The Hybrid’s Second Chance
Chapter 68

Cornelia's

POV

Sitting down with Julia in the clearing, I wanted to try and draw her powers back to the surface. Her wolf was strong, so we needed to make her witch side just as strong.

"Close your eyes and take my hands," I told Julia. "Now I want you to concentrate on your magic. Feel it in your soul, let it consume your every thought. Remember when you were young, and you used your powers. Take some deep breaths and clear your mind of everything except your powers." I watched Julia as she focused on nothing but her magic. We stayed in this calm, trance-like space for a while just breathing together. I tried to connect my magic with hers through our bond as mother and daughter, helping to draw out her powers. "Are you sure this is working?" she asked after some time.

"I said it was going to take a while, and this is the first step. Concentrate hard and believe in yourself," I told her. We sat there channeling when I felt an electric spark between our hands. Julia must have felt it too because she gasped and drew her hands away from mine. "Did you feel that?" she asked. Her eyes were wide open, and she was looking at her hands as if something might be wrong with them.

"Yes!" I responded excitedly. "Give me your hands again." She reached out with slight hesitation, but I took her hands in mine and focused. I could feel the energy between us pulsing like a live wire. I smiled, knowing what we were doing was working. "It's working!" "Really?"

"Yes, that spark you felt was your powers coming to the surface after all these years. Let's do this for a few more minutes." We sat in silence again, allowing her charge to get stronger. I was amazed that we were able to bring her powers at least closer to the surface so quickly. She really was a remarkable young woman. "Can you feel it getting stronger?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Let that feeling take over and allow it to become part of you just like your wolf is." After we sat in silence for about ten more minutes, I drew my hands away from hers.

"I never asked you, what exactly are my powers?" she asked, opening her eyes to look at me. "You said I had them when I was younger. What was I able to do?"

"Well, when you were a baby, you were able to conjure things on command if I wasn't getting them fast enough for you. I remember once, you wanted your pacifier, and apparently, I wasn't moving as quickly as you would have liked, because the next thing I know, you had one in your mouth that I had never seen before. You could also levitate things and manipulate them starting at around two. When Marvin found you in the woods, you were busy crunching leaves into confetti without touching them." Julia got quiet, and looked at the ground she was still sitting on. I could feel the worry coming off her in waves. "What's wrong?" I asked, leaning forward, towards her.

"What if I can't get it all back? From what you're saying, it sounds like I was pretty powerful from a young age. What if it's too late?" She whispered the last question. This was the first moment where I felt like she needed me, she needed me to be her mom and comfort her, telling her everything was going to be okay.

"Listen, you're the daughter of the former High Priestess and an Alpha. You, my dear, can do anything. I have no fear that we can't get your powers out of their dormant state. Look at what we've been able to do in just a short while? You went from never feeling your magic to bringing it to the surface." She looked up at me with a halfhearted smile on her face. "Let's do some more hands on practice, and you'll see." I got to my feet, and she followed, slowly.

"What did you have in mind?"

"I want to try levitating some things and see how that goes." I began looking around for some object that would be good for a first practice. They needed to be large enough, it was easy to focus on them, but not so heavy, it would take too much power. Finding a couple of decent-sized rocks, I conjured a wooden bench to set them on. "Okay, so," I said, turning to face Julia. "I want you to raise your hand, and concentrate on nothing else, expect feeling the magic flow through you and out of your hand. Let it be the only thing you think about, concentrate hard and think of lifting the rock off the bench." Walking to the side, Julia raised her hand and stared at the rock. Nothing happened, and I heard her sigh.

"Focus," I told her. "Will it to happen in your heart and in your mind." She furrowed her brow as she concentrated even harder. After about another minute, the rock began to tremble slightly, then it lifted up off the bench about an inch.

"Oh my god!" Julia yelled out, losing focus, and causing the rock to thump back down.

"That was amazing!" I told her, excitedly.

"I can't believe I did that!" She seemed so happy and proud of herself.

"I told you, you're gonna make an amazing witch!"

"Can we try again?" she asked, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet.

"Absolutely!" Julia squared up to the rocks again, raising her hand and concentrating hard. This time she was able to lift the rock a few inches off the bench and hold it there. "Good job! Hold it there a little longer!" Julia had her eyes closed with concentration, when suddenly the rock flew sideways and smashed into a tree.

"Fu*k!" she said, startled by what had happened. "Did I do that?"

"I think so, it looks like your powers are growing at a faster rate than I expected."

"That's good, right, right?" she asked.

"Very good! I'm really proud of what you've been able to do!"

"Thank you!" Julia was smiling at me, and I think this was the first proud mother moment I had had with her. I had been proud when she had fought and been so brave against Logan, but this was a different kind of proud. She was becoming who she was always supposed to be, a powerful hybrid. This time with her was so special, helping her come into her powers and watching her get so excited over little triumphs.

"Do you want to try something else?" I asked.

"I think I'd actually like to show Alex what I can do if that's okay?"

"Of course, he's gonna be so happy for you." I waved my hand, causing the bench to disappear and the rocks to crash to the ground. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Yeah, that way you can help me if I need it." Julia led the way into the pack house and to Alex's office. We chatted the entire time about magic and what she hoped she would be able to do. She told me how excited her wolf was to learn to teleport, even though I said it would be some time before she would be able to do that.

"You know, I'd love to meet Sofia properly. I saw her during the battle, but I didn't get to interact with her at all."

"Oh, well, Alex and I planned to let his Lycan lan and Sofia go for a run a little later. You're welcome to come and hang with us for a little while to meet them both."

"Thank you, just tell me when and where." She knocked on Alex's office door, before entering without hearing his answer. I'm assuming they mind linked each other before we got here. "Alex!" she said excitedly. "You'll never guess what I was able to do!"

"What?" he asked, looking up from his computer.

"I was able to levitate a rock for a while and then accidentally threw it into a tree!" Alex raised his eyebrows, looking from her to me. I nodded my head, letting him know it was true. "That's fantastic love, I'm so proud of you!" He pushed out his chair and got up to engulf her in a loving hug.

"Her powers are coming along remarkably quickly. Maybe by her Luna ceremony, she'll be doing a lot more than just levitating things."

"Can I show you?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Sure, just don't levitate anything breakable," he chuckled. She rolled her eyes but walked over to stand in front of his bookshelf. Raising her hand, she focused on the books and making one of them come out from the neatly organized shelves. After several seconds, one of the books started moving slightly before slowly creeping out of its place on the shelf. Julia was able to hold it there for about ten seconds, before it fell to the ground with a soft thump. Alex ran to her and picked her up, swinging her around. "That was amazing!" Julia laughed, before he gave her a kiss.

"Cornelia was just saying how she'd love to meet lan and Sofia properly. Do you have some time right now to go for a run or something?"

"Yeah, I think I can spare a few minutes for my mate and her mother." Hearing Alex call me Julia's mother warmed my heart. I was being accepted into their hearts and packs much more quickly than I thought. For a moment during all the happiness, it was like we had never been separated at all.