Prelude 7

[Four Years Later ]

Maureen

"MOMMY! GRANDMA!" Yelled the little voice filled with excitement along with giggles, pulling both me and Sara towards the backyard, where Destiny's playing with her puppy, Demon.

I am constantly amazed at how much my beautiful, tiny baby has grown into a troublesome and very cheeky four-year-old bundle of energy! I've grown too.

Motherhood has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. Sometimes it feels like I’m more fierce and twice as protective of my surroundings - especially when it comes to Destiny's well-being. She's such a beautiful soul.

Destiny found her puppy when he was just a runt, so sickly it could barely move on his own. We brought him home anyway, with her insisting she could bring him back to health. And just like she said, within a few weeks --- the puppy became healthy as can be. She named him Demon just because it's 'cool'. I didn’t argue.

Reaching the backyard, I'm both horrified and delighted at the scene before me. Destiny has Demon in the air with the use of just one finger.

Impossible!

"Destiny! Get inside, right now." Sara scolds in dismay. Immediately, Demon is back on the ground with a teary-eyed Destiny running inside the house.

Scanning the area carefully, both Sara and I check for any unfamiliar source of energy. With an identical nod to each other, the coast is clear.

"Did I do something wrong, Grandma?" The silver-eyed, four-year-old asks. Those beautiful eyes she inherited from her father.

"No, Sweetie. It's just...what you did with Demon, people will try to hurt you if they see you doing it. Do you understand, baby?" I explained as best as possible.

"So, you're only going to use it at home, in your room, and no one's supposed to know. It's our secret." Sara whispers dramatically.

Destiny giggles as her pigtails bounce up and down. "Okay, Grandma! Mommy, I'm hungry." She whines with a pout, making me roll my eyes. She's always hungry.

"Go on and feed Demon his biscuits then wash your hands. Dinner is almost ready, baby. We're having honey glazed steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and chocolate chip pie for dessert," I tell her, getting an excited "Yay!" before little feet go off running. Steak is her favorite food to eat apart from burgers and I can bribe her with anything sweet.

"How's that possible?" Sara asks in disbelief, mostly to herself once Destiny was out of hearing range.

"I have no idea. I thought she was a wolf two years ago," I replied worriedly.

"I know, we both thought so. But now she's showing signs of her magical powers. The vision I see from, she'll be a force to be reckoned with. She had Demon floating with just a damn finger for goodness sake! How is it that she's a hybrid and still alive?" She rambled on as her brows furrowed in bewilderment.

Destiny has the family birthmark of a DeLuca, it appeared when she was only a year old but now she's showing traces of an elemental. It's been centuries since the air element has shown itself in our family, yet my daughter possesses it, plus a Hybrid is unheard of.

Why?

It's not clear. Regardless, research has shown that either the carrier dies during the pregnancy. Even if the baby is brought to a full term of five months, as soon as the hybrid is born, it dies. It's either a werewolf, witch, or any other supernatural creature.

Never both.

"She's our little miracle," Sara exclaims lovingly with bright eyes.

Smiling, I reply. "Yes, she is."

We watch as Destiny feeds Demon his treats using her powers in glee. At that moment there's no greater wish than to cherish my daughter's beautiful smile and her expressive silver eyes forever.

But, I know that's just a dream that will never come true --- knowing I'll never make it to her eighteenth birthday. That's just the way of our family's curse; a spiteful, evil, and dark curse that is yet to be broken.

Mothers never make it to their child's eighteenth birthday, ever. Mine barely made it to my own. We die one way or the other and I'm no better. I've been coughing up blood just last week in the bathroom, so I know my time is probably borrowed. That is why I adore every second I spend with Destiny.

She's the perfect mixture of both Dante and me. However, she favors me more in the body and mostly looks department. She has her father's striking silver eyes and a nasty temper.

I chuckle to myself remembering the huge fight she got into with a little boy at the park because he had pushed another boy for being a 'freak'. After beating that boy almost to a pulp, she helped the other little boy up, Sawyer I think she said his name was. She told him she'll be his friend no matter what, then went on playing with each other.

It was so cute. That's just the type of person she is.

Even though Destiny's a bit tiny for her age group, she's tough. Her maturity has never been like normal pups either, even for an alpha's child. She started walking before she was barely a year old and talking by two. Most of her questions scatter my brain, and at times I fumble with my answers. I thought it was strange at first but I brushed it off. However, now I know it's because of her hybrid genes.

"Demon, no licking, bad dog." Destiny scolds, glaring down at the puppy. The poor thing goes from happy yelps to whining complaints.

I just chuckle at their antics, because they're always bickering about something. "Stop glaring at the puppy baby, I'm sure he didn't mean it," I chastise.

"Ugh, but Mommy," she whines.

Raising an eyebrow, giving her a pointed look. "Excuse me?" I question, tapping my left foot, crossing my arms over my chest daring her to repeat.

Pouting, "Nothing," she mumbles.

"I thought so...Now, go wash your hands and wipe your face," I ordered, pointing towards the stairs. Stomping her way towards the stairs, an evil grin appears on her slightly muddy face and I'm confused until Demon yelps from getting thrown into the nearby couch.

"Destiny Edith Hawthorne!" I shriek, "Get your little butt right back here," I demand.

"Since you want to act smart, no dessert...You so much as whine, complain, or grumble. Kiss it goodbye for the rest of the week," I declared before she could open her mouth in protest.

Her little shoulders slump downwards as her lips wobble, "Sorry mommy," she whispers.

Sometimes I have no choice but to be stern with her. My fear is, if I don't, she'll misuse her abilities thinking it's okay to hurt others if they don't agree with her way.

*******

"Okay honey, and Demon, you guys are all tucked in and ready for bed," I say tickling Destiny, who bursts into a fit of cute giggles. The best sound ever!

"Mommy, stop!" She squeals as Demon jumps up and down on the bed wagging his tail in glee.

Stopping my assault, I brush away her beautiful raven black hair out of her face, kissing her goodnight. I stroll towards the exit of her car-themed room---she's obsessed.

Fast cars get her very excited. Her bed is the shape of a car, her sheets are printed with cars on it and she has all sorts of car stickers around the light blue room.

Just as I'm about to step out, I hear the tender voice calling. "Mommy, how come I don't have a daddy like the other kids? Does he not want me?" The sadness and tremble in her voice froze me in my spot at first.

Turning around I walk back to her bed, damn her hybrid maturity. I got this, just keep my answer simple, and she won't question it. I kept chatting to myself.

Sitting at the edge of the bed, staring at her in those silver orbs. "Sweetheart, of course, he wants you. It's the world that has him chained, so he can't come to us right now. He has to have a key for those chains." I dramatically explain wide-eyed trying to reassure her and it works. She giggles a bit before drifting off to sleep.

Oh, baby, you'll meet your daddy one of these days. When my time is no more. With that thought in mind, I turn the lights off and close the door.

---------

Sara joins me on the couch as I sip on some white wine, trying to ease my mind. "They'll be coming for her." It is the first thing I say.

"I know." She replies solemnly with a sigh as her shoulders sag in defeat.

"Just being a Hawthorne is enough for them to want her dead. I can only imagine what they'll want to do to her once they find out who her father is." I continue, a bit agitated.

"Don't you think I know that Maureen?" Sara retorts in disgust. "I was a part of it. After all, I was one of them!" The disdain in her tone transformed into burning rage.

"Hey! She's my daughter and I would give anything to protect her from them." I lose my temper too. After a beat of silence. "Sara, I won't make it, and it's up to you to guide her when I die!" I scream in frustration, a sob escaping from my lips. Instantly I’m engulfed in her warm embrace.

I thought I was done with tears.

"Shhh. I'm sorry." Sara apologizes.

"I'm sorry too. It's just that her life is going to be hard enough with what she is. She won't be a secret for long. Eventually, she'll want to know about her heritage and her father's bloodline. What will I tell her when she asks me? You know she thinks her father doesn't want her." I murmur completely shaken.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, Sara holds my chin firmly. "Maureen Hawthorne. You've got a beautiful daughter upstairs who sees the entire world in you. We'll raise her as best as we can and when the time comes, she'll have her father to guide her. I promise you that. It'll ensure she knows him. Trust me." She declared looking me dead in the eyes. "Now, pull yourself together and go to bed, we've got to start training her in the morning." She orders sternly, sobering me up a bit.

She's right, I can't lose it, not right now.

*******

"MORNING MOMMY!" Destiny yells while jumping up and down on my bed. She's been doing it for a while now, but I've been ignoring her. How dumb of me to forget how energized she gets about something.

"Destiny! Mommy's up. I'm awake okay." I grumbled when the up-and-down motion of the bed started to annoy me.

"Come on Mommy," she chastises. "Grandma says we're doing something defensive today," she tells me, pouting in annoyance.

Damn it. Ever since she heard about training, she's extra hyperactive. She loves each lesson, excelling faster than expected.

Her punches are almost like a preteen once she's focused, her sensory is off the charts and the aggressiveness is way more than we can handle. Pretty soon we'll have to get her some high leveled teachers.

"Okay baby, let's brush our teeth, and hair, and go," I say sternly. If I leave it to her, she'll train with her hair untamed and all over the place. Such a damn tomboy she is, I have to bribe her little butt into wearing a dress but she's fascinated with our heels, so maybe there's hope.

"KEEP YOUR HANDS UP, Destiny!" I bark from the sidelines an hour later as Destiny and Sara train.

"That's it. Now, I'm going to blast you and your job is to try and block me. Understood?" Sara asks and she nods her little head.

Sara raises her hand, creating a medium-sized water vortex. Throwing it at Destiny, only for her to get blasted into the wall of our house gym with an oomph.

Damn it! Did she not hear to block?

Running to see if she's okay, both Sara and I are shocked to the core at Destiny's wild appearance once she gets up. She growls, advancing towards us with small canines and claws.

Holy hell, she can shift already? No, I don't think so, she would've already done it if she could. Trapping her into a water bubble prison, Sara chants something, immediately calming Destiny down.

"Are you okay baby?" I ask Destiny in my motherly tone, so she doesn't feel as if she did something wrong. She nods but her eyes hold sadness. An emotion I never want to see again.

"It's okay Destiny. That's the end of today's lesson. We'll try again tomorrow." Sara states encouragingly.

After a shower and breakfast that consisted of blueberry pancakes, bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, and french toast, Destiny's back into high spirits. As I said, I can bribe her with anything sweet. She's currently playing happily with Demon, while Sara and I watch over her.

"She can't control her powers," she voices the obvious.

"I could see that," I agree. "All she needs is self-control and some discipline in controlling her emotions," I added to my suggestion.

Nodding in agreement. "I know the perfect person," Sara says.

Hearing giggles, I peek through the kitchen window, both Destiny and Demon are rolling around in the dirt making me chuckle at their cuteness.

Moments like this where she acts like an actual four-year-old are always worth seeing. "Who?" I asked, returning to the conversation.

"Arturo Mendez," she states.

"Can he be trusted?"

Smirking, "My sweet dear. His real name is Arturo Vargas," Sara replies.

Ancestors! I've heard of him, he's a savage. That's what they say about him. I only hope he can truly help Destiny the right way.

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