CHAPTER 66: CHAPTER 66

Maria’s POV

A voice rang out from the crowd. "Is the coronation of a new alpha still ongoing, or should we all go home since the Alpha of the north has ruined everything with his confession of betrayal."

"Yes." Sasha responded and stepped forward. "My alpha coronation will continue."

She turned towards my parents. "Father, mother, shall we resume?"

"The coronation is suspended for now. There are more pending problems in our pack." Father climbed the podium and addressed everyone. "You may all leave." He said authoritatively.

As the people dispersed to their various places, I noticed Sasha staring hard at me. It was obvious she was upset, and if looks could kill, I’d have been dead by now.

"See what you’ve caused." She pointed an accusatory finger at me. "Why didn’t you just die and leave me alone? Why do you always spoil and interrupt anything meant for me? Haven’t you done enough?"

I narrowed my eyes in mild confusion. For all I knew, she was the one who had always spoiled things for me. Yes, I interrupted her coronation, but I was passing vital information.

She cast furious glances at my parents. "Maybe it’s high time you tell her the truth." Sasha didn’t wait for them to respond to her statement before storming into the packhouse.

"What’s wrong with her?" I heard my wolf whisper to me.

I nearly tripped over from excitement. Aria wasn’t a glowing spirit wolf by my side. I heard her voice in my head. It meant that I had gotten my lost wolf back.

This also increased the chances of me taking back my alpha position.

"I can’t believe you actually saw all these things. You’re a seer," Mother cut through.

"I am, and I never ran mad like you said seers did, or like your sister did."

"Maybe I was mistaken, but this forger, he doesn’t sound easy to defeat. Maybe we should leave him with the women he captured."

"Mother? How could you say such a thing when you’re the Luna of the pack? You should be more worried about your people than anybody else would." I had to stare at my mother in disbelief. I knew she was irrational at times, but this particular advice of hers was way more absurd than all the marriage advices she gave.

"I know, Maria, but the forger is very dangerous and even if our entire pack goes to war against him, we would never win." Her voice was a bit low this time. Father had gone inside the packhouse, and Triton stood at a far corner, staring directly at the moon.

However, something clicked in me. Mother sounded like she knew the forger.

I furrowed my brows. "How do you know that he is dangerous? How are you sure that if we go to war with him, we would never win?"

Mother moved her limbs in a way that looked like she was shrugging her shoulders.

"I know, because I saw and I’ve been a seer just like you."

My eyes widened in disbelief. I opened my mouth to say something, but it seemed like the right words refused to form.

"You’re a seer?" I finally managed to stutter.

She nodded her head without saying a word.

"Then, why were you telling me that being a seer drives people mad, you look perfectly normal."

Mother took a deep breath.

"I’m not your mother. It’s time that you finally know the truth. Sasha is not your stepsister, but is my real child, you’re the one who is adopted— you’re my sister’s child."

Just like before, I lacked the words. This felt too much for me to handle. If I wasn’t their child all along, then why did they treat me as their biological child, while Sasha was said to be adopted.

I stammered. "I don’t understand."

"I’ve been sacrificing everything for you." I heard Sasha’s voice from behind.

Had she been listening to us the entire while?

"I sacrificed my identity, my position in my own parents’ home, and even my alpha position. I’m the true leader of this pack and not you, Maria. You should stop stealing things from me.

"Sasha, please calm down. You shouldn’t say all that to her," Mother reached out to touch her, but Sasha jerked away.

"I’m done with the sacrifices. I don’t care what promises you made to her mother, but my life isn’t second to hers anymore." Sasha folded her arms across her chest when she was done.

I looked at Mother whose face was shadowed with desperation. I glanced back at Sasha whose expression reeked of nothing other than anger.

"Sasha, you have to understand," Mother said, placing her hand on Sasha’s shoulders and she didn’t jerk off this time. "I made a promise to my late sister that..."

"A promise that you’d swap my future with her own child. Both you and your sister are selfish beings." Sasha spat with a voice full of venom.

"You know what?" She bellowed with her voice even louder. "Maria can have everything that belongs to me. She can have my life, she can even take my alpha position. I don’t care anymore if you put her first."

Without waiting for a response, Sasha stormed back inside and I heard the door slam heavily as she entered.

Mother followed her, leaving me standing alone under the faint moonlight. I lacked how to express how I felt at the moment. Even my wolf was quiet and couldn’t offer any thoughts or words.

It was like I had been living a lie my entire life. The woman I had known as my mother my entire life wasn’t truly my mother, and that means that even my father wasn’t my real father.

Who was I? What were the circumstances surrounding the loss of my parents? I felt like there was still some information about me that I didn’t know.

I grappled with this reality that had just been revealed to me. It was a lot to take in.

Triton walked over to me from where he stood.

"I heard everything that happened. You don’t have to worry about it too much. Just know the reason you came back— to help your people from the forger."

"No," I said in a shaky voice. "Part of my reason for coming here was to claim an alpha position that never belonged to me. I don’t know how to feel."

I turned to look at him, and his gaze was fixed on me the entire while. I actually didn’t know how to feel. A couple of emotions that I couldn’t name were running through me.

I swallowed hard and stared at my father as he walked towards me from inside.

He took a deep breath before addressing me. "Your mother told me that she has revealed the truth to you."

"I don’t know what fate is left for me, but don’t take anything else away from Sasha for my sake. Give her everything that belongs to her, even the power to rule Veilwood."

Father didn’t say anything in response. His hand was clasped behind his back and he cast weary looks at me and Triton.

"I had also been betrayed by two people." My father confessed. "An alpha named Triton knew about the cause of the disappearances and chose to lie." He let out a dry laugh. I knew nothing was funny, he was just disappointed.

"And a wife who I shared all secrets with had the blessings of seeing and could see all what the forger was doing, but she chose to lie. How many more people can lie to me?" He shouted at the top of his voice.

"I don’t even care about what you did anymore," He addressed Triton. "The betrayal from my mate stings harder."

Father was about to leave when Triton hurried to his front and fell on his knees in front of him.

"I know I have betrayed you, but please, trust me one more time. I would dedicate my life to defeating the forger."

Father’s expression remained stoic and his hands were still clasped at his back. He sucked in a deep breath and walked away from Triton without saying a word. He disappeared into the packhouse, leaving Triton still kneeling.

I wondered if that was an acceptance of Triton’s apology or just plain ignoring, or maybe he didn’t care about his people anymore. No, Father wasn’t like that. He wouldn’t abandon his people because of betrayal from random people. I was sure that he would still fight to defeat the forger.

I stretched my hand towards Triton and helped him to his feet.

He dusted off the sand from the knee region of his loose pants. His gaze was still directed towards the entrance of the packhouse where father had walked into.

"Do you think he has forgiven me?" He asked as he tore his gaze away from the door and faced me.

I shrugged my shoulders. I didn’t have an answer to that, but I had a question and I had to ask it now.

"Tell me Triton, what did the forger promise you?"