Blake’s voice echoed in her ears, “You know you shouldn’t be out here.” He sat down next to her on the porch, a steaming mug of hot cocoa in his hand. “Especially not without hot cocoa,” he added, offering her the mug.
Kiara glanced at the mug but didn’t take it. Instead, she turned her gaze back to the forest.
Blake’s smile faded as he placed the mug between them and sighed. “How are you feeling?”
“Don’t start with that shit, Blake,” Kiara snapped back at him. “Start talking.”
A muscle in Blake’s jaw twitched as he met her hard gaze. He then turned his attention back to the forest. He knew he had to explain everything to her. He had been dreading this moment since he brought her here, but he owed her an explanation. Now that Artemis had given him the go-ahead, he had no other choice.
“I became a rogue the moment I was born,” he began.
Kiara sighed in irritation. “I don’t care—”
“I will explain everything to you, but you need to know this,” Blake interrupted. Kiara held his gaze for a moment before finally relenting and nodding for him to continue.
“My mother was on the run from ferals when the stress sent her into labor. She stumbled into rogue territory and collapsed, forced to give birth on the forest floor. The rogues who initially came for my mother quickly realized what was happening and defended her.
“One rogue female helped my mother deliver me and my brother. My brother was born first, healthy and strong. But when I was born, I was quiet, my heartbeat weak. My mother and the rogue female knew I wouldn’t survive without immediate medical attention.
“As I was dying, my mother held me and cried. Then more ferals attacked. The rogues couldn’t hold them off much longer, and a decision had to be made.
“My mother and brother were taken to safety, while my mother handed me over to the rogue female, asking her to cremate me so I could go to the Eternal Lands. It broke her heart to leave me behind, but there was no other choice.
“The rogues took my mother and brother far away, while the rogue female took me in a different direction. When she was finally safe, she started to build a small pyre. But then a female appeared out of nowhere, telling her that it wasn’t my time yet.
“Suddenly, I started crying, and my heartbeat grew stronger. The female took me to her pack and waited for the others to return so they could reunite me with my family. But they never came back.
“The female searched for years. She was overjoyed when she finally found them. She recognized the scent of my mother and brother and knew who my father was when she saw him. She wanted to tell them about me, but when she saw my father nearly rip my brother’s arm off, she was horrified.”
Kiara paled as she continued to stare at Blake, who was still looking at the forest. Shock gripped her as she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Blake. It couldn’t be—
“I was thirteen at the time, as was my brother. When she returned, she gave me a choice. I could go back to my family if I wanted to. She wouldn’t keep me from them, no matter how much she loved me.
“But after everything she had told me, I didn’t want to leave. She was the only mother I had ever known, even though I knew who my real mother was. I stayed and grew up to be the Rogue Alpha, helping the outcasts and lost souls like my mother had helped me survive.
“I gave them a place to call home and was content until a wolf from my father’s pack came to me. He had been cast out because his alpha had been overthrown by his son and banished.
“The female who raised me had died about a year before, so I decided to try and make a connection. But it backfired. Before I could explain that I came in peace, I was attacked by the pack and thrown into the cells.
“They already knew that I was the Rogue Alpha they despised and wanted gone. The alpha, my brother, treated me worse than a feral. I thought my brother was just like my father. I decided that I would never tell them who I was.” Blake rubbed his hands together as he looked at them.
“Who would’ve believed me anyway?” he whispered.
He cleared his throat and looked back at the forest, while Kiara never took her gaze off him. She was starting to see the resemblance she had missed whenever she was with both of them. It all made so much sense, and it brought tears to her eyes.
“Because they didn’t want to start a war with the rogues, I was released. They threatened to kill me on sight if I ever returned. Not that they needed to threaten me—I had no intention of going back.
“When I returned to my pack, the male I had taken in from their pack was trying to rape one of our own. I killed him instantly and delivered his body to their border. From that moment, I knew we would never be a family.” Blake dropped his head again and closed his eyes as if he was dreading to say what she was expecting.
“Until a certain non-human girl somehow brought us together and forced us to work with each other.”
A tear rolled down her cheek as Blake finally met her gaze. “W-what is your name?” Her question was barely a whisper, but she needed to hear him say the words she knew to be true.
“Blake Lupine, son of Cora and Alaric Lupine and brother to Dominic Lupine.”
Kiara immediately stood up from the porch and took a few steps away from him. Her body was trembling as everything that had happened with the three of them raced through her mind. The warmth that she had felt was because of this reason.
Because they were twins, whether identical or fraternal, they were more connected than normal siblings. It’s known that twins tend to feel the same pull toward a person who is the mate of one of them. She couldn’t believe this was happening.
Out of everything that had happened or that she could have expected by coming here, this had never crossed her mind. She didn’t know how to handle this. She didn’t know how to react. Not after everything.
“Please say something,” Blake pleaded as he also stood up from the porch.
Kiara shook her head as she tried to comprehend what this meant.
Blake walked toward her and stopped in front of her. “I am so sorry, Ki.”
She couldn’t take this. She couldn’t look at him anymore.
“Artemis was the one who told the rogue female that I was alive, and she has been the one who always kept an eye on me. When your soul was pulled out of your body, Artemis came to me.
“She told me that you needed my help and that you were being watched. She asked me to fulfill my destiny and distract Zeus’s attention away from you and the males around you so he wouldn’t look for your mate until the Blood Moon.
“Everything I did was because of Artemis’s request. Everything I did was to help you. That’s why I was so sure that I was your mate. That’s why I kissed you during the fight with Jamie.”
Blake spoke slowly, but in her mind, it felt like a whirlwind. Yet she understood everything he was saying, even though it felt like she couldn’t breathe.
“If I hadn’t, Zeus would have found out that Dom was your mate, and he would have tried to influence him. Thanks to Artemis and me, he didn’t look at Dom, but at me.
“Alaric soon reached out to me. He told me that Zeus knew I wasn’t your mate, even though he didn’t know who was, but that I was more useful. We feared that he did find out that Dom was your mate, so I agreed to work with him.
“We soon found out what he was planning, and that plan quickly changed into something which highly involved me. They wanted me to kill Dom during the Blood Moon but with the help of Artemis, I was able to convince them to drug you and make it look like you were the reason that I turned against you instead.”
Blake’s eyes were filled with remorse as she finally allowed herself to look at him. More tears rolled down her cheeks.
“I am so sorry I had to put you through all this, but if I hadn’t, things would have gotten far worse. We tried to save as many as we could, but—” He sighed and dropped his head. “I am so sorry, Kiara.”
She didn’t need him to tell her he was sorry. She could see it in his eyes. She knew he was telling the truth.
“My mother?” she asked.
He looked up at the sound of her voice and shook his head. “We didn’t know that Lycaon had succeeded in brainwashing Emma until minutes before the rise of the Blood Moon. It was too late for me to do anything about it by then. I am so sorry.”
Another realization hit her, sending a cold shiver down her spine.
“Cora…”
Blake’s jaw tightened, his gaze darting away from her. “I couldn’t do anything without risking my cover,” he confessed, his voice strained.
He shifted uncomfortably, as if he was physically restraining himself. “I wanted to intervene so badly. I wanted to end him right there. But I just stood there, watching him murder my mother. My mother who had no idea I was even there.” His voice grew harsher with each word.
His raw, unfiltered emotion caused fresh tears to spill down her cheeks, her lip quivering.
Everything he’d done, it was all a performance. He’d endured the same trials she had, the same as everyone else. All because of some preordained fate.
She’d never been more mistaken about someone in her life than she had been about Blake. He wasn’t the villain. He was the hero who’d saved countless lives by playing a role, forced to stand by as his mother was gunned down.
Kiara took a tentative step forward. She reached out, gently turning him to face her. Blake’s head was bowed, his eyes hidden. She placed a hand against his cheek, prompting him to look up and meet her gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting embrace.
His arms instantly enveloped her in return.
“You never betrayed us.”
“And I never will,” Blake vowed, his voice rough as he pulled back to look at her, his hands cradling her face. “Everything I did was for you, and for Dom, the brother I never thought I’d care for.
“The moment Artemis came to me, I knew he was your mate. I knew he was one of the luckiest guys in the world to have you, and I would do anything to ensure you both get the future you deserve. Especially now, with the little one growing inside you.”
Her lip trembled anew at his heartfelt words.
“You brought me to my family and gave me some time with them before everything went to hell. I found myself caring for my twin, something I never thought possible, and I thank you for that.
“You gave me something I thought I didn’t need, and now you and the little one are part of my family too,” Blake said, a small smile playing on his lips as he wiped her tears away with his thumbs.
“I know I messed up. But I still want to help you with the upcoming battles. Whatever it takes.”
His words touched her heart, but he seemed to forget the harsh reality that accompanied them. “Nic will never let you near the pack again.”
“I know, but you both are going to need all the help you can get, and Alaric, Jared, and Emma don’t know that I deceived them.”
Kiara looked into his eyes, seeing the unspoken question she’d already answered but knew she’d have to address again. To reintegrate them into the pack and foster unity.
“This is going to be impossible.”
Blake offered her a melancholy smile. “Such is the story of our lives.”
