Chapter 201


    E


    I’m staring at Sinir in utter shock, wishing I could unhear the words that just came out of his mouth.


    You’re saying that my father is King Xavier?” I gape, all the joy from thest hour slipping away.


    The King who died without an heir and led to your father’s campaign against Damon’s? The one who


    k!lled your mother?”


    (We don’t know for sure that he k!lled my mother.”


    Sinir soothes, “And even if he did, it’s not as though that changes anything.”


    “It means that my father is a murderer – a dead murderer!” I cry, feeling my stomach rise into my throat.


    It means he ruled over the city where I grew up in terrible conditions and never… never did anything to


    make sure I was alright.”


    It hadn’t even urred to me that the Goddess’s tale essentially made me a Princess. I’dtched onto


    the fact that my parents wanted me and glossed over everything else she said- like the fact that my


    father was a King and that I was chosen to unite humans and wolves. Now that I remember it feels like


    the entire world is crashing down around me. Baby, we don’t have all the answers yet.” Sinir quickly


    gathers me back into his arms, sensing my quickly fraying nerves. “This was only your third session


    and for all we know, your parents never knew where you ended up. Servants of the goddess might


    have taken you and given you to the orphanage, just like they handled binding your wolf and…


    whatever the incident in the forest was about.”


    But he’s dead.” I repeat, hating that this fact bothers me more than the rest. “I always thought that if I


    found my parents I’d get to meet them… and now I never can.”


    “Xavier is dead.” Sinir confirms, turning my face up to his. “But your mother lives, E. Queen Reina


    left Moon Valley after Xavier died and thest I heard, she dedicated herself to the Goddess. When this


    is all over we can find her.”


    “Reina?” I murmur realizing I’d never heard the Queen addressed by her name. That’s the surname


    they a.ssigned me at the orphanage. I always went by E Reina. “


    “Maybe that was her gift to you… a clue to find her when the time came.” Sinir suggests.


    “And the Goddess?” I ask, feeling suddenly so overwhelmed with emotion that everything seems numb,


    too convoluted to identify any single feeling from the tangled mass. “She called herself one of my


    parents too… and she knew all of it, she sent those wolves to bind me, like you said.”


    She also said it all happened for a reason.” Sinir reminds me tenderly. “I know it feels like no reason


    could ever be worth such terrible trauma, but she must have thought it was necessary. I can’t believe


    she would have done it otherwise.”


    “So you’re taking her side?” I sniffle, burying my face in his neck.


    Never.’” He retorts, stroking my spine. “From now until eternity, your side is the only one I will ever


    take… and If I evere face to face with that b!tch I’ll punch her right in her beautiful face. We’l just


    see how long she stays prettier than me once I get my hands on her.”


    Property ? of N?velDrama.Org.


    I hup augh, sliding my arms around his neck.?


    Thank you.” I whisper, tilting my face up for a k!ss.


    He doesn’t disappoint me, and we sink down onto the bed together, determined to make the most of


    the time we have left in the dream.


    3rd Person


    Roger was lying in his suite, trying to wrap his brain around the day’s events when a knock sounded at


    his door. He rose and crossed the room, his nose picking up on his new favorite scent, though he could


    scarcely believe it was real.


    But sure enough, when the door swung open, Cora leaned in the doorframe, her dark eyes wide and


    vulnerable. “You still wanna have that drink?”


    “of course,” He ushered her in and took her ord?r, preparing the requested c0cktail without a word –


    waiting for her to take the lead.


    “Don’t turn this into something it’s not,” Cora warned as he handed her the ss. “I’ve just had a really


    long day and I just need to dpress a bit.”


    “Do you want to talk about it?” Roger inquired, certain she would turn down the offer.


    But she surprised him again, “I think I might be a terrible person.” She admitted dolefully.


    “Why do you say that?” Roger asked, fixing his own drink.


    “E thinks if she doesn’t tell me about all the secrets she’s uncovering, then I won’t find out… she


    doesn’t seem realize that she’s a celebrity here.”


    Cora shook her head. “It’s all over the pce already, the long lost daughter of King Xavier, of the


    Goddess herself- however that works.”


    “Okay?” Roger asked, knowing better than to guess what was bothering her.


    “The point is that if anyone deserves to be happy… it’s my sister.” Cora groused, trailing off.


    “But.?” Roger prompted.


    “But we were always each other’s only family.” Cora shared bleakly. “Sure, when we were little, we


    hoped and prayed that our parents woulde for us… that’s a hope that never really goes away. But


    the older we got, we were bonded by the fact that we never knew where we came from and never


    would.


    We chose each other to be our family. And now she might find her real one and I.. I’m angry at her. I’m


    angry that she’s getting answers that I never will.


    “Are you afraid that she won’t need you anymore if she finds them?” Roger inquired gently. “Because


    that’s not going to happen.”


    I wish it were that – that would be easier than the truth.” Cora confessed miserably. “Fear is forgivable.


    Jealousy is just selfish and petty… But I am jealous. It feels like this is just another way that the world


    revolves around E. It was hard enough when she was just my brilliant, beautiful little sister. No matter


    what happened to her, she never fell apart, and even though she was good at everything, she was


    never prideful about it.”


    “I became a doctor, thinking a prestigious job might even the ying field… but she could have been


    one too, she just didn’t want to. She only ever wanted to teach children and have a family. Then I got


    the job at the s.perm bank and learned this h.uge secret about the world, I was doing science unlike


    anything I could have hoped for and I didn’t mind keeping the secret about shifters because I felt


    special for the first time in my life.” Cora revealed, her eyes shining. “Then E turns out to be a wolf.


    And now.. she’s an actual princess, a gift from the Goddess.


    Roger sighed, understanding only too well. “You know, sometimes I find that when I have a horrible,


    unconscionable thought. Something so terrible that it shames me to my core, that sometimes saying it


    out loud can help, because then at least I can acknowledge it and let it go.”


    Cora nodded slowly. “It’s wrong and cruel of me to feel this way, after everything she did for me, after


    everything she’s been through. I know that… But,” Cora professed, taking a deep breath. E shouldn’t


    get to find her family too… I want to win, just once.”


    Roger watches as she buries her face in her hands. Why can’t I figure out how to define myself outside


    of her? This is my life, not hers, so why does our rtionship have so much power over me? Why can’t


    I figure out how to be my own person?


    “If anyone understands that, it’s me.” Roger assured her, resting a gentle hand on her shoulder.


    Hell, I plotted against my brother with his enemy, I actually helped attack his mate -?


    Wait, what?” Cora interrupted. “Are you talking about Lydia, or E?”


    “Why, E. That night behind the club.” Roger paled as he realized his mistake, “I thought you knew.”


    “No.” Cora hissed mming her drink down. “I did not. Exin – right now.”