Winter’s POV

Tears fell from my eyes and wet my hands where I was still kneeling; there was a fresh cut on my palm—they had taken some of my blood for the shrine keepers to test if it was actually a noble blood. And after hours of waiting, they returned to the square. In their words, while they couldn’t precisely tell if I carried a noble blood, they were sure it wasn’t a lowly blood either.

Confusion ran through the night in different shades for hours. Even I didn’t understand who I was anymore. I was barely thinking; my mind was blank. My bones were weak and heavy from the weight of everything, and I just wanted to collapse to the ground and be left alone for a long time.

The Alpha’s deep stare never left my face; even though I wasn’t looking back at him, I could feel it on my skin. Janna and Dorra gave their own share of dissatisfaction with what was going on. They did their best to make sure the situation got dismissed with me being sent away, but the Alpha seemed to have more on his mind, and he kept digging further.

We were all waiting for the men sent by the alpha to bring my mother. Apparently, they were trying to determine my descent. I was an omega; I had lived as such all my life now that the doubts lingered that I might not really be who I thought I was made me shudder.

The silence that enveloped us in wait was broken when the men returned. My heart churned in pain as I watched where I was kneeling, how my mother was brought to the square, her frail body pushed to the floor beside me.

“M…mm.. mother,” I cried, helping her up.

She jerked her hand slightly away from my grip, not even looking at me once. I sniffled and wiped my eyes, shifting back a little. For some reason, mother had always disliked me just like everyone else did, but I could never hate her. She was my mother, after all.

My mother didn’t live in the packhouse but in a nearby village for sick people. She had been thrown out of the packhouse since her illness started taking a toll on her. I wasn’t allowed to leave with her because they couldn’t afford to let go of two servants at a time. So I hadn’t seen her in over a year until that moment she was brought in.

“Long live the alpha,” she revered weakly in a bow as she knelt in front of the alpha. There was still a crowd watching the spectacle. I wished something would happen and make everyone disappear.

Mother was first made to go through a swearing process, meaning she was willing to be punished if she lied.

“You shouldn’t let this be happening, my love,” Janna said desperately to the Alpha, “Are you going to lose your precious sleep over these ants? Just dismiss them, and let’s move on with our lives.”

But the Alpha was unfazed; he stood up from his chair and walked towards us.

“I want to hear everything about the descent of your daughter. Remember, the gods are watching, and you’ve sworn an oath of truth. Your life is in your hands now,” He implored.

“I’m….” She suddenly stopped as if something held her throat. Her body froze.

“Do not waste my time, woman!” The alpha scolded.

“I’m…. she’s….Winter is…” Mother stuttered.

“Mother,” I cried concernedly, grabbing her shoulder gently. Her body was shivering.

My brows furrowed slightly I watched her gaunt expression. Following her line of sight, I saw that she was looking at Janna and Dorra. I didn’t understand what was going on.

“Mother!” I shook her again as if to snap her out of her reverie.

“She’s…. not my daughter. Winter is not my daughter,” mother shouted and pushed me away with so much force that I fell to the ground and grazed my skin against the sharp sand. But the pain I was feeling wasn’t comparable to the shock of what I had just heard.

My world stood still, and tears stung my eyes. I crawled towards mother, now bursting into tears.

“Mother…what are you saying?”

“She’s not your daughter?” The Alpha repeated interestedly.

Mother nodded her head, her voice faltering, “I never gave birth to her.”

“So are you saying he’s adopted? Do you know her parents?”

Mother’s shook her head, “No. I didn’t…a-a-adopt her. Sh…she was given to me.”

I was still crying. I couldn’t believe my ears.

The Alpha exhaled loudly.

“Who gave her to you?”

Mother’s eyes trailed towards Janna. Before she could say anything, Janna stood up quickly.

“Why are you entertaining these people for crying out loud? You can’t just believe anything a servant says. Command them to be—”

The Alpha held up his hand to shut her up.

“Let her speak.”

Mother fell on her face, holding the alpha’s feet.

“Alpha, I promise I’ll say everything, the entire truth. But please give me your word that my life will be spared even after I say everything,” she pleaded desperately.

What truth was she going to reveal? Who exactly was I?

The Alpha nodded, “You have my word.”

“Your grace is sufficient! Your grace is sufficient, my lord!” Mother cried, bowing herself to the floor again.

“Speak up already, woman!”

“Eighteen years ago, I had delivered a sickly baby girl, whom the nursemaids told me would die very soon.”

Loud murmurs rent the air, distracting the moment. My sobs were still audible in the silence. Immediately the Alpha turned angrily at the crowd, they went silent again.

“....I wept so much that night and was unable to accept that my child would die. That poor thing was just a day old, and there was no money to have her especially seen to. But a woman came to me that night, offering to give me a healthy baby in exchange for my sickly one.”

Murmurs escaped different mouths again, but they soon died down.

“Go on,” he urged.

“I agreed and gave her my child, hoping she’d be taken care of. The child I was given in exchange was Winter,” she looked at me.