The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 92

IZZY

I heard the door close behind him, and I pushed myself forward. Puna is close by.

Archer is extraordinary but dangerous, but if the vampires are looking for him, maybe we could use him to lure them away. During the talk with Blake, Puna pulled the block down on me, and she listened to everything I had to say. Including everything with the child.

“I had to block you, Izzy,” Puna says suddenly in my head as I’m full to the surface now. She looks through my eyes and looks out the window.

“I needed to think, but,” she says and sighs. “Clara came to me, even to the other panthers. Blocking out the humans was her idea, but she showed us what she wanted, and I think you had an idea when you rescued that boy,” she says.

I sighed, “I didn’t want to hurt Blake, but he needed to back off slightly,” I said, as the guilt swept in and made it hard for me to breathe.

Puna looks at me. “I know, but we know that both Axel and Blake would sacrifice themselves for us, but I don’t want that for them, like you, but I have a request,” she says.

I nod as I watch members of the pack come back from training. They had been out there for over three hours, and it was getting dark now.

“I request we speak to the girl that idiot brought here,” she says.

I looked back at her, confused, but an image of Anya came into my head; I frowned.

“Why do we need to talk to her?” I asked.

“I think she may know more about everything. She was in a safe house with the Elder, and she may have seen some books that he took from the council members about our kind, especially on panthers,” she says.

I stare back at my reflection.

Puna is right; we need to talk to her.

“I know I’m right,” she says in a proud tone. I scoff at her. “Look, we will talk to Anya, but what about...” I say, but she beats me to it.

“Mate,” she says softly, “I don’t know. I think we have to give him more time to think about, and also you hurt him only mentioning Allie and you, nothing about our family, the pack, and him.”

I stare out. I know I hurt his feelings, but his anger towards the child was unnecessary. I won’t use Archer, but I could mention we have him and bet that the vampire and witch would come to collect him. But that would mean the war was going to come sooner than expected.

I know I needed answers.

I sigh and turn around. I opened the door to the joining room on Blakes. I didn’t go inside, but I looked and listen to Archer’s snores. He was still asleep.

After a few moments, I close the door and head to the bedroom door. I open it and look down the corridor.

I closed the door behind me and headed to the second floor, where I noticed Anya was earlier as she was in the window when I came back. She was watching me carry the child back, and I knew what room she was in.

Once I climbed the stairs and went to the door, no one was around. I didn’t even bother knocking. I opened the door and walked in.

Anya was still standing by the window as I looked at her. “I thought you would show up,” she said without turning around.

“The Elder thought you were a stupid child till you marked him for death at your hands, and,” she says as she turns to look at me with a small smile. “The mark gets bigger every time he gets closer to you.”

I can’t help but smirk. “Well, he deserves it,” I said as I walked into the room. “He hurt many people.”

“Yeah, he did,” she says as she sits on the chair near the table. She looks at me, she watches my every move, but I move around and sit on the bed.

She clears her throat. “I know something about you,” she says as she cocks her head to the side. “I will tell you, but I need you to tell me what Drake did to you.”

I can’t help but let slip a growl from my mouth. “Why the hell would you want to know about that?” I ask.

Anya shrugs. “I don’t know, but I guess I was curious or something.”

I nod at her but don’t answer her; she smiles. “Very well, I had to read some books as the Elder hated doing that job. I only told him what was in them, which was not a lot. Still, he found a book which tells in great detail about the power of emotions, which can be any form it takes; it could be a shifter, fairy or even a witch,” she says as she stares at me. “He thought your mother had it. He thought he could use her to get what he wanted, but she never gave in.”

I say nothing at the mention of my mother making me feel sick. She went through hell because of that man.

“He never placed the power could be a child, but he was in control of everything that was sent to kill you. He made sure they kept you busy with rogues, vampires, and hunters,” she says. “I read that everything you feel can be intense, but something tells me that your power has more to do with your ancestor than you.”

I look back at her with a frown. “What do you mean by that?” I ask her. “Clara was the only one who had it.”

Anya looks at me. “I saw a picture of her. You and your daughter have her same features. Everything about you is the same except one thing,” she says. “You have more power than she ever did. But also you have more rage after everything that happened to you, from Michael to being on the run, being without your daughter, to keeping her safe.”

“How would you know about all that?” I ask through gritted teeth as I stand and glare at her. Puna wants to join as one, but somehow, I have a funny feeling that Anya wants to meet her. She does not have the chance.

Anya cocks her head to the side. I can tell she is trying to get a rise out of us, and she won’t get it. Puna can feel it.

Anya sighs, “I know because I listen,” she says and stares at me, “I listened to everything that they said; they sacrificed everything that they could get their hands on, even people who should never have been involved.”

I can’t help but sense something from her at that statement; her eyes are staring back, but all I can feel is pain and suffering coming from her.

“She lost someone important to her,” says Puna, looking through my eyes.

I look at the ground. “Who did you lose?” I asked her.

I can feel her eyes on me, but she says nothing.

I look up, and I can see a tear escaping her eyes. She wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “When they took me, I knew nothing. They were going to kill me, but they kept me locked until my wolf knew why,” she says. She gets up from the chair and looks out the window. “I found out I was pregnant. I gave birth to a son, but about three weeks later, the Elder came in and took him; he sacrificed my son and made me watch; four wolves held me down. He did it to process some potion to control Drake,” she says in a shaky voice.

She turns around, and her eyes are yellow; her wolf is coming through, she wants to take charge.

Puna is close by, but I don’t move; I need to show no fear.

“They killed our pup,” she says in a growl. “They killed him.”

My heart breaks for her, not only to give birth to a child, but to watch him die.

“So, you may think I’m trying to get a rise out of your panther, but I need to know that you will kill the Elder and all of them,” she says as the yellow eyes retreat.

I get up from the bed and walk over to her.

I stand in front of her and place my hands on her arms. I close my eyes and crack my neck.

My eyes fly open, and Puna is forward; we are as one.

“We will kill them all,” we say to her.

Anya looks at us, wide eyes, but she quickly recovers.

I close my eyes, letting Puna go back when I close them.

I open them to replace Anya smiling at me. “Very impressive,” she says.

I nod, not saying anything.

I turn around and walk back to the bed.

“You and Blake haven’t marked each other,” Anya says.

I stop in my tracks; I look over my shoulder and stare at her. “What has me mating Blake and marking, have anything to do with you?” I ask as I turn to face her.

“Izzy, you need to be marked, or they will take a full advance of you being on your own,” she says.

I look back at her, stunned.