He had been crying. Arya could see it, not just his iris, but his sclera was red as well. Rodriguez had a full meltdown in his office! Why?
He knows that Arya is not lying. He just doesn't believe that she's telling the truth! Yes, there's a difference!
Arya went through Elora's book, looking for anything that might help her little brother to feel the connection, or at least stop running away from fate.
The first few pages were covered in the history of the dark witch sisters, thirteen young girls who bonded over their same desire to live young forever. How they each made a spell in the barns of an old village, that she couldn't name, because it holds all their powers, and would destroy any who reads or says it's name out loud!
The thing that bothered Arya was that they were all born as white witches, who gained strength by helping others heal. Then, slavery came, and one by one, to protect themselves, they began performing rituals that turned from helping them protect each other from them, focusing only on themselves.
They discovered the secret to everlasting beauty by accident! One of them accidentally killed a young girl who was the daughter of their master, all while she was trying to escape the prison that she was in. She was actually telling her friends that she wished to be young and beautiful like her. Lo and behold, she got her wish.
They associated this with the power of the full moon since this was the only time they could escape without torches since it was hard getting the fire lit without anything dry.
As Arya read on, she realized one thing, as these 'witch sisters' as they called themselves began going deeper into the forbidden spells to fulfill their desires, angels left their side, making room for demons to enter. These witches could even summon any demon just by performing a simple ritual.
Over time, as Christianity rose, so did the witch hunts. Most of these sisters were burnt at the stake, and while running, Elora found this place, and the rest is history.
The other witches also had similar birthmarks for the male of their bloodline as Elora's male family had.
Arya wondered if Patricia was also a dark witch! She was a witch werewolf hybrid and could turn into a wolf... does that mean Arya could also call on her wolf?
Nothing in her great grandmother's book suggested that she could.. and none suggested she cannot either. Maybe, when she is a full-fledged witch, in the next two full moons, she could write her own spell to call back Bella... but by then, Alfa would be long gone!
Arya felt a sudden pain in her heart. The thought of losing Alfa still made her hurt.
"Don't forget that he deserves that," came a voice.
"Elaine! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Arya said, walking over to the bowl.
"But I am right! He put you through so much, yet you care for him?"
"He is a good person..."
"Good people don't make irrational decisions about their mates without asking them first, Arya."
Elaine had a point. If the situation were reversed, Arya would have done everything in her power to fix the problem. She would have read every book, visited every elder, and fought tooth and nail for her mate, until Braxen would be healed; not put him to sleep without even finding out if he was at fault or not.
"Well, I don't know. Don't you think killing him would be a bit extreme?" Arya asked.
"Why don't you ask Rodriguez that! I'm sure he'll be delighted to find out you're backing out of your end of the deal!" Elaine replied, rolling her eyes.
"Oh... the deal! I truly forgot about the deal. How do I deliver Kane's head on a golden plate? I should have said silver! Rodriguez might have said no because he's allergic!" Arya said, face palming herself.
"I made a deal of delivering Alfa's head as well!" Elaine reminded Arya.
"God! God, please help me."
"Stop whining! Michelle could be your ticket to Alfa and Kane!" Elaine suggested, and Arya looked at her.
"Really? How?" Arya asked curiously.
Back in the office, Rodriguez read through the part of old alpha Michael's journal that he had skipped.
Somewhere in the pages was buried the secret of what any male in this bloodline could do.
They could communicate with anyone while wearing the Moonstone necklace. By just holding the pendant and concentrating on the person they want to talk to.
So this was how Arya was able to mindlink him!
Rodriguez decided to try. He held the pendant and began thinking of who he should try to mindlink with. Every name that came up was a rogue, who he doesn't even need a pendant to communicate with.
Maybe Arya? She's not a rogue, and he hasn't declared her part of this pack.
Rodriguez closed his eyes and concentrated on Arya, visualizing her face. 'Arya, can you hear me?'
Nothing!
He concentrated harder, and this time was surprised when he got a reply, 'Rodriguez?'
'You can hear me?' Rodriguez asked, shocked.
'Well, yes, I can! But how? I thought I lost the ability to mindlink when I lost Bella!' There was an edge of sadness in Arya's voice when she mentioned Bella.
Bella, her white wolf... she remembered how confused she was when she first saw her wolf in the mirror. How she had slowly guided her through the process of understanding herself and Alfa. How she encouraged her on certain things, like the silent, 'we can do it' when she started her training... it was all too painful to remember!
'Arya, I also don't understand, but I need to show you something. Maybe you can help me understand what it means...' Rodriguez didn't know what to say, so he thought about just talking to her. He could show her the journal and ask her if she knew about it. Or he could ask her about their maternal grandparents.
He had aways heard that grandma's always bake cookies and grandpa's take grandkids swimming, or hiking or teach them hunting
Rodriguez also wanted to know about his birth parents. What had happened to them? Crash! How? What pup was Michael cursing in his journal?
'Honestly, I also want to talk to you. Where can we talk where no one would disturb us?' Arya said.
'In my office! No one dares to come in or even knock when I'm in here!'
'No one but me.' Arya said and laughed.
For the first time, she heard laughter from the other end. Rodriguez was also laughing.
Arya and Rodriguez share a bond. It's now time to give that bond a name!