Chapter 41 The True Daughter
1580 Words
Chapter 41
The True Daughter
*** ***
Jada
The room was tense, and the tension was growing more palpable with each passing moment. I could sense Louise’s strong presence before I even saw her. As I turned, I saw Louise entering the room with one of her male rescuers and two girls. They sat in the chairs against the room’s far wall.
The man gestured to Louise’s top, pointing out the dried trail of blood down her midriff. He took off his jacket and hung it over her shoulders. Smiling nervously, she pulled it around herself. A menacing snarl rose from Joseph, rattling the chairs. Only the man with Louise looked up and met Joseph’s threatening glance, but Louise held her ground and ignored him.
Sensing my gaze, Louise turned to me. I sucked in a started gasp. She does look like me!
“So,” the Alpha began. I rigidly turned from Louise and faced him. “You say you’re the daughter of the Celestial Moon Alpha—that you ran away because you overheard Edwin admit he had you swapped at birth with the daughter of the Mist Clan’s Alpha… Is that correct?”
“Yes, Alpha…” I nodded.
He sat forward, knitting his hands together on the desk. “And The Mist Clan plans to attack us tonight, so you and the Celestial Resistance came to warn us and ask for protection…”
Swallowing, sweat beading down the back of my neck, I nodded.
“Hmm,” he hummed, glancing at each of us, reading us with trained precision. “And because of Edwin, you believe we are your parents… Is that correct?”
It was an accurate account of what I said and covered everything. Tightening my grasp on Anna, I nodded. The words that followed were dry and trembling, “Yes, Alpha, Edwin planned to use me as bait to draw attention away from your daughter so he could take her back and kill all in his path! We couldn’t allow that to happen…”
“You did everything you could…” Anna whispered softly.
The Alpha and Luna discussed something before the Alpha turned back to me. “That’s quite an interesting story–”
“But it’s true!” I almost shouted before calming myself—the room filled with gasps. I shrunk in my seat. “I’m sorry for speaking out of terms, but they plan to attack tonight!” I peered at the wall, expecting a clock. When I didn’t see one, I found myself standing. “I mean you no disrespect…” My words trembled as I spoke. I had never stood up for myself until now. And all I wanted to do was run and hide. “When the Celestial Moon plans an attack, they follow through.” Now, the tears were surfacing. “They are ruthless and cruel–”
“We know the cruelty of your pack!” The Luna added sharply, gesturing for me to sit.
I did as she asked, returning to my seat and grabbing Anna’s hand again.
“We’ve dealt with them before and lost many good warriors in the battle.” She sighed, and her eyes reflected compassion. “And we have taken your warning and readied our best warriors.”
A sigh of relief washed over me. Even though we were outsiders, they listened to us!
“If you will allow it,” Duane interrupted. He stood, and the Beta and Gamma stood, ready to defend their Alpha. Duane focused on the Alpha. “I would like to fight alongside you… as all of the Celestial Resistance.”
Surprise flushed every face before me. The Alpha and Luna discussed something before turning to their Beta and Gamma.
“We’re definitely on trial.” Agatha snorted. She crossed one leg over the other, tapping her booted foot. “It’s to jail for us next.”
Why was she behaving like this in front of the Mist clan leaders? “Shh…” I scowled at her. “This is not the place!”
Agatha grinned. “See, you do have fight…”
“Silence!” Joseph demanded in a voice that made Anna and I sit up straight.
Duane returned to his seat.
“First…” The Alpha nodded at me, then waved a hand behind me. “We need to discuss this…”
Louise came forward on her own and stopped beside Agatha. Her posture was not cowardly or meek. She held her shoulders straight and her head high. Why can’t I be like that?
“You summoned me, Alpha George?” she folded her arms in front of her.
I wanted to talk to Louise.
“Girl—Jada…” Alpha George gestured to me. “Stand…”
I did as he asked. Everyone glanced from me to Louise and then back to me again. They spoke among themselves before Alpha George nodded. A moment later, a woman stepped up beside Louise. She had been the werewolf from the other car. Her hair was long and blonde, and her eyes were a deep brown. She smelt of roses and honey. I liked her.
“May Carpenter…” Luna said with a soft smile. “Your family has been close with the Alpha, Gamma, and Beta for many years. Your late husband Kelvin was a good friend and is dearly missed.”
May nodded. “Yes, Luna. We have fought alongside the pack, even as mere Omegas.”
Omegas! I shook my head. There was no way Louise was an Omega. She was far too tough for that.
“We owe you more than we can offer,” the Alpha added. But we ask you to be honest with us at this moment…”
“Yes,” May nodded.
He pointed to me. “This Jada and your daughter Louise look uncannily similar—Unnaturally so…”
“They do…” She faced me, and a feeling of warmth engulfed me. “I thought that the moment I saw Jada…”
“Did you and Kelvin have twins?” Luna Ruth asked curiously, softening her Luna tone. “And gave one up for adoption?”
“No,” May replied, shaking her head. “Kelvin and I had one daughter…” She turned to me again. “When is your birthday, Jada?”
“The nineteenth–”
“Of June….” Louise added as she met my gaze.
“Yes,” I nodded. “Next Thursday.”
She tensed. “The same as me…”
There was another round of gasps. Joseph stepped closer to Louise, shortening their gap.
“But that’s impossible…” The Alpha said, massaging his forehead. “You two have the same birthday, and you look identical. How is it possible you two aren’t related?”
“Easy,” Agatha stood, making everyone but Kingston move back. She brandished a hand at Louise and then to me. “There was a mistake when the babies were switched…” She laughed like the entire situation was comical. “Even I can tell…” she pointed at Louise, “that girl is no Omega wolf…”
Wide-eyed, Louise turned to Agatha. “What? Of course, I am…”
Agatha laughed and rolled her eyes. The Alpha and Luna tried to quiet the room, but she continued speaking. “Edwin, the Alpha of the Celestial Moon, hired my late mother to switch his daughter with the daughter of the Mist Clan so they could plant a weapon that would destroy their enemy,” she pointed at the Alpha, “Your daughter... but since you claim your daughter is ten, the only other explanation is that she either made a mistake or did it intentionally and swapped the Celestial Moon’s daughter with that of an Omega!”
“Oh, s**t!” The Gamma gasped as he faced May. “May, is that possible? Could Louise be Alpha blood?”
“I-I err…” May, now wide-eyed and terrified, glanced from me to Louise again.
“Wow!” The Beta turned to the Alpha. “It would explain why you can’t seem to read Louise’s mind.”
“What?” Louise covered her mouth with her hand. “That’s not—I mean… I don’t… I’m an Omega… I’ve always been an Omega!”
Joseph pressed himself back against the wall, trying to comprehend everything he had overheard. Even Kingston, whom Agatha had unintentionally bewitched, seemed at a loss. I could hear the two girls behind me gasp.
“Silence!” Alpha George demanded. The room followed his order. He faced May. “Is this possible…? Did you ever, at any time, feel that Louise was not your true daughter?”
May swallowed and nodded. “When Louise was five—when you first linked your mind with your pup—I couldn’t reach her. I thought she was a late bloomer, but I couldn’t mind-link her until she was ten, and it was a case of finding her wavelength.”
“No!” Louise gasped as she stumbled backwards and into the arms of the man she had entered with. “Mum… No!”
Joseph snarled at the pair, but Kingston pulled him back.
“I can’t be…” Louise mumbled. “Mum, why didn’t you tell me?”
Tears ran from May’s eyes. “Because it didn’t matter—You are my daughter… and I love you.”
- Writer
