Page 109 of An Enigma for the Lycan Crown Prince
“Do you know how dew is made?”
“Of course,” I say. “It’s a process of nature. Rivers, lakes, rain, everything that produces water. Plants take that water up. At night, the air gets colder which leads to condensation.”
“Correct.” She smiles. “And plants need light,” she adds. “I am Selene and Zeus’ daughter, and while I am not as powerful as they are, I inherited some of their powers naturally, not much, but some. I have some moonlight in me, which helps me in nurturing the plants and flowers of this world. My mother sometimes calls me her light.”
I stare at her. “Light,” I mutter. She and Grandma called me the Child of Light. I stand up abruptly, staring at her. Her eyes have a depth to them that I have always felt intrigued by, but now that I look into them, I notice a tiny spot of brown swirling in them, just like I have. Her eyes are just like mine. “Mom?” I ask, too stunned to grasp what I am even saying or thinking.
Grandma said that my mom loved me, that she never wanted to leave me, and Elden is convinced there is a relationshipbetween Ersa and me. Maybe I am silly and naïve for hoping to have found my mother, just to be crushed by reality again. I am stupid, I know, but I want to cling to this thread of hope until Ersa herself rips it away.
“Yes,” she says quietly.
She doesn’t rip the thread away!
“No way!” I blurt out.
“I am so sorry I couldn’t be with you the way I wanted to be,” she says sadly. “But my body can’t stay in the human realm for too long, and I was bound by rules.”
“Rules?” I ask, too stunned to even think coherently. I have so many questions! Where do I even start? How can I make sense of this?
Ersa takes the brooch from my hands and attaches it to my clothes, right in the middle of my chest. “This was supposed to happen during your birthday,” she says. “But you found out the truth yourself, which means I haven’t broken any rules. It’s never well-received when a deity falls in love with a mortal being, but my mother believes in love and helped me have the child I was pregnant with, without passing on. My body has always been weak, but with her help I was able to give birth to you, before I lost my human form.”
My mouth drops open at the insane revelation. “The Goddess is my grandmother?” I ask, shocked.
“Yes. She is looking forward to meeting you. We have all been waiting to meet you once you turn eighteen.”
“And Zeus?”
“That’s more complicated,” she says. “It’s why I chose a mortal man for me. They love differently.”
She clenches her hand around my brooch. “The rules are important,” she says. “We can never share our truths with the mortals. You are half deity, so the rules apply to you too, though not as strictly. We know more than others, and knowledge canbe very dangerous. We don’t directly intervene in the fate of the mortals. Most of your powers won’t work when you use them on your family, for that reason. The balance must always be kept.”
“I will not keep secrets from my mate,” I state.
“I know,” she says. “You decide yourself what you can and will share with him.”
I reach out my hand to catch some of the beings of light. “And they?”
“They are a gift from me,” she says. “I sent them to you to be with you and guide you. They will always stay with you.”
As Ersa removes her hand, the brooch dissolves and then moves into my body, filling my heart and soul with a new sense of belonging and a whole new truth. It’s like I can feel so much clearly now, as if my mind has been opened. It feels as if a window was closed, and suddenly it’s opened, all the senses and scents flooding in. Grandma was not silly when she went back to retrieve this item. She knew I needed to have it.
“You are still young,” my mother says. “But with this, you are not a child anymore. You are a deity and a shifter. You have a responsibility and a calling. You and your mate will reign strongly one day, strong and unbreakable, like iron.”
“Celeste’s form gives away who we are,” I whisper.
“Exactly. Your grandmother, Selene, blessed her when you were born. Her fur shimmers under the moon like dew drops in the moonlight. Be careful who you reveal yourself to.”
“It means I need to lie constantly,” I mutter.
“No, you just need to find your own truth,” she says. “And make sure those around you understand the boundaries you set. You can share your knowledge if you need to, but you cannot tell anyone where you know it from. And not everyone will want to do good. There are evil people out there who want to hurt you for your power. The secret is supposed to protect you, not punish you.”
“Well, good thing I am good at manipulating people,” I say. Finally, my annoying, doe-eyed, childish look will come to my advantage. They will all just believe I am a cute and a silly klutz if I tell them one ofmy truths,as Ersa called it. Actually, if I put it like that it could be fun, just like messing with the biggest asshole on the planet; Elden’s dad. I shift my gaze back to Ersa. “I don’t know what to say,” I admit silently.
“Your powers have steadily grown with you. I watched you treat the plants around you like I always did. I watched how you were bonding with the beings of light, and now you even know how to use your silver powers – another gift from your grandmother.”
“The Moon Goddess gifted me these powers?”
Ersa nods. “You see, you don’t need to worry.”
