"Well, it's about time someone taught my son a lesson about privacy."

I stare at her in disbelief controlling the urge to take a step back to protect myself from this experienced witch. She is unnaturally calm which is scarier and gives me a very bad feeling. I fear that she might suddenly spring up on me.

It is like the calm before a storm.

I try to gauge her emotions and take a tentative effort to peek into her mind. The first brush of my mind against hers makes her smile slightly, and then she allows me to move further into her mind as if permitting me to enter. So that's what I do.

I peek into her mind, take in a glimpse of all her emotions, trying to gauge if there's any ill intent towards me and I find none.

It might not be surprising to others but it is to me. My experience with Kestrel has left me so suspicious of everyone around me. I allowed Fenris in only because he looks like father and because he has a pure heart with no evil lurking around in his mind.

Also, because he is a hybrid like me.

However, I do not trust this witch in front of me. Especially after that wizard pulled such a humiliating stunt in front of me. Everyone should respect an individual's privacy. It might be okay if he's peeking into those people's minds who are aware of this skill of his and expect it, but it is completely different to pull this on me. I am practically a stranger to them as much as they are to me.

It has made me all the warier about their intentions toward me. My mother did not leave me in the human town because she was scared that the humans would burn me because of my other-worldly appearance. Looking at Nora, especially taking in her normal humane appearance I fear that I might once again be targeted because of my appearance and heritage.

After all, my mother and father had a lot of enemies. Enemies who were once friends.

Focusing on the witch in front of me, I watch her very carefully understanding clearly that if anyone over here might harm me then it would be this witch and that wizard. That wizard is not here and I trust Fenris enough to know that he will protect me but he might not be fast enough to save me from a witch's magic.

Suddenly, baby Selene starts squirming in my arms. I look down at her for a split second and see that she is almost on the urge of falling asleep. Watching her daughter almost dozing on me, Sierra walks forward and takes Selene from me before passing me a quick smile of encouragement.

Moving back, I let my attention move away from Sierra and Selene who recognizes her mother's arms and snuggles into her as if Sierra is a big piece of fluffy cushion.

The witch, my aunt Nora looks at me with a slight tilt to her head and then looks behind me for a moment. I do not take my eyes off her fearing that she might make some move against me. So, I stand still and watch her.

Slowly, her eyes start watering and a lone tear escapes her eyes as she lifts her hand up, tentatively at first as if unsure. She lets me see her hand in the air and only when my gaze flicks to her hand, does she move it, bringing it closer to my face and then hesitating. I do not move, curious now and very well aware that Fenris is watching us.

Cayden's here. Sierra's here and somewhere farther into the trees, I feel a vampire's presence.

Dominic.

Not letting my mind wander any further, I watch as Nora brings her hand closer and lets her fingers brush against my cheek. She caresses my cheek when I don't flinch away which in itself is a huge task considering how soft and warm her touch is.

Looking at the aloofness emanating from her aura, I had expected her touch to be a little cooler and far less impacting than it is right now.

The warmth from her fingers seeps into my skin and embeds into my bone as a small whimper is heard around us. It takes a few seconds for me to realize that she is the one who whimpered and now has big fat tears streaming down her beautiful brown eyes. Her lips tremble as she tries to suppress her cries but then she shakes her head before moving very slowly to grab my hand.

As if I am being held by her overwhelming emotions, I let her take hold of my right hand and watch as she takes my hand in both of hers and then presses it against her cheek, gasping in a deep breath as my hand makes contact with her cheek.

"You look just like Eva," she whispers, her voice unexpectedly soothing and somewhat calming my haywire emotions. Her pain and longing hit me very hard and I realize that she's reminiscing her time with my mother, maybe recalling how she looked and comparing my face with hers.

"Thank you," I whisper for the first time, finally allowing myself to trust her.

There's something about her as if a switch of emotions turned on when I felt abundant emotions like pain, anger and longing, along with a weird sense of happiness flowing through her.

When I speak, her head jerks up and she takes a step forward, making me take a step back and I bump into someone. Turning back to look at the person, I quickly note that it is Cayden who nods at me and then takes a step back as if to give me space.

I smile slightly at him and then turn back toward Aunt Nora to watch her eyes cloud with hurt for a moment and then she clears her expression trying to get a hold of her flooding emotions.

"What is your name, moya dorogaya doch'?" she asks me while wiping her tears with one hand and squeezing my hand in hers. She then kisses my hand softly before releasing it. I take my hand back and hold it by my side, resisting the urge to feel overwhelmed by her actions.

"Nikita," I whisper and then watch her eyes as they widen a bit.

"Your voice is angelic, sladkoyezhka."

I make an effort to speak but no words come out so I just smile at her and then nod at her a bit trying to show my gratitude, not wanting her to misinterpret.

"Let's go inside, shall we?" Sierra asks from beside me, breaking my chain of thoughts.

"Shall we?" asks Aunt Nora, focusing on me with a small smile and expectant eyes.

"Yes, please," I whisper once again and smile at her which she returns with a huge one of hers.

Fenris then puts one arm around my shoulder, waiting for me to react but I don't, instead smile which encourages him to put an arm around Aunt Nora who chuckles through her tears and then he pushes us through the threshold of his home.

"Come on. Let's sit and talk," he says while pushing both of us towards the sofa. From the corner of my eyes, I watch Sierra quickly yet steadily climb up the stairs probably to put baby Selene to bed where she can sleep more soundly.

Cayden moves in behind us and grabs a seat on the nearby chair, straddling it. Fenris pushes me in a lone armchair, knowing very well that I am uncomfortable sitting on a couch where people are within touching distance.

Aunt Nora then proceeds to sit across me on the sofa and Fenris moves to sit in the other armchair giving me enough space so that I do not feel crowded. I sense a presence in the house and turn towards the door watching the wizard whose name I still do not know, standing on the threshold rather awkwardly.

"I am very sorry for my son's behaviour, Nikita. I promise you that he will never peek into your head without your permission," whispers Nora from beside me before passing a very stern glare towards the wizard who's looking at everyone with a sheepish expression.

"I am sorry, cousin. I deserved your fire. I promise to not do that again especially when all my hair is now burnt," he says and then chuckles nervously before turning behind and waiting for someone.

I look over the wizard's shoulder not really knowing who is there but not expecting a certain vampire to make his appearance.

Dominic walks in steadily while passing by the wizard and not at all paying any attention to the wizard. However, I notice that the wizard wrinkles his nose in disgust when Dominic walks past him.

"Hey, Dominic. How come you are here? And where were you since last week?" asks Fenris who calmly raises a brow not at all minding that a vampire has made an entrance in his house, that too unexpectedly.

Perhaps they are very good friends to trust each other like that.

As far as I know, vampires and witches are enemies. Their species are enemies of each other. Well, that makes me an enemy as well. I am half-witch too.

Not liking the direction of my thoughts, I turn to look at Dominic once and find that he's looking at me. He nods at me once and then moves his attention towards Cayden at whom he nods and smirks a bit. Then he focuses his gaze on Nora and without any greeting, he glances away from her and towards Fenris.

"Personal business."

It's the only explanation that Dominic gives and Fenris seems completely okay with it or perhaps they do not want to discuss it in front of others.

After all, the Kings might not really trust to put their cards in the open at the beginning itself. Right?

"I came to meet my niece. May I?" asks Nora rather rudely and I find myself frowning towards Aunt Nora now.

Maybe she didn't like Dominic disturbing her.

"By all means, continue with your meeting. I won't even move an inch to disturb you further," bites Dominic and I watch Fenris rolling his eyes from the corner of my eyes. Ignoring all of them, I look at Nora who's now watching me with a small smile.

"May I request you to allow my son in the house? He wronged you hence, I request you to invite him in as a gesture of forgiveness?" she asks me and I sense her nervousness. She's very open in her emotions as if purposely letting me know what she's thinking maybe so that I won't be wary of her.

I appreciate her thoughtfulness and that's the only reason why I nod at her and invite the wizard inside.

"Please do not do that again," I whisper after nodding at him as an invitation to enter the house. It's not even mine but still, she asked me. She gave me the importance and considered my emotions and that itself makes her have a little more of my trust.

"I am really sorry. It's an instinct for me. I do understand how my actions must have disturbed you and for that, I apologise," he whispers while entering the house and moving towards his mother to sit beside her.

I do not reply instead watch him, taking in his appearance. He is unusually tall and has a lean physique. He looks like a real wizard, appearing to be a master in psychic abilities but with a below than average physical skills.

"My name is Callum and I am your elder cousin. I have a younger sister named Alcina but she couldn't come today because she's travelling," he introduces himself and I find myself nodding at him.

Nodding my head has become my second nature. Considering how I am not comfortable with speaking much yet, I try to nod my head so that I do not hurt anyone's feelings by creating a misunderstanding that I am ignoring them.

"I do not wish to pry, Nikita but can you please tell me why you were uncomfortable to meet me before?" asks Aunt Nora and I am quick to look at Fenris.

Why did he tell her that?

I narrow my eyes at Fenris, not really believing that he did this. He shouldn't have told her about my discomfort. Especially when the discomfort was not really for her. I was uncomfortable because I feared that aunt Nora would turn out to be more like Kestrel and after overcoming my baseless fear, I did agree to meet her.

Maybe I required that time to come to terms with it. Then why did Fenris tell Nora about it?

Couldn't he keep the reason for not meeting Nora before, to himself? Or does his loyalty lie more towards Nora than me?

Am I really making the correct decision here?

All my doubts come rushing back to me as I sit there, staring at my brother who's looking rather nervous and trying to contemplate if what I am doing right now is right or wrong?

"Nikita, I am sorry that I told Nora about your discomfort. I really wanted to know the reason. I thought for a moment that you two had met before and that's why you didn't want to meet her. That's the only reason I told Nora about your discomfort," explains Fenris, looking very distressed. I peek into his mind, really unsure whether to believe him or not.

I look around at everyone who's in this room and try to gauge each of their emotions. Cayden is really nervous and his nervousness is towards me, maybe he's really worried about me whether I am taking this well or not.

Appreciating his thoughts for me, I move ahead and steer clear from Callum, not really wanting to do anything with him. It will take some time for me to get used to his presence.

Lastly, I reach Dominic and when I go to peek into his mind, I watch him stiffen a bit and then he relaxes into his lazy posture of leaning against the wall. He lets me inside his mind, only to the emotional aspect of his and to those emotions which are connected to me.

I can sense a lot of rage as well but it is not for me and hence, hidden behind a barrier. However, I can sense it from here.

Focusing on his emotions, all I can sense is care. He is worried about this meeting probably and he must be worried about my decision towards Fenris. Maybe he doesn't want to watch his friend getting hurt because of his one mistake.

Taking my eyes off Dominic, I glance towards Fenris and take in his anxious expression. He's waiting for my reaction and he knows that I am still thinking of my next decision.

Not thinking about anything else and purely trusting my instincts, I let my lips widen in a smile and nod at Fenris.

"It's okay," I whisper while watching Fenris who lets out a huge audible sigh of relief and then moves a hand through his hair, a clear sign of his frustration.

Moving towards Aunt Nora, I look at her in the eyes and answer her earlier question. "Kestrel kidnapped my mother with the help of a witch named Beatrix. They tricked her and then watched my mom die while she had me in her arms. Later Kestrel held me and then took me to Xavier," I whisper, very slowly so that I do not stumble over my words or stammer.

This must be the first time that I have ever spoken so many words in one sentence but it was necessary. They need to know that the witches whom they thought were their friends were the first ones to betray her sister.

From what I have gathered, Xavier never pledged any loyalty towards my grandpa or father but Kestrel was once mamma's friend and she betrayed my mamma only because she had a wolf mate.

That is very cruel and selfish. I cannot imagine anyone allowing themselves to behave so violently under the vision of hate and selfishness.

Listening to me speaking, Nora gasps at the words that fall out of my mouth but what she says is completely different from what I had expected her to say.

"Do you really remember everything since your birth?" she asks, while covering her mouth with her palm and then glancing at Callum once who looks like he is trying very hard to control his instincts of peeking in my head.

Serves him right for his earlier mistake.

I nod at Nora to confirm her question and then look down in my lap when she lets out a huge gasp as if not believing me.

"That is very rare," comments Aunt Nora while looking at Fenris. I am looking at them through my lashes because I do not want to face them. It makes me feel uncomfortable that they are now discussing and analysing my situation before concluding. I feel like I am some part of an experiment. A novelty!

"I have never heard of this ability, Nora. Please give us some inputs. Do you know about this? Is this possible? Considering the amount of trauma that she has suffered from, is it healthy for her to remember it?" asks Fenris at whom I am glaring now.

Why is my brother behaving as if he is clueless and quite scared of keeping me here in this house? Has he seen his daughter who wields the magic of torturing someone? That innocent being doesn't even know the danger that she will be once people become aware of her power.

He should be more afraid for her than he is being for me.

Controlling my rage or rather trying to control my rage, I raise my head and look at Aunt Nora, Fenris and Dominic who is looking at me with narrowed eyes. I do not like his expression so I narrow my eyes at him.

He then smiles a bit at me which looks more like a smirk and then shakes his head slightly. He then sighs and then blinks one eye at me.

A few seconds pass by and I realise that he winked at me. My rage deflates a little as confusion washes over me.

Now, isn't winking at a person considered lewd behaviour?

Before I can grasp what Dominic did, he opens his mouth and speaks with that heavy baritone of his voice. I shiver a bit when the first word comes out of his mouth, not knowing why I am shivering.

Nobody notices me because their attention is all fixed on Dominic.

"Fenris, I would like to add something here," he says and then waits for Fenris to give his permission which he does by nodding at Dominic.

"Well, I went to pay a visit to Sebastian Flinch, son of the previous Alpha Female, Sabrione," he says and waits for everyone to digest this news.

"Isn't Xanthos, Sabrione and Xavier's son?" asks Cayden. He refuses to call Xavier his father and I respect him for that. He tries very hard to prove that he is nothing like his traitor of a father.

"But Flinch is my mother's maiden name. How come Sebastian's last name is Flinch. Uncle Jeremiah's last name is Wolfe," adds Sierra as she walks down the stairs and then straight towards Fenris where she sits on the arm of his chair while putting an arm around Fenris shoulder for balance.

Dominic nods his head at Sierra's words as if agreeing to it and then smiles a bit as if knowing something else.

"Sebastian has taken his mother's maiden name as a decision to honour her memory. He wants the world to know that he is the previous Alpha Female's son who was tortured by the enemy and who died a very gruesome death," whispers Dominic and then Nora nods her head as if agreeing with Dominic's words.

I presume she knew about this before even Dominic came to know about it. However, Fenris, Sierra, Cayden and Callum are taking in the news as if they are hearing it for the first time.

"So what? What does this have to do with Nikita?" asks Fenris.

"You see, Sabrione had the skill to gift her offspring with any of her skills," explains Dominic while Nora gasps at this information.

"And Sebastian knew of it?" she asks while looking at Fenris and then at Dominic. I somehow feel that I am intruding in this conversation, not knowing what they are talking about and why they are talking about it now.

"Apparently, yes. He confirmed my suspicion and then he also hinted that Queen Eva could transfer the magic of her choice to her offspring," says Dominic causing a deafening silence to prevail through the room.

At once, I open my mind to gauge everyone's reactions. They are all so shocked that they fail to protect their minds with a shield or barrier and it's like a walk in the garden for me to peek into their emotions.

Nora is shocked but it's as if she knew about this information. She's more shocked that Dominic and that Sebastian knew of it, too. Fenris is shocked more than the witches here. He is trying to connect the dots and also somewhere feeling a bit angry. He's angry at the situation.

Who better than me to know about this type of anger?

"How did he know of this?" asks Nora once her shock has cooled down.

"I didn't say that he knew of it. He hinted at it. But the way you are taking in the news, I now believe that Queen Eva indeed could gift her children with any of her magic?" asks Dominic with a huge smirk on his face. His face is so smug right now, I feel like burning that smugness off his face.

"Dominic, you are crossing your boundaries!"

Nora stands up and then takes a step forward towards Dominic who raises his hands as if in surrender.

"You forget Nora that I am the King of vampires. I will not sit back and watch this drama unfold. You know that witches can remember everything from their birth. You did not confirm it and that's why I disclosed this information. Because I don't think you would have disclosed this information to the siblings without a trigger," says Dominic while narrowing his eyes at Nora and pointing towards me and Fenris while waving his hand between us.

"Promise me everyone present here, today, promise that you will never tell about such magical abilities to anyone. It is forbidden to let any other non-magical person know about this witch power. There will be a war to take advantage of this witch power," explains Nora who is now breathing hard.

I watch as Fenris stands up in his seat, pulling his mate with him as well. The werewolf royals stand and look at Nora with a narrowed gaze.

"We promise to not disclose this information to anyone. However, we expect that you answer our question honestly and give us all the information that you know," speaks Sierra instead of Fenris whose eyes have gone all black. Nora nods and then blinks her eyes as if trying to push away her tears.

"Fenris, I did not mean to hide this from you. But you see we didn't know that Eva must have chosen to grant her power to you, that's why I kept quiet," she whispers and then shakes her head.

"It doesn't matter anymore, Nora. You help my sister and do not forget that I still have my mom's given ability to know emotions, which she apparently has given me of her own choice," speaks Fenris with a bite in his voice.

Sierra looks at Fenris and it is clear that they are using the mid-link. I watch as Sierra continues looking at Fenris who after a long moment, closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to bring back the blue colour in his eyes.

"Speak, Nora," Fenris urges and then sits down this time pulling Sierra in his lap.

I have known Fenris and Sierra long enough to understand that Fenris is very distressed now and that's why he is seeking the emotional strength from his mate to listen to whatever Nora will speak next.

And who better than a woman to seek emotional strength from!

"I am very sorry that I did not tell you this earlier but yes, Eva could transfer her gift to her children. She could make that choice. She purposely gave you the empathy skills because you are the werewolf heir. The other two skills were just a cover-up to not bring any suspicion on why exactly you received a gift of empathy out of all other witch skills," explains Nora while looking at Fenris nervously.

"So, you are saying that the witch-kind has purposely kept this information hidden from other species?"

"Yes, they have. The most powerful witch is a seer, that's what the others know but it's not true. The most powerful witch is the one who can transfer her gift to her children. Eva was both a seer as well as a bestower of gifts. However, only her seer abilities were known to the other species. Only Lucian knew about it but that's because he was her mate and the sole trustworthy non-witch person."

"Then why do you think mom gave Nikita this ability to have a photographic memory?" asks Fenris and I freeze while my heart skips a beat inside my ribcage.

I know why mamma gave me this magic.

If what Nora is saying is true then I know why she gave me this power. She gave me this power so that I can remember who my enemies are and who my family is.

She gave me this power so that I can remember about Sascha and about that wall.

That wall.

Suddenly feeling overwhelmed about this situation, I get this urgent need to get out of this chaos. And not finding any other better place to go than that wall, I quickly disappear from the room full of anguish, regret and pain; escaping into the cool calmness of that dungeon where mamma gave me the power to access this wall of my family heritage. 

~~~

Finally, Dominic is back in this chapter... Hope you all missed him because I sure did!! 🤣

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