Chapter 5

“Indianna? What’s wrong?”

Indianna opened her eyes when she heard Brooke’s voice. Brooke was standing in front of her with a worried expression on her face.

“Are you in pain? What’s wrong, sweetie?”

“My head,” Indianna whimpered. “It really hurts.”

“I’ve got some painkillers if you want them?”

“No, they won’t work.”

“How can you be sure?” Brooke wondered, and Indianna winced.

“Trust me, they won’t,” she mumbled.

‘Sugar, I don’t like hurting you—’

‘Then don’t!’

‘But I’m just trying to help you.’

‘Help me by leaving me alone!’

‘I can’t do that.’

Indianna groaned from frustration and pain. She refused to let the voice in her head win. She would not go home.

“You look like you’re in really bad pain. Maybe I should get the nurse...” Brooke trailed off nervously, eyeing Indianna with caution.

“P-please don’t. It’ll pass.”

‘No, it won’t.’

Indianna ignored the voice.

“I-I’ll be fine.”

“You have to do something. Lessons have started, and there’s no way you can go in this state.”

Brooke observed Indianna, and she could tell something wasn’t right. Indianna was ill, and Brooke could see that she was exhausted.

“I’ll be fine.”

“You seem to say that a lot, hun,” Brooke said. “I’m starting to think that you aren’t actually fine.”

“But I am—”

“No, you’re not. You’re ill, sweetie. You need to go home and rest.”

‘You should listen to her. She’s right.’

‘Will you make the pain stop?’

‘Yes, if you go home.’

Indianna didn’t want to let the voice win, but she had to. There was no way she could deal with the pain any longer.

“Okay,” Indianna nodded. “I’ll go home.”

***

Indianna looked to the door when the bell rang and groaned, the sound making her head hurt. She could hear her mum moving around in the kitchen and knew that she’d get it, so she laid her head back on the sofa and closed her eyes.

“Mrs. Hughs, I’m a friend of Indianna. Is she okay?”

Indianna knew that voice.

“Oh, it’s lovely she’s making friends. She is very shy,” Indianna’s mum said, and suddenly, she stopped talking.

“Is there a problem, Mrs. Hughs?”

“What is your name?”

“Greyson Evans.”

Indianna could imagine the smirk on his face when he said this. Apparently, Greyson was royalty in this town.

Indianna’s mum gasped, and she heard a thud.

“That wasn’t very polite, Mrs. Hughs. My foot now hurts.”

“Get out.”

For once, Indianna agreed with what her mum said. She didn’t want to see Greyson right now. The fact that his voice and the voice in her head sounded so similar was making her head hurt even more.

“Mrs. Hughs, you should really be more polite to guests.”

Indianna groaned when his voice got closer, and she pretended to be asleep on the couch.

“You’ve seen her. She’s asleep. You may go,” Indianna’s mum snapped, but Greyson only chuckled.

“Let’s talk, Iris.”

Indianna heard Greyson sit down on the sofa and frowned. How did he know her mother’s name?

“What do you want, Greyson?”

“I want an explanation.”

“You’re not getting one.”

“I get what I want,” he said sternly. “The more I understand, the easier it will be for her.”

“I can deal with her knowing when the time comes.”

“Which will be very soon, Iris. She didn’t randomly just get the flu. It’s time.”

“But that’s impossible!” her mother gasped.

“No, it’s not.”

“But she’s sixteen!”

“I am aware of that.”

“Then you know she has time—”

“She doesn’t.”

“Yes, she does!”

“Do not raise your voice at me, Iris,” Greyson warned, and she sighed.

“We shouldn’t have come here.”

“It’s better for her. Did you really think you could help her go through this just by yourself?”

“Yes. I did.”

“Then you are stupid,” Greyson said casually, and Indianna’s mother gasped. “You are a fool if you believed you could help her.”

“How dare you—”

“How dare you?!” Greyson snapped. “You come onto my land with her and expect us not to bother you? It’s my duty to look after our own, pack or not. The moment you crossed the border into this town, you signed her over to us. You can’t get her through this. She belongs with us.”

“W-what? No! H-how?”

“You two belong to no one. She needs a pack, and you happened to move to a town where there is a very powerful one. Mine. I can choose who I want in my pack, and when the time comes, she will join mine. You have no say in the matter, Iris.”

“You can’t do that! She’s my daughter!”

“And?”

“We’re leaving. You won’t have to worry about us.”

When she said this, Greyson laughed.

“Iris, if you try and leave this town, you will never see her again.”

“You’re evil!”

“No, I’m just trying to look out for her. I’m being nice and giving you time with her, but she’s going to find it hard once the time comes. You won’t see her as often.”

“You can’t do this!”

“Do not push my boundaries, Iris. You know who I am, so you know that I’m not always this nice. Accept the time I’m giving you with her.”

“She’s scarred,” her mother whispered.

“Her wrist.”

“Not just physically. Mentally. I’m guessing because you know who I am, you are aware of what happened to us?”

“Yes.”

“The attack changed her. She used to be so full of life. She was confident and was so bubbly and friendly with everyone. She may have been little, but she had such a big personality. When the attack happened... she became a shell of who she was. I lost my daughter that day, Greyson. She’s not good with new people. You can’t just shove this life onto her.”

“I’ll deal with her. She’ll be fine.”

“She won’t. I’m her mother, and I can’t even get through to her anymore.”

“Trust me, Iris. She’ll be fine with me. I’ll get her through this.”

“Why? What’s got you interested in her?”

Greyson paused for a moment and sighed. “You know.”

Indianna stirred, and she felt both Greyson’s and her mother’s eyes on her.

“She’s waking up,” her mother said, and Indianna opened her eyes, looking straight at Greyson, who was leaning back in a chair with his foot resting on his knee.

“W-what are you doing here?” she asked, sitting up on the sofa.

“I came to see how you were. You didn’t look well earlier.”

“I’m fine.”

“I think that’s a lie,” he said with a smirk.

“Greyson, you’ve seen her. You can go now,” Indianna’s mother said, and Greyson raised his eyebrows at her almost warningly.

“I hope you feel better, Indie,” he said and stood up, staring directly at Indianna. “See you soon.”

He walked out of the house, and when Indianna heard the front door shut, she sighed and laid back down on the sofa.

“He’s your friend?”

“No,” Indianna looked at her mum with a blank expression. “He’s not.”

“Then why would he check up on you?”

“He beat a guy up today in front of me, and he must have felt bad,” Indianna shrugged.

“Beat a guy up?” her mother gasped. “Why?”

“The guy was bothering me. I didn’t ask him to do it, but he just beat the crap out of him.”

“Stay away from him, Indianna.”

“Since when did you care about me, Mother?” Indianna snapped, and her mother sighed, running her fingers through her blonde hair. Indianna got her tanned skin and dark hair from her father. She had no resemblance to her mother apart from her vibrant green eyes.

“I do care about you, Indianna,” her mother said. “You just don’t pay enough attention to me to realise.”

“Well, I’m sorry.”

Indianna stood up and walked over to the stairs. She looked back at her mother and narrowed her eyes.

“I was never a mummy’s girl.”

She sighed and made her way up the stairs. She walked into her room and went and sat on the windowsill, opening the window wide so she could try and cool down. She leaned her head back and fanned herself with her hands. All she wanted to do was sleep, but the conversation she overheard was keeping her awake.

How did Greyson know her mum? And how did her mum know Greyson? And what was she going to find out? Why were secrets being kept from her?

She groaned and closed her eyes. She tried to clear her mind, but the pushing feeling appeared, and she rolled her eyes.

‘What do you want?’

‘That’s not a very nice greeting, sugar.’

‘I’m not in the mood.’

‘Well, I was going to supply you with some answers, but seeing you’re like this, I think I’ll leave it.’

‘No! What were you going to tell me?’

‘It can wait.’

‘Tell me!’

‘Why should I, sugar?’

‘Because I deserve to know something! Anything! Even my mum is keeping secrets from me!’

‘I didn’t think you were really asleep.’