Chapter 105 - Are you happy now?

EMMA

Twigs break beneath my feet as I sink down to the ground in the forest. My fingers get covered in dirt when I pull Bloodroot from the ground. The soft white petals of the flower growing through fallen leaves are in stark contrast to the red roots appearing from the dirt.

The breeze blows over my skin and goosebumps appear. The knot in my stomach tightens and tugs me towards the presence appearing behind me. It’s a tug of longing and I know Hadrian is here.

“You can’t keep avoiding this.” His voice comes closer when he lowers to the ground next to me. Hadrian is referring to keeping secrets from my brother.

We’re alone in this part of the forest and Hadrian uses the moment of privacy to kiss the side of my head. He lingers for a moment and a wave of peace surges through me.

It disappears the moment he moves away. We are not far from the town and anyone could come here. My heart pounds in my chest and closes up my throat. *I can’t do this.*

“You have to.” Hadrian answers my unspoken thoughts.

I get up from the ground. “But— I can’t.” I have been avoiding confronting the truth, but Hadrian is not one to be avoided.

I try to take deep breaths to calm my racing heartbeat. The walls inside the house were suffocating me, but I can’t say that the trees around me made me much calmer.

Hadrian catches my upper arm and my legs twist when my feet fail to complete a step. Hadrian steadies me and his thumb runs over my bare skin. “Emma, I’m not asking. Either you tell him or I do.” His eyes are stern. This is non-negotiable.

“But I don’t want him to be mad at me,” I whisper and my voice is so thin it threatens to break.

His eyes soften. “Why would he be mad?”

“So many reasons.” I know my brother. He has faced adversities all his life.

“He deserves to know.”

“Who deserves to know what?” Lucas calls beside us.

I jump away from Hadrian, but he is unfazed. He must have heard him approach and apparently decided not to let me know.

“Lucas, what are you doing here?”

My brother looks around the trees. The sun shines through the leaves and glows up his hair and skin. He shrugs and there is a smile on his face. “I don’t know actually, I felt like going on a walk I guess.”

“Tell him,” Hadrian says and his eyes burn into me.

Lucas casts his gaze between us. “What’s going on?”

My nails dig into my palms. “I have to tell you something?” The lump in my throat feels thick and heavy and I can’t get the words out. A silence hangs between us.

“Are you okay?” Lucas places a hand on my shoulder and turns his attention to Hadrian. “Did you do something?”

“Mom is alive.” I choke out. The words ring in my ears as I hear them out loud. I sob at the thought of her being locked up and tears spill over my cheeks.

Lucas closes an arm around me. “Maybe we should let Doctor Harold check on you.”

I sob in his chest and the truth comes spilling out. “She’s a werewolf.”

His hand runs down my back and his words are a careful whisper. “Emma, mom is dead.”

I shake my head and clutch hard at his t-shirt. “No… She didn’t die, she healed herself.”

Lucas pulls my shoulders back and concern clouds his blue eyes. “What are you saying?”

“She’s telling the truth. Your mother is a powerful psychic and healer. Emma has the same healing ability and I think you inherited her psychic power.” Hadrian’s voice is strong and it has power that mine lacks. He lays out the truth with a single punch. “You’re half werewolf.”

Lucas drops his arm and backs away from me like he just touched hot coal. His eyes are wide and many emotions are cast over him at rapid speed. Pain, betrayal and then belief. My brother never needs much convincing when something is true, he can sense it. Now we know why.

The pain and hurt take an overhand. “You mean that every time people called me insane…

His hands shake and anger takes over. “Every time *you* told me to stop being dramatic…

The attack is personal and hits me right in the chest. “Lucas, I’m so s—“

“Don’t.” He cuts me off with a hard snap. Lucas storms away and disappears through the trees.

“Are you happy now?” Anger bites at my words.

Fingers run over my back and I hate the feeling they give me now. I don’t want to feel good.

“Emma—“

I move away from his hand. “Don’t touch me.” I surrender to the unreasonable anger coursing through my body. I’m angry at myself, but that doesn’t stop me from projecting my anger outwards.

And the one receiving the brunt of it is Hadrian. I leave him behind to follow my brother. I catch a glimpse of the helplessness in Hadrian and guilt joins the club of emotions. Can I feel more like a terrible human being?

I search around the house, the field, the town. I can’t find my brother anywhere. It has started to rain and the water is soaking my clothes. Karma is getting me good today.

I wander around town and my feet are aching. It doesn't help that I covered many miles in the past few days. The blisters heal, but the exhaustion stays.

I eventually find my brother by chance as I walk past the diner and see him sitting in the corner booth. His pensive gaze is turned to a blank spot on the table.

I walk into the diner and a bell chimes above my head. Several heads turn and greet me when I walk past the tables.

In front of him are two mugs of hot chocolate. I look from the mugs back to my brother. His eyes are red from strain and clouded with hurt, but there is no hint of surprise. *He knew I would find him.*

“I’m so sorry, Lucas.” My hands tremble. “I never wanted to hurt you.”

Lucas sighs and shuffles aside on the bench. “Come here.”

I sit down on the spot next to him. “Are you still mad?”

I move closer to my brother when he places his arm over the back of the bench. “I’m mad that you didn’t feel like you could tell me.”

A good chunk of my life it's just been me and Lucas. There have never been secrets between us. We had to survive and we were already suffering enough.

“It hurts to think about her,” I confess. It hurts to think that she’s trapped. It hurts that I couldn’t help her. “I couldn’t handle it together with everything else.”

Lucas wraps his arm around my shoulder and pulls me in a side hug. “I can’t believe that she’s a… That you and me are…” His words are soft and low.

“Yeah, me neither. It doesn’t feel like that sometimes.”

“And sometimes it does, strangely enough.” His eyes are furrowed as he falls deep in thought.

I wrap my hand around the hot mug to warm up my cold fingers. “What do you mean?”

“Remember I said that I felt that something inside you was dying?” My brother asks and I nod.

“I think that I can sense your wolf somehow. I sense it with Hadrian too. I think his wolf is dying.” His words make me gasp.

*Nero. He’s dying?*