Where She Belongs

What Now?

"I am real. We are real. Trust that." He makes it sound like it's such an easy thing to do. "Whatever he has said, isn't true."

"Were those families he killed even families? Were they good people?" I demand.

"Some were." He answers, hesitating slightly.

"And the others? What did they really do to the hybrids they were supposed to be hiding and helping?"

"Hybrids?" Gwen asks, but we ignore her.

"Some thought they were being cautious. Keep a tight leash and you can't be bit." He said it like it was some kind of mantra and my stomach sunk.

"And the hybrids? Are they really sold?"

"They have been. It didn't work they way they wanted and it was stopped. Charlie helped me as after my grandparents were killed, I went off the rails for a while. Thing was and I think that old fae knew something about it too, but I was caught by some of those, bad people, and the Aeveen coven saved me. There was no trading or buying. All done of our own free will."

"It's true. We worked with some shifters to shut those monsters down Samara. We do not own any of them. Some say we are the pack they never had or the family they had to leave behind." Brianna spoke up. "We came to your pack because a vision I had led me here. Aiden was with me in my vision, which is why he came too."

She looked at Aiden and he nodded. I just looked at her, unsure if I was about to hear more lies or something real. Some part of me knew I could trust Aiden, and if he was on Briannas side, then I was going to have to put some trust there too.

"It was only half of him with me, and his other half was trapped behind a wall. Horrible creatures guarded it and as we got nearer, we could see his other half on the other side. There were obstacles to overcome, yet once we made it over, there was another man there, a shadow that had it in chains, and before we could make it-" She closed her eyes, holding her breath for a second before whispering the rest. "The shadow killed it."

"You two are mates. Two halves of the same." Gwen gasped. "Is David the shadow man?"

"We think so." Brianna answered sadly, looking back to us. "I knew what most of it meant, but the shadow was a mystery until David reappeared in our lives."

"You think he's going to kill me?" That seemed a little far fetched, but when I thought of how we left things, I actually wondered.

"Or Aiden. You don't know which half is which." Gwen added, not so helpfully.

"He told me things, about your Mother and the vampire who made them both. He said, he said-" I didn't know how to say it.

"What?" Aiden came closer. "Just tell me."

"He said he killed her."

That was news to him. His whole body tensed and suddenly my house felt way too small again. Gwen stepped closer to Brianna who covered her mouth with her hands - her gasp the only sound in the room.

"I always wondered." He finally said. "What else did he say?"

"That the vampire who changed her was also her mate. When he found out you were hybrid he ordered you both be killed. It was one thing to be pregnant but not have wolfblood. Apparently hybrid hunters picked you up and she was going to kill herself anyway for failing you." I knew the look on his face now. It was the same one I was positive I had one mine. "Aiden, it could just be a lie?"

"It makes sense as to why I could never find her and why they came to kill us later when he found out I lived." He shook his head. "They were my grandparents. That part isn't a lie. She left me with them as she must have thought they would never find us."