Filed to story: Cara Nelson The Guardian: Werewolf Book PDF Free
Rik gets back in the car and Samlael opens the gate for us. As soon as we are through, it’s like we entered an entirely different world. I gasp. It’s like something out of, well, out of a fairy tale.
“What? How?” I ask, not really knowing what I’m asking.
“It’s called glamor.” Anders says. “If I’m not mistaken, the glamor is for what is outside of this land and what we are seeing is the real elvish world.”
“It’s so beautiful.” I say and I can’t help the awe in my voice. Even Artemis is
1/2 impressed.
“The fae are known to be able to manipulate the elements. Their goal is never to destroy, only to improve. I’d say they are prospering under their king.” This was from my father.
My eyes are glued to the window, trying to take everything in. Everywhere I look there are trees, plants and flowers all in bright colors. It should be overwhelming to the senses, but it has the opposite effect. It feels like….home. Safe and comfortable.
As we turn a corner, I see what looks like a glass castle. It’s so tall, the spires seem to lift up into the clouds. When we pull up, another guard is waiting for us. We get out and they take our bags from us. We are escorted to what I can only describe as a library. It is the largest room I’ve ever seen. It has floor to ceiling books, and the ceilings must be 15 feet high. The ceiling is clear giving the room a natural light, but there is no heat from the sun and no deterioration, that I can smell, of the books from sunlight. It smells exactly like what you’d expect an old- fashioned library to smell like – leather, paper and something like pipe smoke.
When we walk in, King Ailduin is there to greet us. “Alphas.” He inclines his head to Anders and Rik. “And these must be the Guardians. I do not believe we have officially met. My name is King Ailduin.” He inclines his head to me. “You would be Cara.”
“Yes, I am Cara Nelson. It’s nice to meet you, King Ailduin.” Do I curtsy? Bow? I have no idea. But luckily he doesn’t seem offended by my lack of a gesture.
“May I have the name of your wolf Cara Nelson.”
Artemis pushes forward. “I am Artemis.” The king’s eyes brighten and a smile lights up his face. “Named after the Goddess of the Hunt I assume?” He asks her.
She nods her head in agreement. “It is my pleasure to meet you Artemis, the first Guardian born of two Guardians.’
He turns to my father. Donovan has already pushed forward. “I am Donovan, Clint Nelson’s wolf. Guardian to Anders and father to Artemis.”
“It is an honor to see you again, Donovan, Guardian of Anders and father of Artemis.”
“What do you mean, again?” Donovan asks.
“I know you are here for answers. Those will take some time. Please, you must be hungry. Would you join me for lunch and afterwards we will begin the journey of finding answers to all of your questions.” He looks at Rik. “I assume that everyone is staying overnight?”
“Yes. We are prepared to stay two nights if necessary.” Rik responds. King Ailduin looks even happier than before if that’s possible.
“That is excellent. Please follow me.”
He takes us down a hallway to a small dining room. An intricately carved rectangular wooden table sits in the center of the room. It is already set for us. King Ailduin walks to the head of the table.
“Please, Alpha Anders, Guardian Donovan, would you do me the honor of sitting beside me?” He gestures to the seats on either side of his. They both move to their seats. As Rik and I begin to walk to the seats beside our fathers, we hear footfalls running down the hall. King Ailduin looks exasperated as a younger version of him comes running into the room.
Rik immediately turns to him. “Aolis!” He walks over, lifting him up in a hug and swings the young man around.
“Alpha Rik. It’s good to see you again.”
Rik puts him down, looking him over. “You as well. You’ve grown into quite a young man since I last saw you.” He tells him. “Please, come meet my girlfriend and our fathers.”
Over lunch, I learn the history of how Rik met King Ailduin and of Aolis’s rescue that brought him here. After hearing the story, I turned to Rik. “So, you used your favor with King Ailduin to give me a book on the history of my parents?”
If I hadn’t already fallen in love with this man, I would have at this moment. He could have asked for anything, but he used his favor to give me something that is invaluable to me.
“I knew it was important to you, and that made it important to me. I wanted you to have it.” His gaze was intense, and I couldn’t look away. Artemis pushes forward to show her appreciation as well.
Someone clears their throat and breaks the spell. I look away, but I see Rik smiling out of the corner of my eye.
After lunch, we head back to the library. While we were away, it appears that the fae have set us up with a study center. Computers, printers, notepads, pens, everything we may want or need as we learn about our history.
When we reconvene around our study table, King Ailduin starts.
“First, you should know that the Fae have been the keepers of the Guardians history since the dawn of the Guardians.”
Dad interrupts him. “Then why have I not heard of you before today?”
“It is a good question and one that may best be saved for another day.”
It’s Anders that jumps in this time. “Does it have to do with the reason that the alliance between the Fae and the Werewolves ended?” He asks.
“It doesn’t have to do with the reason, it is the reason.” King Ailduin says.
I’m glad my father is asking about the broken alliance between the wolves and the fae. My interactions with King Ailduin and Aolis have been positive to this point. There must be a way to mend the alliance, but we need to know what caused the break to begin with.
Dad looks at Clint. “I would really like to know what caused the rift between our kind. If there is anything that I can do as an Alpha or my son, as the future Alpha to mend our alliance, I would like to do that.”
King Ailduin looks between them and nods his head. “I will need to go back in time for you to understand fully, but it happened nearly 100 years ago. I had been king for over 50 years…”
Cara interrupted him. “You were king 100 years ago??!! How old are you??” As soon as she said it, Cara looked mortified at her outburst. “I’m so sorry, it’s just, I’ve never met someone as old…” She stops mid-sentence, grimacing as she realizes she’s not making it any better.
Thankfully King Ailduin smiles kindly at her. “I am 248 years old.” Cara’s mouth drops to the floor. “Whoa.” She whispers. Yeah, even I was surprised that the fae lived that long. And he sired a child only 8 years ago. Impressive.
He continues with his story. “The first Guardians awakened 200 years ago, Aloysius and Bellona. They were awakened during a time of great strife among the wolves. Your Moon Goddess was angry at the violence that was killing your Alphas and risking the elimination of your species. At the time, there were only two Alphas that she felt were worthy of her gift.”
My father jumps in. “Alpha Rhys and Alpha Deryn.”
King Ailduin nods in agreement. “Yes, they were the first two Alphas to be gifted with a Guardian. At first, we did not realize that they would reincarnate and continue the line through the wolf spirit. It was not until the deaths of the first Guardians that the Fae were asked to chronicle the lives of the Guardians.”
“It was quickly realized by all the Alphas that having a Guardian made a pack immeasurably powerful. Alpha Rhys and Alpha Deryn were unable to be defeated during their reign as Alpha, even though many other packs attacked them. When the next generation of Guardian was awakened, they were coveted by the Alphas.”
He looks thoughtful as he continues. “I was brought in as a young man to chronicle the lives of these Guardians. I realized early on that just because a Guardian was awakened within a pack, it did not mean that the Alpha was worthy. The Guardian awakened because the wolf who took the Guardian’s spirit was worthy.” He nods his head to Clint, acknowledging him being chosen as a Guardian.”
“When a Guardian awakened within a pack, the Alphas of those packs were unwilling to lose the strength that the guardian provided the pack and refused to let them leave to find their mate. Therefore, it became a common practice for Alphas to force their Guardians to take them or their heirs as their Chosen Mates.”
“That makes sense for the female guardians, but not for the male guardians.” Clint says, and it’s exactly what I was thinking.