The Isle (Chronicles of the Irish Princess Book 1)

"I'm sorry, but if I just heard you right, my father isn't dead and I'm a Princess? Luca, How long have you known?"

Luca looked down, "Since Christmas when my powers showed up. I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't, not until we knew that you would get your powers."

"My whole life has been a lie?"

"NO!" Emilia shouted. "We were protecting you. If your powers never showed up then it wouldn't have mattered. But now things are different, and your mother is going to put up a fight."

I looked at her confused. "Why? Is something going to happen?"

"We need to go and live with dad, Leah." Luca said.

The air grew stale, as if someone had just popped a balloon, letting the air out slow. No one spoke. They all were watching me, even Uncle Don, whose eyes also began to glow. It made sense that he would be a wolf, being a part of the Tribe.

"So, Uncle Don is a wolf too. Okay, so that makes you his soulmate, right Aunt Em?"

She nodded. "Yes, Leah, he is a wolf. He is my wolf."

"But aren't you like me?" I said still confused.

No one spoke, they just let me process. I looked from Aunt Em and Uncle Don to Kai and back. When the dots had finally connected themselves, my head quickly looked back to Malakai. He didn't say anything, he just nodded. I looked to Sarah and Luca, Sarah nodded at me. Kai was my wolf. Then I blinked some more as more of the puzzle came together.

"My mom wasn't a wolf."

"No, she's human. You're father fell in love with her, but they weren't soulmates."

"Oh.."

"It isn't common for both the twins to be soulmates to wolves. Sometimes neither is tethered to a wolf. Your case is rare. It could be a sign from the Goddess that dark times are ahead."

"Oh..."

She sighed and got up, "I know that this is a lot to process. We can talk more about it tomorrow. I've got to talk more with your father and see what he wants us to do now. We weren't prepared to make this move until closer to your birthday. If we even had to. I was working on a plan with him to let you graduate."

I had so many more questions. I figured to start with the easy questions and work up to Aunt Em again. She clearly had enough of it for a while. I followed Kai back out to the barn. We worked in silence for a while. Cleaning some stalls and feeding the horses.

“What was it that you called me earlier?”

“Luna? It’s Romanian for moon… I know a bits of some other languages from interacting with other packs. Some believe that the Goddess of the moon, who in Irish Lore is known as Rhiannon, created werewolves. Some Natives call her Hanwi. But she is the protector of the night creatures, like the wolves and loves all her children. Calling you that is a sign of love and devotion.” He blushed.

“Oh…. Have you always known about you and I?”

“No, but when we met for the first time, I knew then that you were my mate. That you were my other half…”

“So… why did you ignore me for so long?”

“To keep you safe. We wanted to make sure you would actually get your powers or had a chance. I didn’t just want to pull you into this world. It isn’t easy to live in. There are so many evils, and I just I wanted to keep you safe. But I knew this summer I would have to make a move… because I can’t live without you. It tears me apart to watch you leave at the end of each summer. It makes my wolf very upset. I just, I tried so hard to keep my distance to keep you safe, and now… I have to be with you to keep you safe.”

“Is that why you’re moving out here? Because of me?”

He nodded. “My mother didn’t like the idea. Not at first. But with all the changes you’ll go through now… and eventually moving over there. I just I knew I couldn’t let you spend this summer alone. That’s why I convinced Sarah to come. Because she will be able to help too. More with the feminine side of things, but also the culture. Sarah knows so much about everything, despite what you may have seen over the years growing up with her. All those summer camps… were actually summers spent with my uncle in Ireland. Learning everything she could so that one day, she could help you.”

“I was going to tell her that.” Sarah’s voice came from the barn door.

“Sorry, I needed to explain it.”

“It’s cool.”

“But I belong with you, right Malakai?”

“Yes. You always have.”

Malakai sat with Sarah and I as she explained things a little more. She told me that wolves like her and Kai were special. That the nature of their existence slightly depended on people like me. Without us there was less to protect them and no one to help defeat the evil spirits that roamed the earth. She told me about some of the other creatures too. Some were more obvious to guess like Witches and Vampires, stuff that kids believed in all the time growing up. Then there was the complex category of the shifters. Technically, wolves could fit inside that, but since their history usually dealt with a God or Goddess or random Deity, they had their own category. Shifters could also tap into more evil powers, should they choose. Most of them were good, there were only a few creatures that were naturally born from remnants of Aideen's powers. Sarah said that Emilia could explain it better.

As we sat on the porch talking I could smell the pork chops that Uncle Don was making out back on the grill. Aunt Emilia’s corn on the cob was boiling too. I could hear her chopping up a watermelon for our fruit. As I became more aware of my abilities I could feel Sarah’s emotions, her fear and her sadness.

“Sarah, are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Sarah, don’t lie to me. What’s got you so upset?”

“I’m worried. About you.”

“Why?”

“Because of your mom. I worried that she’s going to put up a bigger fight than we can handle. I’m hoping that your Aunt has some sort of legal power to help out. Because without it, we may never get you to Ireland.”

“Why do we have to move so soon? When are we moving?”

“Now that your abilities have shown up, you’re a beacon to the supernatural. Creatures of all sorts will begin to sense your presence. They will try and seek you out for comfort and guidance. Some of them are good, but not all of them. There are some creatures that follow the spirit of Aideen. That is why we need to move, because behind the protective walls of the farm you are only half as safe as you could be on the Isle.”

“Walls?”

Luca sat down then and placed his arm around Sarah. It was nice to see them together. Although, it still hurt a little that they'd hid it for so long, especially since I had said for so long that I would be okay with it.

“Yes, our family built walls to protect us from harm of the supernatural world. That is why our ancestors come here to be buried. Their bones are the lifeline of the wall. It draws from them to keep us safe.”

I looked around and thought about all the people in our family that had died. Of all the ones I had met on our fathers side 5 of them were dead.

“Not all of our ancestors are buried here. Only the last 3 generations. The ones that have lived here.”

“Oh. The others?”

“Protect the Isle. Going back and back to the first children of Meara.”

I was starting to understand things more. Bit by bit it was taking shape in my mind. I wondered if everyone was getting tired of me asking so many questions. So through dinner I decided to keep quiet and not ask about it. I felt like I was bothering everyone about it. A life that they all knew and had so much knowledge of. Like I was sucking it out of them like a vampire. I had a thirst for the known, and the unknown. I wanted to know all I could. I wanted to be prepared. I wanted to know why I was more like Meara than my ancestors.

After dinner we all went out and sat on the porch to relax. As the sun began to set behind the barn we heard a car pull up the drive. Luca and I looked at each other in shock as the familiar blue Chevy Cruze slowed to a stop and our mother got out of the car. I felt Sarah and Kai tense up.

“Hello Jennifer. What are you doing here at such a late hour?” Aunt Emilia asked.

“I came to give the kids their birthday presents. I forgot to give them to them before they left. And seems as I’m going out of town tomorrow for work and won’t be back until after next week I figured I didn’t want to wait.”

“Since when do you go on business trips?” Luca asked.

“Since I got a promotion on Monday. I’m now the CEOs assistant. And he wants me to go with him on this trip.”

“Where to?”

“He said it was international. Nothing more.”

I could tell she was lying, but let her play her games. I felt Kai’s grip on my hip become tighter. My mother walked up the stairs and handed both Luca and I our boxes. Something told me not to open my box.

“I think I’ll save mine til next week. And then call you to see how the trip is going.” I said.

“Leah Rose, that’s rude.” My mother spouted. “I want to see your reaction when you open it.”

I looked to my Uncle and begged him to throw her out. He stood, but waited.

“Mother, I think it’s best if you went home and rested before your trip. Leah and I promise to call you when we open them.”

She looked upset with us, but sighed. “I just wanted to make you two happy for once.”

“We are happy. And we love you. But if this trip is so important then you need your rest.” Luca hugged her. “Thank you for coming to drop them off.”

Then Luca dropped to the floor. It was as if he had smelled knock out gas.

“Luca!” I dropped to my knees next to him to check if he was breathing. When I did I smelt it, ammonia. I looked to my mother, “What did you do to him! You know that he’s allergic to ammonia! Why!”

“You two are coming home with me. After we go to the hospital.”

“Why would we go anywhere with you!”

Sarah came running in with his epipen. She popped off the lid and stabbed his thigh with it pressing down the button. I heard him take in a deep breath of air.

Standing in front of my mother I was furious. Kai stood next to me holding my hand. The anger was building up inside me slowly rising to the surface like lava ready to erupt from a volcano.

“Kai, let go of me I don’t want to hurt you.”

He let go of my hand and it flew across my mothers face.

“You bitch! You could have killed him. Why do you want him dead? Huh? He’s your son. What the hell is wrong with you? I never want you to come anywhere near us again. Is that clear? I’m going to file a police report about this. And you can be damn sure we won’t be coming home at the end of the summer.”

The cops pulled in then. I looked around to see that Aunt Em was in the house the phone being hung up as they arrived.

“We got a call of parental abuse? Ma’am have you harmed either of your children?” The Officer asked my mom.

“No.”

“Liar! She just poisoned my brother. He’s allergic to ammonia and she is wearing some in her perfume. We need a paramedic for him.” I said.

“The ambulance is behind us they should be here in a minute. Have you administered his epipen?”

“Yes.”

The Sherriff nodded to his Deputy and I watched as the man took her into custody and placed handcuffs on her.

“Officer Brant will stay with you until they arrive. I assume you will want to press charges and file a restraining order.”

I nodded looking at Luca to make sure he was ok. “Yes please.”

“Very well.”

“Officers, I have a right to my children.” She started to fight against the other officers hold, forcing him to pull he back more.

“Ma’am I’m afraid that under these circumstances you don’t. You’ve attempted murder on your son. Had he not had his medications he could have died.”

The other officer began reading my mother her Miranda rights.

“Sherriff Kramer,” Aunt Em handed him a piece of paper. “This is a copy of my brothers will. He gave it to me after the children were born. I’d like to invoke my rights as their guardian.”

“You’ll have to sign something with social services in order to mandate this.”

“Of course. Would you like me to meet you at the station?”

“Yes please, it would make things better for the case.”

“I will meet you there. I want to make sure my nephew is alright first.”

Kramer nodded. The lights from the ambulance flashed around us. EMTs rushed over to Luca as he lay on the ground. Sarah helped them get into the ambulance.

“Kai… take the girls and go with Luca. We will meet you at the hospital as soon as we can.” Uncle Don took the car keys from Aunt Em and went to get in the car.

“Leah, it’s gonna be alright. Go.”

I hugged her and followed Kai inside the ambulance. My heart raced as we sped into town. Luca had opened his eyes and was semi-responsive by the time we got to the Hospital. Kai and Sarah were made to wait in the waiting room of the ER and I was allowed back. The doctors started him on the same antibiotics that were in his epipen.

“How did this happen?” The doctor asked.

The deputy from earlier showed up then and explained the situation to the doctor. When he came back the doctor gave me a sad smile. I watched the Deputy stand there, waiting just outside the room, as if we were a big deal.

“So Luca, are you feeling nauseous or light headed at all?”

“No.”

“On a scale of 1-10 ten being the worst how much pain are you in?”

“Physical or emotional? Because physically I’m a 3. But 10 doesn’t quite fit my emotional level right now.”

“Seems like you’ll be just fine. Your humor is still intact and the meds are working. Let’s finish this round of fluids before we talk about releasing you alright?”

“Sure thing. Can my friends come back now?”

“Of course. I’ll wait with you Luca. While your sister goes and gets them.”

I made it quick. Not trusting anyone aside the cop. Sarah ran to Lucas side and took his hand. He brought her hand up to his lips and kissed it.

“I’m going to be fine.”

“I was so worried.”

“I’m alright.” He scooted over and let her sit with him. He didn’t really care if she wasn’t allowed to or not.

Kai stood against the wall giving me the chair. I could feel how tense he was without touching him. His emotions were all over the place. His breathing was heavy too. I took his hand hoping to ease some of his problems. I felt his pulse then and knew just how close to phasing he was.

My eyes locked on Sarah’s she nodded. She knew how close he was. She leaned over and kissed Lucas cheek. Then looked to me and Kai. A kiss I don’t think would be enough. I stood and wrapped him in a hug sliding my hands up under the backside of his shirt.

He opened his eyes and looked at me then. Bright green and glowing he looked. His forehead touched mine and I could hear his thoughts again.

I am hardly holding on Luna. You shouldn’t touch me.

You won’t hurt me and I can tell that my touch is helping you. Already your pulse has slowed some.

Leah, what happened to your brother was no accident. Your mother knows something is up. I could feel it.

I could too. That is why I didn’t open her present. Do you think she knows something about our abilities?

I don’t know, maybe. Why else would she try and kill Luca?

Maybe she’s possessed. What if the spirit of Aideen found the way in? Aunt Em said herself that no set of twins have ever both been linked to the wolves. Not since the beginning. What if she’s right and this is a sign or something?

Well then we are going to protect you both. Sarah and I won’t let her hurt you or Luca ever again.

I rested my head on his chest. I hoped that was true. My brother was all I had. He and I were so much closer than people knew. When he hurt I hurt and vice versa. Maybe it was the connection we had with the supernatural. Maybe it was just a simple twin thing. But he was the only one who got me. I needed him and no one, not even my psychotic mother was going to take him from me.