8. SECRETS WE KEEP

ATHENA POV

"Do you think the girls are awake yet? It's going to be a long day, maybe we should let them sleep in?" I questioned myself more than Baine.

"Procrastination won't save you, baby. It's time!"

I rolled my eyes at my husband.

He kissed me on the forehead as he pulled me off our bed and then swatted me on the butt as he pushed me out of our bedroom door.

I crossed my eyes at him and he stuck his tongue out at me before I took off toward the girls' rooms. 

I love that man. I'll never understand how he can make me smile and feel like everything is going to be just fine on one of the worst days of my life.

As I opened the door to Melia's room I was not prepared for what I had seen.

"Leporem" I whispered.

My camera appeared in my hand and I snapped a couple of pictures of my beautiful girls. This was a memory I wanted to keep forever.

Maisie was hanging off the edge of the bed, Melia was hanging on to Maisie for dear life, Margot was all sprawled out with her head resting on Melia's hip, Kira's head was lying on Margot's stomach with her body across Lily, Lily was curled up against Margot and Vera was somehow squeezed in between Margot and Lily

I started giggling quietly to myself.

I'll never understand the bond that all my girls have with one another, but I'm so thankful that they all have each other. But how they all fit in this king-sized bed I will never know. There was no way they could be comfortable. 

As I stepped into the room, I was pulled off my feet and into my husband's arms before my foot was able to connect to the floor. He covered my mouth with one hand and before any noise could escape my lips he pointed to the floor with the other hand.

I didn't even hear him walk up behind me. 

I was so busy taking pictures of the girls I didn't realize I was about to step on the boys that were camped out on the floor at the foot of Melia's bed.

My heart skipped a beat and I swooned. If I'm not the luckiest mama alive. 

"Let's go have breakfast, they all look like they have had a long night." Baine half whispered half chuckled in my ear. 

I snapped a couple more pictures before he whisked me away down the hallway.

MELIA POV

I woke up to the worst pain in my side.

I blinked my eyes a few times trying to get all the sleep out of them. 

As I rolled over and stretched I landed right on Margot's head, startling her awake. I jumped back, pushing Maisie off the bed. She tried to grab me to catch herself, but Dean caught us first. I yelped as he picked us both up, one of us in each arm.

Matt saved Lily before she is pushed off the other side of the bed. 

Margot, Kira, and Vera all sat up and started giggling. 

Their happiness is so infectious that we all joined in.

Maisie was the first one to gain control as Dean placed her on her feet.

"How did all you guys get in here?" Maisie questioned the room. 

Kira chimed in first. "I wanted to make sure Melia was okay and I didn't want to wake you guys up, so I climbed in instead."

"We didn't want to be left out." Vera's voice came from the other side of the bed. 

I looked up at Dean.

"We came up to check on you guys and somehow ended up camped out on the floor," Matt spoke up.

"It just felt like we needed to be here." Dean looked down at me.

"Just like old times! We all just used to be a whole heck of a lot smaller." Lily said between full belly laughs.

"Breakfast is ready, my babies."

 Mom mindlinked us all at the same time.

***

After breakfast, everyone but Dean and Matt headed upstairs to shower and get dressed for the day.

Mom and dad were waiting for us in the living room as we all made our way back down the stairs.

"So where are we off to today?" I questioned my parents. 

"I think we should all get comfortable in the theater room." Mom looked around at each of us.

We made our way into the theatre room and everyone tried to get comfortable before mom started to speak.

“Okay, so I'll start from the beginning, but no questions until the end. After I'm finished, I’ll answer any questions you have to the best of my ability.”

Mom towards the front of the room and folders her legs underneath her before looking at each one of us.

"So your great, great, great, great grandma Helena was the elder that insisted on a truce with the surrounding wolf packs after the Scarlet Blood War. As you all know, the Scarlet War caused a lot of witch and wolf bloodlines to go extinct. But the killing didn’t stop there, due to the rivalries between the witch covens and wolf packs. Not only were the witch and wolf hunters killing us, but we were killing each other, so a truce was something that was desperately needed. We all needed to feel safe again, so the treaty passed without too much rebellion."

"Ever since the treaty, the elders, high priestesses, and high priests from all seven witch covens have met annually with the elders, the Alpha’s, and Luna’s from the wolf pack to go over anything and everything that pertains to both species and/or the treaty. The year that I turned 18, at my initiation, the ancestor's essence also turned gold. Nana knew I was meant to become the next high priestess, so she insisted that I accompany her to the annual treaty meeting that year. This is where I met Alpha August from the Mangata Wolf pack. He was also there with his father, preparing to become the next Alpha to his pack."

"He frightened me when we first met because he pushed me up against the wall and screamed "mate" in my face. Which caused me to temporarily paralyze him as I was trying to get away. His dad was so upset that I paralyzed his son that Nana had to threaten to turn him into a toad if he didn't calm down."

A small smile spread across mom's face. 

"While those two were bickering back and forth in hushed tones, August and I was getting to know one another. Well, at least he was trying to get to know me. Eventually, after a couple of months, I did come around and we hit it off. Nana, of course, wouldn’t hear of it, so we snuck around and got together anyway. Every second I could get off the coven territory without anyone noticing. I did, and August was always right there waiting to whisk me away. It was like a forbidden fairytale love story and I was falling head over heels in love, not only with August but with the adventures we shared."

"That is when we decided that I was going to escape from under my mother's thumb and become the Luna to his pack. So he turned me into a wolf. But what we didn’t know at the time was that the very same night I became pregnant."

"When my mother found out I had been turned into a wolf she tried to bind the wolf, half of me. But when I wouldn’t allow it, she sent me to Aunt Lolita's to live with her and the wild witches until I agreed to bind my wolf. Alpha August wouldn’t hear of it and found me, but his dad wouldn’t allow me to become the Luna of their pack. Not wanting to cause another war between the witch covens and wolf packs, August’s dad and Nana forced us into an arrangement. I would keep my baby until he or she turned 18 and then the baby would have to go live with their father in the Mangata Wolf pack and take its place as either the rightful Alpha or Luna of the pack."

"August and I tried to fight the arrangement because we wanted to raise our child together. Nana reminded me that I would be sentenced to death for breaking one of the elders' most forbidden laws. The commingling of hidden species is forbidden and the consequence is death. Since I was imprinted on and the destined mate of the Alpha, my death would force the Mangata Pack to retaliate against our witch coven. Anyone that is imprinted on by a wolf, regardless of their species, is to be protected at all costs. That is the wolf’s most sacred law."

"So you see we didn’t have a choice, our love was forbidden. After I gave birth to you girls, your Aunt Rosalie agreed to stay at your great Aunt Lolita’s and help her raise you. Nana insisted I come back to the coven and continue my training to become the next high priestess. We didn’t want the elders snooping around and finding out about you girls. There were already a lot of questions about why I hadn’t been on the coven grounds for so many months and the elders were getting suspicious."

"Once I was back at the coven, a few months had gone by and Baine had returned to the coven. He was my high school sweetheart and, for a long time, I thought he was my destined mate. Unfortunately, he had a family matter to attend to right after high school graduation. But before I even laid my eyes on him, I could smell the most amazing scent of cedarwood and sea salt, I knew he was meant to be mine!"

"After I told him about you girls I brought him to meet you, you all fell in love the second you saw him and I knew he was the one. He was meant to be your father! The moon goddess blessed me with a second chance mate. We got married and a year later we had Kira. After we were married, we explained to the coven and to the elders that we had children out of wedlock, which is why I went missing for five months and also the reason we wanted to keep it concealed until after we were married."

"Since we were going to keep Kira at the coven, I agreed to bind my wolf as a safety precaution. But when we brought her to meet you girls she just loved you all so much. After having to wrestle her away from the lake house several times, we eventually just gave in and let her stay. Her home was with you girls and there was very little anyone could do about it."

"When you girls were getting a little older your powers started to show much quicker than they should have, so your Aunt Rosalie bound them until it was time, but you girls were so powerful that the binding would burn off way too fast. For many years, she looked for a spell to semi-permanently bind parts of you girls until you were ready to learn how to control your powers. Shortly after your girl's 12th birthday, she found the binding spell she was looking for, but for it to work she needed my and Nana’s help."

"So your Aunt Rosalie and your Godmother Kaida were going to make a day of it and take you all on a field trip to the coven, since it would be your girl's very first time on the coven grounds. Unfortunately, the trip was cut short when a couple of cold ones were passing by and caught your guy’s scent. Your aunt and godmother gave up their lives that day to save all of you girls."

"After that, your father and I refused to let any of you girls live at the lake house without your Aunt's protection, so you all moved into the coven house with us."

Mom took a deep breath and lifted her head to meet each of our eyes.

"I know that was a lot of information for you guys to take in, so if you have any questions, now is the time to ask."

Maisie looked up at her. 

"Is that why Melia has a wolf? Do we all have wolves? Are they here to protect us? Are we going to meet them in person?" Maisie rambled on.

Mom had been holding her breath but she puffed out a breath trying to blow away a lock of hair that had fallen into her face.

"Alpha August is your biological father, so all three of you are full-blooded wolves. I was turned into a wolf the night I got pregnant. The wolf Melia was mind-linking with was her inner wolf waking up within her. By the end of the week, each of your wolves should reveal themselves to you." 

She looked around at all of us but we couldn’t bring ourselves to meet her eyes.

She fidgeted like she wanted to reach out to us but dad cut her off.

"If you girls need to have some time to process this, that's okay. When you're ready, your mother and I will be here to answer any questions you have."

Dad reached out to mom, pulled her up onto her feet, wrapped his arms around her waist, and forced her to walk out of the theater room.