☽ Chapter 11 - Truth ☾

?Chapter 11 - Truth?

The days pass in a blurry haze as the slow rhythmic hum of the engine and light tunes from the radio soothe me in and out of sleep. Every now and then, when the burning in my body eases and I am conscious long enough to hear, I hear the radio host announce what day it is. Sometimes my skin feels like it’s rippling, like the waves on the lake with a soft summer breeze, sometimes it feels like stabbing sharp pains. Sometimes it feels like my bones would break with every bump Alex’s truck hits, only to realign without warning. Sometimes I can smell the tang of blood in the air and wonder if it’s from me or a poor animal hit on the side of the road. Sometimes a lullaby that is so familiar but hard to remember where I heard it from is sung to me, and in my moments of consciousness and asking Alex about it, I learn that no one in the pack has ever sung it to me. I remember one night on the long drive, the sound of a dying animal howling filled my ears, but it wasn’t until Alex pleaded for me to stay awake and bite down on a towel that I realized that animal was me. "Hang on, Gem, I'm taking you to the temple of the Goddess. They should be able to help you." My brother assures me in as calm of a voice as he could muster. But even through the haze of pain and blackness surrounding me, I can hear the tremble of fear in his voice. I know he is trying his best to help me, but in the moment of alertness and lucidness, all I want is the sweet release of death to take over. Time slips by once again while my mind has a tough time trying to decipher reality and my own pain-induced hallucinations before the world around me slows to a stop. Something cool kisses my burning skin when the animalistic cry sounds once more, and a sense of peace and tranquillity calms my racing mind until blackness seeps in once again. I pray that this is death taking me away once and for all from the agony I have suffered.

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“Are you sure it’s her?” A voice whispers, one I recognize as Alex. The sweet dream I was having is now forgotten as the conversation filled with hushed voices brings me back to consciousness. “Yes, I am positive. Geminie has the mark on her right shoulder, and her name is even the same as the pup we have been looking for these last eighteen years.” A woman replies, her voice light and musical like Lizaria’s. I force myself to open my eyes, wanting to catch a glimpse of this woman, only to groan from the harsh light filtering in. Someone rushes from the other side of the room to where I presumably lay in a bed and places their hand on my forehead. “You can open your eyes now. I’ve dimmed the lights for you.” Alex coaxes me, his familiar scent giving me a sense of comfort and security. With his encouraging words, I try to open my eyes again, his face filled with relief greeting me once I succeed. “Your fever is finally gone.” He sighs, leaning back on the chair by my bedside as he runs his fingers through his already messy hair. He looks haggard, and guilt fills me knowing that my brother must have worried for my well-being while I had prayed for death. “Anyway, how are you feeling, Gemie?” He asks, his smile growing after he yawns. I take a moment to stretch my body under the covers, feeling each and every muscle stretch with no pain and finding newfound muscles I had no clue I had. My body felt amazing, like all the beatings and fatigue from sleepless nights had never happened. “For some reason, I feel incredible. No pain at all.” I answer honestly, sending a questioning gaze to my brother. He sighs, handing me a glass of freezing cold water that I quickly down and motion for more. Alex obliges and fills the glass quickly using a jug that sits on the bedside table. After two more glasses of water and one I now slowly sip from, Alex sighs once again and runs his fingers through his messy hair. “The best explanation I can give you, Gem, is that when Mika rejected you, it kick-started the process of your shift,” He begins, his face looking as if he had aged ten years within the last few days. “You aren’t really my sister, and you weren’t supposed to shift for another two years.” Alex continues, shoulders slumping in defeat as he looks to the ground at his feet. Confusion washes over me as this statement as I wait for my brother to continue. “What Alex is trying to say is that you are not, in fact, a Blake.” A musical voice continues after a long pause of silence reigns over the room for a moment too long. My head turns to see a woman standing by the door, her long, straight black hair and pale skin standing out against the beige wall behind her as she sends a smile my way. “You are Geminie Starlight, Daughter of Maverick Starlight—Alpha of the Northern Snow—and Lisandra, our current Moon Goddess.”

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“Let me get this straight.” I start, running my fingers through my greasy hair and cringing at the feel of my locks. I am in desperate need of a shower, but with my mind racing with a million thoughts, I need to sort out the information I had just learnt first. “Eighteen years ago, Alex’s parents decided to kidnap me.” I continue, seeing the look of guilt flash through my brother’s eyes as he looks outside the window. I reach out, taking his hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He had no knowledge like me until today, and I could never hold a grudge against him. “Yes. Their reasoning, from what we could gather, is that a week before you were born, the Blakes suffered a stillbirth. Their pup would have been a little girl like you. Their initial goal was to kill you, but clearly, something changed.” Ira, the black-haired she-wolf, repeats this information to me once more, information that was still hard to grasp. Alex had explained that a month before his sister was supposed to be born, his parents sent him to summer camp. By the time the Blakes would have had their daughter settled into life at home, Alex would be just arriving back from camp to start his role as a big brother. Instead, he came home to me. “I always felt something was off with you, especially when I returned home from camp and saw you crying in the crib, but no one cared about helping you.” His voice brings me out of my thoughts as I turn to look at Alex, sadness deep in his eyes. Knowing we aren’t related must be killing him, but knowing his parents kept the death of his baby sister from him must be destroying him even more. I carefully climb out of the bed, happy that before our discussion started, Ira had given me a long nightgown to put on While Alex went to find an Acolyte to bring us food. I close the gap between me and Alex, wrapping my arms around him and pulling him in for a hug. “Alex, no matter what, you are my brother. You’ve been there for me since I was a baby. You protected me to the best of your abilities and gave me food and familial love. We are siblings no matter what happens.” I whisper, feeling the tension in his body slowly release as he buries his face into my shoulder. His body starts shaking, and the feeling of a wet spot where his eyes rest clues me in that the strong wolf before me is sobbing silently. Reality is cruel and harsh, knowing that the day that Sorus and Reena were killed was because of the Blakes. Alex never learned the truth of his biological sister because the Blakes wanted revenge on my mother for something that unfortunately happens in life and was out of her control. I was ripped away from my own birth parents and blamed for many things, all because I was the physical target for the Blakes’ rage, not knowing nor able to prove my innocence. Tears of my own begin to fall at the injustice that had been given to me for eighteen years and before I know it, I find myself clinging to my brother as we both grieve in our own way for the lives we have lived until now. With our emotions now spent and the flood of grief now open, I feel the weight on my shoulders that I’ve been carrying since being disowned by the Blakes finally fade away. My mind feels clearer and my body lighter by the time the tears run dry, and I am left taking deep breaths with Alex. A box of tissues is placed in front of the two of us, causing Alex and I to look up at Ira with surprise and thanks as we each dry our tears away, and I find myself sitting back in bed. Today would mark the start of my life not as Geminie Blake, but as my true self, Geminie Starlight. “Ira, what happens now? Where do Alex and I go, and what am I supposed to do?” I ask, giving this she-wolf a determined look. It was time for me to change my destiny and take my life back. I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing and allow what the Blakes did to Alex and me to go without justice. But I need to grow stronger before I can take any revenge. “You train, Geminie.” She starts, giving me a smile as another member of the temple walks in with a cart full of what I assume are necessities for our stay. “You, as well as Alex, will train here for a week. We will get you in contact with your father, and at the end of the week, you can decide whether you want to go to his pack and train there or create your own pack.” With that, Ira bids us good night and leaves Alex and me to our thoughts.