Again, I apologise for the long wait. You have been more than patient with me and I love you for that. I wrote this chapter over and over again, never happy with it. I knew what I wanted it to have, but couldn't find the words that would say it the best.
Hope you enjoy XX Vote and share!
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"So, brother?" I question my father, who I had not talked to for a long while. Neither of us spoke about it, for we had new issues in our hands.
We were sitting alone in the Long Hall, courtesy of Egil who demanded the house to be emptied so we could converse privately. Face to face, sitting at a table used for our feasts, me destroying my nail beds and father slowly sipping on his hornful of mead.
"Well, not exactly. I had a brother once, Raiko was his name. We were the best of friends, and he found his máni a little before I met your mother. Our former Alpha, the one Egil killed to become our current chief, hated humans. Naturally, when Raiko announced that his destined pair was a human woman, the Alpha demanded Raiko to kill her. He would never allow such an abomination to occur as to have two races mix, his words, not mine," father left his mead alone for now, deciding to focus on the story he was telling, and that alone. My eyes for focused on him, my ears turned towards his voice, the emotions in them.
This was no easy story to tell.
"Raiko left that night. Left me a message telling me how he is abandoning our Pack and starting his new life with the love of his life by his side. Told me not to come after him, but if I ever wanted to meet, this is where he would live.
"I never saw my brother again, but one time I did run into his máni. She had his smell all over her, and the reason was clear with the way her clothes hugged her swelling belly. I had just met your mother, and she was pregnant too, with you.
When your mother took you and left me, my brother's máni was the one to comfort me. Over time, I would visit her and her daughter, for they were my family too. She turned from my brother's lover in to my sister, and I love her like one, too."
"Ingvild? She was Raiko's woman?" I ask with my jaw hanging loosely, too shocked to pick it up.
"Yes. And Gyda is my niece. Your cousin."
<><><><><><><><><><><><><>
The newfound information about a family I had but did not know of, changed nothing. I had always seen Gyda and her mother as more than just friends, they were my family. Now, they were family by blood as well.
Gyda's recovery would be a long one, we knew that much. The knowledge that she had to endure what I did, weights heavily on my chest, sometimes even making me gasp in struggle for air.
