Mia’s POV
I stared at him, my body tense, my heart slamming against my ribs. This had to be some kind of mistake. A trick. A lie.
But his face…It was mine.
Not just a resemblance. Not just similar features. Identical.
I forced myself to breathe, to think. My hands curled into fists at my sides as I tried to make sense of it.
“You’re lying,” I forced out, my voice uneven.
Lucas-the real one-didn’t flinch. His gaze stayed on me, steady, unreadable. “I wish I was.”
A bitter laugh escaped me. “That’s impossible. I don’t have a twin.”
His jaw tensed. “That’s what I thought too.”
I shook my head, my stomach twisting. “No. My mother-she never-”
“She never told you,” he cut in, voice firm. “She never told me either.”
I swallowed hard, my thoughts a tangled mess. This can’t be true.
“Then explain,” I snapped, crossing my arms, forcing myself to hold my ground.
He exhaled, glancing at the warriors who were still waiting, at my brothers who stood stiffly behind me. For a second, he hesitated, like he was trying to decide how much to say.
Then his gaze locked back on mine. “Keith-” he jerked his head toward the empty space where the imposter had been “-is my cousin. He used magic to look like me. He found out about you before I did.”
My skin went cold. “Before you did?”
Lucas nodded. “I didn’t know I had a sister until a year ago.” His voice dropped slightly, like he wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear the rest. “I found out the day I learned my mother had been keeping secrets. That she left my father and returned a year later… with a baby she refused to talk about.”
The world tilted.
A baby.
My chest felt too tight. “No,” I whispered. “That doesn’t make sense.”
Lucas ran a hand through his hair. “I thought the same thing. Until I started looking. Until I found your name.”
Everything inside me froze.
“You knew?” My voice was barely more than a breath.
“I only found out a year ago,” he admitted, his expression unreadable. “I tried to track you down, but Keith found out first. He’s been watching you. That’s why he used my name. He wanted something from you.”
My legs felt weak. My stomach churned.
Keith had known about me before I even knew he existed. He had been watching me. But still didn’t do anything for her.
And Lucas-
Anger curled inside my chest like a slow-burning flame.
I wanted to believe him, but something about his words didn’t sit right.
“You found out a year ago,” I repeated, my voice sharper now. “Then tell me, where the hell were you?”
Lucas stiffened. His lips parted slightly, but he didn’t speak right away.
A bitter laugh slipped past my lips before I could stop it. “You knew I existed. You knew I was out there somewhere, alone. And yet, you did nothing?” My stomach twisted. “Did you not want me?”
His jaw tightened, his hands balling into fists at his sides. “It wasn’t like that.”
“Then what was it like?” My voice cracked, but I didn’t care. “You had an entire year to find me. An entire year to at least try. But you didn’t. So, tell me, why?”
Something flickered in his eyes. Guilt.
He looked away, running a hand through his hair. “I tried.”
The weight of my uncle’s words pressed down on me, suffocating. My lungs tightened as if the room itself had shrunk, leaving no space to breathe.
“My father is dead.” The words left my lips, but even as I spoke them, I could feel them unraveling.
My uncle didn’t flinch. “No, Mia. He’s alive.”
The world tilted.
Everything inside me froze.
Lucas shifted beside me, but I couldn’t look at him. My thoughts crashed into each other, scrambling to make sense of something that didn’t make sense at all.
“That’s-” My voice cracked as my breath came too fast. “No. That’s not possible.”
My uncle leaned forward, his face unreadable, his fingers laced together on the desk. “He’s been in a coma for years. Since before your mother disappeared.”
I swayed, gripping the edge of a chair for support. Since before my mother disappeared.
I had a father. He was alive. And yet, they all let me believe he was dead.
I spun to Lucas, searching for something-anything-that told me he hadn’t known. His jaw was clenched so tight his muscles twitched, his eyes locked on my uncle with an anger I wasn’t sure I understood.
“You knew,” I whispered, my voice barely audible.
My uncle sighed, rubbing his temples as if I was exhausting him. “Mia, I did what I thought was best for you.”
A sharp, bitter laugh tore out of me before I could stop it. “Best for me?” My fingers curled into fists at my sides. “Letting me believe I had no family? Letting me suffer alone? How was that best for me?”
Lucas’s fists slammed against the desk, his breathing harsh. “You kept her in the dark about everything-about me, about her father, about Keith!”
My uncle met his glare, his expression dark. “You think I didn’t want to tell her? That it didn’t eat at me every single day?”
“Then why didn’t you?” I snapped, my body vibrating with anger.
“Because it wouldn’t have changed anything!” His voice rose for the first time, frustration cracking through his usually calm exterior. “Your father has been in a coma for years, Mia. There was nothing you could have done. Nothing I could have done!”
I shook my head, rage and disbelief colliding in my chest. “That wasn’t your decision to make.”
Lucas exhaled sharply, rubbing the back of his neck. “Where is he?”
My uncle hesitated.
I felt my pulse hammer against my skin, my stomach twisting into knots. “Where. Is. He?”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “He’s at a private facility outside the pack territory. Protected.”
Protected.
From what? Me?