The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 32

IZZY

I headed down the stairs in no time, and I am now sitting back on the couch.

The first question I need to ask Blake is if I could meet his parents. Both of them need to be there. I have a bone to pick with his father, but it’s the photo that I will need to talk to them about more. I know what I have to tell them and it’s going to come as a shock to Luna Lauren with what I have to tell her.

Lena moves away from Dale and crouches down by my side. “Don’t worry, I have sent word to the warriors to come here. They are bringing her here in a few days.” I smile at her. She always knows what I am thinking. Dale walks in the kitchen with Todd.

“How do you all know each other?” asks Alice, looking between us all.

I smile at her. “When the hunters caught me one time, they had a few wolves and witches in different cells. I was stuck in the same cell as Charley and Lena. We became fast friends, and we all saved each other.”

“This girl’s power is intense,” says Charley, pointing to me as she leans against Kacey’s shoulder. “She took out all the hunters, whoever else was involved, and saved everyone in the cages and cells.”

Alice smiled at me. “Well, we all knew you were a superhero Izzy,” she laughs. I can’t help but laugh. After a few moments, Alice’s face softens, but she turns to Lena.

“Lena, you’re the witch my mother told me she knew,” Alice says and Lena nods. “Once we were saved. Izzy made a little pack of wolves stick together so no one could replace them. They live on the outskirts, a good few miles away from here. You all would call them rogues but they are special and if I might be so blunt alpha Blake,” Lena says as she turns to look at him. “I think you should have them here amongst your pack. They would love to be part of a pack, especially if Izzy is a part of the pack,” she says with a smile. Blake sits next to me and places his hand on mine. “If they follow Izzy, they are more than welcome to come and join the pack,” he says and turns to Todd. “I’m assuming you are Kat’s mate.”

Todd smiles as he comes in with three mugs of coffee. “Yes, and I have to thank you, alpha. I am so happy you have accepted my daughter and mate into your pack.”

Dale comes in from the kitchen with a tray full of mugs and places the tray in front of the rest of us on the coffee table. Everyone takes a mug, but Dale stops dead in his tracks and grabs the final third photo.

He looks at me. “Why did you take this picture?” he asks, turning to look at me. Lena looks at it from the side of him and looks at me. “I think Izzy, you need to tell everyone what you saw that night your mother was rejected,” she says and everyone looks at me with puzzled faces. “What is Lena on about?” asks Charley.

I only told Lena as she took my memories away, as they were affecting my power and my mental state.

I looked around and sigh “The night my mum was rejected by my father, something happened. I couldn’t even stop it from happening. It happened before he came.”

I lean forward and grab the photo of Dale, who is now sitting on the floor near me and I look at it, feeling sick to my stomach. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me.

I sigh. “My mum and I were making a cake like we usually do. But my mother could sense people outside the house. She took my hand and placed me in the closet under the stairs. She told me not to come out, whatever happens to her. I couldn’t leave the closet,” I said as I felt Blake’s hand on mine and he squeezed it, reassuring me. “After she made sure I was not seen, I had no scent as I had a necklace off a friend of hers, which masked mine. I made sure I could see, so I made sure one slant was open for me to see out of. I wanted to know what was going on. Someone knocked on the door. My mother went to open the door but whispered before she opened the door, do not come out whatever happens, I mean it. I had to listen to her.”

I turn the photo and place it in the middle of the coffee table for everyone to see. I lean back. “All four of the people came to the house that night, our father, for his rejection, but the other three came before he did.”

“That’s impossible, our mum says she never met your mother” says Kacey; I can’t help the growl that slips out, but I had to ignore her. I had to tell them what happened.

“When my mother opened the door, she was pushed back by two men while the older man came in. Your mother punched and kicked her so she was in submission while the two guys held onto her. She couldn’t take them on. She was weak from their entire love making. The red head woman started chanting and the older man poured something down my mother’s throat by force.” I said. “Your mother had given a potion to our father to take; he didn’t even want to reject my mum. Your mother wanted to rub it in my mum’s face that he would be finally hers. He was made to reject her with someone planting the idea in his head.”

I looked between them both. The anger and rage flowing through the room were intense. “That man was the leader of all that happened to my mother. The potion he forced down my mother’s throat would kill her once my father rejected her. I had to watch the man who was my father come in and reject her. I couldn’t even stop him. He was not even there. It was like a complete stranger doing it,” I say, pointing to the older man. My power comes to life, Puma growling as flash blacks of everything coming back through us. We relive everything that happened to my mother.

Everyone was really quiet. I could feel all the emotions coming off everyone. But everyone is silent.

“Do you know what it was like watching my mother die? I had to watch her scream in pain, watch her mark that he gave her, and burn her from the inside out. She was with me for three weeks,” I said, a few tears escaping. I wanted to kill them all for what they did, the three people involved in the murder of my mother.

There was a loud growl next to me, and I looked to see Blake staring at the photo. His grip on the photo was tight, like he was going to rip it.

“Elder Johnson,” he says through gritted teeth “Elder Johnson is the elder at our pack, he controls some of the pack business and he is the one who wanted your father to reject your mother so he could have Linda as our beta female.”

I look at him in disbelief.

Kat and Alice growling at the photo that was passed around which ends in Kat’s hand. “That piece of shit killed my sister all for power.”

“We need to kill him,” says Alice, everyone nodding in agreement.

“We have another problem,” says Blake suddenly, and he tells us what happened after he left me. Elder Johnson wanted him to choose a chosen mate. To reject me and take Kacey for his chosen mate, both Charley and I are growling loud which earns a smirk off Blake.

After everything was said, I was having trouble controlling Puna. She is up on all fours growling loudly in my head, that elder needs to die, she chants in my head.

“He is our grandfather,” says Kacey suddenly, looking blankly. But before she could say anything, Dale growls at her, “You’re going to stick up for him after what he wants you and Blake to do.”

“No, I’m not saying that. I mean, we can’t just kill him. We need proof and we also need to confront mum,” she says with a hint of annoyance.

I look between the both of them and sigh. “Your mother is not Graham’s true mate. Panther shifters have one mate, one mate alone. There were never two mates for Graham, only my mother,” I said.

They both turn to me, looking hurt. I don’t mean to sound like a bitch, but that’s the truth. What has always happened with panther shifters for many years? We only have one true mate.

“Izzy, explain everything to dad, I mean all about this,” says Dale with a hint of concern. “He didn’t know what was going on.”

I know I have to talk to Graham, and I will. I know I was mean to him, but I had my reasons. I had my memories wiped for one reason, but Lena made sure I kept some. But obviously I didn’t know the whole extent of the situation.

“If he didn’t know, you mean,” says Alice.

I can’t help looking at the photo again. The red-haired woman looks so familiar to me, but I have no clue why.

“We know her Izzy,” says Lena in a small voice. But everyone can hear her, but they do not say a word and only look straight at us.

She sighs. “When we were captured the second time, between the rogues and vampires, most of the witches could sense two dark figures, one of them being her.”

I try to think back, but my head is still feeling fuzzy, like something was blocking me from remembering her or something.

I sigh. “I can’t think my head hurts too much; I think we all should get some sleep as it has been an eventful evening,” looking over at Kat and Todd, who are nodding in agreement with me.

Everyone gets up. Charley, holding hands with Kacey, looks over at me. “We will stay in the motel outside of town just so we can have some privacy.” I can see the love they are forming between them. I can’t help but smile at them.

Dale and Lena follow them out, but Dale turns to me. “Izzy, even though we have found our mates, both Kacey and I want to spend some time with you. You are our sister. Our mother was wrong about what she did and we all will make her pay. Blake will let us know what you both plan to do next,” he says and kisses my cheek. He turns to leave.

I look around; both Kat and Todd are heading to her room. While Alice looks at me and smiles, “Both Paul and I will stay here in my room. I want to see peanuts in the morning,” she says and hugs me. Paul smiles at me and they both head upstairs to her room.

It’s just Blake, and I left. I can feel his eyes on me.

I turn to look at him, he smiles “I’m staying here, I will stay on the couch if that’s ok with you. I want to be here when you wake up and I would love to meet Allie too,” he says.

I smile and head towards the stairs, but before I do, I look at him. He sits back on the couch. I change my direction and head under the stairs. I grab a blanket and a spare pillow. I can feel his eyes on me. I place them on the couch. “Here you can use these,” I say.

I move to go to the stairs, but he uses his wolf speed and is in front of me again. He places his hand on my arm, which causes shivers through my body. I can’t help but look at him.

He smiles. “Goodnight Izzy,” he says in a husky voice. He leans closer to me and places a kiss on my cheek, but his face stays there. I can feel him sniffing my scent; Puna is going crazy in my head. She wants her mate, but I am so confused. I’m not ready for this.

“Goodnight Blake,” I say in a whisper. “See you in the morning.”