Trust
~•°•~
The smell of old dusty books made Lyra scrunch her nose in a displeased expression. For some reason, the pack's old library never really hit her taste. Mostly because she never liked reading too much and instead went into the shalery to join combat. And the other reason was that her aunt Sophia worked there as the bookkeeper if she wasn't at school teaching kids basic knowledge about wolves. Probably more horrifying was that they haven't seen each other for years and knew that her aunt would be both surprised and mad to see her.
After meeting Felix back in Edward's log cabin, she went her way to see her estranged old aunt. The wolf who denied every connection to her. As Lyra made her way through the tall shelves of books, her eyes peeked around every aisle, trying to locate the wolf she was after. At the very end of the hall, she picked up a scent, it's immediate familiarity making her grimace as she trudged to where it came from. Lyra caught the sight of her aunt, pushing a cart full of books.
"Aunt Sophie," she said, finding the word aunt very alien. "can I please speak with you?"
Slowly, Sophia looked over her shoulder, widening her eyes as soon as she set her gaze on Lyra. "You're here." She said.
"For answers." Lyra grabbed the crumpled photo that was deep in the pocket of her jeans.
Sophia's brows furrowed, her eyes glazed with noticeable confusion. "Answers? For what, exactly?"
"My mother and father," she showed her the photo. The confusion in her aunt's eyes no longer stayed as wet signs of undeniable tears started to appear. Lyra felt her heart tug, not expecting to see her usually coldhearted aunt tear up. "I know you know the truth."
For a split second, Sophia backed away. Raising her brows as a neat little frown started to appear on her lip. "Whe-where?" she stuttered as she walked towards Lyra, her eyes glazed with pained tears. "Where did you get that?"
Slowly, she handed Sophia the photo, the old woman's hands quivered with the lightest touch from the picture. She watched as her aunt teared up.
"I thought every single one of her photos was burnt," Sophia continued, wiping her cheeks. She touched the photo, sliding her hand across the part of the photo with her sister. "Oh, Christine. I missed you."
"So they're really my parents," she whispered, feeling her heart swell with undeniable happiness. Now she knew how they looked like. "Can you tell me anything, just something about them."
Sophia raised her gaze, meeting Lyra's. "We can't talk here. Let's go back to my place."
She followed her aunt, walking slowly beside her. Emotions swam all over inside of her. She could barely contain the feeling of exhilaration of founding out of who she really was. Half an hour later, they were already at Sophia's house. Lyra vaguely remembered only being here twice, both ending up terribly.
As she entered the house, both of them sat down in the living room. Lyra stayed quiet, biting her lip in anxiousness. Sophia smiled, meekly watching her.
"I believe it's time," Sophia said, placing a hand on top of her chest. "I guess, even if I don't like you at least deserve some kind of truth."
Lyra nodded, letting her eyes wander through the walls beautifully cluttered with photos. She noticed not a single one had her mother on it, she guessed Stylinson was really serious about trying to erase her parent's history.
"Tell me, what did they really do?" Lyra asked.
"I don't even know, all I heard was Todd had a fight with the Alpha. Somehow, their mates got involved. Stylinson was there, he tried to stop it, but he couldn't."
"There must be something, something that can help me. Please, you gotta understand. They're my parents, you're my aunt. Don't you think I have the right to at least know about them?" She pleaded, her voice starting to getting higher. It couldn't be that simple. A fight? One simple fight caused this much destruction.
Lyra lowered her gaze, fighting the urge to groan with frustration. Sophia, only shook her head, clearly pained too. She could only imagine how much it had hurt, only now seeing a photo of her own sister after all these years.
"You still don't know, do you?" Sophia asked. Lyra could only remain silent, she had been too afraid to speak out. "You're not Christine and Todd's real daughter. My sister couldn't have pups, she was barren. They found you in the Midlands, Lyra. You're adopted."
"You're lying," she whispered, her eyes widening in pure terror. The sudden despair that swam through her body made her want to vomit. "why are you saying that? That can't be true."
"Haven't you ever thought by I never liked you? You aren't Montefalco by blood."
"Are you saying I'm not a Northern born?"
"Yes," Sophia muttered, looking at Lyra. "I'm sorry darling."
"Why didn't anyone tell me?" The old woman kept her lip shut, her eyes were riddled with contemplation. "Please, just tell me. I need to know for myself."
"Stylinson," she said. "he and his mate. They made us swear not to tell."
"Why?"
"I-I don't know."
~•°•~
Lyra immediately stormed off her supposed aunt's home. Her heart and mind were in a terrible state of confusion. She knew better than to throw a stupid fit of chaos. If Stylinson tried to hide this big of information away from her, he must have done it for something even bigger. Since Sophia didn't have any way of contacting Stylinson, she stormed back to the packhouse. Ignacios was her only option, surely he knew a way of talking to his predecessor. She was back into the packhouse in no time, her feet dragging her through the halls. It was already night time, and everything around her seemed all too troubling. Now it made sense why Sophia never liked her, and everyone she asked about her parents deflected away, including Edward.
Ignacios was her only answer, she knew it probably was still fruitless to try and talk to him while he was still in the process of recovery, but she was desperate, Now that she knew that her real parents could be still alive, she was about to do anything.
She stormed into Ignacios' room, unannounced. She regretted her decision as what she saw was her mate's naked body, wet from the bath he had just taken. He was wearing only a thin towel draped over his waist, allowing her to see the carved sinuous curves of his abs and pecs. He had another towel hanging on his shoulders. They caught each other's gaze, with Ignacios watching her with big round eyes, clearly surprised as to what had just happened.
"Lyra..." he trailed off, lips parting a little. "What are you doing here?"
She took a step back. "I need to speak with you." She shook her head, trying to distract herself from his nakedness.
"Sure, let me get dressed first." He said, getting rid of the towel on his waist, exposing a tight black boxer short under it. He dug through his clothes and casually put on a pair of gray shorts and a v-neck white tee all the while with her just standing and looking on the floor.
"Are you done?" She asked, hearing a quick 'yes' as a confirmation. She looked up, seeing him now sitting on his bed, slouching forward with his brows meeting. His hair was unkempt, with long strands of curly dark hair hanging on his forehead.
"What do you want?" he simply asked, his grey eyes intensely looked at her. "Does it have to do something with Lex."
Again with Lex, he wasn't too much of a priority. Whatever they were talking about she didn't care, she wasn't part it, she thought. Slowly, she shook her head with a tight lip frown.
"No." She said.
"Oh, uh...what is it about then?" He asked, leaning back as he released a cumbersome breath of air.
"I need to speak with Stylinson." She spoke directly.
Iggy's eyes widened. He hadn't expected her to ask that, so abruptly too. He lowered his gaze, feeling quite rushed.
"I can't." He whispered out.
"What do you mean?" she asked him. "Of course you can, didn't he leave any information before he left?"
He shook his head, disappointed clear in his grey ashen eyes. "My wolf took over my body when that happened, I'm sorry."
"Then let me speak to him."
One side of his lips deepened, his eyes darkening in sadness.
"I wish it was that easy, he hasn't spoken to me since I took over."
She closed her eyes, her fists tightening on her sides. She only needed time, if she could speak with Stylinson, everything would be finally solved. If Iggy's wolf only here, she thought. Lyra opted to turn for the door was as she did, she felt her mate's back against hers. His hand held her wrist gently, as he placed his lips directly behind the soft skin of her ear.
"Lyra, wait." He says, making her stop.
She turned to see how his eyes darkened with what she could only tell pure intent. It almost rooted her to the floor, his close proximity now made her shiver with suddenness and fear.
"Let go of me, Ignacios." She said, unable to make herself walk away from his warm grasp.
"Don't believe anything that Felix says, don't believe anyone." His voice was low, almost dark as he spoke at a slow pace.
Lyra's heart beat loudly, her skin crawled with his nearness. Ignacios look a step back, lowering his head.
"Why can't you just tell me the truth, Ignacios? Why is he here?"
He didn't answer, conflict was swarming in his mind. "It's not my place to tell."
"Then why did you tell me not to trust him?"
He smiled, a genuine one as he looked at her straight in her grey eyes. "I don't know really, probably because I'm afraid to lose you again."
He didn't add more, she was stuck in silence. Her mind, although swamped with still unanswered questions, she had Iggy's statement in her mind.
~•°•~
As she was going through the halls of the pack, she realized Gael's room was at the end of the hall she was on. Her curiosity was piqued when a loud thud came from his door. Her feet slowly brought her to his room, seeing him sprawled on the floor, naked and muttering a curse word.
"Gael," she said, letting their gaze connect. "are you okay?"
"Fine." he winced.
But the look of sheer pain etched on his eyes told her otherwise, although Gael was pretty much okay, she entered his room. She helped him up, not minding his naked body scraping against hers.
"Ah, now we're past the point of formality." he chuckled, with voice completely devoid of humor. "You've seen my bits."
"It's only your body Gael," she took notice of the stab wound on his abdomen, noticing it was healing very well. "I've seen you naked before when I was patching you up."
Gael struggled to prop himself up on the bed, his hand immediately reached for his blanket and draped himself with it. He looked nervous, the way his chest heaved up and down in a fast rate made Lyra raise a brow. His distress was very obvious.
He faked a smile, "Ah, well. It would have been more proper if you didn't."
"That's not what's bothering you, is it?" She asked. He nervously ran his tongue across his lower lip.
"I think I saw Odette, last night."
His dead mate? It must have been a dream, he fell from his bed and slammed his head on the floor. But something was wrong, Lyra caught the smell of another wolf that was in his room. She had smelled this before, she knew the scent but couldn't really figure out who it belonged to.
"Are you sure that wasn't just a dream?"
His cheeks reddened with embarrassment. He contemplated his words before answering. "I thought I held her last night..."
Lyra caught the sight of a single strand of raven dark hair hidden under the sheets. Her heart palpated quickly as soon as she realized who the scent she picked up belonged to. Could it be possible? No! She knew Gael was still mourning, but could he have really slept with that wolf?
"Nothing else happened, right?" She asked nervously.
"I might have had...mated her." Gael shook his head, squeezing the bridge of his nose as he tried to ease the throbbing pain that was in his head.
He looked weakened, she could tell. The way his breathing was cut into short and heavy ones made him look spent. His usual green verdant was a little darker and his skin was as pale as a ghost. Something was wrong here, another thing to look into. Whatever Lois was doing, it looked like she wasn't finished yet.
"You should rest, Gael." She said, and he nodded.
"I probably should, I was planning to ask the Alpha for my leave tonight, I guess that could be arranged tomorrow."
"He's not available. I asked him to rest some more." She lied.
"Already ordering the Alpha around I see." He smirked at her deviously.
"Please shut up and just stay put," she said to him. Her frustration was boiled down when she saw the gentle smile on his lips. "please."
Gael sighed and crashed himself back to the bed, his back first. Lyra only shook her head. She was angry for Gael. Lois, the wolf who destroyed everything she ever loved was up and at it again, making people's lives miserable, starting with Gael.
~•♪•~
Hey people, how are you? I hope you've had an amazing day!
Sorry for cutting this chapter short. I just wanted to drop and upload and say to you all, thank you so much for all the love and support you've given this story. It really means a lot and I am very luck to have you people check out my work.
Please don't forget to vote and comment, it's very appreciated. 💕
Tell me what do you think about the chapter?
Loving you always,
-Jino 💕
P.S. — I can't probably update until the last week of this month. I'm going to be loaded with college work, but I still hope we'll see each other again when I come back to writing. 💪