Gilded Heart

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"Ameerah!" Maynord Rolayne shouted, father to Reinald Rolayne and grandfather to the young woman he was now searching for. "By the Goddess, where has that girl run off to now?" he muttered, standing in his garden, searching the tree-line for her, listening intently.

"I'm right here," she said and he jumped, whirling around with such speed to find her smiling there, giggling at his reaction.

The legends and stories about hybrids were true. Hybrids were extremely skilled. Extremely deadly and lethal. They snuck up on werewolves and that was no easy thing to do. Werewolves were known for their keen senses, their hearing and smell were unmatched, but he could not so much as smell her in the air, let alone hear her. 

"You are getting good at that," he commented, smiling proudly at her. "Masking your scent. What a raw, natural talent you have. Only purebreds can do that. Have you been practicing all on your own?"

She nodded happily. She had grown into a mature, young woman. Now at the age of twenty. She was strong and extremely fast. She learned everything he taught her and perfected it and performed it better. She also grew into her beauty, her hair long and white and wavy, her eyes always shimmering like the finest of golds, she was tall for a woman her age and agile. He was proud. 

When his journey began with raising her, he knew the risk he was taking by having a hybrid in his life. He had to put aside his own, generational hatred he felt towards hybrids, finding a new chance at life by raising her into a gorgeous, intelligent, strong woman that she was. In many ways, he found himself envying her. As the days had passed and she learned and grew, she became more and more like a werewolf than any werewolf he'd met. Her connection she had with the Goddess and the other abilities she acquired from her was incredible. She was so in touch with nature, so aware of the earth and world around her and the beauty in it all. He did not know if it was just a blessing or blatant ignorance. 

He still couldn't bring himself to explain to her the reality of her kind in this world. They've been lucky these twenty years to have no issues, to run into no one and to have no one find them but he knew the day would come. It would be an endless battle for her everyday, everyone and anyone will try to kill her in any way they possible can. 

However, with watching her over the years, she had become the most skilled and talented warrior he ever had the pleasure to train. Even far greater than himself. She was an even greater hunter, reciting the same prayer every time she took a life and crying every time she watched the life drain from them, claiming she could see their pain, where it was, and watch it leave their body. 

"Don't think I've let you off the hook," he said, smirking at her. "You know the rules."

She let out a breath. "I was just helping an injured bird, I've been taking care of it for days now. It can almost fly!" she tried to reason. "Please, I know the rules. I remember every single one of your teachings and I've never even smelt anyone come within one hundred miles of his place. Can't you trust me?"

His eyes widened slightly. "A hundred miles? You can smell that far?" he said, caught up on the least important part of her comment. He shook off his amazement, crossing his arms over his chest. "It is not that I don't trust you, Ameerah. You know that."

"And when will you explain to me why exactly? All these years I have trained and worked hard, I have followed your rules but I have never understood what threat lies in this world. What am I training for, grandfather?" she asked, her brows turned upward, begging, pleading.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, letting out a deep breath. "Ameerah, I will tell you everything, I will. Until that day, trust me, listen to my words. It is what your father would've wanted."