HOMECOMING

Chapter 4

“Fiona, you don’t ever have to worry about me being mated to Ian. You know I would never be with someone who wasn’t my fated mate. And I would never be with Ian, no matter what. I mean, eww. That’s just gross.”

“But what if he is your fated mate?” she asked.

I could sense what the Alpha may have implied could become a real issue between Fiona and me. I may be only 14, but I am not naive or stupid. So, I turned, and looked Fiona in the eye and said “Fiona, there will never be a time in my life where I would ever consider taking Ian as a mate. We both know how I feel about respecting the mate bond. I will not take a mate who has been with someone else. Especially someone who has been intimate with my sister. That would be a betrayal of trust on every level. I would reject them immediately. Please do not let thoughtless words spoken by the Alpha affect you. Or your relationship with me.”

Fiona sniffled a couple of times, then gave me a one-arm hug. “I just don’t want to lose him, Ellie. I really love him.”

“Well, you don’t ever have to worry about me, because I only see Ian as your boyfriend, and hopefully your fated mate”, I assured her, but I could still see doubt in her eyes.

By this time, Alpha Conrad had finished his presentation for Ian. I gently pushed Fiona toward Ian, who had left the stage to find Fiona. “I must run, Sis. Mom, Dad, and I are going home early as they want to have a “chat” with me.” Seeing doubt cloud her eyes again, I continued to ease her mind. “No doubt about my upcoming university enrollment. I am sure mom’s anxiety is in overdrive because I am so young.” With that, I joined my parents, and we left the ballroom.

Once home, we headed to the kitchen to make some hot chocolate and grab some of Mom’s famous shortbread cookies. Mom arranged the mugs of hot chocolate and a plate of cookies on a tray to carry everything to dad’s office. I noticed 4 mugs on the tray, but there were only the three of us in the kitchen. I asked mom if Fiona was going to be there for our chat.

She smiled and said “no, Lena Rankin is joining us. It’s important she is here”.

Just then, the doorbell rang. I could hear dad as he greeted the visitor. Mom led me to the office and set the tray on the coffee table that was between the two brown leather couches that faced each other.

Dad and Ms. Rankin entered the office. Dad locked the office door and used the office “electronic cloaking device”, which blocks others' ability to hear or sense happenings in the shielded room. Dad then walked over to the couches. Mom and Dad sat on one, while Ms. Rankin settled in beside me. Mom made sure we all had a mug of hot chocolate and a couple of cookies. Of course, I scarfed down two very quickly, and reached for another.

“Ellie,” mom laughed, “where are your manners?”

I grinned and said, “hey, not my fault you make the best shortbread cookies in the world”.

Ms. Rankin snickered. “Lila, she is not wrong. Best cookies, ever. Even using your recipe, mine never tastes this good.”

Dad piped up and agreed “Lena, I have heard a few of Lila’s friends say the same thing. She must have a secret ingredient.”

We spent a few more minutes chatting idly, then I decided to get to the topic of the ‘chat’ mom and dad wanted to have with me. “So, speaking of secrets, what did you and mom want to talk about? Does this have anything to do with my university attendance?”

The three adults looked at each other, then dad spoke up. “Yes, and no. And before you go into panic mode, hear me out. Take a deep breath, sit back, and please keep an open mind”.

‘Stay strong and remember we got this. We will talk shortly.', Jade whispered in my head. Grabbing a couple more cookies, I did what dad advised, took a deep breath, and sat back ready to listen.

“I am going to tell you a story”, dad began. “14 years ago, a young couple driving through our area was involved in a car accident. The 19-year-old male did not survive his injuries. However, the 18-year-old pregnant female survived, and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. As Beta, I was advised of the situation by one of our pack members who worked as a nurse at the hospital. She advised the people involved were wolves from a distant pack. Your mother and I went to the hospital to see what we could do to help. The female wolf was distraught about losing her mate and giving birth in a matter of hours. Her level of distress was through the roof. On top of the grief, we also sensed she was terribly afraid. Not of us, but because of the cause of the accident.”

By this time, I was listening intently to my father. Nothing like a good story to attract my interest. Beside me, Ms. Rankin sniffed while wiping away tears. I reached out and rubbed her back, as I could see this story was upsetting for her. She gave me a weak smile and patted my hand in acknowledgment.

My dad continued the story. “The female asked if we could talk somewhere that was private and soundproof, as what she had to say could not be known by anyone other than the alpha and beta leaders of our pack. She also said that news of her survival and birth of the child had to be kept secret. Since the hospital was not suitable for such a private discussion, we arranged for her and her baby to be secretly taken from the hospital and to our packhouse. The attending doctor and nurses were all pack members, so I Beta commanded them to reveal nothing about the accident, the male’s death, the female’s survival, and the birth of the child. I also instructed them to attend the alpha office as soon as their shift ended. As a further precaution, sensing the severity of the situation, I asked them to remove all information regarding this situation from their files. Also, at the request of the she-wolf, we used scent masking spray on her and the baby.”

“Once we arrived at the packhouse, which thankfully was very quiet, as the majority of pack members were involved in the pack Christmas party being held at our community center, we headed to the Alpha office. We made sure we locked the office door and engaged our “cloaking” so no one would be able to detect how many wolves were present in the office. These were not measures taken lightly. But the level of terror coming from the visiting she-wolf made us realize the situation was dire.”

My father paused briefly, took a sip of his hot chocolate, and ate a cookie. I knew by the look on his face that he was bracing himself to continue. As much as I wanted to ask some questions, I decided to wait for the rest of the story.

Dad started speaking again. “What the she-wolf told us in that meeting made us realize we had to do everything in our power to hide and protect both her and her child. I can’t yet divulge all that information. What I can say is the she-wolf is actually a hybrid. She is a wolf, a fae, and a witch. The father was a wolf, a dragon, and a bear. That means their child is a hybrid of all five supernatural species. Not all their powers and abilities will manifest at the same time.

While I am not able to tell you everything right now, the time has come for some of it to be revealed. The young couple were fleeing their old pack and planned on seeking sanctuary in our pack. They had two letters that were sealed and were to be kept in Alpha’s safe until a specific time in the future. Today is the day for the first letter to be given to the designated person.”

Saying this, my father handed me a sealed envelope. On it was written “For the biological child of Lena Rankin and Alexander Rankin”.

I stared at the written words, then shifted my eyes to Ms. Rankin, then to my father and mother as realization seeped in. The reason I looked nothing like my parents, or my sister. The reason Ms. Rankin was so close to my family. The reason I felt such a connection to Ms. Rankin. The reason I looked so like Ms. Rankin. The reason my blood type wasn’t the same as my family’s. The reason the DNA test showed I wasn’t the biological child of John and Lila Grant.

I won’t say I was in shock, as I had long known I wasn’t biologically related to the people I called my family, because to me, they are my family. My biology studies included a chapter on blood typing and DNA. As part of earning extra credits, I did blood labs which included blood typing and DNA. When my results came back showing my A+ blood type, I was surprised. I knew both my parents and Fiona were O+. I knew then I must have been adopted, as two O+ parents would have a miniscule chance of having an A+ offspring. This was confirmed by the DNA results. At the time I went to Ms. Rankin and talked to her about the results. That is when she told me to keep an open mind, and not to jump to conclusions.

Ms. Rankin, or should I say my “other mother”, took my hand and gently squeezed it. “I know this is a lot to take in. It’s not every day you discover you have two mothers. We don’t have to rush anything, but it was time for you to know,” she softly whispered.