Chapter 46: 47: Sister Secrets

ARIEL

I enter Natalia’s room and it’s pitch black.

It appears completely empty.

But as my eyes adjust to the darkness, I can just barely make out my sister’s form under a sea of bedcovers.

“Natalia…” I whisper softly but receive no response.

I consider flicking on the overhead lights but don’t want to shock her senses.

Instead, I tiptoe over to the corner of the room and switch on a small pink lamp that sits on top of a bookshelf.

In the rosy glow, I finally see my sister—but she is ~far~ from her usual, confident self.

Natalia was always the center of attention.

The prettiest girl in every room—with the sharpest tongue.

But right now, she looks like she’s trying to use the blankets to make herself disappear.

Her face is pale and tearstained.

Her cheeks, usually plump and youthful, look as sunken as her spirit.

She is staring at me with wide, sad eyes, but I can’t tell if she’s actually ~seeing~ me.

But then her lips begin to move, and eventually, her voice finds my name. “Ariel.”

“Hi Nat,” I say, walking slowly toward her. She doesn’t yell at me to leave her room, so I gain the courage to keep walking.

She hoists herself into a seated position as I motion toward the edge of the bed.

“Can I sit?” I ask her. To my surprise, she nods.

“Thank you,” I say, feeling my heart pounding in my chest as I sit next to her.

I didn’t realize how hard it would be to tell earth-shattering news to a broken woman.

“Did you find Xavi?” she asks me, although her tone suggests that she already knows the answer.

“No,” I reply.

“Then what are you doing here?” she asks.

~Oh Goddess…~ I don’t know where to begin.

So instead I just say, “Come stay with me at the Royal Pack.”

She peers at me, eyes swimming with confusion.

I continue, “It’s better for you there. You can help me look for Xavi. Alex will let you stay at the palace and make sure that you have everything you need.”

Natalia stares at me again, but this time it seems that all trace of confusion has vanished.

She shakes her head, and wisps of hair fall to frame her face.

“Ariel…what did Xavier do?” she asks me.

~What?!~

How could she possibly know?

Natalia reads my momentary silence as confirmation of her suspicions. “Just tell me,” she says. “It can’t hurt any more than all the other shit he’s done to me.”

I take a deep breath, readying myself to speak. I shift my eyes to avoid her gaze. “He tried to convince me to become his mate. I’m so sorry.”

Her expression remains shockingly stoic when I deliver this blow.

“Natalia... are you okay?” I ask her.

“It figures,” she says.

~It does?!~

“When I found out that you were his true mate, it nearly killed me. I knew that someday he would realize that he wanted to be with you instead. It was just a matter of time.”

“Natalia, come on—”

“So are you going to take him?” she asks, as if she’s offering me the last slice of cake and not her mate, the father of her child.

“No! Of course not! He’s mated to you!”

“That hasn’t stopped ~several~ women in this pack.”

I had no idea how much she has been suffering, even before Xavi was kidnapped.

“Natalia,” I say, sternly now. “Please come with me. You don’t need him.”

“Ariel—”

“I’m serious! You still have the chance to find your destined mate.”

“Ariel!” she shouts, exasperated now, grasping the edge of her blanket between her fingers. “I already found my destined mate. I already found him.”

“I—I didn’t know—”

“I don’t like to talk about it.”

“What happened to him? Is he alive?”

“Yes, he’s alive.”

“So then, what—”

“I rejected him,” she says solemnly.

“Why?” I ask, the tightness in my throat returning.

“Because he bags groceries!”

~Wow...~

I knew that Natalia could be petty, but that’s a terrible reason to shun your destined mate.

“I rejected him because I wanted an Alpha. But Xavier—I had no idea what I was getting myself into.”

~I don’t think any of us could have predicted the assholerie Xavier is capable of…~

“Sometimes I walk by the supermarket,” Natalia continues, “and I look at my destined mate through the window. I think about how simple and lovely our life together would have been.”

Seeing that I was about to launch into a million questions, Natalia cuts me off, “I made my choice though. And I have to live with it. I’m certainly being punished for it now,” she says as a tear falls onto her cheek.

“This is not a punishment,” I say, placing my hand on hers. “It’s just a cruel twist of fate. But I ~will~ find Xavi. I promise.”

And for the first time that I can remember in years, Natalia smiles at me.

ANGEL

Finally, I am no longer the newest addition to the Royal Pack.

With the arrival of Dom and Helena’s baby, there is something else for everyone to gossip about.

In preparing for the baby’s return from the hospital, people have stopped asking me questions about my past, all of which I’m unable to answer, even if I wanted to.

I walk through the palace in a reverie, enjoying my break from the inquiries and stares, when I hear the only voice that I would deem a welcome interruption.

“Angel!” Amy calls out to me, and I turn around. I stifle a big smile to play it cool.

“Hey,” I say back to her. “What’s up?”

“I’m gonna head to the hospital now to meet the baby,” she says. “Wanna join?”

I haven’t seen the baby yet, but I’d be lying if I said that I’m not curious to meet her.

In fact, I’m eager to see her. This bizarre instinct makes me wonder if I had a pup myself before I was kidnapped and had my memory wiped.

It breaks my heart to think that somewhere there might be a child waiting for their dad to come home—a dad that wouldn’t even remember their name.

My fists clench as I think about it, but the tension slackens when I look at Amy’s smiling face.

“Well?” she asks me, awaiting my answer.

When Ariel is here, I’m constantly trying to retrieve my old memories. Maybe it’s time I start making some new ones. And right now, I’m feeling like I want to make them with Amy.

“Let’s go,” I say.

***

When we arrive at the hospital, Amy has the sweet idea of buying a present for the new baby.

We pick out a nylon balloon that reads “It’s a Girl!”

I grab a teddy-wolf and tie it to the balloon as an anchor.

Amy smiles as she watches me gingerly secure the balloon ribbon.

As we make our way toward Helena’s room, Amy looks around wistfully.

“I’m not used to coming to a hospital for a happy reason. I’ve spent my fair share of time in halls that looked just like this. My mother was sick for a long time before she…” Amy’s voice drifts off.”

I sling my arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” I say as she leans into me.

A warmth surges through my body as I pull her into my touch.

But when we arrive at the door of Helena’s room, it feels like an icepick is driving through my heart, sending chills through my body.

~What’s going on?~

Amy can sense the change; she looks up at me, eyes filled with concern.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I lie. I have no idea how to explain what is happening to me.

Amy looks weary of my curt response but knocks on the door anyway.

“Who is it?” Dom’s voice calls out.

“Amy and Angel,” she replies.

The door swings open, and Dom’s excited face peers out. But his bright smile does nothing to quell the mounting anguish that is flooding my body.

I consider excusing myself, but Amy is already grabbing me by the hand and ushering me into the room.

By now, my heart is pounding.

My head is throbbing.

My ears are ringing as Dom thanks us for coming.

My palms are sweating when he tries to shake my hand.

I look up and see a hospital bed.

~My skin crawls.~

A stethoscope.

~My fingers tingle.~

An IV drip ending in a needle that is plunged into Helena’s skin.

~My hair stands on end.~

And then I see it.

The sleeping baby resting in Helena’s arms.

~NO!~

~It’s happening~

~I’m shifting.~

I can’t control it.

Against my will, my wolf is coming out.

The faces of my friends contort in fear as my bones crack and my claws emerge.

Thrashing wildly into the air, I try in vain to return to my human form.

Instead, I just swipe the gift that was intended for the baby girl.

The balloon pops.

The baby cries.

Dom lunges at me.

I turn and scamper away through the hospital halls as fast as I can.

I hear the sound of Amy calling my name, but I fear what I might do if she catches up to me.

Finally, I reach the door of the hospital and collapse onto the pavement.

My human form returns.

I stare at my hands, completely and utterly in shock.

~What the fuck was that?~

Did the medical equipment remind me of my time in captivity? Did it send me into a state of post-traumatic stress?

But if it was just residual trauma...why does it feel like the beginning of something else entirely?