Torn between Wolves & Myths (Book 2)
009

Walking downstairs she stopped as her pack all looked at her with large eyes. Liv looked down at the green dress she was wearing to see if she was showing something she shouldn’t. The sleeves were made of mesh material with green vines adorning them, and were off shoulder. The torso was made of a dark green silk that felt wonderful on her skin and had a sweetheart neckline. Further down the silk flowed from her hips out into the skirt that had a huge split at the front and showed the same mesh with green vines material as she walked, also revealing a lot of her legs at the same time. She had already experienced that she had to close her legs sitting down or every wolf will see the black thong she was wearing. It was a gorgeous dress with a small train and she had wondered where it came from. Knowing that it probably had been Nessa’s pick, she forced the wonder out of her thoughts. It’s not like she was going to walk up to her and ask where she got the dress anyway, so she just wore and loved it.

Not being able to find anything she looked back up at the guys that hadn’t moved yet.

“Is something wrong?” Asking as she was starting to become uncomfortable under their gaze. Malik smiled as he got up from the couch. “No.” He said as he reached her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You are just a spitting image of your mother right now. Except for your hair of course.” He said with a smile. A stab went through her chest as she looked back down at herself and ran her hand over the silky material.

Liv had always wondered if she looked anything like her mother, or that she took more after her father. Looking at herself, she never really got the answer, until now. It both warmed her heart as it was painful. The twinge of pain she felt came from the wolf as she was reminded how she had lost her parents.

“Thanks.” She spoke as she met Malik’s gaze again. He smiled as well as he squeezed her shoulder a little before retracting his hand. She placed the black heels on the ground, before stepping in them. They thankfully had a broad heel so she didn’t have to worry about losing them in the grass.

Tossing her hair on her back, Malik took something out of his back pocket. “When we were rescued, we knew that the pack was no more. Before Rafe took us here, we were allowed to burn your father properly. When they took his body to get him ready, something fell on the ground which caught my eye.” She looked at the black pouch as she gulped. “I knew it was important to him and I wanted to give you this sooner, but didn’t have the chance, until now.”

“Careful with that, my Moon.” Liv looked at her father as she held the pendant in her hands. Leif smiled as he picked her up and placed her on his hip as he held her. “This pendant is very special to our pack.” He said as he placed the gold chain around her neck and held out the pendant to her. It was shaped as a drop which held a Labradorite between vine-like golden swirls.

“It’s so pretty.” She whispered as she almost got lost in the kaleidoscope of colors which moved in the light. Her father chuckled softly and nodded. “It is and it’s very special.”

“How?” As she looked at her father.

“It’s said that the stone contains the power of the first Hunulv and only the true heir can unlock it.” He explained as he eyes grew wide.

“Really?” She asked as she looked back at the pendant. “Really.”

“Wow.” She whispered.

Leif chuckled as he kissed her cheek and removed the chain from her neck and took the pendant in his hand. “It has been my good luck charm ever since my mother gave it to me. One day it will be yours and, in your turn, you will give it to your child once the time comes.” He spoke as he hung the pendant around his own neck.

“Will you take good care of it once the time comes?” Liv met his eyes and immediately nodded. Leif smiled again before placing another kiss on her head.

Tears gathered in her eyes as Malik pulled out the gold pendant with the Labradorite stone. A shallow breath left her as he took a step forward and placed the necklace around her neck. A warm and powerful feeling fell over her as the chain touched her skin. The pendant rested in between her breasts, causing a tear to roll down her cheek as she closed her hand around the pendant, she thought she’d never see again. Her father wore it almost every day and the moments he didn’t were rare. Back then she always wanted to have it, but with everything that happened, she never thought of the pendant again, believing it to be lost as everything else. But she never forgot about it either.

“I never knew what I would do with it, besides keeping it save, until we heard that you were alive.” She looked back up as she met his gaze.

“Thank you.” Her voice held the emotions that were racing through her body. Malik smiled and bowed his head towards her, placing the black pouch in her hand. Before he pulled his hand away, she grabbed it in hers and squeezed as a thank you.

“Now you look just like your father as well.” Fare commented as he also got a little closer with a smile on his face.

A strangled laugh left her as another tear rolled down her cheek. Looking down at the pendant she thought about what her father had told her about it.

“It’s said that the stone contains the power of the first hunulv and only the true heir can unlock it.”

Back in the day she had known what hunulv meant, but ever since King took her away from her home, her Kalaallisut and Danish had become rusty and if someone would talk to her in either language, she would look at them as if they were speaking gibberish.

She couldn’t recall what the word meant, but that wasn’t what was stuck in her head right now.

“It has been my good luck charm ever since my mother gave it to me.”

Her lips parted as she looked at it and recalled what Caden had told her.

One of the sisters, the Ulfhednar royals and her grandmother, had given the pendant to her father. Which could mean that there was more to this pendant and the myth her father had told her than she used to think.

“What does hunulv mean?” She asked out of the blue as she looked back up at Malik.

“She-wolf.” The answer was like a cold-water bucket was thrown over her head.

It’s said that the stone contains the power of the first she-wolf and only the true heir can unlock it.

“What’s wrong?” Fare asked as he noticed the change in her behavior.

She swallowed as she looked at the pendant again, the kaleidoscope of colors greeted her once more and a shiver ran down her spine. More questions were added to the ones she already had, but these weren’t the ones that would be answered by asking them. No, she had a feeling that this pendant was more important than she knew. These answers were ones she had to find out for herself.

Placing the pendant underneath her dress, so, only the chain was visible she looked back up at Malik and wiped her tears away.

“I don’t know yet, but we tell no one about the pendant, understood.” All of the males bowed their head at her command. “Do we have to be worried?” Malik asked as he was the first one to look back at her. “I hope not, but we have something else to focus on right now and that’s more important.” Malik gave her a stern nod again.

“Lead the way.” He spoke as he took a step away from her and cleared the way to the door.

Taking a deep breath, she walked to the door and out of the cabin, followed by her pack to the first act of the play.

Fare and Malik walked on either side of her as they entered the courtyard, as the other three of her pack walked behind them. Somehow the hierarchy in her pack had already become visible. She glanced at the two at her side. It would only be a matter of time before she was going to name a beta, even though none of her pack had second-generation blood. It didn’t matter to her though. Being a beta was more than just being born from the second-generation line of wolves, it was the title for the wolf who was second in command and she wanted to give it to someone who deserves it, not because his blood makes him the most capable. If she learned one thing, it was that even second-generation wolves, born to be beta’s, were not perfect and made mistakes. Augo being her main example. She’d rather give the title to anyone else who proved themselves. Both Fare and Malik had great potential to her and, to be honest, she already trusted them with her life. She just had no idea how she was going to pick between the two.

Walking into the crowd of feasting wolves, she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. That was something to focus on at any other time. Right now, they had a plan to put to action.

Looking around she saw that Rafe and his goons, including Caden and Ben sat at the same table as before. The only difference was that, this time, a chair was placed next to Caden instead of Ben. Clenching her jaw and sighing through her nose, she looked at the table.

“They really go out of their way to make you put up with him, don’t they?” Malik asked through the link.

“It’s a test, they want to see how far they can push me.” She answered back, before straightening her spine and walking forward. “Go mingle, you all know what you must do.” She pushed through the link for her entire pack to hear. Without any other word they scattered as she kept walking to the table, who now noticed her as well.

Rafe, Stef and Pyry looked at her completely and she could tell that they had to fight the urge inside of them. Which was kinda gross as Rafe was her uncle. As if he realized that fact as well, he scraped his throat and looked away from her as he placed his cup on the table. Ben actually looked at her with big eyes as his cup was still on his lips, frozen in time, and Caden only spared her a glance before he pulled his eyes away from her and looked at the crowd. She stopped in front of the table, drawing Rafe’s eyes back to her.

“Regent.” She said with a slight dip of her head, out of fake respect.

“Welcome, Livana.” He said with a dip as well. She raised his eyebrows at him as he didn’t use her title. A crooked smile ghosted over his face as he dipped his head one more time. “Alpha Livana.”

She had used his official title; it was only natural that he would use hers as well. Not using it only confirmed that she was right about them testing her.

Liv forced a smile to spread over her face at his correction. “Please, take a seat.” Rafe said as he gestured to the empty chair next to Caden. She dipped her head a little before walking to the chair and sat down, crossing her legs as she did.

Rafe stood up with his cup in his hand as he held up his hand, hushing the feasting wolves. “Tonight’s celebration is a special one, my friends.” She looked at the wolves as her uncle spoke. Some held a bored expression; others couldn’t keep their eyes from shifting to her and a selective few held a gaze laced with disgust as they held their eyes on Rafe. Liv marked the faces in her mind as their reaction was something she truly wanted to know the reason to.

“Tonight, the war we have been fighting since the beginning of our species has reached a turn point. Long have we lived to believe that we were alone and had no hope to win, but tonight changes that believe.” Liv’s eyes travelled back to Rafe as she realized what he was talking about.

Her.

“Tonight, our long-lost Princess joins the Ulfhednars once more!” Rafe bellowed and the wolves broke out into a cheering and howling chaos. Even the ones who held a scowl of distrust before, celebrated and seemed genuinely happy. A shiver ran down her spine as she heard their excited howls and cheers.

Rafe held up his hand again and the cheering died down. “We still have a long road ahead of us, my friends, but no longer will we be oppressed by the Lycanthropes. No longer will we have to send our younglings to their death. No longer will we lose our beloved wolves to the hatred of the lesser race!” Even more wolves scowled and she could have sworn she heard a distant growl. They didn’t agree with their leaders’ words. Interesting.

“With her help, we will be victorious! We will bring them down to their knees and have them beg for death before the end!” That got the wolves cheering and hollering again, but it didn’t erase the fact that multiple wolves didn’t agree with Rafe’s words. Including wolves, she had seen before, wolves from Caden’s pack. If she could find a way to fuel their distrust, maybe she could do more than just keeping the asshole busy with his own lust. A war in his own pack would be even better. Putting the information away for later, she focused on Rafe again.

“We will avenge all those we have lost and make them pay for everything! We will have Lycaon’s head and we will rule like the gods have foretold!” She scrunched her eyebrows a bit as she registered his words. Rule like the gods have foretold? What was he talking about?

“This night is for you my friends, as of tomorrow the new dawn in this war will begin!” Rafe finished as he raised his cup before he sat back down.

“Lose the expression, Alpha. It’ll conjure up questions.” She heard Malik say through the link and she immediately forced her face back to neutral. Just in time as well, as Rafe looked at her and tipped his cup towards her. She gave him a small smile before looking away from him. “How are you handling everything?” A sigh left her as she met the gaze of Pyry. “Like shit, but it’s the best I can do.” A snort came from him as he nodded. “Isn’t that the truth.” She had to hold back her growl as she held his gaze. “But we can’t blame you for that. We can blame your Lycanthrope mother and our late King for your ignorance. I am surprised at how well you fell into your Alpha role though.”

“Are you implying that I shouldn’t have?” A crooked smile ghosted over his face as he leaned back in his chair. “For someone who said that she wasn’t and wouldn’t ever be an Alpha, yes.” The conversation between her and Caden, back in King’s pack, flashed through her mind. It was then, that Caden had told her she was an Alpha and she had denied it to the inch of her life. Saying that it didn’t matter and that she wasn’t one. She swallowed as her eyes ventured back into the crowd, to Malik and Fare who were having a conversation with another wolf she didn’t know.

“Don’t pester her, Pyry.” Ben spoke as her eyes were still on her pack members.

“I’m doing no such thing.” Meeting Pyry’s smug gaze once more at his words. “I’m just curious why she suddenly changed her mind.”

“I grew up believing that I was the only one left alive from my pack. I never knew that there were other survivors, and frankly I had no time to actually find out as I was a little busy with getting tortured and later, hunted. I never saw myself as an Alpha because I never believed there to be a pack that I would call my own, let alone be their leader. You want to know what changed?” She asked Pyry who’s smug smile had disappeared. “My whole life has. And, when they took the oath before even getting to know me, I couldn’t, I didn’t want to, say no, because they are my pack. Previous and present. They will always be my pack even if I’m not the one who leads them. They bound themselves to me because they wanted to. They are the ones who chose me as their Alpha, and, even though I wasn’t raised as one, I will do my best to lead them and make them proud. So, Pyry, is that enough of an acceptable answer for you?” She asked as she leaned back in her chair and held his gaze. It was then that she noticed the fact that the wolves had quieted down and were looking at her. They had all listened to her. A warm feeling spread through her chest as she felt the pride coming from her pack members. Pyry swallowed as he gave her a nod. “Aye, it is.” He said grim. “My apologies, Alpha Livana.” He added. The wolf inside of her rose with pride as he apologized to her. She gave him a stern nod as well before seeing the calculating look of Rafe towards her. With a sigh she got up from her chair and walked away as the wolves slowly continued their celebration. Liv ran her hands over her face as she neared Malik, Fare and the unknown wolf. “Alpha.” Both Malik and Fare said as they bowed their head briefly. She ignored them as she took the cup of Malik and took a large sip. A snort came from the wolf before he took the now empty cup back. “Need a refill?” Wiping the drops away with the back of her hand she shook her head.

“Alpha Livana.” The unknown wolf spoke as he barred his neck. “This is Nile, Alpha Pyry’s beta.” Fare explained as Nile looked back up.

“Nice to meet you.” She said with a smile.

“The pleasure is all mine, Princess. We’ve been waiting a long time for you to return.” Nile answered.

“So, I’ve gathered.” She said as she looked around her. “Apologies, Princess. I didn’t mean to offend you.” Nile immediately said as he saw her hard look as she looked around her. She ran her hand over her face again as she looked back at the beta. “You didn’t, it’s just a lot to take in when you grew up not knowing all of this. I’m still processing.” Which wasn’t actually a lie. Nile gave her a smile and held out a cup filled with the same mead towards her. She took it with a nod that said thank you, before she noticed who was walking up to them.

“Alpha.” Nile barred his neck again as Pyry appeared next to her.

Did the guy know that he was her target or anything? He made it awfully easy for her to get him alone. Especially when he was the one who sought her out.

“I see you’ve met my beta.” Pyry said as he refilled his cup and turned towards her. “Is there a law that says I can’t. If so, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.” A snort came from Pyry before he took a sip. “There isn’t, don’t be such a hard ass.”

“Don’t make it so easy for me to be one.” She said with a polite smile, before she took a sip as well. He briefly narrowed his eyes at her before he opened his mouth and spoke words, she hadn’t expected to hear. “I actually met your father once, when he was still the reigning king.” The cup froze against her lips as her body went a bit rigid. Forcing to make her arm move she pulled the cup from her lips and held it in two hands. “You have?” Pyry nodded before he walked to a bench not far from where they were standing. Liv exchanged a look with Fare before she left the three of them as well and sat down next to Pyry. “I was one of the last ones who got the gift from Freya before the sisters died. Back then it was normal for many wolf pups to be chosen to carry the gift of the human skin, until it wasn’t anymore.” He said as he looked at two pups which were playing in their wolf skin with two human children. “I was still a pup when I met your father.” He said as he met her gaze. “It was during a meeting with the Alpha’s about the war. My dad brought me with him to the meeting as I was learning to become an Alpha, he thought it to be a good education. I still can’t remember a lot from the meeting itself, but what I do remember was your father. As soon as he stepped into the room, his dominance and aura filled the space, telling everyone who he was. To be frank, I actually expected that coming from you as well, but given your past, it’s not weird that it still has to develop. I can actually tell that you’re getting more dominant as days pass.” Well, that was good to know. “Anyway,” He recollected himself as he looked at the wolves. “I still remember how much of a weakling I felt like when he stepped into the room. During the whole meeting I was pretty much intimidated by him. Hence the fact that I couldn’t concentrate.” He said with a huff as a small smile splayed over his face. “At the end, I couldn’t get out of the room fast enough, and because of that I fell down a flight of stairs in the palace. Your dad was the first one to reach me. I thought he was going to scold me for being an idiot or anything, but he didn’t. He was kind and took care of me. He was such a contrast from the male I had seen in the meeting room that it made me amazed by it. You remind me of him in that way.” He spoke as he met her tear-lined gaze again. “Even though you have only showed your hard ass side with us, I can tell there is a soft side to you as well. Just like your dad.” A tear rolled down her cheek, before she quickly wiped it away. She quickly took a large gulp of the mead before clearing her throat and meeting his gaze again. “Did-” She stopped herself before she could ask the question.

“You can ask me anything you want, Liv. I know I’ve been an asshole to you, but we’re going to work together, we can at least give each other honest answers.” She was brought back to the present by his words. She had been so caught up in his story that her thoughts had been somewhere else completely. Recollecting herself, she cleared her throat one last time before giving him a small smile and decided to ask a different question.

“Did you ever meet my mother?”

“No, your father was very protective of her and when he settled down with her in Greenland. No one truly saw him after that, besides Rafe.” He said before he took another sip and leaned with his elbows on his knees. “Why?” Pyry looked back at her over his shoulder. “Why would he suddenly distance him from everyone just because he found his mate?” A muscle ticked in his jaw as he looked ahead of him again, but didn’t answer her. Fighting the urge to grab his throat and threaten him to tell her. She scooted a little to him as she laid a hand on his shoulder and made him look at her. “Please?” Making a show of looking at him with puppy eyes, he sighed through his nose again, before taking another sip. “Your mother was a Lycanthrope, Livana. The mating between your father and your mother wasn’t one that was accepted by every Ulfhednar. Your father wanted to protect her and-” He stopped himself before he could finish his sentence.

“Me.” She finished for him.

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