I just want to take a moment to give a huge shout out to all my loyal, been-here-forever fans who have stuck with me from the beginning. You've been put through a lot with the hiatuses while I figure out life as well as my stories, and you all are the real MVPs. 

I also want to shout out all my newer, and even brand new readers. If you're brand new and like what you see here, I have quite a bit of content on my page. And if you've read a couple things, I hope you decide to read more and you enjoy. 

Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming.

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The strong scent of bacon brought my brain out of the haze of sleep. 

"Wakey, wakey, orange juice and bakey," Abbi called from the other side of my room. 

I groaned. "quieter, please." My head was pounding. 

"Oh, sorry," Abbie whispered. 

"Not that voice, you're inside voice." I tapped the side of my head. I could hear her shouting all the questions she was dying to ask me. 

"Oh!" 

And just like that, her 'voice' went silent. Her ability to do that still amazed me. She was the only person I knew who could silence her thoughts. Not that I ever said anything to anyone else other than my mother. But even she didn't know how to do something like that. 

I got out of bed and grabbed a glass of orange juice and some bacon. 

"We should be drinking water, you know." I plopped back down. 

"Water is for quitters."

"I am most definitely a quitter then." I grabbed the bottle next to my bed and chugged what was left of the water. 

The tension in the room grew like a physical barrier between Abbi and myself. I knew I wouldn't be able to stay off the topic any longer or she might burst. 

"So," I started, "I'm not completely sure, we'd had so much to drink last night you know."

"Can you please get to the point?" Abbi's words were quick and she was perched at the edge of her seat.

I looked down at my hands. "I think... I think Neal might be my mate." Silence. I couldn't look up at Abbi. "It's crazy, I know. Like I said, I'm not even sure. It's just that when touched me, it was like this major shock. Not in the good way like they say. It hurt. Like it was trying to stop my heart or something. I don't know if it was like that because I was feeling it on his end too, like double force or what. It may have just been something else entirely too, and-"

"Stop rambling," Abbi said. 

I took a deep breath and finally looked up. 

"You have a mate." Her words were final. There was no doubt in her mind like there was in mine. 

"Okay, but how sick and twisted would the Goddess have to be to pair me with him?"

"Maybe She's trying to prove a point, Cyn. Your family held a position of prestige in this pack for generations, and the only reason that position was lost was because of love."

"I'm not really seeing your point here."

Abbi stood up, her hands moving wildly. "Think about it. The very family that cast yours aside, they placed judgement on your parents. Now you are forever linked to them?"

Every ounce of Abbi's being was completely into this theory. She had a knack for romanticizing just about everything. I couldn't see the romance in it though, all I could see was the eventual heartbreak. There was no way that Neal would accept me as his mate. Honestly, I wasn't sure I'd want to accept him as mine. All assuming that he was in fact my mate. 

We were in completely uncharted territory. There were no records of werewolves procreating with mentalists. I didn't possess a wolf spirit inside of me like the rest of the pack. I had wolfish enhancements such as my eyes shifting like they had the night before, increased speed, and the occasional claw, but I lacked access to that wolf half otherwise. And the mental connection to the pack was one was as far as I knew. I could hear their thoughts if I dropped my walls, but I had been unable to communicate back. 

"Look, Abbi. This could be completely wrong. It could have just been my abilities going off the rails from how much Wolfsbane I had last night."

"And I'm telling you that you're not wrong and it all makes perfect sense."

Abbi took a bite of bacon, never breaking eye contact. She was certain. 

After last night, the only thing I was certain about was that I wanted to learn the full scope of my abilities. I'd never tried to master any or test their full limits. I'd only ever learned how to contain them. But I was done being hesitant. I was done leashing myself for the comfort of everyone else around me. 

"Okay. Can we keep the whole mate thing between us and put a pin in it? I may need your help with something else."

Abbi's brows raised, a smirk pulling at the corner of her mouth. "I love missions. What's up."

"I want to become a mentalist."

She shot up out of her chair, jumping up and down. "Of course I'll help! How could I say no to that? I've been waiting for this for ages!"

"Really?"

"Well duh. Mentalists are literally the greatest protectors in this world. You could bring this entire pack to its knees if you really wanted to. I've never understood why you let everyone walk all over you."

"I'm not a full mentalist, Abbi. I don't even know what abilities I possess. It could be just as minimal as my wolf abilities."

"Do you honestly believe that? Because I don't. I think that your wolf has taken a back seat because that's where it needs to be. You were meant to be a mentalist, Cyn. That type of magic runs strong, it doesn't just fizzle out."

I rolled my eyes at her. 

"So, when and how do we start?"

"I was thinking about just asking my mom. If anyone is going to know anything about this, I'd think it was her."

"Worth a shot." Abbi crunched down on another piece of bacon and made her way out of my room. "Well, come on."

I shook my head and followed Abbi out and downstairs where my mother was cleaning up the kitchen. Abbi and I plopped down on the stools at the counter. I had no clue where to start. 

"Mrs. Hughes, Cyn has a question for you."

Well, that was one way to start it, I suppose. 

My mom turned around, rag in hand. "And what is that question?"

I started to pick at my nails, looking down at my hands. Talking about my father was never an easy topic between us. 

"I was wondering... how did Dad get control of his abilities? How did he know what abilities he had?"

A soft smile formed, and her eyes were focused on something far away. "He thought you might ask about that some day. There are books, passed down through his family for generations. He brought them here when he suspected that the pack found out about us. Hid them so that they would be kept safe when you were ready for them."

"Books, where are they?" I stopped picking at my nails and placed my hands flat on the cold counter top. I could feel the moisture from my hands trapped between my palms and the smooth surface. 

"They're downstairs in the far room. You'll need this key." My mom took the key from around her neck and handed it to me. All these years I'd thought it had just been some trinket from my father, but it had actually been the key to what was left of him. 

I clutched the brass in my hand, unable to move. I could feel the energy rolling off Abbi next to me. 

"Come on." She pulled my arm in the direction of the door to the basement. 

My head was swirling. I couldn't believe that I'd had everything I needed right below me the whole time. 

We stood before the locked door, and I was frozen. The moment I opened that door and accepted what was in there for me was the moment everything would be changed forever, and I could only hope those changes would be for the better. 

I slid the key into the lock and turned it. The latch moved with an echoing click. I took a deep breath and turned the handle and pushed the door open. 

The room was dark and dusty. Clearly no one had been in there in years, I'd wager seventeen years. The room was completely empty except for one box sitting on a shelf.

Abbi's energy rolled off her in waves. Excitement, nervousness, eager it all poured at me, heightening my own emotions. 

I crossed the small space and pulled the box off the shelf, sitting it on the ground, my hands pausing on the lid for a moment before lifting it off. There on top was an old, leather bound book with Everhart embossed on the front under a thin layer of dust.