Chapter 7

Council Member Ethan’s POV   

I returned to the council chambers after I visited Reed and Nix. Nix seemed to take the news better than Reed. But I didn’t tell Nix everything I knew. I know full well that Nix has a half-sister. I know full well her that father is the Alpha of the Mountain Creek Pack and I know full well she is younger than him. Which would make him the legitimate heir to the pack, should anything happen to his father.   

I don’t know how the Alpha will take this news. Nor how the Luna will react to her mate having a son older than her daughter. I also don’t know how Nix will take it either. He has never grown up with a father figure. Which is why I didn’t tell him everything.   

After seeing the house he lived in and how hard he worked every day, how he lived overall. Most importantly, how much he loved his mom. There would be no chance of me getting him there if I told him that his father was there. But I need answers and I can’t get them from Nix, as he knows nothing. I need to find out why he is so powerful when he should be powerless, and the only way to do that is through his father. Who wouldn’t believe me without a physical push? Nix is that push.   

Tonight, though I am trying to solve a riddle, one elder has given me ‘Eyes of blue with a dash of gold, a child of ash, her heart, he will hold’. I get the eyes part refers to the Royal Family, but which member? It’s not clear, it could refer to someone in the past, present or the future. There is only two female Royals with the Royal gifts. Could it be referring to them? The second part isn’t clear either. It will be one of those mysteries that will answer itself over time or randomly. 

I go to bed worrying about my day ahead. It is going to be a long drive and I am not looking forward to this reunion. If it is a reunion. What if Nix’s mom never told the Alpha about her pregnancy and ran off? Could Nix be the result of a one-night stand? What if Nix’s mom wasn’t really his mom and she kidnapped him? Oh, goddess, help me out here, please.   

   

Nix’s POV   

I am going to ride in a car with Ethan and Reed. We have two drivers who are part of the protection detail. The other two members of the protection detail are driving my SUV. I don’t know why they are bringing it, to be honest. Unless Ethan plans on leaving me there. But then Reed would have to stay too, and he wouldn’t be too happy about that.   

I was told it was an 11 hour drive to the Mountain Creek Pack, if we drove there without stopping and at the maximum speed. The sat nav told us we were a few miles away after 13 hours. But we had to stop for breaks. The journey was unique for me. I have never spent this much time in the company of men. I see a different side of things, including how much they eat. Plate after plate. It was ridiculous. Reed tried telling me it was their wolf metabolism. But I felt sick watching them all shoveling food into their mouths. They ate nothing healthy either. I was raised on a diet of meat and veg, but it was always fresh and not the processed crap they were shoving in their faces.   

As we approached the territory. I started getting hot. Maybe they had turned the up the heating, it was getting cooler in the evening these days. “Can you turn the heating down, guys?” I asked the driver. I sit back and I can feel my body and face sweating. “Seriously, turn it down.” I say with urgency. The sweat beads started rolling down my face and I could feel my clothes sticking to me. I feel sick. I am perspiring so much.   

“You alright Nix?” Reed asks,   

“No, I feel like I am on fire.” I told him.   

He comes and sits next to me and touches my forehead. I close my eyes and try to focus. “He’s burning up.” I hear Reed tell Ethan. That’s when the pain started. It was like I was being stabbed repeatedly all over my body at the same time. The pain makes me yell, scream, shout. I can feel my body being ripped apart by nothing in the back of this car, but there is nothing there. I can feel the tears running down my face with the pain. Is this what it feels like to have a traumatic death? Is this what my mom endured? Something was placed over my head, then everything stopped. I collapsed on the seat, completely exhausted and gasping for air. I was attempting to recover. I don’t know what that was, but I would not be in a rush to have that experience again.   

   

Council Member Ethan’s POV  

It has been a long journey, but a pleasant one. I don’t normally get to spend this much time with Reed. We are usually so busy. The sat nav tells us we are nearly at the Mountain Creek Pack, though.   

Nix asks for the heating to be turned down, but I don’t remember it being turned up. I ignored the request and carried on writing my report. Then he demands the heating be turned down. Nix’s sudden demand for the heating to be turned down caught my attention, as it was out of character for him. I looked up from my paperwork. He is drenched with his own sweat; it was dripping off him. Reed feels his forehead before telling me he was burning up. I could tell that just by looking at him.  

Then Nix thrashes around in the back of the car. He sounds like he is in so much pain with the sounds of his voice screaming for help. The driver slams on the brakes and we all go to assist. But he is in agony and it isn’t stopping. Something invisible is happening to him. Whatever is happening, it is going to cause him to have a heart attack.   

I suspect I know what is. I have heard of it happening before. But I have never seen it. I take off my talisman, the one I am sworn to never remove, and place it over Nix’s head. I am right and he calms down straight away. He has never been here before, so how can he be showing all the effects of a banished wolf? The mystery of Nix deepens.