"The dream always ended the same way. A dark figure with amber eyes and a head like a wolf's would place its hands on the girl's shoulders and then pull her close. But it wasn't an embrace. He seemed to be made of darkness itself, and the girl seemed to dissolve into him, merging with him completely. For a long time, I couldn't understand why I was seeing the same dream over and over—until Kostya and I were told we were expecting a daughter. Then it all made sense. I had a thousand questions and even more fears. Not knowing what else to do, I turned to a witch from the coven who had once been my friend. Her gift of foresight put everything in its place. It was from her I learned that you would inherit power from Kostya's side of the family."
Kostya snorted and shook his head, knowing how the story had ended.
"I knew those dreams didn't bode well. When I put the pieces together, it became clear to me that your spirit would be different. Unlike any we had met before. And I also understood that sooner or later it would consume you, and I couldn't allow that. I made a deal with a witch. Her situation was just as difficult as ours, yet neither of us could have handled it alone. We both got what we wanted. Your power was sealed with a spell before you were even born. It was done, and I thought that soon the dreams would recede and long-awaited peace would come, but they only became more frequent, more vivid. Right before you were born, the scenario began to change. The creature in my dreams started speaking in a strange language I didn't recognize. It seemed to be trying to threaten me, each time getting closer, but I always managed to wake up. Even when you were no longer part of me, the spirit didn't give up and kept returning, until one day, you appeared in my dream — a helpless infant in the long arms of a terrifying monster. It held you and rocked you, humming some strange melody to itself. The spirit was distracted when it noticed me and raised its head. That day, it spoke to me in a way I could understand for the first time. 'You will not be able to separate us,' the creature said. When I woke up the next morning, I was shaken, desperate for a way out. I didn't know what else I could do to keep you safe. Only time could test the seal's strength, but I didn't want to keep watching the spirit take you from me. A strange thought crept into my mind then. Strange, desperate — yet it gave me hope. I tried to take you out of the city. Kostya didn't see any problem at the time with you becoming like him. But I did." Maria tapped her chest. "I saw what the spirit planned to do with you. I saw that the nature of werewolves had changed after the ritual and that things would be different. And I couldn't allow it. So I went in search of your grandmother. Having lost her magic, she left Xerton, leaving the future of the coven to the local witches and warlocks. Many disapproved of her decision to carry out the ritual. If people had known that changing the anchor could cost them their High Priestess, and therefore their connection to Mother Nature, they would never have agreed. That's how you and I ended up in Rostov."
"That's where I found you," Kostya added, and Maria nodded.
"Fortunately, not right away. In Rostov, the dreams finally subsided. You grew up an ordinary, normal child without any sign of heritage. The years passed, and nothing changed. I met your stepfather, and you made it to high school. Life went on as usual. Then you decided to see Xerton University and finish your last school year here. Kostya arranged it, and a spot was found. Everything was going perfectly."
"Until it was the children's turn to pay for the sins of their fathers."
"Could you not interrupt? You had your chance to explain everything to her, so now keep quiet."
"I was protecting her."
"Enough!" I snapped at both of them, sensing the conclusion was closer than ever. "Mom, go on."
"Maria," she corrected, and Kostya winced.
"Oh, come on," he said, raising his hand, palm up, to emphasize his irritation. "What kind of ridiculous idea is it to make your daughter call you by your first name all the time?"
"In another twenty years, when people start noticing that I age more slowly and we look the same age, she won't have to relearn it. In another twenty years, to others she'll look old enough to be my mother, not the other way around. Sooner or later we'll have to pretend to be friends or distant relatives in public."
Kostya didn't answer her reasonable explanation and only snorted again, as if displeased with the situation but powerless to change it.
"And why will I age, but you won't?"
"Because I'm a witch, and you're not."
"But I'm a werewolf now. Don't we also age more slowly?"
Maria nodded.
"That's true. Only you were supposed to remain a normal human. To have an ordinary life. But the boy ruined it."
"The boy?"
"What was his name again?" Maria asked Kostya.
"Nikita."
"Ah, yes, Nikita. Nikita decided, like a true knight, to save his beloved from a worse fate and turn her into one like himself. Very sweet, very desperate — and very stupid."
"He didn't love me," I protested, remembering how Karimov had played with my mind, replacing emotions.
Maria turned to me and looked at me as if I were a naïve child.
"Oh, darling. Men do foolish things almost always because of love. The vampire's venom began to take effect that very day, just as it should. If not for the seal, you would have become one of the bloodsuckers. Kostya arrived just in time and dealt with the weakblood, giving Stanislav the chance to take you to your father's hospital. Doctor Smirnov tried to drain the venom along with your blood, and at first, it seemed you had escaped trouble. For a while, Vladimir observed you in the hospital, and soon the changes became obvious. What the doctor didn't tell Kostya, and therefore you, was about the seal. The spell that protected you from the fate of magical beings wasn't limited to werewolfhood alone. When the venom entered your system, the seal absorbed the new entity and began merging it with the spirit meant for you by birth, but restrained. The wolf inside you began to grow, gradually pushing you out, and the seal started to crack. We tried to suppress the wolf by introducing more vampire venom, hoping to burn out one weapon with another, but now, in hindsight, I understand — the idea was doomed to fail. I cannot see the creature, no matter how hard I try. It has learned to hide from me, and so throughout your childhood, I thought there was no spirit with you at all. But it was always there, Asya. Maxim saw it with you at school. And it has changed because of my choice and has become exactly like the creature from my dream. You cannot trust it."
"An amazing woman: causes trouble herself, then blames it all on me," Kaandor said in my head, almost laughing, and I agreed with his conclusion.
"Is that all?" I asked aloud.
"Yes, dear. If you have any other questions, I'll answer if I can."
For the first time in my life, I didn't want to know anything else. Having learned the story to the end, I felt nothing but nausea inside. My whole life had been thrown off course because of my mother's fears. She was the one who set in motion the chain of events that led to this moment, and I was not prepared for any of the possible futures. Only time could teach me to be a werewolf, while the lives of the people I knew and loved continued as usual.
"I just want to go home," I said and closed my eyes, not wanting to look at either my mother or my father. "Turn the music back on."
"Alright, dear."