“Sister of my mother?” Priya mumbled, feeling like a punch to her gut to know everything.
“Yes, you are my niece. More than a niece, you are our Queen-the one our whole pack has been waiting for for years. I haven’t set foot in the pack for the past 18 years, but I can still say everyone was eagerly awaiting the royal blood to bless them. You are a blessing for us all, just like your mother was,” Maya’s eyes welled with tears as she remembered her sister, the one she had spent her whole life with.
For protecting the pack and everyone, she sacrificed herself. That’s what Alphas and Lunas do. But Maya couldn’t do anything other than feel bad because as a sister, she couldn’t wrap her heart around it.
This tore her heart apart, making it tough for her to even remember how she hadn’t found her sister’s dead body-only her brother-in-law’s. She tried and tried, but she found out that as much as she wanted it to be a nightmare, it was the reality she had to face, whether she wanted to or not.
“I think it’s better if she rests. Everything is so complicated; I don’t think she’s taking it well. She just woke up; it’s better for her to get some time to process it all,” Priyank, who had been listening, finally spoke.
He could see that Priya wasn’t taking it well, and it was clearly hard for her. Even he couldn’t take all the information gladly; he was shocked and stressed about it before.
After seeing Jackson’s wolf, he had to accept the truth, but that didn’t mean he was ready to take it all in. He needed time to process it.
Priya sat there silently, her mind filled with a mix of emotions. The weight of her newfound identity as a queen of the pack, the revelation of her familial ties, and the burden of her parents’ sacrifice all crashed down on her at once.
As Maya’s words echoed in her mind, Priya couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all. She had spent her whole life unaware of her true heritage, and now that it was laid bare before her, she didn’t know how to process it.
The thought of being responsible for an entire pack, of carrying on her parents legacy, felt like an immense burden weighing heavily on her shoulders.
Priya glanced around at the faces of those in the room-Maya, Priyank, Jackson, Levi, Rish-and realised that it’s not a dream.
“He’s right; she needs rest, and we need to talk too, Maya,” Jackson sounded reasonable.
“Okay, let’s go,” Maya nodded.
“Levi and I will stay here,” Rish spoke, though Priyank’s glare made him shudder.
“I don’t think that’s better. Let’s go out. Priyank can stay here,” Levi immediately pulled her brother out, not wanting to face Priyank and his intimidating glare.
Priya rubbed her eyes, the cannula in her hand stretching slightly.
“Be careful, Angel. You might pull it out,” Priyank walked over, adjusting the glucose stand to prevent the cannula from being dislodged.
“Why is this happening to me? Why?” Priya repeated, her voice breaking, her mind overwhelmed by the flood of information and memories. Her whole life-the orphanage, her moments of happiness-now felt like fragments of a shattered truth. It was all part of her life, but it now seemed like a hazy dream after this avalanche of information.
She wanted to erase herself from it all. If anyone asked, she felt like she had made a mistake by running away. At least then, she would only have to face Priyank and the impending marriage. But now, she was confronted with a whole new level of challenges that she didn’t want to believe or trust in.
“It will be fine, Angel,” Priyank tried to reassure her.
Taking a deep breath, Priya steadied herself and met Priyank’s gaze. “You think so?”
Priyank’s expression softened, his eyes reflecting understanding and support. “I do. And I am here for you, Angel.”
He is here for me? The words made Priya want to laugh. How could he think he could help her? Everything that had happened was because she had met him-his kidnapping, his hurting her, his forcing her into marriage, his driving her to run away out of fear.
If only he hadn’t entered her life, she wouldn’t be feeling this way now. She wouldn’t have uncovered the harsh truth.
The truth was difficult to swallow. She might sound selfish, but she had been happy before-until she crossed paths with him, until she fell under his radar. And everything unravelled.
As Priya was trapped with her conflicting emotions, Priyank reached out and gently took her hand.
“I understand you’re upset,” Priyank responded, trying to keep his tone calm despite the rising tension. “But blaming me won’t change the situation. Your past and your present are separate, and I had no part in what happened before.”
Priya’s frustration boiled over, her tears mingling with her anger. “You don’t get it! If you hadn’t entered my life, none of this would have happened. I would still be living a peaceful, normal life.”
Priyank shook his head, his own frustration evident. “You’re being selfish, Angel. You’re ignoring the sacrifices your parents made for everything, just because you’re upset about your own circumstances.”
Priya’s chest tightened as Priyank’s words pierced through her anger, striking a chord of guilt within her.
Tears continued to stream down her face as she struggled to find the words to express the turmoil raging inside her. “I… I know,” she finally whispered, her voice choked with emotion. “But what wrong did I do? I lost them because they wanted to protect others, not me. They never once considered how I would feel, what I did wrong in all of this?”
Priya felt as though her parents’ deaths had just occurred, the pain as fresh and raw as if it had happened only moments ago. She had lived as an orphan before, but now, faced with the reality of their absence, she couldn’t fathom how to carry on.
The weight of her parents’ sacrifice for the people she didn’t know about weighed heavily on her heart, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of abandonment. They had fulfilled their duties as king and queen, but what about their role as parents? That void, she realised, could never be filled.