Chapter 32

Kimble

My mouth dropped open as my gaze went to the five wolves standing a few feet away, staring at me as if I’d grown two heads. I studied their features, and—and—I didn’t want to acknowledge it. They all had the same hair as mine, only shorter. Four of them had blue eyes like mine, except Vandil whose eyes were dark. A cataclysmic shudder ran through my body. I shook my head. “No. No.” The shock of the situation was immense. If I was their daughter, then how could they have let Ayla steal me? “No. No.” If I was their daughter, then why didn’t they protect me? Imagine being the daughter of a powerful Alpha, and—and—I couldn’t even think of words. “I—I want Talon,” I gasped, unable to draw in air. “Please, please—” He was the only wolf who loved me, protected me, and had done everything in his power to keep me.

I realized that since I was declared a human, forbidden to marry a werewolf, he had used his power, strength, ability, and cunning to make me his. And only because I was his mate. No one questioned him, everyone was jealous of him, and everyone wanted to hurt him, using me as a tool. They knew I was his weakness. He knew I was his weakness. And he protected me by all means necessary, with everything he had.

Thyra took my hand and squeezed it. “Ylva, it’s true. I know it’s difficult for you to accept, but, my child, you don’t know how far we’ve come in our quest to find you. We practically relocated our pack to this country just to find you.”

“I want Talon. Please, I beg of you!” I cried, not wanting to hear another word of their lies.

“Talon is our enemy!” Alpha Frode shouted. “I will not allow my daughter to marry my enemy!”

The hairs on the back of my neck rose as I stared at him. “There’s no proof that I’m your daughter!”

“Do you want a DNA test?” Alpha Frode said, challenging me.

Why did I get the feeling it would prove his assertion? With my lips quivering, disbelief cruising through me, and dread settling like a knot in my belly, I continued staring at him. “What do I do?” I said. “Ayla—she—she hated me. Tried to sell me. I—I ate scraps of food, going hungry for days. She—” I swallowed. “She beat me until I fell unconscious.” I hugged myself as the dark memories flooded back. “She made me drink something every time I got this weird feeling coming over me, and her black tonic would kill both the feeling and me on the inside. But she raised me…”

A tear dropped from Alpha Frode’s left eye as his Adam’s apple bobbed. He looked away, not wanting to show it to me. Vandil and Sven stayed, but the other three left.

“Leave her alone, Father,” Sven said in a hoarse voice. “Don’t force her, please.”

Alpha Frode nodded. He cupped Thyra’s shoulders and helped her up. “Let’s go…”

Thyra let go of my hand and walked reluctantly out of the room, with only Vandil standing guard. I curled myself into a ball as the barrage of emotions that crashed inside me became too much to take. I had real parents in the world. And they’d let me go… Anger, helplessness, and frustration mounted. I wanted to scream, but all that came out of my throat was a sob. I sobbed until I was acutely aware of Vandil’s presence. He didn’t say anything, standing coldly, watching me.

Finally I asked, “Where’s Jackie?”

“She’s safe in the guest room, but we stopped her seeing you,” he replied quietly.

Good. Because I didn’t want to talk to her.

“Ylva,” he said softly.

“Don’t call me Ylva!” I snapped. “I’m Kimble… Talon’s mate…” The fucking pain of not being with him returned. Was he okay? What happened in the battle with Liam? “Is Talon okay?” I asked, bracing myself for a negative answer.

“He is, and he won the battle,” he responded as if knowing what I thought.

I sprang up with excitement. “Really?”

“Yes,” Vandil’s lips lifted into a ghost of a smile.

My excitement crumbled when his eyes met mine. “You connived with Liam to attack him, didn’t you?”

“No,” he said, his demeanor turning stiff. “I don’t know Liam.”

Doubt manifested on my face as a crease between my forehead. “Oh, so it was Jackie.” I wanted to kill her, like now. “Where is she?” I asked, peeling my lips from my teeth.

“No, it wasn’t Jackie either.” He sauntered to the other side of the room and looked outside the window.

“It was Jackie. She told Liam. How else would he know where we were? She was with Kirk, and he’s connected to Liam,” I insisted.

Vandil took a deep breath in as he stared at a room across the garden from mine. “Jackie didn’t tell Liam. In fact, Jackie rejected Kirk a few hours before she left with you.”

My mouth dropped to the floor as I stared at him incredulously. “Jackie rejected Kirk?”

Vandil nodded. “He threatened to kill her if she didn’t become Alpha Liam’s spy. She had no choice but to reject him.”

“Then why didn’t she tell me about it?” I asked, still unable to believe the story he was weaving.

“I don’t know,” he said. “That’s her story to tell, but the moment I came to the meeting point with Talon, I smelled Jackie as my mate.”

I slapped my hand to my mouth, gasping as my eyes widened.

Vandil turned his head over his shoulder and chuckled. “Yes, Jackie’s my mate. When I smelled you on her, I sensed a weak thread of something binding us together. And when I saw you, I knew you were my sister, who we’ve been searching for these last sixteen years.”

I let out a rough exhale. “I’m not your sister.”

“You can believe it or not,” Vandil replied. “But that’s the truth and no one can deny it.”

“Then why wasn’t I protected like you were?” I seethed. “You’re clearly older than me. Why didn’t Ayla kidnap you? Why me?”

He turned to me and said, “It’s an ugly story, Ylva. Our parents have been living in it since the day you disappeared. Give them a chance to explain. But you can’t deny the fact that we’ve only been in this country for the past eighteen [DH1] years so we could find you. Do you know how our father longs to go back? He’s holding it all inside him. Do you know how many years it took to establish ourselves in this country? Talon’s been trying to take us over for as long as I can remember. He’s our number one enemy, and imagine our shock when we found out he’s your mate and husband.”

I caught my head between my hands. “I don’t know!” I cried. “This is all fucked up.”

Vandil sat beside me. “I know it’s a lot to handle, and I’m not saying our shock is worse than yours. But—” He curled his finger and thumb beneath my chin and lifted my face. “Give Father and Mother a chance to explain themselves. I know your heart’s filled with hatred and Ayla treated you awfully, but you will always stay bitter if you don’t accept this reality. We all need closure at some point. I strongly urge you to do that with Mom and Dad. Who knows whether we’ll return to our land once they’ve found their closure?” He let go of my face, sighing. “I miss my country…”

Vandil got up and walked out. Before he closed the door, he said, “Don’t blame Jackie. She’s my mate and I’d hate to see you think badly of her. But do talk to our parents. They’ve been waiting for this day… I hope you understand.” Saying that, he closed the door, leaving me alone with my turbulent thoughts.

Something inside me pulsed, throbbed, kind of slammed in my chest. Bile rose in my throat. I turned my face away, pushing the bile down and rubbing my chest.