Chapter 20

“What are you doing here?” She asked. “I thought… I thought…”
“That Zayne killed me? Or that I died in the Highlands?” I asked her angrily.
“Er… please, excuse me. I have to speak with the guards at the gate,” said Jon before disappearing quickly.
“I don’t understand,” she said, staring at me from head to toe. “Who is that behind you?”
I stepped to the side so that she could see Domarius clearly. I was rewarded with a gasp from her when she saw him.
“Who is this?” She whispered fearfully.
“I’m sure you know who he is, Brianna,” I said. “This is my son, Domarius. Heir to the Apex Woods throne.”
She staggered as if she was about to faint, but then she held the bookshelf to steady herself.
“A son,” she said shakily. “You have a son.”
“As you can see,” I replied coldly. “Where are his fathers? Where are my mates?”
My last question seemed to bring back the old Brianna. She lifted her chin and gave me a smug look.
“Well, dear Jade,” she said with a smile. “They’re no longer your mates. They’re now mine and I don’t share.”

*******************

“Excuse me?” I said.
Brianna walked to a nearby chair and sat down on it before responding to me. “You’re excused, Jade. You and your brat.”
“Don’t you dare insult my son!”
She sighed. “What did you expect? That you would disappear into thin air and suddenly show up after four years, expecting everything to remain the same?”
“I didn’t disappear, you sold me into slavery!” I fired back at her.
“Is that Jade?”
I turned around and saw Dominic standing behind me. He was even more handsome than I remembered.
“It is you!” He said, grinning happily. “I don’t understand. They said you were dead.”
My blood froze. “Who told you that?”
“I thought you died,” Brianna said quickly from her spot inside the library. “I saw someone attacking you on that day that I tried to help you escape from Apex Wood. I was afraid for my life, so I ran away.”
I silenced her with my eyes. “You shameless liar. Is that what you told them?”
“That was what happened,” she insisted.
“Who is this?” Dominic asked, staring at Domarius with surprise.
“This is Domarius, your son,” I said.
“We don’t know that for a fact,” said Brianna.
“Oh, I didn’t know you’re now suffering from partial blindness,” I replied to her and enjoyed seeing her squirm like a worm.
“My son…” Dominic whispered in wonder. He held his hands out to Domarius and my son took his hands, staring into his father’s eyes.
Dominic looked up at me. “What happened to you, Jade? Where have you been?”
“She ran off when she heard that my father wanted you and your brothers dead,” said Brianna. “She didn’t even try to warn you and your brothers. She just left.”
“I wasn’t speaking to you, Brianna,” said Dominic. “Tell me, Jade. What really happened?”
I sat down on one of the library chairs and Dominic sat down too, carrying Domarius. I told him how everything happened, starting from when I came to the palace to spend some time thereafter I discovered that I was pregnant.
Brianna spent the whole time looking at me with hateful eyes and making rude noises at intervals. When I was done talking, Dominic sighed heavily.
“Too bad you had to go through all of that,” he said softly. “We thought you were dead.”
“What happened to me was all Brianna’s doing,” I said. “She has to pay for what she did to me.”
Dominic cleared his throat. “Jade, I know you’re upset but it’s your word against hers at this point.”
I was shocked. “Wait. You don’t believe me?”
“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but I think both of you remembered the events of your last day here differently. Besides, Antonio told us that you connived with your uncle to have us killed.”
“But you know that’s not true, don’t you?” I asked him.
He sighed. “I don’t know what’s true anymore, Jade. It’s been a long time and a lot of things have changed since then.”
I felt a crushing disappointment seeing how his reply pleased Brianna. She was smirking and playing with a strand of her hair like a child.
“So she’s going to get away with selling me off like a piece of meat to a bunch of strangers?”
I was so angry that my body shook. I couldn’t believe that my mate was siding with the enemy who betrayed me four years ago.
“You know what, let me discuss this with my brothers when they return,” said Dominic.
“Where are they?” I asked.
“In the throne room with our warriors. The meeting was boring me to death, so I came here to… uh, relax.”
“What’s the meeting about?” I asked. “Are you going to war?”
“More like ending a war,” he said. “After that raid four years ago when Antonio and Barry’s warriors came to attack us, the River Pack has been waging wars against us every year for killing their precious Beta.”
“Antonio is dead?” I was surprised.
“Yes. And so is your uncle.”
“I know,” I said. “So, where does that leave Brianna, the traitor’s daughter?”
“My father wasn’t a traitor,” she shouted at me. “He was an ambitious man who took what he wanted by force. You can’t blame me for that either. I was just a child then.”
“Let’s all calm down now, shall we?” Said Dominic. “Jade, I’ll ask the servants to prepare a room for you and your… I mean, Domarius. I’ll let my brothers know that you’re here.”
“Are we going to talk about this business with you guys and Brianna?” I asked angrily. “Why is she being addressed as the Luna?”
Dominic looked uncomfortable. “Listen, Jade. We thought you were dead. And she… she had lost her father and had nowhere else to go. We decided to let her stay with us in the palace and…”
“And what?” I prompted him.
“We mated with her, Jade, and the strangest thing happened. We felt connected to her as we did with you.”
I was beyond shocked and disgusted. “Even if you wanted to replace me, were you supposed to do it with her? My cousin?”
“You were gone!” He repeated loudly. “Don’t you get it? We wouldn’t have had to replace you if you were here. And mind you, we thought that you had betrayed us.”
I was too angry to speak. I grabbed my son’s hand and marched out of the library. My eyes stung with hot tears.
How dare they? How could the triplets betray me like this?
“Where are you going?” Dominic asked, following us.
“Does it matter? You have your beloved Luna mate in the palace already, what then do you need me for?”
“Come on, Jade. Don’t say that, please,” he said sadly. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. Come back inside, let’s get you and Domarius settled in after your long journey.”
“Don’t worry about me and my son. We will be fine.”
I carried my son on my back again and we returned to the mountains where we had come from earlier. I was embarrassed to face Nana again after the way we left her but at this point, I had no choice but to go back to her.
It was nighttime when we reached Nana’s cabin. I was surprised to see a small crowd coming from her backyard.
I was glad to finally see a familiar face in the crowd and I went straight to her.
“Hi, Sonia. It’s us again,” I said to her with a bright smile that faded as soon as I saw her eyes.
She had been crying and some of the people around us were either crying or trying not to.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her. “Is Nana ok?”
“Oh, dear Jade. Nana died this afternoon,” she said sadly.
“That’s not possible,” I said, shaking my head. “We were with her in the afternoon, remember?”
“I know. After you left, I came back here to feed her lunch but she refused to eat and said she didn’t need a full stomach for her journey.
“I thought she was being funny but a few minutes later, she closed her eyes and never woke up again.”
“What if she fainted?” I asked. “Did you call your pack doctor?”
“She didn’t faint, Jade. She died and we have just finished burying her in the backyard.”
“Already?”
“Yes. That was what she wanted. Look, I have to go home now. You can stay in the cabin if you want. I’m sure Nana won’t mind.”
I smiled at Sonia’s attempt to make a joke. This must be really hard for her because she and Nana seemed like mother and daughter.
“Thank you,” I said.
Domarius and I went into the cabin and made ourselves at home. I almost couldn’t believe that just a few hours ago, Nana was here with us, telling me things that sounded crazy. But now, some of those things were starting to make sense a little.