Viraai: (Book 4) Adversity

| 5 | Mother and daughters.

Naomi and Kayla walk back into the Black Moon Packhouse, both of them silent as they make their way through the backdoor of the house, hoping to avoid drawing too much attention to them. But it goes without saying, that’s nearly impossible when one of them is this Pack’s former Omega turned Lycan and the other is the new Alpha that won by way of defeating the former Alpha in single combat.

The two of them ignore anyone that passes them by, none of them being their concern right now. Only one person is, and that is their Mother.

After getting cleaned up from being covered in soil and dirt from the forest,

Naomi and Kayla meet up once again and both pick up the scent of their Mother, making them look at each other once they sense it. They then proceed to head up the staircase, taking them to the wing where the caretakers of the Pack as well as much weaker Wolves, including their mother, reside in. Naomi leads the way as they walk through the hallway, having a lot going through her mind at once as she thinks of how her conversation with her Mother is going to go. Her eyebrows are furrowed with determination, making sure she remains strong no matter what the outcome of the conversation will be.

Kayla on the other hand feels her heart pounding in her chest out of fear and anxiety, and Naomi can sense it as well. Hearing her sister’s rapid heart rate makes Naomi slow down her walking pace and look back at Kayla, pausing for a few seconds before she holds out her hand to her and stares down at her. Kayla then pauses as soon as she sees her sister stop, staring down at her hand for a few seconds before she carefully grasps it and takes hold of her sister’s hand, feeling tears well in her eyes but she refuses to let them fall by blinking rapidly.

Naomi then nods once at her baby sister before she tugs her forward and continues to walk down the hallway, following her Mother’s scent and letting it lead them to a familiar hallway. The two of them finally reach the door of her Mother’s bedroom and before either of them can knock, they can hear someone sobbing on the other side, making both girls look at each other, already being able to tell that the person crying… is their mother.

Naomi then sighs deeply to herself before she brings her free hand to the door and knocks on it a few times, standing beside Kayla as they wait for the door to open. The crying stops abruptly and on the other side, Naomi can hear soft shuffling followed by a few footsteps towards the door.

“Who is it?” They hear the soft trembling voice of their mother on the other side and Kayla takes in a shaky breath, preparing herself to hear the full truth from her mother.

“It’s us Mom… open the door,” Naomi says clearly, her hand tightening around Kayla’s hand as she keeps a concentrated gaze on the door, anxiously waiting for it to open. The two of them wait a few moments before the door finally opens in front of them, finally revealing their distraught mother on the other side. Her brown eyes are red and hazy, her dark red hair a complete mess and her face puffy from her crying. As soon as she sees the two girls her face contorts as more tears well in her eyes, quickly placing a hand over her mouth to suppress a cry.

"Girls..." Trina says just above a whisper as she glances between the two of them and Naomi stares at her blankly, feeling somewhat numb from seeing her cry. Kayla on the other hand is experiencing a whirl of emotions with the inability to process any them. All she wants to do is get this over with.

“We want to talk…” Naomi tells their mother and she nods a few times in response, eagerly stepping aside and standing by the door, giving the girls room to enter.

“Come in… please…” Their Mom says softly and Naomi and Kayla glance at each other once before Naomi lets go of Kayla’s hand and places her hand on her back instead, leading her into the room first just as she follows after her.

Trina then quickly closes the door after them and stands by it for a few seconds, eventually turning around to face her daughters. She finds Naomi standing right in front of the bed with a deep frown placed on her brows, her arms crossed as she keeps her gaze right on her mother. Kayla is close to Naomi, standing right beside Naomi as she stares warily, not sure of what to say first to her Mother.

"Where is Raymond...?" Naomi is the first to ask, her nostrils flaring with anger once she remembers that Raymond has a part to play in all of this.

"He left the Packhouse...“ Trina says quietly, finding herself feeling afraid of her own daughter, especially now that she is the Alpha and can feel the effects of her authority.

“I’ll deal with him later…” Naomi answers her before she lets out a strained breath through her nostrils, keeping a frown on her face as she narrows her eyes at her Mother.

"You're going to tell us everything, Mom... everything. And you're not going to leave any detail out..." Naomi gets straight to the point and Trina nods her head a few times, knowing there is no way she’s going to get out of this… it’s time she finally told both of them the truth.

"Okay..." Trina answers before she takes a few steps towards them, motioning with her hand towards the bed.

"Please sit down...“ Trina asks and Kayla does as she’s requested, taking a seat at the edge of the bed while Naomi remains in the same spot, remaining completely displeased with her Mother.

"I'd rather stand..." Naomi answers her coldly and Trina inhales sharply as she stares back at her daughter with pleading eyes.

"Naomi please..." Trina says softly but Naomi doesn’t move a muscle and keeps the same concrete expression on her face, waiting for her Mother to begin explaining herself.

“Okay…” Trina mumbles once she realises there is no point in forcing Naomi to take a seat. She then walks towards the edge of the bed and takes a seat, wanting to sit beside Kayla but Kayla shuffles a few inches away from her Mother, not wanting to sit too close considering she is still upset with her. All they want is answers.

Trina then sees that both her girls have their guards up and so she just needs to get straight to the point and tell them the whole truth, enough time has passed.

“Before I start… I want you to know that I love you both very much… and I can not begin to tell you how sorry I am for lying to you… It was for your protection… I promise you… you have to understand…” Trina says, her voice breaking as she tries to keep herself from crying and Kayla feels more tears well in her eyes as she hears the pain in her Mother’s voice, looking her in the eye and shaking her head a few times, not knowing her long she can wait for until she hears the truth.

“Just tell us, please…” Kayla begs and Trina carefully wipes away her tears and nods her head at Kayla.

“Alright… Kayla… I’ll start with you…” Trina carries on, taking in a shaky breath to try and gain control of her emotions.

“What Raymond said is true… you are adopted… I… am not your birth Mother…” Trina gets straight to the point, her heart breaking as she tells Kayla, watching as tears finally roll from Kayla’s eyes and down her cheeks, her eyebrows creasing slightly as her breath hitches softly, but still, she remains quiet, waiting for Trina to continue.

“This was almost 18 years ago… a completely different time. When Lycans were still feared… and considered incredibly dangerous…” Trina continues, glancing at Naomi and finding that she is paying careful attention to her story as well.

“There were a few of them in the Black Moon… and our former Alpha, Raymond, ordered for them to be killed. He said they were a threat to our survival and he didn’t want us to live in constant fear of what they might do to us…” Trina explains before she slowly looks back at Kayla, beginning to frown as she remembers the disturbing nature of her past.

“Your parents, were Lycans…” Trina confirms just as Kayla looks between her eyes, frowning as she follows her explanation carefully.

“Both of them…?” Kayla asks quietly.

“Yes…” Trina confirms.

“He had them executed in front of the whole Pack… about 5 of them… and your parents were among them. I’m so sorry Kayla…” Trina confirms and it only proves that Naomi and Kayla share no blood together, but as Naomi told Kayla before, the two of them are sisters, no matter what. Not just that, it also convinces Naomi that even Raymond was undeserving of the Alpha title in his youth, just like his son…

“What were their names?” Kayla asks softly, trying to keep it together after hearing of the death of her birth parents.

“Raphael and Layla Matthews…” Trina answers and once Kayla hears her mother’s name, she feels a small, sad smile appear on her lips, noticing the similarity between their two names.

“Layla…” Kayla says softly just as she suppresses a small cry before looking back at Trina as she carefully wipes her tears, letting Trina know that she can carry on explaining.

“But before they were killed… Layla had just had you… You were only a few days old when it happened and…” Trina pauses for a few seconds as if she is reliving a memory, being able to remember every detail of this event, as if it was yesterday.

“Raymond wanted you dead as well…” Trina finally confirms and Kayla slowly glances at Naomi, finding her frown deeper than before as she quietly breathes through her nostrils, trying her best to keep her anger at bay in light of all that she has heard.

“He said you were the offspring of two Lycans, so… you could not be allowed to live…” Trina carries on before she cuts herself off, making Naomi squint her eyes at her Mother, noticing that she is restricting herself from carrying on...

“Not just that…” Trina tries to carry on but Naomi knows there is more to why Raymond wanted Kayla dead. He knew of her power, that one day she would awaken them. That means her Mother knew as well…

“There is something you’re not telling us…” Naomi says and Trina fearfully looks at Naomi, knowing that there is no way she will be able to skim past this detail, so she has to tell them.

“We thought there were just old Viraanian legends… until we saw it for ourselves...” Trina carries on saying just as she stares at nothing in particular, as if she is becoming lost in thought.

“Lycans have, special abilities and powers… and so did your parents Kayla…” Trina finally says just as she looks back at Kayla and Naomi sighs heavily and stares at Kayla in particular, both of them finally uncovering a crucial piece of information regarding their abilities. And they’re not going to stop here…

They need to know, everything…