PART THREE: THE SUN’S RISING
CHAPTER 46
There are times the wanting the truth is similar to telling me that I crave ice cream for the day. And there are times when I don’t want to hear the truth though there’s an urge inside me to find it out. Similar to wanting ice cream while feeling ill.
Truth hurts. Truth pains. Truth is unbelievable.
The tears from my eyes marked my face with a wet line. It felt like lava burning my skin every second it stays on it. It’s too painful to listen to the truth. I can’t be that wicked alpha’s daughter. I chose to be human. I will always choose to be a normal one.
“I don’t want to listen to that, Nana. Please tell me you’re lying,” I said as I held both of Nana’s raspy century-old hands, begging for a twist. I wanted a plot twist now just like how I crave it when reading the story. And most characters, just like me, rejects the twist at first.
Nana shook her head. I wished she lied this time. I wished she did everything to twist the truth and make me feel better... “I know it hurts but I think that this is the perfect moment for you to hear about it. You’re not just a half-blood. You’re also a royal.”
A royal is defined as something special. I never wished to become someone special. I wanted to fade into the background and be enclosed from anyone else.
More tears like magma stung my eyes and heated my face. I wanted Nana to stop. I wanted her to shut up, but there was no point in doing that. It is the truth that I have to face.
“Why now? You could’ve told me this the first time we saw each other.”
There are numerous times when we faced each other. There are countless times when there are only me and Nana. Besides, I adored her just like my own grandma.
“Because I want to keep my promise to your parents,” she emphasized. She promised Mom and Dad what? I removed the tears just below my eyes. “Your Mom and Dad knew who you are before they adopted you. They adored you the moment I showed you to them. If they did not like you, Gelo would’ve been your brother, Dear. The last words I heard from them before they leave this town to protect you.” The last two words chilled my whole system. I could imagine Nana telling my parents those words eighteen years before.
“They wanted to protect you so they left this town. I wanted to protect them as well that’s why I gave them most of my savings to leave Dusk and Dawn and start a new life with you and your brothers. I thought it would be safe and sound until then. We belittled the alpha. He found you.”
“Your parents even dared to sacrifice their life for you. For their precious daughter. Your Mom always wished for a daughter to come into her life, but after Jay, she had to remove her uterus. You’re a gift of God to them. You’re the daughter they always wish and they had. And now that they’re not here anymore, it is my duty to protect you. Your brothers and I hid the truth from you. We wanted you to stop seeking the truth. But you’re so eager and I didn’t know Gelo will pull you close to that dangerous side.”
“My brothers knew?” Why did they have to hide this thing? Is that the reason why they’re stopping me from making decisions? That’s why they didn’t like me to become a fighter and they always tried to pull me out of this town.
“They love you enough. They just couldn’t give you to the person who killed their parents. If they let you, it just means that the death of your parents means nothing. They’ll protect you no matter what. I also pushed them away from this town but you rejected it.”
I realized that the physical violence I showed before wasn’t because I am mad or in rage. It’s because I didn’t know my other side before then. I didn’t know that I am not just an ordinary one.
It is why my family forgave me for punching my brothers. It is why I get to kill three wolves the night they attacked Mila. It is also why I defeated Skip in our duel and placed him in a near-death situation. Everything makes sense now. The kind of sense I did not want to possess.
I wish this is just a dream. I wish my parents were still alive this time to tell me everything is a huge prank. But Mom hates pranks. Mom slapped Dad in front of us when Dad created his last April Fools' prank. He pretended to have a mistress on April first nine years ago. And Dad never pranks any of us again.
It’s a matter of time to soulfully accept the truth. It takes time to transform into someone who believes in that truth. It takes painful days and anxious nights for me to do it. But at the end of the day, the truth is the truth. It wasn’t a prank or anything. It’s a statement or identity that I should believe in.
“If I am a half-blood and the alpha is my father… then who’s my real mother?”
Angelo’s mother died. That’s the only thing I knew. I was brought first to Nana and let Mom and Dad adopt me as their daughter. If that’s the case… then my real mother is somehow close to Nana. No. It can’t be. I can’t be Angelo’s sister. I never felt the spark.
Nana was about to speak. She’s straightforward and the moment a sound oozes from it, I’ll be getting to hear the truth. But the door opened!
“Nana, we’re home!” Gelo entered hugging the groceries he bought. Behind her was Mila, who looked cleaner and more humane than before. My heart stopped for a second. I haven’t felt this kind of feeling before with her. No, it doesn’t mean…
“Your mother is already here, Dear…”