Chapter 20 020
Chapter 20
Thalia’s POV
I’m finally about to find out. Some might say that I am naive and foolish—that the results of those tests are already known before even confirming them. But I wanted to believe that what I heard was real; that all he had been doing for Shelly was a misplaced level of chivalry for a friend he believed was helpless.
I wanted to still see that boy who held my hand under a starless sky, covered only by the glow of a full moon, and promised to love me for the rest of our lives. We were meant to be there for all the challenges that life would throw at us, through thick and thin. Sure, what we had has never been perfect. From day one, we stepped on each other's toes more times than I could count. But no matter how heated our arguments got, we would always find each other in one another's embrace once more. There had never been a third party—just us, working through our troubles one argument at a time.
So maybe I was being naive. But was I really so awful to believe that the love I’ve had since I was a teenager would survive this, too?
Gale was in the hospital cafeteria. He had sent another text asking me to meet him there. He had seen me in the waiting room and came here to do the test—the Alpha gene test. Anyone with even a trace of Alpha blood would show up on that test. Varian’s lineage went back past a hundred years, so his test was bound to show a higher percentage of Alpha blood for his children. I should know that because after I had my twins, one of the first things my in-laws had me do was this test, not stopping for a second to even ask if I was half-alive. The results came out and, in my eyes, they were perfectly fine; but to my in-laws, there was "much to be desired," as they framed it.
After arriving at the pack hospital cafeteria, I had to swivel my eyes around for a bit before spotting Gale. A second later, I was sitting across from him.
"Don't ask me how I got the samples for the test," he said before we could even really begin our conversation. I knew that Gale had some unconventional methods of doing his job, but as long as ultimately nobody was hurt and I sought the answers I was looking for, then I was going to choose to look the other way.
He presented the results—a thick white envelope, small enough to fit between my fingers. I pulled it under my chin, staring down at it, my fingers shaking. Suddenly, this simple white envelope carried so much weight. It would decide between two very different extremes. One: I was a paranoid, selfish mate who had made a mountain out of a molehill. And if my suspicions were wrong, then...
Gale was constantly shifting in his chair, some of his impatience spilling over to me until I finally tore the envelope open, as ready as anyone else could be to receive the blow that may or may not be coming.
And there it was, written in cold black ink that made my heart drop and my whole world shake at its very foundation, crumbling into bits: 57% Alpha gene detected.
Perhaps I could collapse right here on the floor and just give up. This can't be... I... I...
"Gale, is this test real?" I asked him, fingers still shaking as though they had been taken outside without gloves on a winter day.
He nodded affirmatively. "Of course it's real. I wouldn't lie about something as serious as this, especially when the child is born and it can be 100% verified. So why would I lie about it at all?"
He was talking, but the tears were already beginning to pool in my eyes. It was enough, but not so much that I could not see that bold "57%" every time I looked down. I tossed the worthless test on the table.
"If you're not lying to me, then something else is wrong," I said to him, standing up so quickly that the chair behind me was almost knocked down. "Varian might not be the perfect husband, but he would never do something like this to me. I just know that he would never hurt me like this..."
I didn't know if I was trying to convince Gale or myself. He tried to place a reassuring, calming hand on my shoulder, but I pushed him away, gritting my teeth. "Enough! I don't want you to touch me. I just know that one way or another, you must have fabricated these results and..."
"Thalia," my mother called from behind.
I spun around. She must have returned after taking care of whatever pressing issue she had to deal with this morning. She shared a look between Gale and me, her fingers constantly folding and unfolding.
"There is something I need to tell you. It's about what you were just discussing with Gale, I think. Let's just take the talk somewhere else."
Gale excused himself, and my mother took the chair that he had previously occupied, a grim look on her face. "Thalia, before I tell you anything, promise me that you are going to forgive me. I didn't tell you all this earlier because I thought it was just my imagination. At least, I was hoping that it would turn out to be nothing more than my imagination... but here we are." She spread out her arms over the table in a helpless gesture. "I'm guessing you asked Gale to do some digging, didn't you?"
I sighed. "I did. But it was just a waste of time. The Alpha blood test results..."
"I think they're right," she murmured quietly. "...I think... they're... right."