Page 83

I’m the girl who had a loving mother who’d sing me lullabies at night and tell me how special I would grow to become. And my mother? She had eyes like mine, she had the kindest heart, and most of all, my father and I were her world.

I rub my chest painfully. Every memory of my mother evokes tears.

I’m the girl who had the strongest father as the Alpha of the pack. The same father who called me “moonflower” after his favorite flowers, and because I was the miracle he never thought he would get from the Goddess.

I remember the war too, the one that left my dad standing at the front lines so he could protect me and my mom. But in the chaos of it all, I had been separated from my mother, and when the attack on our pack had ended, I was taken to the hospital.

I remember calling out for my mom and dad. I cried until my eyes couldn’t shed any more tears. Then I remember running from that hospital, through the streets, letting my illness take control and wipe out all the memories from my childhood.

I’m also the girl who once played hide and seek in the woods with a boy who used to smile like the whole world rested in his hands. A boy with stormy eyes and messy dark hair. A boy who called me his.

And that boy? He’s the man I now live with.

Alaric.

My heart beats like it’s trying to escape my ribs.

The boy in my dreams, the one who held my hand when I was too scared to go into the dark, who picked flowers for me, and said he’d always protect me? It was him.

And I’m none other than Irene, the lost and missing daughter of Alpha Chris of the Moonlight pack.

Did he know?

And if he didn’t, our meeting under such circumstances must be fate.

Yet when he calls me two hours later informing me that he might not make it tonight, I don’t have it in me to ask him everything running on my mind. When I decide to ask him everything I know now, it’ll be face to face not over the phone.

Alaric goes ahead to ask how Lina’s visit to the hospital was and I have to pretend that everything’s okay. That I'm not going insane thinking about Lina’s condition and my past.

He’ll be back tomorrow and he’ll make everything okay. He’ll answer all my questions and help in every way he can to make sure Lina winds up okay.

After I cut the call, I go to bed praying to the Goddess that tomorrow things change for the better.

By the time morning comes,I pull myself away from Lina, dropping a kiss on her forehead and stepping out of the room.

The healer might have crushed me yesterday but I got my memories back and I’ve gotta believe they are worth something when it comes to helping my daughter.

Yet, first things first. I have to tell Alaric about everything. My memories. Lina. The paternity test results that might be back any time now. And how he’s going to save Lina if he’s her father. I bank on Alaric being Lina’s father.

My steps down the hallway that leads to Alaric’s office are brusque. I stand outside his office door, but I don’t bother knocking. I barge right in.

“Alaric I—”

I’m met by silence.

Alaric’s office is as meticulous as he is, an organized mini-library. It has an oval desk similar to the one in his office and grey rugs that match the grey walls. Everything oozes strong masculinity.

I thought he’d be home by now. I thought…

I should leave.

I should wait for him downstairs and tell him everything.

Yet my eyes land on the pile of documents on Alaric’s desk, and curiosity, coupled with the shock that came in the form of my memories, makes me walk up to said desk.

At first, I almost ignore the documents, since they are mostly financial records about the Blackwood Pack, but when I venture a little further, the documents underneath end up being something that almost makes my heart drop to my stomach.

There’s a profile of Irene, or should I say me?