Chapter 4

We stopped outside our mother's bedroom, and Cora stood in the way of the door. 

    “I need you to be prepared for this. She is not herself at all. It was all so strange. She went out for a run and came back like she was not all there. She has been going downhill ever since. Dad had to order her not to shift because of what she was doing to herself.” Cora explained in a hushed whisper as if afraid someone would hear her. 

    “Daniel never mentioned this much detail.” I shook my head, trying to make sense of it all. 

    Cora took my hand and pushed the door open, and we went. 

    Nothing could prepare me for my mother lying in bed, and she was asleep when we arrived in her bedroom. 

    Cora gripped my arm, and I took a deep breath. “Isla, he does not like to talk about it. He only called you back to Pembroke because it was what Mother wanted.”

    I raised an eyebrow and glanced at my sleeping mother. 

    She was so beautiful, but she looked so different to how I remembered. 

    “She looks so weak and frail,” I mumbled in disbelief. 

    Cora nodded and bit her lip. 

    “We can’t just leave her like this.” I felt awful; all my training to become a nurse made me desperate to make my poor mother better again. I longed to feel her hug me. 

    Ok, I know our relationship was far from perfect, but my mother was my mother. You only had one, and I really do not know what I would do without her. 

    “Where is our father?” I was surprised he had not come to greet me or even be here with our mother, his mate. 

    Cora lowered her gaze as if not wanting to answer such a question. I knew then that something was not being said to me. 

    What was she keeping from me?

    “Cora? What are you not telling me?”

    Daniel suddenly burst into the room, looking panicked. His eyes went from me to Cora, and he growled. 

    “Out. Now.”

    I pushed myself towards him. 

    “What is going on?” I almost forgot that our mother was asleep on the bed. 

    Daniel reached for me and pulled me out of the bedroom, followed by Cora, who attempted to close the door as quietly as possible. 

    He then turned to Cora and banged his fist into the wall, so much anger in him that it startled me. 

    “What are you doing? You know that we should not be disturbing our mother when she is resting. Do you want her to die? Can you not see that she is heartbroken?” Daniel shouted in her face, causing Cora to burst into tears. 

    I felt awful for my sister; never had I seen such aggression in my brother. 

    How could he treat anyone this way?

    “Daniel. You came to Uncle Ed’s pack to collect me and bring me home. Yet why am I assuming nobody is telling me the truth?” 

    I eyed them both suspiciously. Daniel avoided my gaze while Cora was riddled with guilt. I could see that she wanted to tell me everything, but Daniel’s presence was making her uncomfortable. 

    “Why is our father not here? Where is he?” I needed to know. I needed answers. 

    They both remained silent, and I stormed out, having had enough of this ridiculous game of guessing the answer. 

    “Isla, come back here at once.” I heard my brother shoot after me, but I carried on walking, sticking my finger up over my head so he could see I was pissed off. 

    How I used to be so close to him, and I feel that he is not telling me the whole truth. 

    Well, that was fine then; I would soon find out the truth! 

    I broke into a slow run as I exited the packhouse. 

    Luckily for me, Alpha Miller and his stupid fake mate were not around to bother me, as I was confident that I would not be able to keep my mouth shut if she breathed in my direction. 

    I swore to myself five years ago that I would never walk these woods again, yet here I am doing just that. 

    Cleo needed to get out, feel the wind in our fur and have some time out. So much had already happened since we left Uncle Ed’s, and I missed them all already. Especially Zara. I would not stay here any longer than what I had to because it sucked to be back. 

    I hid behind a tree to shift into my wolf, and it didn’t hurt anymore to change since I was used to it by now. 

    Cleo knew the way around here still, which made me smile. She was the best wolf. 

    It was nice to be alone, nobody to disturb my thoughts as I tried to understand my mother's situation. 

    She was weak, tired and sleeping a lot. I worried that she would not even remember me. 

    Daniel was acting so weird, and I had no idea where my father was. He barely bothered to keep in contact since I had left all those years ago. 

    It must have been at least an hour or two since I had left the packhouse to shift. As soon as we returned, I returned to my human form. I picked up my clothes and quickly pulled them on. I was about to run back inside, starving, when I heard voices in the distance. I saw it was Mora and my brother talking in a heated discussion. Kneeling into the large grass, I was grateful it hadn’t been cut for a while since it could hide me from their view. I was so curious as to what they were talking about. 

    Alpha Miller was nowhere around from what I could see. 

    “Why did you bring your sister back here? If she discovers the truth about me and you, she will take Miller away from me and the Luna position. Do you think that our unborn baby deserves such a rubbish life? This could ruin everything.” Mora said frantically as Daniel tried to comfort her with his hand rubbing her back. 

    “Mora, you know how unwell my mother is, thanks to my stupid cheating father. He has a lot to answer for. I had no choice but to bring Isla back here.” Daniel sighed as Mora rested their head on his shoulder and allowed him to kiss the top of her head. 

    So my brother was lying to me because Mora was his mate and my father was cheating on my mother! 

    No wonder she had been so ill. If her wolf came forward, then she would have killed whoever my father felt it was okay to cheat on her with.

    My brother was mates with that bitch. 

    I wondered if that baby in her tummy was even the Alpha’s! 

    How dare they! 

    She ruined my life, and for what! 

    She did not love Miller since she was all cosy with my stupid brother. 

    I needed to get out of here.

    Getting up and running back into the forest to go around the back of the pack-house so they did not see me, I screamed in fright as I went bump into someone who smelt precisely like my ex-mate. 

    Could my day seriously get any worse?

    Why did the moon goddess want to punish me so much? 

    Did she hate me? 

    He steadied me from my fall, and I felt these strange sparks shoot through my body. 

    Cleo was over the moon at this touch and howled in the back of my mind, shouting about our mate being so close. 

    I, on the other hand, was not so impressed. 

    He was not our mate. 

    Not anymore.

    He had rejected me and marked and mated someone else, and I had been so far away that it had not affected me, but now, being back here, it was making me feel mad. 

    “Isla, please, can we talk for a moment?” He pleaded, looking down at me with a desperate look. 

    “I have nothing to say to you. Go and look after your pregnant mate. She’s down there somewhere with my brother.” I spat in disgust as anger flashed across his face. 

    “What!” He roared and ran off to where Mora and Daniel had been talking. 

    I smirked to myself, glad that he was off my back since I could not be bothered to deal with his arse right now. 

    I needed to find my sister and find out exactly what was going on!