, looking at it like it was a WMD. "I'll put it back in its box."

She disappeared up the stairs.

A silver necklace. It was pure silver, too. My head still hurt from the irritating buzz.

Pure silver... Hmm.

*** **** ***

"So, is silver bad for all supernaturals?" Orla asked when we were driving out of campus. The wind rustled the trees on either side of the road, but the sky was cloudless.

"Yeah," I said, then corrected myself, "Well, all supernaturals that still exist."

"What do you mean?" she asked, turning slightly in her seat, her expression eager.

"There are two supernatural species that went extinct a long time ago. Remember the story I told you about how mates came to be?"

"Yeah, the one about Zenas, the first werewolf, and the moon goddess."

"That one. I told you that the moon goddess had a child with an angel."

"Yeah, Primus. He fell in love with a human. And his daughter was Zenas' mate."

"You remembered," I said with a proud smile. Her memory was good. "Primus was a very strong creature, but they say that after his daughter left with Zenas, he was very lonely. He longed for people of his own."

"He didn't have any other child?"

I shook my head. "Not that we know of, anyway. Zenas' mate, her name in the legend is Aphra, was said to be his only child. But the moon showed him a way to have people of his own. He made a new species of supernatural creatures by giving humans his blood. After a human drank from his blood, he or she would turn into what we called a 'fae'. Faes were known to be very strong creatures. One of their unique features, which they inherited from Primus, is that they were much more immune to silver than other supernaturals. It could still harm them, but not in a fatal way. They would heal eventually, even if injected with it."

"So humans drank from Primus' blood, and were turned into fae," she thought out loud, "and they were more immune to silver than you are."

"Much more immune. That's what made other supernaturals come after them. Some supernaturals were blinded by their greed and hunger for power, so they chased every fae they found, they killed the males and caught the females, forced them to have their children."

"Oh my God..." she breathed out in horror. I took her hand in mine and kissed her knuckles before resting them both on her lap.

"They wanted their line to be strong, immune to silver. But the fae females only ever produced normal supernaturals. For example, if a fae had a wolf's child, the child would only be a pure blooded werewolf. With no powers of the fae kind.

"Despite that, greed didn't stop those criminals. Each time a female fae didn't produce what they wanted after trying a few times, they would kill her. Until there was no one left of the fae."

"That's horrible."

"Yeah. It's a war that our grandparents fought. There were good supernaturals who tried to save the fae, but they couldn't. The species had small numbers compared to others to begin with, and they all lived in one place which made them an easy target. There are some stories and rumors about fae who managed to escape with the help of some of the good people, and that they are still in hiding, but no one knows for sure. No fae's been spotted for thousands of years."

"What about Primus' daughter, Aphra? I assume Primus had died." I nodded. She continued. "But his daughter had children with Zenas, were they all werewolves? Normal werewolves?"

"Why would you think they wouldn't be normal werwolves? I did say that fae could only give birth to normal supernaturals," I asked with a smile.

"Yes, but Aphra wasn't a fae, not really. She wasn't made by Primus' blood. She was his daughter. She had his blood in her."

I glanced at her. She was so smart, it was turning me on. She blushed. "Well?"

"You're right." I cleared my throat. "Zenas' children weren't normal werewolves. They were stronger than the wolves Zenas had made by biting them. Their immunity to silver was much higher, and they had inherited some of their mother's powers.

"That's the reason the fae were targeted in the first place. Other supernaturals thought they could have strong offspring like Zenas by getting a fae to mother them."

"Mhm, so Zenas' line has the strongest werewolves..." she trailed off and narrowed her eyes at me. "You're one, aren't you? You're a descendent from Zenas' line."

"I am. Zenas was the first king. The royal wolves are his direct descendants."

"So you're more immune to silver?" she asked, leaning towards me, her eyes wide.

"I'm more immune to silver compared to other wolves, although not as much as the first children of Zenas. The further you get from the original offspring, the more watered down the blood is, thus the more power it loses."

"Mhm." She grinned. "I like this. It's like a fun crash course on supernatural origins and history."

I smiled. After a few seconds, she spoke again. "You said there were two supernatural species that don't exist anymore. The first one are the fae. What's the second?"

"Primus and his daughter, Aphra," I replied. "They're two of a kind. Descendants of the moon Goddess and an angel. We call them Moon Children. Primus didn't have any other child, and his daughter's offspring were all werewolves, so the line stopped at her."

"The moon children and the fae," she mumbled to herself.

The scenery was changing around us. The thick trees gave way to a more hilly terrain. "So where are we going?" Orla asked.

"The ocean."

"You mean the beach."

"No, I mean the ocean."

A couple of hours later, the road wound around a hill and an expanse of blue shimmered in the horizon. Orla was sleeping soundly, her head again the glass, my hand clutched in hers.

I didn't want to wake her. But she would love the view of the coastal road. "Orla."

She stirred a little before settling back, sound asleep. I smiled and squeezed her hand. "Orla, sweetheart, wake up."

"Mhm. You can go training," she mumbled. "But Ashley can't get hurt."

I chuckled. "Orla," I said louder, shaking her arm. "We're almost at the ocean. Look."

She frowned, blinking her eyes open for a few seconds. Then she sat up quickly, rubbing her eyes. "Wow. That's so pretty."

The road wound down between green hills from one side and rocky shores from the other. Orla rolled down the window and laughed when the wind blew her hair into her face. She tucked the fiery mass in her collar and poked her head out. I couldn't even focus on the road. She looked so beautiful with her flushed cheeks and strands of red hair blowing in the wind. The salty smell of the ocean tickled my nose. It would be a good day.

We reached the small harbor. Our steps echoed on the wooden dock. The closest settlement was a small human town nearby. The harbor was mostly deserted. Only a couple of people were taking care of their boats.

Orla's face lit up when she saw the boats. She swung our linked hands and grinned at me. "We're really going out to sea?"

"Yes." We stopped at the small yacht. I glanced around, picked her up and hopped in. Her smile was wide and her mismatched eyes lit up with the glimmer of the sun against the ocean. She was almost bouncing on her toes. Pride warmed; I was the one who put this look in her eyes.

Her cautious steps carried her to the edge of the boat, and she scanned the water below. She managed to look at everything like it was made of gold.

I was getting jealous of her surroundings. I approached and wrapped my arms around her. She smiled over her shoulder at me, her attention mine again.

I was such a child.

"You like it?"

She nodded eagerly. "I do! Thanks for bringing me here."

"You're welcome."

"Who's going to drive, though?"

"I will."

She raised her eyebrows. "You can drive a boat."

"It's not difficult. Come on, I'll teach you."

We headed to the cockpit. Orla's head swung around, taking in the white deck, the white leather benches on either side, the table and small refrigerator underneath. I tugged her to stand between me and the wheel.

"Are you sure this is okay?" she asked.

I kissed her temple. "It's fine. You're so short I can see everything."

"Hey!" her elbow jabbed my stomach. "I'm a very normal person, thank you very much. You're just... huge."

I chuckled and maneuvered the boat into the open water. Orla had a blast, especially when I let her hold the wheel. She was radiant, and sometimes I could swear her skin and hair were glimmering under the morning sun.

We made our a stop for lunch, in the middle of the blue where no one was in sight, except for my guards. They were on their own boat, a safe distance away. I doubted Orla even noticed them.

The guards had brought with them a couple of food containers when they checked the boats before our arrival. I got them out of the insulated box.

"I'm going to assume you didn't cook," Orla said, sitting on the white bench next to me.

"A fact for which you should be grateful," I said. "If I cooked, we wouldn't have any lunch."

She laughed and opened one of the containers. Unfortunately, my cooking skills were limited to breakfast and light dishes. I was lucky one of us was a good cook. I could still remember how excited she'd been while cooking for the barbecue, and how heavenly her food tasted.

We ate in silence for a few moments before she asked. "By the way, what sort of powers did the fae and moon children have?"

I swallowed a bite of chicken salad before answering. "Their main power was the ability to yield magic, like witches. And they were especially known for their healing abilities."

She cocked her head. "So they're like witches?"

"Yes, except the fae's magic was much stronger. The very first witch had her powers because she was blessed by the moon. The moon blessed her with the ability to use magic from life all around us. While for the fae, their magic comes from the moon herself. The magic was born with Primus, it was a part of him, and when he turned the humans into fae, he transferred parts of his magic through his blood. So it became part of the fae."

She chewed, her cheek like a chipmunk's. She swallowed and waved her fork around as she spoke. "So the origin of the witch's magic is a bless from the moon, and they can use the magic that already exists in their surroundings, while fae magic is something that is part of them?"

"Pretty much."

"How does that make a difference?"

"Witches' abilities are limited. They can only use a certain amount of magic, and it takes a lot of energy. Fae magic is inherent, it regenerates with every heartbeat. But apart from the magic, some fae were known to control the elements of nature. Water, fire, earth, air."

Her eyes widened. "Oooh. That's amazing. How come such strong creatures were defeated?"

"They were outnumbered by hundreds. Besides, only the strongest of the fae were able to control the elements, ordinary fae only had their magic. The closer the fae was to Primus, the more powerful they were.

"Let's say I'm Primus. If I give you my blood, you will be the strongest since you're closer to my line, but if you gave your blood to another human, they won't be as powerful."

"The blood gets watered down," she mumbled.

"Exactly. The war on the fae was long after Primus and the very first fae had died, so the fae weren't as strong as they had been. Which made targeting them easier. But even if they were stronger, the war wasn't fair for them, not with their small number."

"I feel sorry for them," she whispered.

Putting my container on the bench, I pulled her to my side, pressing my lips to her forehead.

"I know. Our grandparents told us stories about them. The fae. They were such peaceful and gentle creatures. There are legends that say the angel that the moon had fallen in love with, Primus' father, was the angel of peace. And that was a reason why the fae and had such a gentle disposition.

"That's why they didn't try to take over more land or rule more people. They were content with what they had even though they had the ability to take over the world if they wanted to."

She hummed, her face dejected. I knew exactly how to brighten her mood. I opened the fridge and pulled out a box of dessert. Orla perked up when she saw the Black Forest cake pieces and the chocolate truffles. She kissed my cheek and took the box from my hand, a smile lighting up her eyes and dimpling her cheeks. That was much better.

The gentle waves rocked off the boat. Fortunately, the wind had dwindled down to a soft breeze. It was surprisingly good weather for this time of the year. After we had our dessert, we sat down on the platform in back of the boat, our feet in the cold ocean water.

Letting out a deep sigh, she leaned her head against my shoulder. "Tomorrow is my birthday."

She was looking at the endless water stretching before us. I just hummed. I had a feeling she just wanted someone to listen.

"I never celebrated it ever since I ki-," she paused.

"Ever since he passed away," I continued. She had been telling herself she'd killed him for a long time, and it would take longer to get over it.

"Since he passed away," she said. "My mom was never the same after that. She barely ever looked at me. I don't blame her. But I kept telling myself that it would all pass, that she would be okay with me again. I believed my own lie for years, never letting myself believe that she doesn't want me anymore, that she didn't consider me her daughter ever since that day. I just- I just wanted a family, I guess."

Her voice broke in the end and my heart broke with it. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and kissed her hair. I was happy that she opened up to me on her own, but my heart hurt for the pain she must've lived through all her life.

"You have a family now, you know," I told her. She looked up at me with glistening eyes. "You have a family. You have me, Ash, Sam, Haley, Zach. They all consider you family already. And we'll make an even bigger family someday, you and I."

She chuckled as her eyes lit up. "Promise?"

"Promise," I said and sealed it with a kiss.

The afternoon waned on as we sat there, side by side. I wished I could capture the peacefulness of the moment so I could relive it whenever I could. I had a feeling we wouldn't get another chance to be so carefree in the near future.

My thoughts were proven right when my phone pinged with a message. It was Zach.

Vlad is here. 

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Hey guys! I hope you're doing well. Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed this chapter. 

Next one is from Ezra's POV, too. 

Also, down below is a little diagram illustrating the story above. I hope it helps.

Much love <3 <3 <3

M.B.