Chapter 40

Rowena

I ran.

I ran so fast that the cold wind hitting my cheeks caused my tears to blow back across my face, into my hair. I ran so fast that I lost all of the breath from my lungs. I ran so fast that my knees felt weak and my feet stung from slapping against the pavement.

And it still didn’t feel fast enough.

Eric’s calls after me had long since faded, and I still hadn’t stopped. Even as the warriors’ village faded into the distance and all that was around me were the towering trees and the sounds of the night time creatures, I refused to stop.

No, I had to keep running. Because maybe, if I ran fast and far enough, it wouldn’t be true.

Eric was my mate.

Or at least, that was what he had said. I could still hear his voice in my ears when he had uttered those words.

“You are my mate!” he had said.

We had both stood there in stunned silence after he had said those words, and at first, I couldn’t help but laugh. In fact, I laughed so hard that I doubled over, clutching my stomach as stitches formed in my sides.

“You?” I had managed in between fits of laughter. “That’s impossible! You’re my brother!”

“Look at me, Rowena.”

Eric’s voice had been strong and clear, and when my laughter finally faded and I raised my gaze to meet him, his clear blue eyes were nothing if not serious.

“You’re my mate,” he had said. “You’re my mate, Rowena. It’s always been you, all this time.”

I searched his eyes for some hint of humor, for some joke hiding beneath the surface, but I had found none. And so, I ran.

Finally, my legs couldn’t keep up anymore, and my lungs felt as if they were about to burst. I slowed to a reluctant jog, a walk, and then finally stopped. For a few moments I just stood there alongside the road, doubled over with my hands on my knees as I tried to catch my breath and wrap my head around what had just happened.

This had to be another one of Eric’s pranks. In fact, I was convinced that it was.

It was impossible for us to be mates; we were brother and sister. Either he was sorely mistaken and messed up in the head, or he was messing with me. And right now, I was leaning toward the latter.

Eric had always been a bit of a prankster, after all. Even as kids, he always teased me and prodded me, pushing my buttons until I finally snapped.

This was just like that. He knew how desperate I was to finally be seen by my crush and to be treated like a lover rather than the wolfless freak who no one liked, and he thought it would be ‘funny’ to take advantage of that.

“God, you haven’t changed, have you?” I whispered, straightening and wiping the now-cold tears from my cheeks with my sleeve. “Just like you were when we were kids…”

I shook my head and kept walking, rubbing my arms to keep myself warm. The trees overhead rustled with the breeze, and the amber street lights lit my path. On any normal night, it would have been comforting and serene.

But tonight, those sensations felt miles away.

Shuddering, I shoved my hands into my pockets as I continued to walk down the sidewalk. I muttered curses under my breath, shaking my head.

“Dammit,” I murmured. “Asshole…”

My hand touched something in my pocket then; something that I hadn’t realized I was holding onto. Something metallic with leather attached to it.

As I pulled Eric’s discarded talisman out of my pocket, just seeing it in the dim light made my anger boil back over. All of this over a talisman? A trinket? If only he had kept his pride under control, then maybe none of this would have happened tonight.

But no. Eric always had to be on top, number one in everything: in being a warrior, apparently in being my lover, and even when it came to stupid necklaces.

I didn’t hesitate. With a grunt, I hurled the talisman into the treeline. Its small sapphire momentarily caught the light, flashing as it flew through the air.

And then it was gone, and for some reason, I didn’t feel all that much better.

…

By the time I finally slipped back into the house, it was well past midnight and my earlier buzz from the alcohol had long since worn off. I kicked my shoes off with a heavy sigh, just wanting to go to bed and not have to think about anything that had happened tonight.

But before I could make it up the stairs, my parents both came rushing around the corner.

“Rowena?” my mother breathed, rushing toward me and throwing her arms around me as though she hadn’t seen me in weeks. “Where were you, honey? We were worried sick!”

I furrowed my brow. “I was just… out, that’s all,” I said, glancing back and forth at the two of them. It was rare for my parents to be like this, especially my father; they were both trusting of me, and I was past the age of having a curfew.

“Don’t do that to us again,” my father said, folding his arms across his chest. “We really were worried.”

“Geez, alright,” I said with a chuckle. “I’ll text next time. Why are you two all worked up like this, anyway?”

My parents exchanged looks, and for a moment, their body language seemed to stiffen. But then, like clockwork, my mother smiled and pressed a warm kiss into my cheek.

“It’s just late, that’s all,” she said.

“Mhm. Alright,” I replied. “I’m going to…”

As I turned to head back up the stairs, though, I saw something: a shadow. Eric. I saw him slip back around the corner, silently, as though he had been watching. I narrowed my eyes, wanting to say something, but then decided better of it.

“...Bed,” I finished, flashing my parents a curt smile. “I’m going to bed.”

“Goodnight, honey,” my dad said. “Oh, and clean yourself up. You look like you just ran ten miles.”

…

The sensation of my warm sheets against my skin, after a long and hot shower, was a relief. Finally I was home, in my bed, with… whatever had happened tonight finally behind me.

I sighed as a new text slid in from Adrian.

“Oh,” it said. “Well, I missed you. Sorry to hear you got sick.”

“See you another time?” I typed out—but then I quickly deleted it, and simply replied: “Thanks.” Then, shutting off my phone and tossing it aside, I rolled over.

I had told Adrian that I got sick and had to go home—food poisoning. Of course that couldn’t have been further from the truth, but what was I supposed to tell him? That my brother had made out with me in the closet, that he had confessed to being my mate?

No. The evil prank that Eric played on me tonight could never be revealed to anyone, not even to our parents. I was taking tonight to the grave with me. And tomorrow? Well, tomorrow, Eric would get an ultimatum: stop with the bullshit, or we’re not siblings anymore.

“What if you weren’t my sister?” he had asked. “What then? Would you want to kiss me then?”

I shuddered at the thought of those words he had said earlier. Admittedly, for a moment, it had crossed my mind; but only for a moment.

Eric and I were siblings. Aside from a few different physical features, there was no denying it.

As I laid there in the dark room, a shadow passed beneath the door. I watched as it paused, lingering outside my doorway, and I knew immediately that it was him. And no matter how much I wanted to deny it, a part of me wanted to call out to him.

But I didn’t.