CHAPTER 47
I wasn’t the only one whose jaw dropped the moment Nana crushed our hearts with the truth. My mother is here! Aside from Nana, who was probably menopausal the moment I was born, Mila is the only one with a uterus inside her home right now.
She is my mom?
Mila greeted me. I wasn’t able to say anything. I just had to face her and have this unexplainable feeling inside me. Though I became deaf the moment Nana said those words, Mila and Gelo were both confused.
"What are you saying, Nana?" The way Mila interrogated Nana, it sounded like she was asking her own mother. "The mother? Of who? What?"
"Mila…" Nana leaped over to Mila. She held both of Mila’s hands, ready to confess something. "Your daughter…" She glanced at me. Mila also gazes at me. The clue struck her system. "Is Catherine…"
Slowly, like in movie scenes, Mila raised both of her palms to cover her mouth. Her eyes were switching between me and Nana. She looked at me. A mother longing for her daughter. I stared at her, forgetting everything that happened between us. Because I can’t look at her the same way again when, in fact, she’s my real mom. The blood I am carrying today was from her. Every feature I have is from her. The half of my parents that I could accept
"D-Daughter?" Mila stopped the puff of rage from coming from her nose. She can’t clearly understand what Nana was telling us right now. The revelation. The truth. "Why did you hide this from me?" Mila rushed over to me and wrapped her arms around me. Just like me, she never had the slightest clue that she had already met her daughter.
I hugged Mila. I hugged my real mother, whom I had missed for years. The woman I've shared my blood with since birth That’s why I will never regret visiting this town. There must be a reason why we parted ways. There must be a reason why we lost each other. And I trust Nana that the reason must be for the betterment of everyone—for peace and silence.
Gelo made a side comment. It was only a whisper, but I heard it clearly. "Catherine’s the daughter that Mila was talking about earlier." It was an assurance to himself. I wanted to assure him of my thoughts as well, but it’s too emotional for me right now to talk.
"Tell me why you hid my kid."
Nana sighed. "I never hid your kid. It was you who told me to protect her. I would’ve kept the truth as long as I could, but everything’s a mess right now. Everything worsens. If I still keep this from anyone else, chaos will happen and there’s nothing we can do to revert it back."
"Eighteen years ago, you were sexually assaulted by the alpha. Eighteen years ago, you asked me to protect your daughter so her fate wouldn’t be the same as your parents. Eighteen years ago, I met Catherine’s family, and they adopted your daughter. Now that the alpha is close to catching both of you, there’s no turning back. Because now we should face the present and protect ourselves from the alpha."
"Nana’s right." It wasn’t Nana’s fault. It wasn’t her business to protect us, yet she did it for eighteen years. She stood out as my grandmother because she's been part of me for eighteen years. That’s also why Mom and Dad sent me here because they knew that Nana was the only key to my true identity. "Everything is going downhill. They attacked you. I killed a few men named Alpha. I almost killed Skip. The betas came home. My…" I stopped. Calling that guy my father was the worst thing I could do for myself. My stomach would flip easily for that.
He was never my father.
"The alpha must be planning his next step in luring and attacking us. We can’t expect it to be a light one. If he is for a small and informal confrontation, he already did it. He could call us to face him already. He’s taking his time. He’s taking his gems. I feel that he’s going to be our worst nightmare." I looked at Gelo, then Nana, and lastly Mila, my mom. "Though our lives were at stake right now, for now, I want to embrace my mother first for the next few days."
…
I attended school again, which was unexpected after everything that has been revealed. I recently realized that when everything is a mess at home, school is the best place to go. Though I don’t have that many friends, I missed Gwen and Aki so much. To all the fun times we had back then. All the fear that we had because of this town. I missed them.
I was alone the moment I stepped onto the grounds of the school. I was alone the moment I thought of looking for Gwen and Aki while avoiding the Beta children. I was curious if they already knew the truth about me. That must be the reason why they were curious about me. Because I’m truly special. I may be above them.
I saw Aki and Gwen in the cafeteria laughing at each other. Aki must be splendoring Gwen with his nasty jokes again. They were perfect together. Nope, they’ve been the best of friends even before I came. Did I ruin them? Or am I going to ruin them? I don’t want to be the force that breaks them in the future. So I thought telling them the truth was the best thing to do at this point.
"Hi," I said, my face and action awkward. Everything that happened felt like a bomb that broke my skills in socialization.
"C-Cath?" Gwen was pretty shocked when she saw me. She rushed over and flattened me with her tight hug. I missed their presence. Aki did the same, except that he kissed my forehead. "What the freak happened to you? You were out of our league for a few days or even weeks. Gelo is our only assurance that you’re fine."
I sighed. The moment I settled myself on the long metal bench chair, I knew I was ready to tell them the exhausting story of my life. "A lot happened." It should start with that. I can’t pull off a better introduction for everything that I am going to tell them. It’s that… A lot happened.
I started with the threat to my life. They already knew that. Then, I told them about the changes I observed in my body. The way I almost killed Skip in our duel, about whom I don’t have any news. But I wish he were still alive.
I told them about Mila. I told them her backstory before telling the story, which I was a part of. Finally, I told them about me being the daughter of the alpha. They did not believe it at first. I even did not want to listen to it before, so I understand them.
I could’ve hidden the truth from them. I could’ve pretended that I was a normal half-blood. A mistake between a werewolf and a human. But the truth is the key to getting them to trust me. It’s on them now if they’re still willing to give me that.
"Wow," Aki said, jaw-dropping and eyes staring at me. "I’m lost for words that you have the courage to tell us that."
"I’m truly sorry. It’s not my intention to hide it. I just learned about it a week ago."
Gwen assured me by wrapping my hands with hers. "It is us who should apologize to you." My forehead creased, and I bit my lip. Did they do something to me? Am I betrayed again? "We already knew that about a month ago."
I don’t know how to react. It did not pang my chest. At first, I was curious as to how they found out before I remembered that their parents have connections to the betas. And maybe, the children of betas already knew about it as well.
It was Aki’s turn to speak. "We did not tell you because we think that it is not our position to speak about that. I heard it accidentally and told Gwen. Then we decided to hide it."
I hugged both of them. "Those aren’t your mistakes. I knew you did that to protect me. But I have to tell you another thing." They just looked at me, waiting for another word to come from my mouth. "The alpha is after me. I don’t know if I am able to stay for more days."
"We’re going to help you," Gwen said. "I’m tired of being someone who can’t stand for herself just because her family is under someone who has strong power. Maybe it’s time to do something I am proud of. And it is to stand up for my friend."