Chapter Sixteen

“Wait, what? What does she mean by mating?” Lucy asks out loud.

“Slept with,” Gabi answered.

“She slept with two men in the same night?”

This caught Renn’s attention immediately.

“What did she just say?”

“Um, I’m not quite sure, but it seems that our mother had mated with more than one male that night,” Gabi says with hesitation.

Renn runs his hand through his hair as he turns away and looks outside.

What does this mean?

“Let’s just continue reading the journal. I guess there is no sense now just reading it to ourselves,” Gabi says.

Dear Moon,

It’s confirmed I’m pregnant. Oh, Moon, what am I going to do. I can’t stay here. I am not even sure if the baby will be human or werewolf. I can only imagine the worst if Dyrk finds out about the baby. He’s away with the Alpha right now. This may be my only opportunity to get away. I still have not told Mother yet, but I know she senses something is going on.

“So, wait, she was pregnant, and she’s not sure if the baby was human or werewolf because…?”

“She mated with Dyrk and a human that same night. Plus, we found out that our mother’s father was human,” Lucy answers with enthusiasm.

Renn throws his arms up. “Of course, he was. No wonder Dyrk put all those laws into place all those years ago.”

Gabi winces as Renn continues to pace. How could Lucy have the wolf gene and she have the human gene? It just doesn’t make sense.

“Keep going,” Eve says, intrigued by the story.

Dear Moon,

I went to go see Oka today, and she knew I was pregnant! I don’t know how but she did before I even walked through her door. Crazy old woman. She told me that I needed to be careful because bad things were coming, and I needed to do what was best for the baby. I asked her for more insight, but she said she couldn’t help me any further, and this was my journey I had to take on my own. I spoke with my mother and told her everything. She helped me pack up and took me to my birth father’s house. I’m scared that this will be the last time I see my mother.

“What ever happened to our grandmother?” Lucy asks Gabi.

Gabi looks at Renn, and he shrugs before turning back to Lucy and answering, “I honestly don’t know. This is the first time I have ever heard about her.”

Lucy nods and picks up where Gabi left off.

Dear Moon,

My birth father is a sweet, kind, and patient man. He has been very helpful throughout the pregnancy. He took me to a place where they had what he called an “OBGYN.” Normally, in the clan, the elders or midwives helped with pregnancies. But the “OBGYN” had some machine, and he was able to look into my stomach and saw twins! I can’t believe I’m having twins. I then had to ask the most humiliating and awkward question ever. If there was a way to determine who the father was. He explained as he showed me that there are two separate eggs meaning the babies are fraternal and not identical. He said that there are very rare occurrences where a woman could be impregnated by two separate men. But he said this could only happen if I had mated with two men within the time of a few days.

“Okay, wait, does that mean the girls could have two different fathers?” Renn asks.

He is trying really hard to make sense of all this. Gabi is trying to do the same thing in her head as well. Does this mean that Dyrk was never her father and Renn might not be her uncle? But if that’s the case, then who is her real father?

Lucy pulls out her phone and does a search on the web about babies having separate fathers.

“Yep, it can happen. It’s called heteropaternal superfecundation. Super rare but can happen with fraternal twins. So that could be why we are not identical,” Lucy says.

Gabi nods as she takes everything in. Lucy was upstairs already so that means she was most likely born first. And according to her mother’s journal, she mated with Dyrk before the other man, which is probably how Lucy got the werewolf gene. But it’s weird. If she can’t transition into a werewolf, then how can she hear and understand them when they are in their wolf form? She grabs the journal from Lucy and keeps looking through the pages, trying to find any other clue or meaning to all this. With frustration, she throws the journal across the room and screams.

Renn moves over to her immediately and wraps his arms around her as she tries to fight him, but she is unable to push him away and finally collapses into his arms and cries.

Lucy, still sitting on the couch, looks over to the two people she has called Mom and Dad for as long as she can remember.

She asks quietly, “So, what does this make us exactly?”

Steven and Eve both look at each other for a moment before getting up and sitting down on the couch, putting Lucy in the middle of them. Lucy, being uncertain of the outcome, leans back a little so that she can see both of them.

“We considered you our own the second we put you into our arms, and nothing is going to change that, Lucy,” Eve says as she tucks a hair behind her daughter’s ear.

Lucy lets out a sigh when she hears this but then starts to frown before asking, “What about the Luminars?”

“Well, we may need to do some research on that. For as long as we can remember, we have been told that all werewolves were evil and needed to be killed. But I have raised you and I know with all my heart that you, Lucy, are not evil. And that boy tried to save you when he thought we were going to hurt you and protected us from those other wolves. So obviously, there has been some kind of broken-down communication over the years,” Steven says to Lucy.

“Well, I know that’s a definite fact for our clan as well as in regard to humans. We were always told that all humans want to do is kill wolves. And they will stop at nothing to finish us off,” Gabi explains.

“I guess both sides have been fed wrong information over the years,” Eve says.

Excited, Lucy jumps up and says, “I think this calls for a trip to Una’s.”

“What’s Una’s?” Gabi asks.

“Oh, it’s not a what but a who. She is keeper of the ancient scrolls,” she explains.

“What about the dum dums downstairs?” Renn says as he points towards the kitchen.

“We could call some Luminars to take care of them once we leave,” Steven offers.

Gabi turns to them. “I think I have an idea. Can I see the keys?”

Steven looks at her with hesitation but then hands the keys over to her. Gabi turns and starts to make her way back down to the basement. Dane and Carl have transitioned back into their human form as Baine continues to stay in wolf form, pacing and waiting.

Renn stays close to Gabi so he can pull her away if Baine tries anything.

“Having fun?” Gabi asks.

“Get away from me. I don’t talk to humans.” Baines growls out.

“Hmm, yet I can still hear your annoying voice,” she responds.

“When we get out of here, I can’t wait to tell Dyrk that his daughter is a fraud and not really his.”

Gabi loses her smile.

“That’s right. Did you forget about a wolf’s hearing?” He laughs.

Gabi starts to shake her head. “No, I didn’t forget. I knew there was a chance that you could hear anything. But here’s the real funny thing. You’re still stuck in the cage, and we have the keys, and they’re calling the Luminars to let them know there are three wolves in their basement. But I tell you what? I’m going to place the keys down right here on the last step; hopefully, that will give you enough of a chance to break out and not get killed by the Luminars.” She drops the keys on the last step just like she told them and starts making her way back up the stairs.

“You think this is the last of us? Oh no, Gabi. I’ll be there when Dyrk squeezes the life out of your eyes for your betrayal. You are a dead girl. You hear me? DEAD!”