" There's nothing wrong with my hearing." I mumble, pulling back from her.

" No." She says, placing my hand back to where it was.

I am brought back to the sight of this man, I now have learnt is Michael and not who I thought he was, Elder Thomas. I am confused and taken aback by all of this, but still I hold in all questioning, deciding to watch.

He sits down next to my frame and remove his head cover, before he reaches out his hand to my face but within reach, he suddenly stops. It's like he's always presented himself before us, his white almost silver like hair is tied back and kept very neat. One would think he has short hair.

" For decades, I've waited for this moment, you never made it easy." I hear him say, pulling back his hand to his lap.

I can sense that the feeling is not mutual with Niana. The tension is obvious, for the first time she is letting me in on what she truly feels, not in us as a joined force, but she alone.

" I should have known that you would be specific in your choosing. A wise decision you made sister. She truly is like never seen before, she resembles your personality as if it was fated." He let's out a chuckle at the end.

He tries again to touch me but he withdraws. Something is holding him back, not Niana but within himself.

" It was said that I'd never see you again but you made it possible. You opened a door sister and now I vow, to never miss your presence. No one -" he suddenly jumps to his feet and quickly covers his hair and face.

" This isn't our last meeting, never." He says before someone enters.

I don't get to see the rest of what happens because Niana pulls her hand from under mine. I have to blink a couple of times, in order for my vision to clear once again. In time, I notice the troubled expression upon her face as she looks at me.

" I heard right, you told me so." I speak up, not being able to bear the silence.

I need answers, there's too much hidden, weighing heavily in the atmosphere.

" Yes."

" What is all this then, you know that I can't look the other way and act oblivious, when I heard and saw everything." I tell her straight, making it no secret that I will not let her get away, with keeping things from me anymore.

That time has passed.

" I don't have the right to withhold anymore then I already have."

" Then speak, I'm ready to hear."

The troubled look is replaced by deep concern. What she has been keeping from me has truly burdened her and now to reveal everything to me, is like laying all her cards on the table in front of me. It isn't easy, I should understand but the urge to know, presses me to push her to speak.

I've gone through my journey with applying patience in each step I've taken yet now, impatience has gripped ahold of me.

" Don't hate me." The plea is unmistakenable.

I don't respond but continue staring at her.

" I have been selfish, in every way, all because I couldn't watch my beloved to be taken away from me again."

Beloved?

She turns away from me before I can ask her.

" It's best you sit down Catherine, what I'm about to tell you, might bring you to your knees."

I do as she says, taking a seat on where I'd been resting before.

" I should have told you the story from the beginning but you were so young. You barely understood why you had to continue living, after you lost your wolf." She says, stealing a glance over her shoulder at me, but quick to look away again.

She let's out a sigh before speaking. " I know pain, I witnessed it and experienced it. Don't think I don't understand."

" I never said you didn't."

" Your actions -"

" Don't question them." I say, warning etched in my tone.

" I won't. How could I, when such should have happened a long time ago, but you've held on so strongly up till this far."

" This time it's different. I told you this."

" I know this." She adds and I hear her tone put me into correction.

I don't respond to what she says.

A moment of silence passes between us.

" I couldn't let him talk for long, I needed you to hear my words and not his." She turns around but doesn't face me, looking ahead at my right.

" The speaking of royal blood has never been silenced Catherine, till today, what was spoken still continues. They might be extinct but the foundation of what is happening now, still remains."

" They are unforgotten. The original."

" We are spoken of as a tale now, one in our nation, there is division on whether they believe it or not."

" You are amongst them." I say, taking my guess. " Yet still you remain, you've found your place to be part of me, why?"

" I died not by choice yet the strong desire within, has made me to be part of you."

" You were murdered." I murmur.

" I was murdered by grief and pain before the actual murder happened."

She let's out a heavy breath before continuing." I was among the royals, part of the first of our kind yet now we are a forgotten tale, the kind not many are appreciative about our existence."

" They have locked away information." I say.

" No, it's been buried, along with the tragedy that took place at that time. A small family we were, if you took away the royalty and everything that came with it. Too much had been expected of us as the face of our kind and my papa, gave himself away to the pressure of it all. In his best attempts to be known as who he was, he drifted away from his family.

Alpha King Aldoros, his name will never be foreign on my tongue.

It's unfortunate that after all that glory, the small details in which he overlooked, could not be attended to, when he needed to, it was rather too late."

" Do you miss your old life?" I ask.

" I've asked myself that question too many times, and I'll say it now, that I don't miss it."

" You were of royalty." I comment.

" A title that weighed alot for us, who were brought into it....... My dear mother did all she could to be the balance but when things came at us as a family, where we needed to be the ones to mend things, she couldn't catch a grip of anything.

It came down to my brother and I."

" The beginning to the end." I say and she glances at me.

I don't need for her to nod but her looking at me is enough, to confirm my words.

" Your journey is my story."

" There was influence." I say.

Just like Ronan was influenced by that man, so her brother was too.

" He made it easy for himself to be, while papa opened that window of entry. In papa's deep investment in more of the throne and less of his family, Michael's seeking for attention and approval from him, grew. He always wanted to do all to impress papa and in the process, lost himself.

In his pursuit to impress papa, he only ever received disappointment and this, hurt him way too much. Along the way, bad influence came from more directions then influence came from his own father.

As I grew up, Michael's attention drew more to me and I didn't mind because family, was what I treasured most. We both grew and then, one of us met our mates."

" You."

" Yes, me."

" Your brother's time had not yet come. He was the eldest out of you both and that must have been frustrating." I say.

" No, he cared little about mates and so it didn't bother him. "

" What was the problem then?"

" He made me out to be the problem when the start of all this, was what was hidden, being brought to light."

" Something that included him?"

" Something that was about him."

She finally turns to face me.

" Michael was not our papa's son. When Michael learnt about this one night after over hearing the argument, from our parents room, a different Michael took over. In his mind he concluded that he didn't matter to anyone and that he didn't have to, wait for someone to notice him, he'd be the one to do it himself."

" He became someone else."

She nods.

" Not only him but papa as well. The relationship between them was more strained then ever. When my time to finally find my mate had come, nothing went well. I was happy, the happiest I have ever been, but it all came crashing down, when Michael killed my mate."

" Your beloved." I mumble, repeating her words.

" Not he, but she." She says, touching her middle. " I was pregnant when he died."

I look away from her, Mica now coming to mind.

" Half of you feels empty, this is what pain of losing your mate introduces you to." I say.

" I tried holding on but the pain was too much, papa saw me going through  it and this pushed him, to put pressure on people to find the true killer. What we had not expected, was for the killer to be among us.

I had a great feeling that something heavy was bothering Michael, it made me question whether he'd open up to me like he always did. I never realized, that what he kept secret would be the ultimate distruction. He went through a lot of trouble, to keep his secret hidden and by the time, it came out, all of what we knew, tumbled into nothingness.

The search had taken 5 months throughout my pregnancy. Despite the pain, I was determined to finally meet her. It turned out to be impossible that tragic night, when secrets came to light at the dinner table. I ran away, I was sure I did, but only to end up in my room.

I was young and felt alone, I was in pain, too much pain, but the very mistake I made, was to leave both men alone. I'd heard screaming but still I didn't move to get out. The silence awakened me yet too late, when sirens of incoming trouble, filled the whole palace.

I heard knocking on my bedroom door, he called out to me, Michael did and I hesitated. He'd not gotten himself into trouble but he unknowingly betrayed his family, when he joined hands to dethrone papa. His dark desire to prove that he was the best and how much he deserved the throne, cost all of us.

The details of my mother and I running away, seeking refuge in the forest still remains a blur. Her intake of breath however, when she was shot with an arrow on her back, this still lingers in my memories.

I ran until I couldn't, until my body weakened and I was down on the ground, hidden away from hounding wolves but alone to face, my life wither away. Star gazing had been my favourite thing to do as a child, but lying there, internally pleading for my baby to live, to not stop breathing as I coughed out blood became the most unbearable. I lost her before I lost my own life.

I didn't even have time to mourn for her."

Her silent cry is contagious and my own tear, slips out, not giving me a chance to push them back.

She is as open as an open book, bearing out her pain for me to witness, just like she had to witness me go through pain many times. I long to comfort her but I'm held back.

She's holding me back because there's more.

" I should have rested, I was told but I died seeking too much. As I said before that the speaking of royal blood has never been silenced, I meant it.

The legend of the Cristol Moon awakened that night. "

" Nana had one told me about it, I was young and still healing after losing my wolf. She often told me stories, to keep my mind opened and my focus to be else where.

That legend of the Cristol Moon, existed around the time of the first werewolves, the lycans and others. This night was such a rare night to experience and the moment, our people started losing value for it, chances of it happening again, were slim to none."

" You were a small child yet your curiousity and your willingness to witness it, really touched my heart." She says with a small smile.

" I wanted to see the moon sparkling and even the stars drawing close to it, to hear that sorrowful howl of a werewolf, that almost sounded like wind dancing past my ears."

" And to announce your hearts desire." She adds.

" Yes and that too. I would have made a wish for my mother's return. But that never happened."

" Your heart has always been in the right place Catherine."

I look away, not knowing how to answer her.

" Everything happened on that fateful night, the night of the Cristol Moon. Everything was in our favour yet we weren't aware of it.

On that night, Alpha King Aldoros, in written decree and announcement, His words from the high Seat, marked the beginning of our today.

In written decree and stamped, by the King's ring, it was made official that all will happen according to what was said. Papa had made his own, directed to the killer of my mate.

He said that whoever is the killer, shall live his days in loneliness, he shall wander like a stray dog among people, seeking yet witnessing others live through answer of all he seeks. The greatest punishment or him, will be witnessing another, take his place in the life of his mate and only he, will feel the mate bond but never his mate

The only one to break such a decree is a royal."

" In other words you, who was caused the pain." I say, now getting onto my feet.

She nods.

" We lived under strict laws, from s young age, we grew up learning of what we were forbidden from. Once something forbidden was broken, a price had to be paid. A heavy price.

" He is still paying the price. " I say and she nods. " So he stopped ageing and he's been wandering around like a stray dog, seeking something......"

She looks at me, waiting for me to figure it out.

" He wants an end to this."

" At a certain point in time yes but now...."

" Now?"

" He seeks power."

" But he has it, he is at the high seat, the head of the table."

" A stolen seat."

" It's nothing new to take what doesn't belong to him." I comment.

" When one's heart has set its sights on the doors of greed, nothing is ever enough. That's why to him, enough is not enough, the ultimate is best for him."

" He wants the original, he wants to be king and he can only do such a thing with another original beside him."

" This ambition didn't just come to him, it was when he had knowledge of you, that he's been on a hunt."

" Yes."

" He wants you beside him and me, under his control. He found you through me. It must have been that day, the first time I was summoned by the council." I take a guess.

" No, before that."

I frown at her words.

" You've placed me back at the beginning and now I want to question you, where does my family fit into all of this?

My journey and your story." I remind her of her words to me earlier.

She closes her eyes for a moment before opening them again, not being able to look me in the eye, she looks the other way.

I can sense that more that she is about to reveal, won't sit well with me.

" Your mother."

" What about her?"

" She is the link between all of us."

" Was she an original too?"

She shakes her head. " No, but she has been a huge impact in all our journies."

I can sense that she wants to stop because more of what she tells me, will affect me greatly.

" Don't stop now, I need the whole truth."

" The truth can be hurtful."

" But better to hear of it. I need honesty about my life, my existence and what true purpose, it is that you won't ever truly be direct with me.

Why did you save my life when I was 8 years old?"

" Not eight years but when you were still an unborn baby."

" You've been there." I gasp. " But why didn't you show yourself earlier?"

" Through communication with your grandmother."

" You saved my life countless of times, why?"

She let's out a heavy breath.

" I never truly rested and everything in me, has forbidden me to finally do so, the peace isn't there, not when I'm still reliving those last moments of departing from my beloved.......The greatest gift and she was taken from me.

Moving on was the last thought in mind."

" You spoke over your papa's words and sealed everything, didn't you?" I say.

" I wanted to witness all that was said, happening before my very own eyes. It's an advantage that I am who I am now, no longer among those who walk on earth."

" But being part of me."

" That has been my greatest privilege." She is quick to answer.

My eyes cast to my feet.

" You have saved my life since you couldn't do it with your own."

" If I had to do all of this again, I would."

" At what cost?" I am quick to ask her, my head snapping in her direction.

Her head hangs low.

" What price was presented before you?"

" Not a price, a loan, I'm indebted for my stay here. Me remaining here."

" Meaning?"

Her head slowly picks up and when her eyes meet mine, she says. " The cost of the borrowed life is a loan that I asked for."

I gasp, staggering back in shock.

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😯😯😯😯😯.

The Cost of a borrowed life.

Thank you for reading. Love you guys.