Chapter 224: Mother
Edrick
I was sleeping soundly when I suddenly heard Moana’s screams.
By the same I jolted myself out of bed and frantically began to scramble in the direction of the balcony where the screams were coming from, she ran into my arms and nearly knocked me to the floor. She was soaking wet and completely inconsolable, repeating things about my father having a knife and killing her with it. When she finally was able to tell me everything that happened, I felt my soul practically leave my body.
I didn’t want to let her know how terrified I was, so I kept my calm until she was safely asleep in bed. Her sleeping pills knocked her out quickly, and as soon as I saw her chest begin to rise and fall in a steady, deep rhythm, I quickly jumped to my feet and began to pace while frantically tugging on my air. I couldn’t hide my terror any longer.
I had heard stories about these visions before. It was an uncommon phenomena, but it was known to happen on occasion. People who were gifted with the ability of Foresight, which was an extremely rare ability to begin with, were often known to have other symptoms in the beginning such as sleepwalking, blackout episodes, and getting hurt during those sleepwalking or blackout episodes. More often than not, if those symptoms were noticed early on, the person affected by it could wind up getting hurt and dying in their sleep. Moana, thankfully, woke up before that happened to her, and I would forever thank whatever gods watched over us, if any, for that miracle. At least now, we knew what was happening and could take preventative measures to ensure her safety at night until she developed her Foresight fully.
But surprisingly enough, that wasn’t the main thing that I was worried about.
Moana was having visions. I was sure of it; all of the signs pointed to it, and unbeknownst to her, I had done my research while she was away at work earlier that day. That knife did in fact exist, and it very well could be used against her.
There was only one weapon that was prophesied to kill the Golden Wolf, and that was the Golden Knife with the wolf head on the handle. It was said that the knife had to be used before the Golden Wolf shifted for the first time, otherwise the knife would shatter in the user’s hand when it tried to stab the Golden Wolf. The source that I read also said that thousands of Golden Wolves may have existed between the time that the first Golden Wolf was seen and now, and that all of them had been killed with the Golden Knife before they shifted, which was why a Golden Wolf hadn’t been seen in so long. I never really believed it and just saw it as another old wives’ tale, but I sure as hell believed it now.
And I believed that my father had the knife, and was going to use it to kill Moana before she could shift.
I didn’t know what to do. My first priority was to protect Moana and our baby as well as Ella, but I couldn’t leave their side if my dad was waiting to attack. I knew that I wouldn’t stand a chance against taking him down on my own, either. He would gladly kill me for the sake of destroying another generation of the Golden Wolf. I was sure of it.
My only option was to get Moana to a safe place where she could shift before my father had a chance to use the knife. Only then could she be protected. If she shifted, the knife would only shatter and the only weapon that could kill the Golden Wolf would be gone forever.
The mountain estate; we would have to go there after all. With all of my security that I had hired, I was confident that we could surround the place and keep a constant watch. My father wouldn’t be able to get in, no matter how hard he tried. And then there, at least, Moana could shift safely where no one could get hurt. Maybe I could even try to help her shift for the first time, so we could accelerate the process.
But Moana and Ella weren’t the only people who I was worried about. My mother still lived in a home with my father, and she would certainly try to stop his plan…
And I knew that he would kill her if he needed to. I had to get her to safety with me.
Cursing under my breath, I quickly pulled out my phone and dialed my mom’s number. It was well past midnight, and I half expected her not to even answer, but thankfully she did pick up on the third ring.
“Edrick?” she said, sounding groggy. “Are you alright, darling? It’s so late.”
I let out a sigh of relief just at hearing her voice. “Mom,” I said, “is dad there?”
“Yes. He’s sleeping right here. Why? Do you need to talk to him? I can wake him up—”
“No!” I demanded, then cleared my throat. “No. Mom, I need you to listen to me; dad is going to do something really dangerous. It’s been seen in visions.”
“Visions?” my mom asked.
“Yes,” I replied. “Moana has the power of Foresight and she saw my dad… killing her. She’s the Golden Wolf, mom. And he has the knife.”
My mom fell silent. I knew that she believed me; she had always believed in spiritual things of that sort, especially Foresight.
“Listen,” I continued, “I’m going to the mountain estate, and I want you to come with me. I’m worried about you. I’m worried that dad might—”
Suddenly, my mom interrupted me. Her voice was much quieter now, and it shook as she sternly spoke. “Get as far away from the city as you can,” she whispered hastily. “Get far, far away, and don’t let that girl out of your sight.”
“Mom—”
But then, suddenly, the phone went dead. I pulled my phone away from my ear and stared wide-eyed at the screen as my mom’s number flashed, then disappeared. But I didn’t think she hung up at all; something was telling me that my father had woken up and forced her to hang up. I could sense it.
Something incredibly sinister was at play here. Now, more than ever, I believed that my father was up to no good. I swallowed hard as I looked over at Moana’s sleeping body, and watched the way that she nuzzled peacefully into the pillow as she slept thanks to the sleeping pills. At the same time, I became aware of a newfound strength emanating from her wolf. My wolf could sense it, too; she was close to shifting. It could only be a day, maybe two, now. If my father knew, and he likely did, then it only made our situation even more dire.
My mom was right. I needed to get Moana to safety far away from the city…
And I needed to do it now, because there was no time left for any of us.
