Masked

xlii.

xlii. Emerald's POV

It was just a few hours before Garret's brother arrived and I was in the library. Garret and his father were busy with pack business, in other words, trying to figure out what had happened with me the previous night. I knew they were searching for answers and I was grateful for it, but I knew that they wouldn't find anything. It was beyond their reach. It was something I would have to find. 

Where to begin though?

I wasn't sure. Not in the slightest. 

I tried to not let it affect my mood and make me even more confused than I was already was, but I could already feel the tension rising. I sighed in slight frustration and continued to look at the plethora of spines on the shelves. I could tell these books dated back from the beginning of the pack's lineage. Feeling their aura coming off of the books themselves, I knew, with one touch, that I could see the history play throughout my brain. 

As I continued to roam the aisles, I suddenly felt an attraction to something. It was a pull. Like a magnet being drawn to its opposite poles. It was strong, it was nagging. I walked aimlessly to it, not knowing the exact location, but I would know when I got to it. 

My heartbeat suddenly raised when I believed that I reached the location of what I was looking for. Blindly extended my hand out to a book, a touching the spine, I mentally gasped at the contact. The pure leather binding was soft to the touch, having been in this library for years I was sure. Slowly pulling it out as if it were one of the most delicate things on this earth, I turned it right side up. 

The gold engraved title still shone through its weathered covering. Lignée Familiale it read. Family Lineage a voice whispered in my head. One unfamiliar but I didn't dwell on it. I opened it to its first page, seeing the beginning of Garret's extensive family tree. 

His family dated back to the 1600s. I had known a little of werewolf history, knowing that they had roamed the earth for as long as anyone could remember. His family had started in France, no shock there with his perfect French tongue. As I flipped aimlessly through the pages, I began to see the resemblance in his great-great-great-great, all the greats, grandfathers. They must've had some strong genes for them to continue all the way to the twenty-first century. 

I skipped to the last page of what was the end of the tree, currently. At the end had Garret, young, no older than sixteen, alongside his brother, Adam. The spaces to either side of them remained empty, to be filled with their mates and then a continuation of the lineage with the births to come. 

Even after seeing this, the pull I had to this book hadn't yet subsided. Leafing through the pages again, I suddenly came across a piece of paper bookmarked in the book. It was in the back, in between the empty pages to be filled with the rest of the family in years to come. Having pulled it out, I noticed it was an envelope. 

Turning it face side up, I read the beautiful calligraphy, one that looked so familiar. It was addressed to Darrel and Yvonne, Garret's mother I was assuming. Turning it over to the flap, I gasp sharply. 

The seal on the back of the envelope, one that carefully taken off to open it, was my family crest. Though it had been years since I had seen it, I could never forget it. 

My heartbeat quickened. 

Carefully taking out the contents of the envelope, I see that it was a wedding invite for my parent's wedding. Inside the invitation was a picture of them, young and happily in love. Both of their eyes were closed as they leaned into each other. My dad stood behind my mom, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. She rested her hands on his forearms, their heads leaning towards each other, them softly resting against one another.

I could feel my heart strain for them, wishing they could be here with me. 

"You know," I say. "Spying on people is kind of a breach of privacy, don't you think Berny?" My back was facing him as I continued to look at the invitation. I felt him unveil himself from one of the neighboring aisles and make his way over to me. 

"You've intrigued me, Ms. Emerald," he says, coming to stand in front of me. 

I blink my teary eyes and look up at him, trying to remain as neutral as possible. "Why is that?" I question. 

"You're a witch," he states. 

I wait for something more shocking. "I'm pretty sure that's common knowledge at this point."

"Someone like you hasn't existed in hundreds of years."

"I'm aware," I state. "Your point?"

"The last one, Maria Bennet, was a witch turned to a werewolf," he continues. Our gaze broke as he began to turn and head to the back of the library, me trailing behind him. I had never heard the name before but yet her name held such familiarity to me. "It was said that when she was scratched by the wolf, her witch powers fought with the wolves. She spent days in excruciating pain because her body couldn't decide between the two. It was believed that she was going to die that way."

He sat down on the brown leather couch in front of the windows that overlooked the backyard. I sat a couple of inches away from him, wanting him to continue. 

"What happened?" I question. 

"It was rumored that that is where Venus and Luna's partnership started. Maria  was special to them both so they worked together for her to be able to have both of the abilities."

"When was this?"

He knocked his head back in thought. "Ah... 1860." I tried to keep the shock from my face, over the fact that I now knew about his life. I wasn't sure if he had wanted me to know it or not. He chuckles. "So Garret told you."

"I... I'm sorry if you didn't want me to know."

He shrugs his shoulders. "It's not like you know everything," he replies vaguely, our eyes meeting again. 

"I wouldn't be so sure," I say back. 

A look of intrigue and confusion crossed his emotionless face. "What else do you know?"

"That you knew Maria. In fact, you loved her. Till she died."