Part Three- Chapter 53

"I guess I'm getting my test on patience. I'm going to be patient, but it's tough."

• Sam Mitchell.

QUILLON P.O.V

It started as a wonderful day, which got even better after Darya joined me in the shower.

My wolf purred lowly and I felt uneasy at the instant raise of interest at my groin. Only Darya had that affect on me and I was secretly very glad she didn't know it.

Compressing my lips, I then paid attention to the meeting that was going on.

Ten minutes later, my dad connected with me through the link. When I raised my hand, the staff stopped explaining about the growing stock market.

'Q, come home soon? Something's wrong with Grace' he said anxiously and I stiffened, while my wolf stood on his fours.

'What happened?' I asked, furrowing my brows.

'I don't know. She is crying... saying the same thing again and again... Where are you? Come home!' he almost pleaded and I stood up.

"The meeting is over" I muttered as I walked out of the room without my coat. 'I will be there' I told my dad.

I used the stairs because it was almost empty and I could use my werewolf speed there without anyone finding anything suspicious.

Thirty seconds later, I was out of the building and in the woods, running back home to find out what happened to mom.

I couldn't bear the thought and my wolf growled fiercely. He wouldn't be convinced she is alright, until he sees the evidence for the same in his own eyes.

Almost twenty minutes later I reached home and found pack wolves blocking the door. They were all whispering and wondering what happened to mom. One feral growl from me and they all scrambled away. In a flash, I was in the living room of my parents home where Quinn was already present. The sight in front of me pained me and my wolf howled in anguish.

"Don't kill him. Please don't... I am begging you" my mom was sobbing repeatedly.

Dad was holding her and asking her to calm down, while Quinn and Nevin's mom were rubbing her hands.

"Q" Quinn almost sighed in relief when he saw me. His eyes were cloudy and I gulped when I saw that.

"Don't kill him... no... please" my mom screamed slapping her hands on the floor and without wasting further time, I fell on my knees in front of her.

"Mom... Look at me" I said holding her arms. "Mom" She was not looking at me. She was staring into distance. "Ma... look at me" I growled and shook her body, but she didn't. She kept saying the same thing.

To stop this, I knew I had to use my gifts on my mother.

"You could have stopped me that night?" Darya had asked me that evening in the hill, after we made love.

"I could have, but I am not sure to what extent" I answered sincerely.

"Then why didn't you?" she asked in a whisper, turning on her side to look at me. Her grey eyes puzzled.

"Felt like I deserved it" I said looking at those beautiful eyes.

"No you didn't. It was wrong of me to burn down the pack. Horribly wrong" she whispered the last part and avoided my eyes.

"Hey" I called her, tugging a strand of her hair behind her ears. "Nothing happened" I assured and she numbly stared at me. "Nothing happened. You didn't do anything"

"I could have... I could have done something worse" she added shakily. Before I could protest, she shook her head and nervously licked her lower lips.

"Promise me one thing" she said out of the blue and I blinked. "God forbid, I wouldn't repeat what I did, but if I do... you use your gifts on me" she permitted and I furrowed my brows.

"You know I don't want to do that" I said pulling away from her.

"Using our gifts on someone we love can sometimes save not only others life, but also their own life" she said, and I looked away. Sighing, Darya had rested her chin on my shoulders. "Think about it" she said and hesitantly, I nodded.

And so, for the first time after years, I used my gifts on mom.

I looked at my mom's eyes and saw, what she was seeing. She was seeing her brother, Cortez's father, being hacked to death by the rogues. It was brutal even for me to see and I winced when I saw how horribly they tortured and killed him. How they laughed after cutting of his arms.

Inhaling sharply, I sprang back as Goosebumps appeared all over my skin. Even I am not that cruel when I kill someone. If it shook me, I couldn't even begin to understand what mom was feeling. I couldn't even tell at this point if what mom was seeing was an illusion or what had really happened to her brother. However, I couldn't let mom watch it any further.

"What? What happened?" dad demanded, worry evident from his voice and his gaze.

I shook my head without looking him in the eye.

'Illusion?' Quinn asked me through the link and I replied with a yes, which made him growl lowly.

I knew who created this illusion but I really didn't have time to waste thinking how to torture him. At the moment, mom was my priority.

Gritting my teeth, I looked at mom's blue green eyes and slowly, I took her vision from her.

She gasped in shock and then, she screamed... she screamed agonizingly and I clenched my fists when I heard that.

"What happened? What are you doing to me? Papa... Where is papa? They are hurting him. Somebody please stop them" mom cried and I gulped audibly.

Dad wrapped his arms around her and Quinn held her delicate arms, while she twisted violently, trying to break free from us and rescue her brother, who was long dead. This was very low of Konrad. He targeted my mother and I am going to make him wish he hadn't.

Gritting my teeth, I focused on my mom and changed her emotions and made her calm. Eventually, she stopped twisting and lay still in dad's arms. By giving mom back her vision, I successfully managed to redintegrate her.

Her eyes flew open all of a sudden, startling us.

"Q?" mom said in surprise and then her eyes widened. "Konrad.Konrad! He was here. In the woods! He was waiting for me" she said breathlessly. "I was about to call you but... I couldn't! He was too strong" she added the last part shakily and I growled aggressively.

Nerve of that piece of shit!

"Did he touch you?" my dad demanded with a feral snarl.

"He held my neck and pushed me—" mom stopped talking the moment she heard three murderous growls. She looked at us and then gulped. "I didn't feel any pain. It happened so quickly..." she trailed off in a low voice. "I am feeling better now" she said and I nodded.

Her eyes then flickered to the pack wolves standing protectively near the door. "Did I do something bad?" mom asked.

"No. You didn't do anything. We just found you unconscious in the woods and brought you back home" dad supplied quickly and no one contradicted him.

Its obvious mom doesn't remember the illusion which Konrad had showed her and I was glad for it because it would only cause her grief.

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"How do we kill him?" Dad growled in frustration, once we were in his office. Mom was taking rest in her room, while Quinn and I were with dad. "How do we kill someone who wasn't born?"

"There is a way. There must be something that can weaken him. We just have to find it out" Quinn said thoughtfully.

"How?" dad inquired and he shrugged.

"Only time will tell" was Quinn's reply.

"Or someone who is ahead of time" I murmured and both looked at me.

"Vincent?"

"Soothsayer?"

Quinn and dad said at the same time and I nodded.

Personal differences aside, I knew Vincent and I were in the same team. He likes Darya, but he is never going to tell that to her and I wouldn't either. However, I also knew that Vincent wasn't in love with Darya. If he had been, then I would have killed him. He likes Darya because she is bold and unique.

Almost the same reason why I am in love with her! Other than that, there's also the fact that she has come out strong even when she had gone through worse situations. After going through all that experiences in her teenage years, one can either be scarred for life or one can pretend to be happy and that everything is fine. However, Darya isn't like that. She doesn't pretend. She believes that everything is fine. Neither does she constantly wail over what had gone wrong, nor had she forgotten it. She had just accepted whatever life had thrown at her and had learned to adjust to it.

I personally believe that when one learns to adjust, they can survive anything, anywhere. Which is why not only do I love Darya, I also respect her.

It might be also the reason why I tolerate her irritating habits like throwing clothes anywhere in the room, making annoying comments when I am watching the stock market news, walking all over the house in her muddy boots... I could go on and on. But then, I have learned to adjust and accept those traits of her too.