The Lost Wolf

CHAPTER EIGHT

Daphne pursed her lips. She'd expected as much.

"Daph?" Val scooted her chair closer, leaning in—

"Your mother was born here," she started and waited for a reaction. When she received none, she kept going. "She left with her parents when she was four to live with some family in New Orleans — our family — but she returned right after she shifted. Her parents chose to stay back but — she couldn't. She told me there was something pulling her here, that her wolf was driving her crazy." A sad smile crept on her lips, Val gave one back as an answer.

Her wolf...

Her mother was a werewolf. Was her father one, too? Were they mates? Something warm settled in her stomach, she was going to meet her wolf when she shifted.

A frown covered her face. "Their names aren't really Mark and Serene, are they? And those people that died in the car accident... weren't my parents. What really happened?" When she first asked about them, Daphne had been taken aback. As a kid, she didn't think twice about it, but as she grew older, she began to question the sudden way she'd blurted out the names. And after everything...she felt like there was something wrong with the picture stuck in her head. There was more to it, she knew it!

Something flashed in Daphne's eyes. They glazed over for a moment before she blinked twice and shook her head. "You have the right to know. I understand that more than anyone, trust me. But I can't tell you — not yet."

"You can't tell me?" Val bristled, hands clutching at the sides of the table tightly. "They're my parents!"

Daphne cautiously flickered her eyes from Vals' clawed hands to her now golden eyes but leveled her stare. "I know this is confusing, but I need you to trust me. Please. I promise you'll find out soon enough."

"All I've been doing is trust you! You lied to me about what I am, who my parents are, and I never doubted you; not once! Don't you think it's time you put some trust in me instead?" Her words came out with a low growl and she had the faint sense of the table cracking under her hold. "I need to know, Daphne!"

Daphne's body reacted with a small jerk but her face didn't show it. She seemed calm and collected on the outside, but her eyes...

She'd been lying for so long and yet—

She shook her head. She refused to feel bad for her. Whatever happened in the past was causing her pain, but not knowing was just as painful. Val knew nothing about who she was, and yet here she stood, denying her the right to know about her heritage. Again.

Daphne didn't budge. She just stood there, watching. With a glare, and more than one splinter digging in her fingers, she waited, giving her just a little more time to change her mind.

"I need for you to—"

"Trust you. Yeah, heard you the first time," Val said bitterly and let go of the table, hands shaking by her sides.

Throwing Daphne a last look, she gritted her teeth, retracted her claws, and headed for a bath.

*****

The doorbell had Val grumbling and mumbling curses under her breath as she lazily swung her feet over the bed and made her way downstairs.

Too early.

"What do you want from me?" she groaned while rubbing at her eyes.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten already." Alex smirked. "It's Saturday, and we've got two hours to fix—" she moved her hands from the top of Val's head to her bare toes, "—this."

"It's too early, come back in two to three business days." She pulled her lips into a sleepy smile and went to close the door. Alex — surprise, surprise — stopped it.