CHAPTER 273: _LITTLE ODESSA

Odessa’s POV

*****

I fluttered my eyes open, looking around me.

My ears rang with the aftermath of an explosion, and dust and smoke filled the air, running into my lungs and forcing me to cough erratically as my chest burned and my eyes stung with tears.

Screams, explosions, howls and cries echoed outside into the dimly lit room. A room that looked eerily familiar.

"This place..." I whispered with a voice I could barely even hear at the same moment that the room door burst open.

I jolted, frozen with an unnerving fear.

Two figures scurried into the living room frantically but I couldn’t see their faces due to the dimly lit room and the contrast from the blazing flames outside.

That’s until one of them spoke with a deep voice.

"Odessa. Thank goodness, she’s okay!"

I furrowed my eyebrows as a pair of strong arms stretched forward and lifted me off the ground.

Wait... Lifted me off the ground?!

My eyes widened, my heart dropping into my stomach. I lowered my head only to realise that I was small.

As in... I was reduced to the size of a five or six-year-old. I wore a little white dress and red shoes.

Something sparked in my head just then. A bone-chilling realisation:

I was somehow reliving the past. A moment that had haunted me for years and changed my life forever.

The night of my parents’ death.

And this man carrying me right now was...

"Rowland, we need to hurry. Our people need us..." A soft female voice came from the second figure who stood by the door.

Rowland...

That’s my father’s name.

Rowland Pierce.

My breathing hitched as my eyes fell on his arms which were etched with sigils that glowed with a faint white light.

Hunter sigils.

And if he’s my father that means the other figure...

Suddenly, the second figure snapped her fingers, causing a spark of bright purple light to envelope her hand, illuminating the room in a flood of light that forced me to dim my eyes for a few seconds.

But when my eyes adjusted to the light, my heart skipped a beat when I saw her face.

My mother.

Seraphina Pierce.

One of the most powerful witches on the continent. She was gorgeous, with purple eyes like my aunt Althea and lush blonde hair like mine.

Her features made her look like she was in her mid-thirties, but from what I’ve heard, she was even older than my aunt, who’s almost a century old.

"No, Seraphina. Create a portal and escape with our daughter." My father spoke solemnly, handing me over to my mother, who carried me with hesitant eyes.

I shuddered when I saw the seriousness on his face. "I’ll stand back and help the others. There still have to be survivors out there—"

"We’ve been married for decades, Rowland." My mother cut him short abruptly, her voice sharp. "So I’m surprised you’ll think I’ll go ahead and abandon you here."

My heart thudded heavily against my ribcage as I stared wearily at the door behind them.

I knew what was coming anytime soon and I didn’t want to witness it again.

’Sirena, are you there?’ I asked my wolf but she was silent.

Like she wasn’t here.

Fuck, this is just like that nightmare I had with the Lord of the North!

Suddenly, IT happened.

The door burst into thousands of splinters, the force from the explosion sending my parents flying backwards along with me.

We fell on the ground and I yelped, grunting.

A guttural howl echoed from the door, sending dread through my being as my father got on his feet, drawing out a silver sword that glowed with sigils.

"Shit!" My father cursed while my mother quickly helped me to my feet.

"Head to the basement and don’t look back." She whispered, brushing her fingers through my hair. "They will hunt you and judge you for who you are. For your blood. But I know you’ll stand through it all when the time comes."

She paused, tightening her grip on my shoulder while my father lunged at the wolf barging into the house.

I watched in the corner of my eye with horror. The wolf in question was gigantic, standing on all fours but yet managing to have a muscular silhouette beyond anything I’ve ever seen.

It moved with deadly speed, slashing at my father who was pushed back repeatedly while trying to block each attack.

The slashes were so powerful that they sent gushes of wind towards my mother and me.

"Seraphina!" My father yelled out with a panicked voice, but then the wolf used its snout to shove him to the ceiling, causing him to grunt and for debris and dust to fall.

My eyes widened slightly.

This... Power...

"Go, Odessa." My mother shoved me away from her as she turned around to face the wolf.

Her fingers lit with a bright silver light, her hair blowing into the air.

But she was too late...

My heart clenched when I saw my father being ripped in half by the wolf, his blood spraying on me and my mother who was still shielding me with her body.

For some reason, I could feel her spirit shatter completely as the wolf flung my father’s body like rotten meat, his organs splattering on the walls.

Suddenly, an invisible force sucked me backwards, away from my mother and the wolf as she glanced over her shoulder one last time with teary eyes.

"No!" I screamed, my eyes widening when I saw hordes of more wolves, smaller than the first one, rushing into the house.

But she fought them off with fluid ease, weaving fireballs, firing energy blasts, breaking the bones of several wolves with telekinesis, and even creating force fields to shield her side of the room away from me.

Everything was happening so fast, howls, whimpers and groans filling the air, the walls cracking and the ceiling even collapsing as my mother fought on.

And then... My gaze fell on the first wolf who had led the attack. His eyes glowed with a black light that sent shivers down my spine.

"The truth about your parents’ death is closer than you may think, little hybrid..." A deep voice suddenly echoed in my mind.

And then...

.

.

"I woke up," I muttered, blinking blankly as I narrated the whole thing to Kaelos in the dimly lit room, my fingers twitching on my lap.

I had come here earlier after feeling his distress through the mate bond, my mind still reeling from the emotions that came flooding in after that dream.

I had cried... But Kaelos didn’t need to know that.

He already seemed worried as it is.

"It’s been so long since I dreamt about that night." I clenched my jaw. "I’ve forgotten some details. Sometimes I remember seeing my mother being killed. Other times I remember seeing that first wolf... Sparing me. With some kind of guilt in his eyes."

I’ve only ever told Marcellus about that night but I had a feeling he had told Kaelos in turn because the latter didn’t seem as disturbed as I had expected.

Kaelos tightened his grip on my hand, causing me to turn my head to him. His eyes glinted with a myriad of emotions and oddly enough... I couldn’t feel them through the mate bond.

I frowned.

"Kaelos?"

He sighed heavily. "Odessa. I... Can’t imagine how you must’ve felt that night. But—"

"You don’t have to. That’s the thing." I shook my head, chuckling dryly. "What pisses me off is knowing that bastard, the true Lord of the North, is the one behind my dream. I’m sure of it. That voice at the end was his."

I drew in a deep breath, closing my eyes for a beat.

My emotions were swirling like a storm in me, and the last thing I needed right now was my magic reacting violently to it.

’Sorry you had to relive that dream, girl.’ Sirena suddenly spoke up in my mind, reminding me that she was back.

I only smiled wryly when Kaelos suddenly cleared his throat.

"Odessa..." He began, placing his fingers on my jaw and bringing my face to his gaze. "I... I don’t—"

Unfortunately, before he could say anything, a blood-curdling scream tore through the silence of the night.

My stomach churned as I swerved my head to the door.

That scream came from right outside the room.