Hey guys, I'm so sorry for my absence but I really needed it for my mental health!!

I took a deep breath, rubbing my eyes till they were raw, and forced myself to walk into the kitchen. There, Nora was leaning against the counter, arms crossed in irritation. Danica and Aron were side-by-side, on the other side of the island. Meanwhile, Damon was leaning against the table, eyes dark. I waited for him to acknowledge my presence in the room, but much to my dismay his eyes were focused on Nora.

"Who are you exactly? And what do you want with this pack?" Damon asked, sauntering next to Danica. All of them had hard glares pointed at Nora. It made sense, she was basically an intruder after all.

"My name is Nora, and I don't want anything to do with this pack," She said, her Australian accent coating her words. I raised a brow.

"That's it? That's all you have to say for yourself?" Aron pressed with a light growl. I bit my lip, waiting for Nora to reply. Her dark, hazel eyes found mine.

"I'm here for Serena."

I frowned, already knowing I was her focus. I peered underneath my lashes to see Damon tense up. He was bristling I'm sure; having to keep me safe from my brother and now this stranger. She simply just made herself another threat to Damon.

"What do you want with her?" Damon asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "I can show you better than I can tell you. Alpha Damon," She glanced at him. "I was hoping to use my magic in your pack-house-"

"Absolutely not. Where you go, my pack mates suffer. You leave behind Marks that cause a lot of problems for us," He growled. She played with her fingers, staring at her feet. "I know, and I'm sorry for that. I wish I was better at diminishing the effects we Witches leave behind. But I will be using magic that does not involve others, so the Mark left behind will be just a scent." 

The four of us shared looks, but I know mine didn't seem to count. I hid this from them, and my vote meant nothing apparently.

"Let her," Danica said, placing a hand on her mate's bicep. He looked at her, then to Nora as if stuck on what to say. 

"Please," I urged from behind. Danica and Aron looked back at me, and I walked up to them, joining them at the island. "Please let her," I said, this time looking at Damon. He clenched his jaw.

"Are you certain that your Mark won't harm anyone?" He asked her. She nodded with a smirk directed at me.

"Very well."

With that, she placed her palms together, fingers pointing up as if praying. She kept her eyes focused beyond her palms; on a space in front of her that no one occupied. 

"Ref'meorio," She whispered. Her words, although gibberish to us, were beautiful -- otherworldly. Like I had just entered a world beyond ours, and I craved to hear more.

As she began to spread her hands from one another, a pale, transparent blue glow formed between them. As her hands spread to show us her wingspan, images began to take place. They looked like black dust, or dusty charcoal that took the form of wolves.

"When Sunscorch was raided the night your parents died, it was just you and Larson left of your bloodline," She said, and as she spoke the dusty figures fought one another, about the size of a small coffee mug. Mesmerized, no one spoke. We just watched, and listened. 

"What you and your brother didn't know, was that the raid was planned months in advance. This is because there was an anomaly amongst Sunscorch," As she spoke, a white dusty wolf, the same size as the two younger ones appeared. A bigger figure of a wolf contained specks of white and black dust."

"P-planned?" I asked. I always thought it was just a group of rogues looking for resources.

Nora nodded through the blue screen she had created.

"This anomaly was frowned upon. There was a halfbreed in Sunscorch that was both seen as something to be celebrated, while also something to be feared. Neighboring packs had heard of this unusual hybrid in the pack." As she spoke, the mixed colored wolf became a human, with the same multicolored specks of dust making up its being. It raised its arms, and a bunch of dust rose from out of nowhere.

"This half-breed had a gene activated from her great-grandmother. She was both a witch, and a werewolf. This gene is only passed on from female to female, and skipped a generation which led this woman to believe she would never worry about being a hybrid. But when she found the love of her life..." The dust transformed into a huge blob before separating. There was a blob of black dust, a blob of white and black dust, then three small dusty aggregates underneath them.

"She had children. Two girls, one boy. However," A bit of white dust glowed from the bigger one to one of the smaller ones.

"One of the girls had taken on the genes from the mother and the great-grandmother. And it turned out, her werewolf gene couldn't activate under the pressure of the witch's. So she would never transform, and never be one with her family."

As she continued, I began to feel a knot form in my stomach.

"So, upon the news that a full witch had been born in Sunscorch, this led other neighboring packs to a frenzy. They couldn't trust witches, for they could manipulate nature which stood against all that werewolves typically believed in. So, it had been planned to raid the pack, and find the witch-girl and kill her. But, her mother had a plan."

My stomach only begins to hurt more, and I feel nauseas.

"The father held off the invaders as much as he could, in the hopes the mother and her children could escape. The two werewolf children hid in a shed,"

I put a hand over my mouth, trying to keep myself upright.

"The little girl, so young at the time," Nora frowned, her eyes watering, "tried so hard to save her mother, but it wouldn't work out. Her mother had refrained from using magic, which acts like a muscle. Magic has to be trained so often so it can keep up with one's body. So when a wolf tried to attack the little girl, the mother cast a spell that would change everything."

The dust disappeared and so did the pale blue light.

Nora stared at me.

"When she saved the little girl, she didn't realize that her spell would have a terrible toll. She sent her daughter across the world, to a foreign land, all by herself to keep her safe from the raiders. The cost was much greater than she anticipated. The spell was so strong, and took so much that she collapsed, and created a Mark so damaging that it would last for years."

I close my eyes, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"As the little girl was sent away for safety, she was also sent from the memories of all involved with Sunscorch. Another result, would be leftover resentment that had taken form in the mother's heart for what neighboring packs were willing to do in order to destroy what she had created inside of her. That resentment found itself in the Mark, and the next of female kin would bare resentment and dislocation from the pack."

Everyone was quiet until a loud growl sounded from Damon's lips.

"You're sick if you think we believe you," Damon hissed.

"It's true!" Nora replied just as fiercely. 

"If what you're saying is true..." Danica said, her voice shaking. "Then, there's a spell that's been cast upon Sunscorch...and you're-"

"The little girl," She replied, looking at everyone with apprehension.

"Serena and Larson's sister," She whispered, as if only to me.

I was crying now, my hands over my face. I felt everything at once. My mother died to protect Nora, and her decision cost so much more than she ever realized.  My brother may not have actually detested me this whole time, my whole pack was under a spell. It meant it was possible that I did have a home, but their minds weren't their own. It meant that I wasn't a mistake,  it meant I had real family.

"I-I'm sorry," I said, rubbing my already raw eyes. Nora snickered. "Your reaction is valid Serena, with everything I've just told you. I wanted to come to you sooner, but I've had trouble with Larson and other Witches. I had to practice, and train and get stronger before I could find you again. Please, Serena, I need your help. That's why I'm here; I want to help free Sunscorch, and I want to help you. You lived this life of hatred and suffering because our mother saved me. I did this, and I need to make it right. Serena, please, please help me," She said, her words so desperate. It was a plea I heard from her heart, and I felt it. I felt it in mine.

"Rena. It's Rena," I said, with a small, hopeful smile.