Kieran POV
After what felt like the longest argument of my life between my family, we eventually decided that Raven would take Mae out to dinner and break the news to her that we are setting her mother free. Leo and I would go into the cells and bring her mother out. Mom is setting up the room that Tish used, and my fathers are finding a suitable guard. It has all been planned out carefully. We only need to execute it.
Leo and I are standing outside of the dungeons in silence. We are both staring at the door, but neither one of us makes the move to open it.
"It feels wrong doing this without Mae's permission," I state.
Leo enters the code into the pin pad, and the door swings open. "I am sure Raven will explain everything in a way that Mae will understand. I don't think you will be in the doghouse."
I roll my eyes as I follow Leo into the dungeons.
Normally, the sounds of the prisoners echo through the long dungeon hallways, but today, it is abnormally quiet. The only sound that I can hear is water dripping in the distance. It makes me feel uncomfortable.
Leo pauses at the bottom of the stairs and looks around. I can tell the silence is making him feel awkward as well.
"Where is she?" Leo asks.
Pointing to the cell closest to us, Leo quickly approaches the cell. He places his gloved hand on the bars as he opens the door. The door scraps against the floor and Leo holds it open for me to step inside.
Mae's mother is sitting in the shadows of her cell, rocking back and forth. She is mumbling a chant that I can't understand. I begin to call out her name when I realize that I don't know it.
"Ma'am," I improvise, but it doesn't catch her attention.
I bend down in front of Mae's mother and reach out to touch her, but she recoils from me.
"Do not touch the mystic," she hisses at me.
I pull my hand back and sit on the ground with her. "Is that what you are? A mystic?"
Mae's mother looks in my direction, but she looks as if she is looking straight through me. "She goes by many names."
"Who is she?" I ask curiously.
"The Knower," Mae's mother replies cryptically.
"Are you the Knower?" Leo chimes in from behind me.
Her eyes dart to Leo. "One of the mates. The arrogant one."
"Woah, woah," Leo laughs. "You don't have to be so accurate."
I chuckle along with him, but Mae's mother only looks at us peculiarly.
"Would you like to leave this place?" I ask her.
"Only to move to another prison," she whispers. "One prison to another."
"You would be given a room in the pack house," I tell her. "You would be comfortable."
"But not free," she whispers.
"No," I respond honestly. "You would not be free. But you would be comfortable."
Mae's mother narrows her eyes at me. She slowly gets to her feet and walks toward the cell door. Leo offers her his hand, but she swats it away. "You must not touch."
Leo cocks his head to the side, but he doesn't try to touch her again. She marches through the dungeons as if she has known them her whole life. Pushing the door to the outside open, she blinks quickly as the setting sun hits her face. Covering her face with her hand, she marches toward the front of the pack house.
Leo is on edge. He is waiting for her to run. But she doesn't. She continues to the porch of the pack house and waits patiently at the door.
My mother is waiting for us on the other side. Her anxiety is filling the air around us, making it feel impossible to breathe. Although, Mae's mother doesn't seem to notice.
"The white wolf," Mae's mother mumbles as she walks past Mom.
This doesn't make Mom's anxiety any better. She is chewing on the inside of her lip, and the smell of blood is filling the air.
I place my hand on Mom's shoulder and try to give her a reassuring smile. She reins in her anxiety and turns her attention to Mae's mother.
"I am Erica," Mom says as sweetly as she can. "What is your name?"
"The Knowers have no names," Mae's mother whispers.
"Okay," Mom sighs. "What do we call you?"
Mae's mother becomes lucid for just a moment. "There is no need for niceties. I understand that I am still a prisoner."
Mom looks taken aback, but she doesn't let that stop her. "You are a guest."
"A guest with a guard armed with wolfsbane," Mae's mother laughs.
"Let me show you to your room," I interrupt the standoff between the two women.
Mae's mother nods, and I begin to walk up the stairs. I can hear Mae's mother mumbling behind me as I walk down the hall. I turn to look at her and her moment of clarity is gone. She is glassy-eyed as she takes in her surroundings.
We step into the room that once belonged to Tish, and Mae's mother sighs loudly. "The traitor was here."
I don't acknowledge her statement. There is no need to. We both know that Tish betrayed Mae.
"The bathroom is this way," I show her, "and we had some clothes brought up for you. I will let you get cleaned up."
"Wait," Mae's mother calls after me.
I turn to face her, and there are tears in her eyes.
"Can I speak to my child?" She begs.
"She isn't here," I inform her mother.
"That's what I was afraid of," she cries. "She must come back. She must come back."
"What have you seen?" I growl in her direction.
Mae's mother doesn't answer. Her arms are wrapped around her body, and she is rocking back and forth.
I race from the bedroom, locking the door behind me. I can hear Mae's mother's fists banging on the bedroom door, begging to be set free.
Leo is at the top of the stairs, and by the look on his face, I can tell it is bad news.
"Oliver let the girls eat alone," he whimpers. "They are gone."