Chapter 37
Sunday 20th September, 2020 (Continued)
Jessie’s POV
Jamie was on the couch poring over some ancient map that might lead us to Georgianna’s body and I was on babysitting duty. Our twins, Jade and Jake cooed in their highchairs. They were very reluctant to eat the mush that Jamie had insisted was healthy for them. They were fraternal but both had my blue eyes and Jamie’s brown curls.
“How’s it going, my little witch?” I asked Jamie.
She sighed.
“It’s not going. It’s not going at all,” she grumbled.
I chuckled.
Loud squeals and giggles rang out. I looked at the twins. They quickly stopped laughing. They were hiding something. They weren’t even one year old yet and they already had secrets. Their powers had come in very early from their witch side and their motor skills had come just as quickly as expected from their werewolf side.
I looked at them and they stared at me, all innocent and wide-eyed. I didn’t buy it one bit.
“Guys! What are you up-,” I was cut short by the shower of mush splattering onto my head. The twins erupted into fits of giggles. Jamie covered her mouth, stifling her laughter. They had levitated the bowl over me and dropped slop all over me.
“I distinctly remember your mother doing something very similar,” I said, pretending to be disgruntled, as I wiped my face and hair.
I vividly recalled Jamie tripping and sending her bowl of cafeteria mush flying at me when we were high school seniors. She then magically got rid of the stain in the bathroom. I then pinned her to the wall and we had our first k**s. Her steamy thoughts had lit a literal fire in the bathroom that day setting off the fire alarm and triggering the overhead sprinklers on us.
“You guys better learn some cleaning up spells,” I growled at them playfully.
I tickled both of them. They shrieked and laughed.
“Who did that?” I asked them.
Jade pointed at her twin brother, Jake. Jake pointed at his twin sister, Jade.
“Who’s lying?” I asked.
They again pointed at each other. Jamie giggled. She magically got rid of all the mess on the floor and on me.
“You left me struggling with the towel for a minute there,” I complained.
“You looked so cute,” she cooed.
“Yeah?” I said.
She nodded.
I sat next to her on the couch. I pressed my lips against hers. I grabbed her and pulled her onto my lap so that she was straddling me while we kissed. She broke the k**s abruptly.
“Wait,” she said.
“What? No break?” I asked.
“I have to find Georgianna’s body, Jessie. I feel…like it’s my duty to do it,” she said.
“You didn’t curse them, Baby,” I said.
“I know, but I feel like I owe it to Georgianna,” she said.
I pressed my forehead against hers.
“She deserved better,” I whispered.
“You took the words right out of my mouth,” said Jamie. “So did Alto.”
I nodded, brushing my nose against hers.
“It’s playtime for the babies,” she told me, gesturing towards Jake and Jade who were now trying to escape their highchairs.
“When will it be playtime for Mommy and Daddy?” I growled.
“Very soon,” she said with a wink, brandishing the map so that it separated us.
I went over to the twins.
“Who should I take out of their highchair first?” I asked.
Jade and Jake each pointed to themselves this time instead of each other.
“Me, Daddy!” Squealed Jade.
“No, me! Me!” Demanded Jake.
I chuckled as I went to remove both of them from their chairs.
Star’s POV
“The kingdom my twin brother and I are from? You mean me and Harper right?” I asked.
“Yes, Hannah,” said Granny Hella.
Harper and I looked at each other. I glanced back at Zaya and Eli who were staring at the snow globe.
“That looks like the kingdom of the Ice Moon Pack,” said Zaya, looking at the snow globe in awe.
Eli nodded.
“How do you guys know that?” I asked, amazed.
“We’re soon to be alphas,” said Eli, shrugging. “We were taught about the leaders of other packs and other supernatural beings.”
Zaya nodded. “Noah and Jonah would know ten times as much,” admitted Zaya begrudgingly.
“Yeah,” said Eli, nodding. “They’re into that kinda thing. Politics and Pack structures and histories.”
I didn’t want to think about Jonah right now. I sighed.
“So I’m from the Ice Moon Pack and so is Harper?” I asked.
Granny nodded.
There was a knock on the door that startled everyone.
“Star,” came a voice I recognised. Noah!
I ran to the door and opened it. Noah was standing there with Jonah.
“Why are you crying?, Luna?” Asked Noah.
“Are you ok? Are you hurt? Did something happen?” Asked Jonah, his eyes worried.
I shook my head. I hadn’t even realised I had been crying until they mentioned it. I realised the bandmates and Jillian and Chet had also arrived.
“Hey! You’re all here!” I said.
Noah started drying my tears with a tissue. I sniffled.
“Yeah,” said Chet. “Zaya asked us to give you a moment over mind-link, that this would be a difficult conversation for you…so we were waiting outside for a bit.”This is property © NôvelDrama.Org.
Oh.
“Harper essentially said the same thing over mind-link, to give you a little time while you and your Granny talked. He said things were a bit tense when we pulled up,” said Brink. River and Chester nodded.
I wiped my eyes. I was grateful for Zaya and Harper asking for some privacy for me and my Grandmother.
“It’s ok now. Everyone can come in if they want,” I said, smiling.
Five minutes later, we were all smushed together in my Granny’s tiny living room. I had never had friends over growing up. I had always been a little embarrassed of my humble abode and now four soon-to-be alphas, four rock stars, my best friend and her billionaire mate were all squashed into the small space with my Grandmother at the centre of it.
All eyes were on the snow globe. Jonah and Noah were enchanted with it. They looked at each other with wide eyes.
“This is a portal to the Ice Moon Pack Lands!” Said Noah.
“Yeah, Zaya and Eli told us,” I said. “They said you and Jonah were really into this stuff.”
“You’re acknowledging my existence?” Asked Jonah sounding shocked.
“I could say the same for you,” I said snidely.
Jonah sniffed. “In werewolf country, up north where it’s almost always snowing, there are four packs that inhabit the wintry terrain. There’s the Winter Moon Pack which is run by triplet alphas. They’re actually cousins of Alpha Jessie whom you’ve met,” said Jonah, looking at me.
“Triplets?” I said.
Noah nodded. “Alpha Alex, Felix and Calix Thorn and their Luna Chasity.”
I needed some pointers from this Luna Chasity. This multiple mates thing wasn’t easy.
“The next two packs are closely linked: the Snow Moon Pack and the Cold Moon Pack. They’re run by brothers. Elder brother Alpha Orion and younger brother Alpha Perseus,” said Jonah.
“No Lunas?” I asked curiously.
Noah smiled at me. “Not yet, but there’s been rumours recently that suggest they’ve both found their mates…”
“Ooooooh gossip! Spill!” Said Jillian.
Noah chuckled. “All I heard is Alpha Perseus has an elusive she-wolf mate and Alpha Orion is rumoured to have found a human mate,” said Noah.
(Joanna J: This book is upcoming. 😉 xoxoxoxo)
Zaya burst into laughter.
“What?” I asked.
“Alpha Orion with a human?! He’s the most brutal Alpha I’ve ever met. He’s more wolf than man,” Eli said, clearly sharing Zaya’s sentiments.
“Poor girl,” remarked Zaya.
“He’s hot though and rugged,” said Jillian.
Chet frowned.
“Let’s focus,” said Jonah. “The last of the four northern packs is the Ice Moon Pack, the one in the snow globe. They…haven’t had an Alpha in years…”
“What?” I whispered.
“The last Alpha, Alpha Otto, had only one child, a beautiful daughter named Hesper. She was a formidable she-wolf, blessed with unique gifts because that pack’s history aligns with that of Winter Faeries or Winter Fae so many Ice Moon wolves have magic in their b***d,” said Jonah.
“The she-wolf Jonah is talking about herself was a quarter Fae. Her maternal grandmother was the Winter Faerie Queen. The Winter Faerie Queen had an affair with a pack warrior from the Ice Moon Pack and gave birth to a daughter who was named Orsa. The half fae, half werewolf Orsa was fated to Otto, the last Alpha of the Ice Moon Pack. The daughter of Orsa and Otto was Hesper. Hesper was the favourite grandchild of the Winter Faerie Queen despite the fact that Hesper was three-quarter werewolf and only one quarter Fae. In the Fae kingdom, a woman can rule alone but in the Werewolf pack she cannot. A Luna needs an Alpha. Every pack needs an Alpha,” said Noah.
“But you just said the Ice Moon Pack hasn’t had an Alpha in years?” Said Harper.
“Exactly,” said Jonah. “Rather than be forced to marry her own cousin, the son of the Alpha’s brother, Hesper fled…”
“Wait, why was Hesper asked to marry her cousin?” I asked, alarmed.
“Because she was the only child of the Alpha and they wanted a male heir of the same bloodline. Thus she had a choice between marrying her youngest Uncle or one of her male cousins, all of whom would be physiologically alphas and from the same bloodline. That particular pack used to practice that sort of thing within noble families. It wasn’t unheard of,” explained Jonah.
“She ran away with her mate who wasn’t an alpha. He was an exceptionally strong pack warrior though. He managed to bring down dozens of guards so they could escape. People say he likely died of his injuries,” said Noah.
“So then what happened?” I asked. “Wouldn’t Alpha Otto just let his nephew take over? Why were there no more alphas?”
“That’s the thing,” said Jonah, “Hesper and her mate escaped but they were never seen or heard from after that. No one is certain what became of them. Otto and Orsa had been reluctant to agree to marrying Hesper off to her cousin in the first place. This cousin and his brothers overthrew Otto and Orsa after Hesper fled because they were determined to have control over the pack one way or another. When the Winter Faerie Queen discovered that her illegitimate but beloved daughter Orsa had been killed and her favourite granddaughter Hesper was missing, her wrath knew no bounds. She had always been a tyrant of sorts. The Winter Faerie Queen declared herself the ruler of the Ice Moon Pack after slaughtering all the usurpers of the throne, namely the other males from the Alpha’s family, uncles and cousins of Hesper. The Winter Faerie Queen in grief swore that she would sit on the Alpha’s throne till the day Hesper came back to claim it.”
“What if Hesper is dead?” Asked Brink.
“She probably is,” said Noah sadly.
“Granny, why were you given this portal? Who gave it to you? My parents?” I asked eagerly.
Granny shook her head. “No one gave it to me,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Asked Harper.
“You were left on our doorstep and this snow globe was left with you. Your adopted mother thought you were the answer to all of her prayers!” Said Granny, tears streaming down her face. “She had been struggling to conceive and then one day poof a baby shows up. A beautiful baby girl. She and her mate were overjoyed. They loved you, always remember that,” said Granny.
I smiled and nodded.
“So you have no idea who my parents are?” I asked sadly.
“They must be from this pack,” said my Granny. “That’s all I can say.”
“So why did Angie say I wasn’t supposed to go looking for my parents?” I said.
Granny raised her eyebrows. “She said that?”
“Yes! Angie said her mother swore her to secrecy about the fact that Star was adopted and couldn’t know because she wasn’t supposed to go looking for her family!” Said Jonah.
“Angie’s mother…huh you know Angie and you don’t seem very close but Angie’s Mom and your Mom were like two peas in a pod. They adored each other,” Granny said, looking at me.
“My Mom must have told Angie’s Mom something more than what she revealed to you,” I said.
A loud h*p hop song filled the room suddenly.
“Sorry, my ringtone,” said Jillian. She quickly went out on the porch to take the call.
“f**k, we’re gonna need Angie’s help again,” grumbled Zaya.
“Not Angie, just her Mom,” said Jonah.
“And we still have Harper’s parents to talk to. They might know more,” said Noah.
“Ok, let’s go to Angie’s Mom first and then we’ll go to Harper’s parents at seven,” said Zaya, looking at his wristwatch.
“That was Angie on the phone!” Said Jillian as she burst back into the room.
My heart constricted painfully. Of course Angie had given “Jilli-bear” her number.
“So?” Said Harper, shrugging.
“An overhead stage light fell on Vice Principal Hitch!” Exclaimed Jillian.
My heart plummeted. There were several gasps.
“Is she ok?” I asked.
Jillian shook her head. “No, the light snapped her neck.”