29

It was just past midnight by the time we'd cleaned up all of the Shifter fatalities— only a few wolves had lost their battles. The guy who had flirted with me when I was looking around the pack village was among them. Despite his previous actions, I mourned greatly for him and several others who lay motionless. I felt connected to them on a deep, familial level, and the sight of their unseeing eyes made me physically ill. Most of them were male warriors, but a female warrior was also included in the list of fatalities. Quiet tears flowed down my already tear-stained face as I watched her teenage daughter and mate cling onto her limp body, sobbing.

"Dawn," Mum called from behind me.

"Hm?" I made my way over to her, tearing my eyes away from the mourning pack members.

"Hayden's asking for you upstairs. He says he's fine and won't let the Pack Doctor examine him."

I nodded and brushed past her, heading upstairs to deal with my mate, when her hand caught my arm and pulled me to a halt. "But first, your grandmother is here. She needs to speak to you. With Sydney."

My eyes widened in surprise before flitting over to my younger sister, who was sitting on Dad's lap. Ryan sat close to them, his sorrowful eyes glued to her, but she never met his gaze. I sighed at the sight. My family, along with Ryan, had taken refuge in the Alpha house during the remainder of the battle— Harvey had ordered it, for which I was grateful.

"Where's Grandma?" I questioned, searching for her in the gaze of people in the soft lamplight.

"Inside the Alpha house, in the study. Harvey let her use it," she nodded in that direction softly. With an unreadable expression, she held my gaze for a few seconds. "She brought that box with her."

My eyes widened before I frowned in confusion. "But wh—"

Mum cut me off, "Go get your sister."

Hesitantly, I turned away from my mum and quickly crossed the clearing to where Sydney was, offering out my hand. "Come on, Sid. Grandma wants to see us."

"Grandma?" Sid questioned, jumping from my dad's lap with excitement glinting in her eyes. "Grandma's here?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "You can finally meet her." Sid happily took my hand and I led her into the Alpha house, relaxing into the comforting glow of the familiar home. My home. We walked past the living room and down the hallway to the study, where the door was ajar and the lit lamp was visible.

"Grandma?" I asked as I pushed open the door, and two arms suddenly came out of nowhere and wrapped me in a sweet apple-scented hug.

"Dawn," she murmured happily— almost in relief.

"Hi Grandma," I replied quietly, releasing Sid hand to squeeze her back. When she pulled away, I noticed that she no longer wore that old key around her neck. It sparked a lot of questions in my mind— questions that I didn't speak.

"Sid," I started, pulling my little sister out from hiding behind me. She kept her eyes glued to the floor, a shy smile on her lips. "Meet Grandma."

Grandma lowered herself so she was almost Sid's height and held out her arms. "Oh, Sydney. You are so pretty. I'm so happy to be finally meeting you." She pulled Sid into a bear hug and held her for a while. Grandma's eyes squeezed shut and I knew she was overjoyed.

"Right," Grandma stood up, straightening herself out and wiping away a stray tear. She then took Sid's small hand in her own and smiled. "There's a reason I wanted both of you to come and see me."

"What is it?" I asked as I took a seat on an armchair, opposite where Sid snuggled up on Grandma's lap. The box sat on the table beside them.

"I know about what happened with Hayden today," she started. "I know that he was—" she peered down at Sid's innocent face, "—sleeping because of what happened to his neck. And I know who did it. Arcas."

I gaped— Hayden, Indie and I had all agreed not to mention anything about Callisto's son to anybody. We wanted to sort everything out before we brought up the mysterious stranger's appearance and Hayden's miraculous recovery. We had, however let the Pack Doctor know of Hayden's situation, but disclosed no other information about what exactly happened and who did it. We wanted to make sure that Hayden was okay, since we didn't know how he healed like he did. "How?" I inquired. "We didn't tell anyone about him."

She smiled and her eyes drifted over to the box beside her. "I told you that your grandfather was the King of Wolf Shifters. He was killed on a visit to a troublesome pack— I still don't know how it happened. Someone with great power must have killed him. I think that was Arcas. But because he was the King, he and I were in constant contact with Artemis. And I still am."

My jaw dropped. She had been communicating with the Moon Goddess— and all the time?

Gently, Grandma moved Sid off her lap and picked up the box, setting it on her legs. "She gave me this."

"What is it Grandma?" Sid interjected.

Grandma smiled softly at her. "It's a gift. For you."

My eyes widened, and so did Sid's. "For me?" she repeated gingerly.

"Yes, sweetie. For when you're old enough."

"What's inside it?"

"Take a look."

Both of us leaned forward in anticipation as Grandma opened the lid. Inside, white velvet coated the interior, and in the centre of the box lay something neither of us expected.

"A leaf?" Said Sid, wrinkling her nose. "Why would I want a leaf?"

Grandma looked amused. "It's not just a leaf, sweetheart. It's a token from Artemis. It won't become what she has intended you to have until the right time. For now, it will remain a little green leaf. But when I close this box, it won't open again until Artemis tells it to. When that will be... Well, your guess is as good as mine."

"But what will she need it for, Grandma?" I asked, confused, and a little protective over my younger sister. I didn't want her to be involved in anything dangerous.

Grandma shrugged. "That's is between Artemis, and this box," she said, snapping it shut with a soft click. A soft orange glow appeared inside the gap between the lid and the rest of the box, and it seemed to retreat into the interior.

"Is it stuck shut now?" came from Sid.

"Yes, sweetie. It is. Here, it's yours. Take and keep it safe."

Sid picked up the box with her fingertips, cradling it like a precious china doll. I laughed at the action, and Sid giggled a little at herself too.

"Thank you, Grandma," Sid grinned, and leaped on Grandma to hug her. Grandma gladly reciprocated and stroked her youngest granddaughter's hair as they embraced. I smiled.

"I have to go and check on Hayden— apparently he's being difficult," I laughed. "I'll see you later."

Both of them called goodbyes at me as I left the room, shutting the door to give them some privacy. I imagined that they were both excited to get to know one another.

Quickly I raced up the stairs and down the hallway, heading towards Hayden and I's bedroom where Dr. Carmon would be, trying to get my idiot of a mate to cooperate. As I reached the door, I heard the sounds of muffled arguing, which made my eyes roll.

When I pushed open the door, I saw Hayden perched on the edge of our bed, his arms folded grumpily. Indie's dad stood on the opposite side of the room, looking annoyed. Both of their heads snapped up towards me and Hayden immediately jumped up to pull me into an embrace that Dr. Carmon looked very pissed off about.

"I missed you too," I laughed, trying to pry his arms off of me. "But I don't think that's the best thing for you to be doing right now."

Hayden pulled away, sulking. "How many people do I need to convince that I'm fine?"

I grabbed his forearm, raising my eyebrows. "Stop being a baby and listen to me. Your neck was... It was torn apart. There was blood everywhere. You were dead, Hayden," I felt tears pricking at my eyes at the memory. "You were dead. And suddenly you were up again, your neck was fine, and you were acting like nothing had happened. So forgive me if I'm a little worried."

He held my gaze steadily for a few moments before he finally relented. "Fine," he grumbled.

The doctor took the opportunity immediately and pushed Hayden into a chair, checking his blood pressure, heart, and checking him for other wounds. My eyes were glued to the silvery scar on Hayden's freshly washed neck that made absolutely no sense to me.

Dr. Carmon eventually pulled away, looking surprised. "He's completely fine."

I frowned, "But how is that possible?"

"See! I told you!" Hayden whined, but we both ignored him.

"I have no idea," the doctor replied. "Something must've done this. Something that maybe you didn't notice happening? I really don't know— I've never seen anything like this. I have to go and check up on some other injured pack members. Maybe you should ask Harvey?"

We said goodbye to Indie's father, Hayden a little less friendly than me. I didn't understand... What did we do to help him? Was someone else in the clearing with us?

"Maybe we should ask my dad," Hayden wondered aloud, breaking my thoughts as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Maybe..." I muttered. "When we found you, I was crying so hard. Indie was too. I even tried to...never mind."

"What?" Hayden asked, intrigued. "What did you try to do?"

"I..." I let out an embarrassed laugh. "I tried to kiss it better for you."

"You did?" Hayden said. I nodded and he kissed my cheek loudly. "You are amazing and adorable and beautiful and just adorable."

I started to giggle but stopped suddenly. "Hang on... What if I did it?"

"Did what?"

"Healed you."

"How? By kissing my neck? I... I don't know, Dawn."