~Avery's POV~
Where am I?
There was no grass and no green leaves on the trees, only the tree trunks were standing on the dry ground. It looked like someone had chopped them off.
It looked like I was standing on dried clay, but it was the ground, the ground where grass once grew. Two stone pillars stood in front of me. It looked like it used to be a gate. The numbers 2 and 8 were barely visible on the right pillar and on top of them there were two... It looked like angels but the wings had fallen off and their faces looked to have been burned by something. As I looked further down I saw a house, it was white and grey, it was made of wood and the color had somewhat faded, but all in all, it looked presentable.
I walked over to the house, careful of my surroundings. As I got closer I saw a rocking chair on the porch and it was moving. There was someone sitting in it, with a cup in her hand. It was a woman. She had black straight hair. The closer I got, the more familiar she seemed. As I walked up to the porch I saw one single flower sitting in a vase. It was a rose, a black one. It seemed to be the only living thing in sight.
"Hello Miss?" I said in a low voice so as not to startle the woman.
"Please, have a seat." She said and pointed to the stool next to a small round table. I walked around her and took a seat on the stool, and that's when I saw what she looked like. The black hair framed her heart-shaped face, her grey-colored eyes stood out and her small button nose made her all the more surreal. She was beautiful.
"Hello, Avery, I have been expecting you." She said with a lovely smile. Why did I recognize her smile? "How do you know my name?" I asked her.
"That's not important, dear. Tell me, what do you see?" She asked me and looked out over the land. I was confused by the question. Didn't we see the same thing?
"A whole lot of nothingness." I responded, hoping I wasn't being rude, but that was what I saw and honestly, I was getting kind of sick of my dreams, where everyone talked in riddles.
Suddenly the land changed. Flowers grew, the grass came up and the trees reached the sky with their beautiful green leaves. The sun shines down over the small lake and I hear children laughing.
"Now what do you see?" She asked me again. I looked around in awe and saw birds flying high up in the sky.
"It's beautiful," I said with a gasp.
"That's because I projected an image of your mate into your head." In the blink of an eye everything went back to the dry, colorless land that it originally was.
" What do you mean you projected an image of my mate?"
"You already know who James is to you, Avery. You must only open your heart to him." So James was my mate. How is that possible? I mean I suspected it after everything I felt for him and what his mere presence does to me, and also the voice in my head that kept saying it was a pretty big clue.
"Why did it change back?" I asked her.
"It didn't, you did, you see, It's only ever nothing until you make it something. If you believe this to be a paradise, then it will, if your mate had been here with you, everything would look different. However, you see what you project, which in your case, is a whole lot of nothingness." Her words hit me in the core. Is this what I project?
"It's not an easy task, Avery, but anything can become beautiful if you allow it to."
"How did you do all of this?" She giggled and took a sip of her coffee.
"I'm a witch, sweetheart." She said with a wink.
"Why am I here?" I asked her.
"You tell me."
"I don't know honestly, I remember being with James and everything that happened there, and then falling asleep and waking up here." I said as I shrugged.
" I need to apologize to you. You're paying the price for something that I chose to sacrifice." I looked at her bewildered, having no idea what she was talking about.
"I'm sorry Miss, but what do you mean?"
"Please Avery, my name is Alena." I nodded my head. That's a very nice name.
"Well, Alena, why are you apologizing?" She looked back at the land before us and exhaled, looking lost in thought.
"I gave my life to protect that of a werewolf, a little girl. She was no more than five years old. I had met her before and she was such a pure soul. She was fantastic in every way, but one day her pack and family were under attack and I used my powers to shield them. However, she was only a child and children are adventures. She ran past my protection and was captured. I did everything in my power to protect her. She was protected but I lost my life while doing so. And my husband never forgave me or them for that." I saw a tear fall from her eye but she quickly wiped it away.
"He was such a hardhead, always has been, but that day when I died, everything changed about him. He lost his will to love, our son grew up in a home full of hate and revenge, and to this day my son is still trying to avenge my death by cleansing the country of werewolves.
And you, my dear, is his way to do so. You see he was born with a special gift, a gift to get inside people's minds and control them, but it doesn't work on just anybody."
"No I heard that it only works on those with whom he shares DNA, and that's why he can do it to me." I said, with a sad smile. Alena looked at me funny and then something changed in her eyes, some sort of realization.
"You don't know." She said.
"Know what?"
"It's not only about sharing DNA, it has to be from birth, Avery. My son is your father."
===
Chapter 59
~James POV~
Natasha had stood silent for a few minutes now. She looked conflicted as to whether or not she should tell us what she wanted to.
There was more to it than Natasha would admit, the photo in her hand that she was gripping tightly, the fact that Avery was supposed to kill Crow, she's human. How was she supposed to go up against a powerful wizard?
"How the hell can Avery fight him, let alone kill him? She's human, she doesn't have the strength nor power to harm him or anybody else for that matter, plus the fact that he controls her! She's not doing this!" Alex stood to his feet shouted at Natasha. Alex had taken on the big brother role over Avery, and Amber acted like an overprotective sister. It was nice to see, but we needed the rest of the information before anyone blew up.
"Continue." I told Natasha and her eyes quickly faltered. This was going to be difficult for her, I could see it already.
Natasha handed over the photo to Alex. I was guessing this was the part that I already knew, and now they would find out too.
"Who is this?" Alex asked her.
"That's Crow." Natasha said, her eyes brimming with anger and sadness.
"And the little girl?" Amber asked. "
That's me." I looked at Natasha and nodded my head. Alex and Amber however stared at her in shock
"You know him?" Amber gasped.
"Yes, he's my father." Natasha replied, lifting her head and staring dead into Ambers eyes.
"Are you saying that your father is the one doing this to Avery? And you've known this entire time? Why the fuck haven't you told us?" Alex roared, but Natasha didn't falter. She didn't look too faced about him losing his temper. She didn't say anything because she had a good excuse not to.
"My father was born with the gift of manipulation, as you know it only works when there is a direct connection to the person he's controlling." Amber and Alex looked close to bursting, they were both frowning and Alex was pinching the bridge of his nose to calm his wolf, Amber however didn't put much effort into calming hers.
" But your dad did this to your mate, how does it work if it's DNA bound, although it isn't, damn I'm confused." Amber said rubbing her face with her hand. Natasha shook her head.
"That was different, my father had injected Derek with his blood so the poison ran through his veins, this way my father could control him only for as long as Derek had his blood in him, which is why everything happened as quickly as it did." Natasha wiped away a stray tear and looked at Amber whose head fell. We all knew the power of the mate bond and the pain of losing it.
"Wait, it must be done from birth..." Amber asked.
"It must be done from birth." Natasha repeated. And like a bucket of ice-cold water was poured over their heads, they both took a step back and hung their arms. "You and Avery share the same father, that's why you've been so caring towards her," Amber whispered slowly. Natasha nodded her head. "Avery is my sister."