Chapter 12

Jordan sat at the small kitchen table and watched the old woman make her a cup of tea. She took the cup and thanked her for it and then watched her grab a photo from the little hutch that was against the wall in the small living room. The woman handed it to Jordan. “Look at this photo. Does anything look familiar to you?”

Jordan laid her teacup down on the table and took the picture from her. She looked at it carefully, studying the people within the picture. Her eyes fell on a woman with long blond hair, of medium build with the most beautiful chocolate doe-shaped eyes she had ever seen. Her eyes shifted to the two young girls that were hugging the woman’s waist. They looked so small beside her, with their long blonde locks and cute little smiles. Then at last her eyes went to the large man that stood next to the woman. He had to have been well over six feet with dark brown hair. He was a very large man with wide shoulders, but his face looked wise, his smile friendly, inviting, and his eyes were a crystal blue with some green in them like her sister’s.

Jordan looked up at the old woman and another sharp pain shot through her head. The picture fell from her hand, and she grabbed her head and closed her eyes before everything went dark.

Too many visions were flooding her memory. Jordan could see the events play out like she was there and it was happening now.

Two blonde girls playing tag and people all around them; then a voice.

“Come here girls; they want to take a picture to add to our heritage album.”

“But, Mom, we're supposed to meet the boys and play!”

“Jordan, no buts! Now come here. You too, Sonja.” The woman said smiling afterward.

Her eyes flipped open. Her body was trembling, and she looked down at the picture on the floor that now had a crack in the glass. She picked up the frame and looked at the woman in the picture with tears welling up in her eyes. She had so many emotions running through her that she didn’t know what to say. She went to open her mouth, but nothing came out. She finally said, “This is my family isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is.” Mamma Crone said. She was happy to see that even beneath whatever blocked her memory, Jordan could still recognize those who loved her dearly.

“They were so beautiful, and they looked so happy. I really could never remember what they looked like. Only in my dreams— that horrible day.” Jordan whispered with a blank expression. She finally looked at the old woman and said, “This doesn’t prove anything. You could have taken this picture after my family was slaughtered.” She said in a harsh tone, wiping a tear away from her cheek.

The woman sat straight up in her chair and thought for a moment. “Jordan, why don’t you tell me what you remember, these dreams you speak of? Maybe I can fill in the missing pieces for you.”

She laid the picture down on the table and stood. She walked over to a window and looked out. “They’re not happy memories. I was around seven years old I think. My sister and I were sent to gather firewood. It was cold— winter time. We heard the screams coming from the main village, and when we ran back everything was on fire— everyone was dead.” Her voice cracked.

“That’s all you remember? That can’t be it. It’s impossible.” The old woman’s eyes were fixed on Jordan now. Perplexed by what she lost.

“I remember calling to Mama and Papa, but also calling them Alpha and then finding their bodies.”

“You have no earlier memories of your childhood? With your parents, your sister or friends? With Asher or Declan?” The woman asked in a puzzled voice.

Jordan turned around, looking at the woman. Her face was marred with confusion. “I did have a vision a little over a week ago when I was to be mated with Jude. I saw two young girls shift into beautiful white wolves. Then two older boys came into the clearing— they shifted into black panthers, and we all ran off to play.”

The old woman stood and walked over to Jordan. “Honey, that vision was an old memory of you and Sonja. You both took after your mother’s dominate animal which is a white wolf. The boys, those are Asher and Declan, and their dominant species are black panthers. The four of you used to play in the forest together almost every day. You were all inseparable.” She smiled, squeezing Jordan’s arm and then said, “Come, sit with me.”

Jordan followed her to the tattered brown couch and sat down beside her.

“Let me tell you a story. We Kodiaks have lived on Kodiak Island for centuries. Most wolves are afraid of us because of all the urban legends. They say we want complete control, to wipe out all other wolves leaving only the Kodiaks. We are capable of doing that if that is what we chose to do, however; it’s not. Our abilities are not only being able to shift into any form, but to speak to one another telepathically and to suppress other shifters. Meaning we could have them either stay in their human form or animal form— locking them up forever in either body.” She paused and took a breath. “Your father— my first born son— Atticus Raven was a great man. A very wise leader and Alpha of the Kodiak pack for decades. He was the Alpha of Alaska. We thrived and lived in harmony. Your father didn’t have an ounce of hatred that ran through his veins. He did what was necessary when it was necessary, but only when needed. Lennox Warren was his second in command for the Anchorage territory. Lennox would often come to Kodiak Island begging your father to arrange for you and Sonja to mate with his two sons when the time came. Your father instantly refused. It was never done before. It broke all Kodiak laws.”

Jordan frowned. “I don’t understand.”

“Our heritage— Kodiak heritage forbids anyone of us to mate with other shifters that does not carry the Kodiak bloodline. It would be considered tainted. There are many reasons, many that I won’t go into right now, but it has never been done.” The woman stood and started pacing the floor. “When Atticus refused for the last time, Lennox became enraged; he wanted his bloodline to have our powers, our abilities because they are not our equals. He wanted control. Lennox has a dark side to him, one that my son, your father later learned about.” She shook her head as if she was disappointed. In the early years, Mamma Crone and Lennox got along well and to see the lengths he would go to, to get what he wanted, it broke her heart.

“After the last argument between them, Lennox hadn’t returned to Kodiak Island for almost two years. You are correct. You were seven years old when it happened.” She whispered. Jordan watched the woman’s hand go to her mouth like she was suddenly frightened. “The day before the slaughter, forty or fifty of our pack members went to Anchorage for the night to gather supplies. They always did once a month, and it gave them a little vacation away from Kodiak, away from the seclusion of the island.” The island was beautiful in its own right, but there was a need for change. Though there were the everyday hordes that lived in the major city, the Kodiak’s seldom moved into their territory. They preferred the comfort of their own island. It was secluded, beautiful and one with nature. The humdrum technologies of the day to day that went on in major cities and towns were great, now and then, but the Kodiak’s came to love their home. The holidays too, were a great get away from everything and gave them time to interact with everyday people, different packs and experience living, but they always knew where home was.

“Cyprus; Asher and Declan’s father; and many others were already gone out on a fishing excursion. There had to have been five or six boats that were gone for about four days before they returned.” She said turning to Jordan.

Jordan watched her sit in a chair across from her. Tears were rolling down her cheeks as she started to finish the story. “When Lennox and his pack arrived early in the morning, they disabled many that lived on the edges of the island in order to get to the heart of Kodiak. They used Yellow Wolfsbane to disable us... paralyze as many of us as possible. It was their only way to defeat us. I watched them slaughter hundreds of us— Lennox slaughtered my son and your mother!” She yelled. “When I woke hours later, it was Cyprus that found me on the edge of Kodiak Island. By then most had perished, everything burnt to the ground and what still stood, continued burning. We looked everywhere for you two, but you were gone. Soon after we sent men to try to find you and your sister, but we still couldn’t find you. So we focused on rebuilding what little we had left. Out of almost four thousand, we had a little over one thousand Kodiaks left.”

It was the slaughter of the century. Many speculated as to why it never made the news, but in their own seclusion, far from the city, it seemed no one cared to learn more about what was happening on the island. When finally relief came, it was too late, attributed to a fire that wiped out the lot and because of their lack of contact with the outside world, there was no way of saving those who suffered in the battle against Warren’s men.

The rebuilding process took years. The earth was scorched by the fires; surrounding trees set alight, resources became sparse and tried to reclaim what was lost seemed impossible. But even in the most difficult times, the Kodiak’s grew stronger. Their numbers dwindled, but rebuilding their homes and surroundings, setting new parameters for their territory, re-growing crops and trees created a bond between each and every member of the Kodiak pack.

In devastation came unity.

Jordan sat staring at the woman wide-eyed. “No—it can’t be.” Jordan whispered. Her heart raced, and her hands started to shake. “Why? Why would Lennox do that?”

“To steal the two most powerful Kodiaks. You and Sonja.” She whispered.