The night felt as if it had been going on forever. Robyn's heart sank in anger and despair. Her life up until that point was almost all a lie.
"You were a month old when it happened," Laila continued, "I had made a promise to Leanne to keep all of this from you, Robyn, it was her last wish."
There was a pause.
"Since you're turning eighteen tonight, I was going to tell all of this to you anyway."
Laila engulfed her in a hug.
Robyn took comfort in it and wiped the last of her tears. She finally pulled away and choked out, "thank you." She wanted to say more, she wanted to tell her how much it meant to her and how grateful she was of her. She wanted to ask about her real mother, and father. But the words dissolved on her tongue.
Ray slid an arm around her shoulder. Robyn looked at him and found her footing. She swallowed down the urge to cry.
"They're still looking for you," Ray said in a low voice, his eyes filled with concern. "It's still not safe."
"Which is why I came here tonight," said Andrew, "I need to speak to you, Laila. Or rather, I have a request."
He waited a moment to collect his thoughts then said, "I don't know how much you're aware of our kind... But put simply, Robyn is my son's mate."
Laila was quiet.
The silent seemed to stretch on longer than a few seconds. Panic rose in Robyn's chest. Werewolves had killed her parents. Werewolves were what Laila had been protecting her from for all these years. Would Laila separate her from Ray, now that she knows his true nature?
"He's really good, Mum," Robyn blurted. "Sure he makes mistakes, but he has always looked after me, he has saved my life," she made sure Laila was looking her in the eyes when she said, "he has never deliberately hurt me, or tried to take advantage of what I am. Even though he knew."
Laila looked at Ray, thinking it over in her mind.
"Well," she finally said, eyes glazing over for a fleeting moment, "I know not all of you are the same."
Robyn's shoulder moved as Ray exhaled a long-held breath. She took his hand and squeezed it.
"With the way things are right now," Andrew spoke again, "Robyn's safety is in great danger. I understand you have the ability to know when a werewolf enters your premises, but..." his mouth opened and closed a few times, finding the right words, "but can you fight off more than one of us? Can you take on five or ten or more?"
Laila glanced down at her bracelet. Leanne and Jasper combined couldn't win against just three of them.
"So what do you suggest?" she asked.
"I can prepare a room for Robyn at our pack house," Andrew proposed, "she can stay safe with us until after the war."
Laila was silent again.
Andrew sat up straight, "I have an army of wolves ready to fight. There is also myself and of course, Ray. We're all here to protect Robyn just as we would protect our own kind.
"I know it must be hard for you to trust werewolves," Andrew said, "but if nothing else then at least believe me when I say this: Robyn is part of our family, our pack. We don't want to use her for anything. But I can't say the same for our enemies. Laila, we have to protect Robyn from them. If they catch a hold of her then—" Andrew shook his head, "then it will be bad for all of us. Witches, werewolves, even humans. And especially bad for Robyn."
Tears slid down Laila's cheeks. She wiped them with the tips of her fingers. Robyn wound an arm around her and hugged her.
"It's something worth thinking over," Andrew concluded, coming to a stand. "It's short notice, but we're pinched on time. Please let me know what you've decided by tomorrow morning."
He gestured to Ray. The room suddenly appeared cramped as both men stood to leave. Robyn looked up at Ray in confusion and worry. He reached down and squeezed her shoulder, giving her a small smile. Then they turned and left.
That night Robyn fell asleep with her head on Laila's lap. It was early morning when her eyes opened. The room was bathed in darkness and the sound of chirping birds. She slid out of the blanket Laila must have draped on her and reached for her phone. It was just past seven. There was no school to get ready for since it was the weekend. Robyn looked out of the slightly parted curtains. Her mind was still swarmed by last night's information.
She found her blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders, taking her position back on the couch.
Only a little while later the front door clicked open. Robyn sat up straight. Her fright subsided when she saw Laila shuffle into the kitchen.
"Good morning," Robyn said.
Laila dropped the paper bags on the counter, "good morning," she smiled.
The smell of freshly baked goods wafted across the room. Robyn suddenly felt very hungry, realizing she never had dinner last night.
Laila turned for a second to flick the kettle on. "Did you sleep well?
"Yeah," Robyn pulled out a chair, "I don't remember when I fell asleep last night."
She was about to accept the plate Laila offered when Harry entered the kitchen and made a lunge for it.
"Ha!" He fell heavily on the chair opposite Robyn's, grinning as he took a mouthful of her sausage roll.
Robyn stared for a second. The sound of her own laughter surprised her.
"What?" Harry's voice was muffled, crumbs hanging on his chin. "I need to finish breakfast before Ankit comes," he pointed at the clock, "practice starts at eight."
Laila placed another loaded plate in front of her, smiling at Harry, and took a seat between them.
She heard her ask how football practice was going and Harry replied something Robyn wasn't paying attention to anymore. She was overwhelmed. They had had breakfast just like this in the past, too. But for the first time today she realized the value of it. She quickly brushed the tear from the corner of her eye and her smile burst into a laugh. Up until this morning questions had plagued her mind. Questions like, how different would my life be if I had my parents? Would I be happier? Would I consider myself more fortunate?
Sitting in her small kitchen with her small family she realized she had always had everything she needed. Robyn looked at her palm. Her parent's eternal and unconditional love had always lived inside of her. She looked at Laila and Harry, basking in the light her heart had suddenly opened to. The turmoil finally settled down. Yeah, she thought, I couldn't trade this for anything.
Autumn always felt like a breath of fresh air after the stifling summer heat. Especially for werewolves like Ray. His morning run had been the best one he had in a while. Partly because of the chilly air. Partly because it helped ease the knot lodged in his chest for the last twelve hours. When they returned from Robyn's house, Andrew had told him to 'get some rest because there's a lot to talk about tomorrow'. He had barely gotten any rest.
What Robyn had told him kept repeating itself. Rick was a werewolf. He said Robyn was his mate. Those thoughts alone made Ray want to punch the life out of him. Even if he were a werewolf, Robyn couldn't be his mate. It just wasn't possible. Ray knew it in every fibre of his being that Robyn was his mate and his mate alone. So then, what did Rick mean?
Ray showered and made his way to Andrew's office.
"Come in," his voice rung out.
Andrew's brows raised when he saw Ray stride in and take a seat.
"I was just about to call you," he said.
Ray stared at the ground, his mouth set in a grim line.
"I won't lecture you about last night," Andrew said, "but please, let it be the last time you've hidden anything from me."
He exhaled a shaky breath, "I'm sorry. There was just... A lot going on."
Andrew leaned forward in his chair. A day's worth of silver stubble shone in the sunlight. Ray saw an almost perfect reflection of himself in his father. His nose, jawline, eyes. The only thing he had gotten from his mother was her thick, unruly, dark hair. Which had turned pale ever since his wolf awoke from his slumber.
"I know," Andrew said, "and there is yet more to come."
The knot in his chest tightened.
"I've only wanted to keep Robyn safe."
"From who?"
Ray looked up at him, at a loss for words.
"From the werewolves or from yourself?"
He stared at the ground again, "I don't know."
It had been Jasmine all along and he didn't even know that.
"Maybe what I'm about to tell you might help," Andrew said, sitting up in his chair and crossing his fingers on the table. "I'm sorry, son, I had to keep this from you for a long time. The reason why we were banished from our pack a century ago."
Ray sat up, the words catching him off-guard. His heart raced.
"That night I—" Andrew took a deep, pained breath as if a blade had slit through an old wound.
"Your mother had your wolf. It couldn't come into it's full power until she became a Luna. I knew this, but what could I do? Daniel was my best friend and my Alpha, I couldn't betray him. One day, she disappeared. I sent out a search party to find her. They never returned home. Eventually I got news that she was in an affair was Alpha Eric. For years," he paused for a second, "she had been carrying his child. She abandoned you, me, our family for him. For that pack. I couldn't digest that truth."
Ray experienced a kaleidoscope of emotions all at once. Confusion, rage, heartbreak, pity. How could she?
"I thought I had killed every single one of them that night," Andrew continued, "but apparently not. One survived. Your half-brother, Ulric."
The halls were dark and empty. Caleb's shoes click-clacked on the floor of the marble corridor leading to Ulric's study. When he reached the door he paused to gather his resolve, then knocked.
The door creaked open as his knuckles collided with it.
"Come in," sang a voice.
"Sorry to disturb you," a column of golden light fell into the corridor. Caleb squinted for a second.
Ulric was halfway through his mid-morning tea. Jasmine would have usually accompanied him.
"There is something important I have to tell you," Caleb said, knees shaking. He was not regarded highly in his pack, part due to his scrawny build and part due to his stone will to deny orders if they didn't sit well with him. His only compromise had been Jasmine.
Ulric looked at him, one eyebrow raised, "what?"
Caleb swallowed, "last night I killed Jasmine," the sound of glass clattering almost made him jump, "because she had been trying to kill Robyn," Caleb blurted, "she was jealous of Robyn, she wanted to be with you and Robyn was... In her way."
A few quiet moments passed. Ulric gestured for him to take a seat. Gingerly, Caleb sat on the edge of one of the plush, olive green armchair.
The air became stifling suddenly, "she used me, she used other members of our pack, and innocent humans. She was a psycho," Caleb inhaled deeply, wiping his sweaty palms on his shorts, "she turned three of our classmates a month ago and yesterday, a full moon, she trapped them with Robyn."
Ulric sat back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other, fingers steepled at his chin.
"Ray couldn't save her either," Caleb said. That got Ulric interested because his brow raised again.
"I didn't have a choice. I had to save Robyn somehow and..." Caleb's voice trailed off.
"You did the right thing," Ulric finally said, "you, in fact, did me a favour. I knew she was up to no good," he sat forward, "is there anything I could do for you, to return the favour?"
Caleb swallowed.
"I want the humans she turned to be under my care," he said.
Ulric thought for a second.
"And," he continued, "I wish to be a rogue werewolf."
Hey everyone,
I hope you're all doing good, keeping safe and had a great Christmas.
And I hope you liked this chapter. We got a little snippet from Andrew's past. There will be more revelations in the coming chapters as the story nears it's end.
If you enjoyed reading then please consider voting, leaving a comment sharing your thoughts on it and also sharing this story with someone you think might enjoy it. I would greatly appreciate it.
And as always thank you for every single one of you who have read, voted, commented and added this book to your reading lists!
Happy new year in advance! I send my best wishes to all of you :)
Stay strong guys <3
See you soon
~Mich