Madelyn Ch. 06

Madelyn felt compelled to sit, but she resisted, choosing instead to stand. Her resistance brought a smile to the man's face.

"You're just as strong as your brother is, granddaughter," he said gently to her. "He resists my suggestions on a regular basis. It's a game between him and I now. Most of the time, he wins it, too."

Madelyn turned away from him, the urge to change to her wolf form hitting her hard as a wave of longing for Connor washed over her. Thus far, he was the only person in her life to have ever given her a choice. Even though that choice was very limited, he gave it to her. And she'd run with it. Quite literally. Grabbing onto the thought of that run through the yard, how happy she was as he chased her down, she reached up to caress the scar on the nape of her neck.

"I want to go home," she said simply, tears coming to her eyes as she tried to reach out with her mind, tried to feel Connor, talk to him, tell him she was ok and she was coming home, no matter how she had to get there. Wiping the tears away, her face hardened as she turned back to the man sitting by the table. "I want my mate, I want to go home to him, now!"

"Your mate?" he glanced to the scar on her neck. His face paled as he saw it and felt the wolf within her, and realized how close she was to losing control of it. Rinion had a lot of explaining to do. Standing slowly, holding his hands in front of him, palms up to show he meant no ill will to her, he began approaching her with slow, careful steps.

"Madelyn," he said softly. "We need some time to talk, to tell you of what you are, to teach you." He stopped and sighed softly. "But your mating with a Garou has complicated everything, granddaughter."

"How?"

"You will not be content to remain here for your teaching," he explained as he finally reached her, one hand moving up to gently caress her cheek. She flinched as his skin came into contact with hers. He could feel her mistrust, her longing for her mate, and behind it all, the wolf, ever present, always watching and waiting to be loosed. It had always been there, but was always asleep, until Connor had woken it with his bite. Pressing his hand to the side of her face, he closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. Madelyn gasped as she relived her entire life all over again, in the span of a few seconds.

When her grandfather's eyes opened again, she stumbled backwards, against the railing, tears falling as he stared at her in wonder. His little granddaughter had come through all of that, and still stood here before him today, a strong woman in her own right. With or without the Garou, or the Elves, she was a very strong woman.

"Please," she whispered. "Let me go home."

"We will let you go, Madelyn, but not to that house," he said finally. "You are not safe there."

"How can I not be safe there when Brian and my parents said I was?" she said, agitated.

"Marie was not your mother, Madelyn," he countered softly. He sighed softly before taking her hand and leading her to the table. This time, instead of impressing the desire to sit upon her, he said softly, "please sit, Madelyn, we have much to discuss, and you would be much more comfortable sitting than standing."

She sank into the chair slowly as he began his tale.

"Twenty years ago, on a cold winter's night, a man entered into a circle he had no right to even be near. The woman was to have conceived that night, but not by that man. It was to have been a single son, one child who would be very special, Madelyn. That child was conceived. The child was to have united the Elven people one day. Unfortunately, the first child conceived inside the circle was not a son, and was to become even more special than the son was to have been. You see, your father is the only remaining descendent of the first European Garou to immigrate to the new world. That particular Garou was very special in his own right. He had managed to unite the Garou and the Elven people through a mating. His mate was Elven, turned Garou through the mating ceremony.

"Through the years, each male descendent of that Garou has had one son. He might have had a daughter or two as well, but none has had more than one son. This went on through the centuries, until your father mated with my daughter."

Madelyn listened, unsure whether to believe any of it, or to write it, and everything, off as one big bad dream. Then the longing for Connor started again, and she knew it wasn't a dream. If he was real, then all of this surely was, too.

"All of your ancestors' first born children were sons, Madelyn. Each one gave life to a son before he gave life to a daughter, until you. You shared a womb with your brother, but you were first conceived, and you were first born, as well," he sighed softly. "Had your mother's intended arrived, you would not have been born, granddaughter."

"Who was he?" she asked. "Who was her intended?"

"He was Marie's brother, and he was killed in the snow on his way to perform his duty," he said softly.

"His duty?"

"Yes, granddaughter, his duty," he replied. "You see, the Elven do not see marriage and babymaking as you might. It is a duty to marry and mate. It is not a right or a privilege. Your mother's duty was to lie still. His duty was to plant a son in your mother's belly. Once it was there, his duty ceased, yet your mother's would continue, as she would raise the boy in seclusion, away from her family and friends, alone by the Lake of Silver, where she would teach him all he needed to know to perform his duty."

"Seclusion? I don't understand why she would have needed to be secluded," Madelyn said softly, shaking her head sadly.

"That, I'm afraid, is another story, my dear," he paused. "And your mate is searching for you, to take you back. If you return to that house with him, your life will be in grave danger, Madelyn. If you return there, there isn't much I can do to help save you from them."

"What do you mean?" she said, feeling an urgency to know the story of how her mother and brother came to be here, alive and well, instead of dead and buried. "Who is 'them' and why do they want me?"

"'They' are the Grauguri Elves, and they want you to breed you," he said simply. He watched as her face went through the stages of shock and disbelief to uncertainty to anger and fear.

"Why? Why me? And with whom?" Madelyn's mind was a jumble as she went through the questions, not stopping to let her grandfather answer each question. Her wolf's defenses were raising and she was so close to changing in that moment.

"Granddaughter," he began softly. "You are very special. You, and your brother, are a combination that was once thought impossible. With the mingling of your father's and your mother's genes, something has been created that should never have existed, but does, for," he hesitated slightly before continuing, "for better or for worse."

Madelyn looked at him, curious about that last statement. He was not to answer it, though, for at that moment, a large charcoal grey wolf burst into the room, teeth bared as he moved between Madelyn and her grandfather.

***

Moving from the hedge, he returned to the place where he emerged from the haze and took in the scents. Quickly finding Madelyn's, he moved in the direction it went. It wasn't long until he found himself at the door of a tall building. A panel slid aside as he approached it, startling him at first, but he padded through the opening. He heard it slide shut behind him as he sniffed the air, seeking out his mate's scent. Quickly finding it, he rushed in the direction it led him, until he heard voices. Stopping, he listened and heard her voice, and a man's. Hers was frightened. The other was calm. Not waiting a moment longer to be with his mate, he rushed through the door in a flurry of fur and fangs, quickly placing himself between Madelyn and the man in the room with her.

"Connor!" Madelyn cried as he growled at her grandfather. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to her, so she spoke silently to his mind. 'Connor, please! No!'

'I'll handle this, Maddy. Run, Now!' he responded to her, eyes not moving from the man, hackles raised as he readied himself to jump into action.

'No, Connor, you don't understand,' she said before saying aloud to him, her eyes moving to meet those of the man in front of them. "He's my grandfather."

The man looked between him and Madelyn then slowly rose and moved toward the exit, saying he would give them some time alone. As the doors closed, Connor quickly changed into his human form and took Madelyn into his arms.

"Oh, Connor," she sobbed into his shoulder. "She...they..." she stammered as he held her quietly. "They're alive, Connor, my brother and mother are alive!"

"But why did they bring you here, Maddie?"

"My grandfather says I'm in danger. He confirmed that Marie was not my mother. She was of the Grauguri elves, that they want to breed me. But why they do, I don't know."

"Breed you?!" Connor raged. "That Will Not..."

He was interrupted by the soft sound of the door sliding open.

They both looked to the door at the soft swish as it opened to admit the tall, ethereal-looking woman who entered the room, two men following her into the room.

"I believe Madelyn's grandfather was about to explain that to her when you burst into the room," she said as she took a seat at the table on the balcony, plucking a few grapes from a platter to pop them into her mouth. She sat, savoring the sweet juices as she nodded to Madelyn's grandfather to continue.

"I, um..." he uncharacteristically stammered. "Well, perhaps we should have some introductions before we continue." Taking a seat alongside the woman, he gestured to the remaining chairs at the table and waited for Madelyn and Connor to sit, as well. The other young man remained standing, just behind the woman.

Madelyn looked at Connor and nodded, prodding him to sit, then sat beside him and pulled her chair close to his as he slipped an arm around her.

"You all know who I am," Madelyn said softly before turning to gaze at her mate with a gentle smile and placing a soft kiss on his cheek before looking back at the others. "This is Connor. He is my mate."

The older man let out short, heavy and almost indignant breath at the announcement.

"Yes, well, that can be taken care of..." he started when Madelyn interrupted.

"If you're about to say what I think you're about to say, you can just abandon that thought this instant! Connor is my mate and that is that, I will not allow anyone to speak any ideas to the contrary," she raged on, anger fueling her words. "He is my mate and wolves mate for life. If you remember, I was brought here in wolf form. The mating is complete and my wolf is awake."

"Oh, Madelyn, please calm yourself," the woman said gently. "Your grandfather will not do anything to come between you and your mate, I swear it, darling."

"I won't...?" Madelyn's grandfather started, before being interrupted again, this time by her mother.

"No, Father," she said firmly. "You won't. I will not allow it. Madelyn has found her true mate, as I did one fateful night. While I was not allowed to remain with him, for reasons beyond my control, I will not allow you to do to her what you did to me and to Richard." She glared at her father before turning away from him, her violet eyes closing as she took a few calming breaths before turning to Madelyn again, a small, sad smile gracing her lips.

"Madelyn, dear," she began. "Ours is a sad story, one that has not been told in many years, but I will tell you what happened all those years ago, on the night of your birth, and will tell you of what has happened since. But first, you and Connor need rest. The journey here seems short, but is actually a very long one, and is very taxing on those who pass through the portals. Your grandfather, brother and I will leave you both now, to rest." She emphasized the last two words with a smile, a twinkle stealing its way into her eyes, as if she knew what her daughter might consider as they left the mates alone again.