Chapter 31: Chapter Thirty-One: Memories We Hold
Sophie's POV
Marcus was waiting at the front door when we pulled up, his tall frame silhouetted against the warm lights of the mansion. My fingers tightened around James's photo album as the car came to a stop. Even after the chaos at my father's house, seeing Marcus still made my stomach do that annoying flip thing.
"How was the family dinner, little wolf?" His lips curved into that infuriating smirk as I exited the car. "Judging by your face, I'm guessing not a Hallmark moment?"
"Why didn't you tell me he was married?" I glared at him, clutching the album closer to my chest. "Or that I had siblings?"
"Some things," he said, stepping closer until I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact, "are better discovered on your own."
"Discovered?" I let out a harsh laugh. "You mean like discovering my psychotic stepmother thinks I'm trying to steal her children's inheritance?"
Something flickered in his eyes - interest maybe? Or calculation? With Marcus, it was always hard to tell. "Is that what she said?"
"Among other things." I couldn't keep the bitterness from my voice as I recalled Katherine's rage, the hatred in Elizabeth's eyes. "Apparently he is planning to make me his heir. His defective half-breed daughter gets to be Alpha. Isn't that fucking hilarious?"
"Watch your tone." His voice dropped lower, a warning. But I was too emotionally exhausted to care.
"Whatever. I'm going to my room."
I brushed past him, his words followed me up the stairs.
"Dinner's in an hour. Try not to work yourself up into another tantrum before then."
The stairs felt like a mountain climb, my legs heavy with the weight of everything that had happened. Once in my room, I collapsed onto the bed and finally opened the album James had given me.
The first photo knocked the breath from my lungs - my parents on their wedding day. My mother was stunning in a vintage lace dress, her dark brown hair cascading in waves that I'd inherited. But it was their expressions that made my chest ache. My father gazed at her like she hung the moon, his smile more genuine than any expression I'd seen on his face since meeting him. They looked so young, so stupidly in love.
I traced my mother's face with trembling fingers. The same high cheekbones I saw in the mirror every morning, the same full lips. But her eyes held a warmth, a vitality that made my throat tight. This was the woman who gave birth to me, and I couldn't even remember her face.
More photos followed - casual moments caught in time. My father actually laughing, spun my mother around their garden. The two of them curled up reading together, my mother's feet in his lap. Then the ones that really got me - my mother heavily pregnant, my father's hand protectively cradling her belly. The love in his eyes made my vision blur.
But it was the last photo that broke me. The three of us together, a proper family. My mother holding infant-me while my father embraced them both from behind. The way he looked at us... like we were his whole world. What the fuck happened to that man? How did we go from this perfect snapshot to him abandoning us?
"Your mother was beautiful."
I startled at Victoria's voice, hastily wiping my eyes. I hadn't even heard her come in. She sat beside me on the bed, her expression gentler than I'd ever seen it.
"I saw her once, when I was very young." Victoria's fingers ghosted over the wedding photo. "The Pack was... not kind about your father choosing a human mate. But your mother..." She paused, something complicated passing over her face. "She carried herself with such grace. Such kindness, even to those who scorned her."
"You knew her?" My voice cracked embarrassingly.
"I... heard stories." Victoria caught herself, an odd hesitation in her tone. "Everyone said she was special. The way she'd greet each Pack member by name, remember their children's birthdays." Her hand unconsciously touched her necklace. "Even the ones who opposed the marriage couldn't help respecting her in the end."
"Then why did he leave us?" The question burst out before I could stop it.
Victoria's eyes held something I couldn't quite read. "Your father defied everyone to marry her. The old blood families, the Pack elders - they all said a human mate would weaken the bloodline. But he didn't care." She smiled sadly. "That kind of love... it's rare in our world. The kind worth fighting for."
She trailed off, her eyes distant. "Well, some of us can only hope to find something similar...".
Something in her voice made me really look at her - not as Marcus's mistress or my reluctant ally, but as a woman carrying her own burdens. Like she wasn't only talking about finding love, but maybe... Before I could puzzle it out, she blinked and the moment passed.
"I have no real memories of her," I admitted, fresh tears spilling despite my efforts to hold them back. "Just... feelings sometimes. Like when I smell lavender, or hear certain songs..."
Victoria wrapped an arm around my shoulders, and I found myself leaning into her warmth. "She would be so proud of you, little Soph." She caught herself, as if the nickname had slipped out unintentionally.
The door banged open before I could process that, making us both jump. Marcus stood in the doorway, his expression darkening as he took in my tear-streaked face.
"Enough of this weakness." His voice could have frozen hell. "Clean yourself up and come down for dinner."
"Marcus," Victoria started, but he cut her off with a look.
"Now, Sophie."
I tried to swallow back the tears, but they kept coming. Something about seeing those happy family photos, hearing about my mother's strength... it was too much.
"Let her feel what she needs to feel," Victoria interjected softly. "She just learned-"
"I said enough!" Marcus's hand slammed against the doorframe, making me flinch. The rage in his eyes when he looked at my tears sent a chill down my spine. Without another word again, he spun and stormed out, the door crashing shut behind him hard enough to rattle the walls.