Aria’s POV
I sat there, stunned by Mia’s revelation. Giselle, that vile woman who had made my life so miserable, was Mia’s sister? Why was her sister living across the pack, in the less posh side of town?
I couldn’t reconcile the gentle, soft-spoken woman before me with someone related to the cruel, vindictive Giselle. My thoughts were going crazy in my head, but Mia seemed calm like she had already made peace with whatever demons lay in her past.
“Giselle is your sister?” I asked. “That is so hard to believe, Mia.”
“I know it is. It’s something I try not to think about too much.” Mia nodded, a sad smile appearing on her face. “And yes, we share the same father, Alpha Marcus. But we couldn’t be more different.”
I leaned forward, needing to know more. “What happened between you two? Why did she abandon you? Why are you living on this side of town, all alone? I have so many questions.”
Mia took a deep breath as if preparing herself to dive into a painful memory. “Giselle and I were never close, even as children. Our father favored her, showering her with attention and gifts, while I was always the one left behind. It wasn’t that I wanted the same attention. It was just… a little bit of it would have been nice. But from an early age, Giselle learned how to manipulate him, and how to get what she wanted. And what she wanted was everything, excluding me.”
I listened, heart heavy with sympathy. I had always seen Giselle as a heartless woman, but to hear that she had treated her sister so cruelly? It was beyond anything I could have imagined.
“She was prettier, and more liberal with her words, so people catered to her needs. Quiet me would never have gotten the bravery to do something like that. She would whisper lies about me,” Mia continued, her voice soft but steady. “She’d tell our father that I was clumsy, that I broke things on purpose, that I was trying to undermine her. And he believed her every time. It wasn’t long before I was completely ignored, just a shadow in my own home. My mother who used to take care of me was dead. I was all alone.”
“That’s terrible,” I whispered, feeling a deep ache in my chest for Mia. “What happened next?”
“Well, it only got worse as we got older,” Mia murmured, her gaze drifting to the window as if she could see the past replaying outside. “When it came time for Giselle to marry, she wanted nothing less than an Alpha of her own. But no one was good enough for her. She would flirt with them, make them think she was interested, then drop them like they were nothing. It was all a game to her.”
“She’s always been that way, hasn’t she?” I mumbled, bitterness creeping into my tone. “She thinks she can have everything and everyone without even trying.”
Mia nodded. “Yes. And when our father suggested that I might marry one of the lesser Alphas, Giselle went into a rage. She claimed that I was trying to steal her future, that I was jealous of her and wanted to take what was rightfully hers. Our father, of course, believed her. He told me I was to remain unmarried until Giselle found someone suitable for herself.”
The injustice of it all made my blood boil. “That’s insane! How could he treat you like that?”
Mia shrugged, but I could see the pain in her eyes. “It was easy for him. He always saw Giselle as his ticket to greater power, a way to cement his legacy. I was just an afterthought, something to be dealt with once Giselle had secured her position.”
I shook my head, unable to comprehend such coldness. “So what happened? How did you end up here?”
“When Giselle finally set her sights on Alpha Denderick, our father was overjoyed,” Mia explained. “He started making plans, boasting about how his daughter would become the Luna of such a powerful pack. But there was a problem. Kendrick wasn’t exactly interested in Giselle. He saw right through her and knew exactly what kind of person she was. And that infuriated her.”
Hearing that Denderick wasn’t interested in Giselle from another person, filled me with an odd sense of happiness. I could picture it. Giselle was so used to getting her way, being rejected by someone she couldn’t control.
I sighed. “She must have hated that.”
Mia nodded. “She did. But rather than admit defeat, she turned her anger on me. She accused me of poisoning Denderick against her, of trying to steal him for myself. It was ridiculous, of course. I mean, I had barely even met the man, and I had a lover of my own. But our father didn’t care. He told me I was to leave, to get out of their lives so Giselle could have a clear path.”
“That’s why you’re here, then?” I asked softly.
“Yes,” Mia replied, her voice trembling slightly. “I was sent away from my father’s pack. Having nowhere else to go, I came to Alpha Denderick. He gave me this cottage in the middle of town and told me to stay out of sight of my sister. Giselle went back to the pack house, determined to win over Denderick, but I think she knows she’s fighting a losing battle. That’s why she’s so cruel to you, Aria. You’re everything she’s not. You’re kind and gentle, and Denderick loves you for it.”
I swallowed hard, trying to process everything Mia had told me. “I had no idea… I knew Giselle was awful, but to treat her sister like that? It’s beyond words.”
Mia gave me a sad smile. “She’s always been like this, Aria. Greedy, vindictive, and willing to destroy anyone who stands in her way. Even if it’s her own family.”
I shook my head, still trying to recover from the story. “It’s unbelievable… But it explains so much.”
Before I could say anything more, there was a knock on the door. Mia and I exchanged a confused glance. Together, we walked to the door, and Mia opened it.
Standing on the other side was Giselle herself, a smug smile plastered on her face. She looked past Mia, her eyes locking onto mine.
“Hello, Aria,” she chirped, her voice dripping with false sweetness. “I never expected you to be here.”