Chapter two

ARABELLA POV.

The next morning, I woke before sunrise.

I had barely slept. Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the stranger’s voice from the previous night.

*I know who you truly are.*

The words had followed me into my dreams, twisting through memories I had always believed were real.

By the time morning arrived, I had already changed my mind a dozen times.

I should stay home.

I should report the call to my adoptive father.

I should forget the entire thing.

But curiosity was stronger than fear.

What if the man had been telling the truth? What if I really had a family somewhere? What if I had not been abandoned after all?

I stood before my mirror and studied my reflection. I looked exactly as I had always looked—brown hair, pale skin, and tired eyes that carried too many years of disappointment.

Could I truly belong to a powerful family?

The thought felt ridiculous.

Still, I dressed carefully in a cream blouse and dark trousers before taking a cab to the Silver Birch Restaurant.

The restaurant was located in one of the wealthiest districts in the city. Its glass walls gleamed beneath the morning sun, and elegantly dressed wolves moved through the entrance as if the entire world belonged to them.

I suddenly felt painfully aware of my plain clothes.

The man from the phone sat near the windows. He rose as soon as he saw me.

He was tall, sharply dressed, and had a serious expression that made him appear more like a guard than a stranger arranging a secret meeting.

But it was the woman beside him who held my attention.

She was beautiful in a refined, almost regal way. Her silver-blonde hair was swept into a neat style, and her deep blue dress emphasized the grace of her figure. The moment her eyes found mine, they filled with so much emotion that I stopped walking.

She looked at me as if she had seen a ghost.

“Arabella,” the man greeted.

I remained standing. “Who is she?”

The woman slowly rose from her chair.

“My name is Selene Cross.”

The surname struck me with strange force.

Cross.

I knew that name.

Everyone in the supernatural world knew it.

The Cross family was strong, powerful, and respected. They led the strongest local wolf pack and were the only werewolf family to maintain a close relationship with the royal family—the Lycans.

I stared at her, unable to hide my shock.

“Sit down,” the man said gently. “There is much you need to know.”

I sat, but I kept my back straight and my hands folded tightly in my lap.

Selene reached across the table. “Arabella, I am your aunt. Your mother’s sister.”

My mind went completely blank.

“My… aunt?”

She nodded, her eyes shining.

I let out a disbelieving laugh. “That’s impossible.”

“I understand why you feel that way.”

“No, you don’t.” My voice sharpened. “I was an orphan. I grew up in the central orphanage before the Vale family adopted me. I have no family.”

“That is what you were told.”

My fingers dug into my palms.

Selene leaned closer. “You are not truly an orphan, and you were never born a member of the Vale family. Your real name is Arabella Cross.”

I stared at her.

“You are the daughter of Alpha Marcus Cross and Luna Elara Cross,” she continued. “You have a twin sister named Aurelia.”

The restaurant seemed to tilt around me.

A twin.

I had spent my entire life believing I had no one. No parents. No siblings. No blood relatives.

Yet this woman was claiming that I had been born with someone who shared my face and my blood.

“What happened to her?” I asked.

Selene’s expression crumbled.

For several seconds, she said nothing. Then tears slipped down her cheeks.

“She died three weeks ago.”

My breath caught.

“How?”

“She was killed in a car accident.”

The words sounded simple, but Selene’s grief was not.

She covered her mouth, trying to control herself, yet a broken sob escaped her. Seeing it made something painful twist inside my chest.

She truly loved Aurelia.

But grief alone did not explain the tension in the room.

“Why do you believe she was killed?” I asked.

Selene wiped her tears with an elegant motion, though her hands trembled. “Aurelia was a world-class racer. She had a professional racing certificate. She could control a vehicle under the most dangerous conditions. She had survived storms, high-speed chases, and races that would have terrified ordinary wolves.”

Her voice cracked.

“So how could she suddenly lose control on an empty road?”

I said nothing.

The answer was obvious.

An accident was not always an accident.

Selene took a shaky breath. “The brakes had been tampered with. The authorities called it a mechanical failure, but we know better. Someone wanted Aurelia dead.”

A chill moved down my spine.

“Why?”

“Because Aurelia was secretly betrothed to the Lycan Prince, Kael Draven.”

What?

I gasped, eyes widened.

Kael Draven?

I had heard the name before. Every wolf had.

Though I have never seen the lycan prince before, not many people have, but the few who have been fortunate to have seen him have gloriously praised his beauty. Rumors claimed the man was a walking devil in human form. Tall, ruthless, and had an irresistibly gorgeous face that could even make the gods jealous. And that was the man her twin was betrothed to? No wonder someone wanted Aurelia dead for catching such luck.

"Werewolves and Lycans have never truly trusted one another,” the man spoke. “But after the last war, a truce was established. Since then, the only way to preserve peace and maintain a strong connection has been through marriage.”

Of course, I knew the Lycans were more powerful than ordinary werewolves, and their royal family ruled a kingdom feared and respected by every pack. The relationship between wolves and Lycans had always been strained since our ancestors. They did not mix easily.

“And Aurelia was meant to marry the lycan heir?”

“Yes.”

The information was overwhelming.

My twin sister had been a princess. An heiress. The future bride of the Lycan Prince.

Everything I had been denied, she had possessed.

Then Selene said, “Now that Aurelia is dead, the other packs are frightened. The alliance is already weakening. The only woman clawing desperately to take her place is Valeria.”

“Who is Valeria?”

Selene’s face tightened.

“Your stepsister.”

I could only stare at her.

“My stepsister?”

The words echoed inside my mind.

Did that mean my father had cheated on my mother? Had he never loved her? Or had my parents’ relationship been nothing like the perfect love story everyone wanted me to believe?

Questions rose inside me, sharp and ugly.

“Where was she all this time?” I demanded.

“Valeria is your father’s daughter from a previous relationship. She has always wanted Aurelia’s position. Now that your sister is gone, she believes the marriage belongs to her.”

Selene’s voice hardened. “If Valeria becomes the Lycan Prince’s bride, the Cross family will lose its influence, and the truce may collapse.”

She reached for my hand again, and this time I allowed her fingers to close around mine.

Her touch was warm.

Familiar.

That frightened me more than anything.

“Come home, Arabella,” she pleaded. “I cannot sit and watch Valeria take your sister’s place. Back then, you're sister was too gentle, too soft-hearted for her own good and now she's murdered and Valeria would seize this opportunity. You are Aurelia’s identical twin. You are the only person who can honor the arrangement and protect the Cross family.”

I rose so quickly that my chair scraped against the floor.

“No.”

Both of them looked at me.

“No, I’m not doing this.” My voice shook. “I’m not someone’s replacement bride. I have never met this Kael. I don’t know your family, your pack, or anything about the Lycan Kingdom.”

“You are not merely a replacement,” Selene said. “You are Aurelia’s twin and the rightful daughter of the Cross family.”

“I don’t care!”

My outburst drew a few curious glances from nearby tables. I lowered my voice, but the anger inside me continued burning.

“I have a life in the Blue Moon Pack. I have someone I love.”

Adrian’s face appeared in my mind.

Even after everything that had happened between us, my heart still reached for him. I remembered his promises, the warmth of his body, and the way I had believed he was the only person who truly saw me.

Perhaps yesterday’s coldness had been temporary.

Perhaps he would explain himself.

Perhaps I was still foolish enough to hope.

Selene studied me with sadness. “Adrian Ashford?”

I stiffened. “How do you know his name?”

“We have investigated your life. We had to.”

The thought of strangers digging through my past made me uncomfortable, but it also proved they had not come here on a whim.

“I love him,” I said, though the words felt less certain than they once had. “I can’t simply leave everything behind and marry a man I’ve never seen.”

“No one is asking you to marry him immediately.”

“But you expect me to take Aurelia’s place.”

“We expect you to return home,” Selene replied. “The marriage arrangement can be discussed later.”

I looked down at my hands.

Home.

The word felt unfamiliar.

For years, I had wanted a family more than anything. Yet now that one had appeared before me, I felt no joy—only fear. What kind of people were the Crosses? Why had I been given away? Why had no one found me until now?

The questions crowded my mind until I could hardly breathe.

Aurelia had not simply died.

She may have been murdered.

And whoever had killed her might still be watching the Cross family.

I was terrified, but beneath the fear, something fierce began to awaken.

If Aurelia was truly my sister, then I could not ignore what had happened to her.

“I’ll return,” I said.

Selene’s shoulders sagged with relief.

“But not immediately.”

Her expression became uncertain.

“I have unfinished business in the Blue Moon Pack,” I continued. “I need to settle everything first, especially my relationship with Adrian.”

The thought of leaving without knowing whether he had ever truly cared for me was unbearable.

“I love him,” I whispered, though my heart no longer believed the words as easily as before. “I refuse to disappear without learning the truth.”

Selene studied my face, then slowly nodded.

“Very well. But do not wait too long.”

I stood and walked toward the exit, carrying a name that had never belonged to me before.

Arabella Cross.

A daughter. A twin. An heiress.

And perhaps the bride of a Lycan Prince.

Outside, the sunlight felt too bright.

I pressed a hand over my heart and wondered whether Adrian could still be the future I wanted—or whether the truth had already begun tearing my old life apart.