A BROTHER’S JUDGMENT

WILLA’S POV

I never knew I could still be grounded at my grand age of twenty-one. But here I was, sequestered in my room for my negligence during the battle in the Ferndell Forest and for not coming back sooner than I should’ve.

But I actually had no qualms about the punishment dealt to me, because it allowed me the quiet time alone to muse on my time with Gallahan and to sort myself out before having to face other people.

The solitary quiet stretched for almost three weeks when a patterned knock—one that my twin and I made at the age of eight to let each other know it was us on the other side of the door—disturbed my pathetic wallowing on my bed. The door then slightly opened without my permission, and William poked his head in.

“May I come in, dear little sis? I believe a conversation is in order.”

“Must we?” I replied with a bit of a whining tone in my voice. Even then, I got up into a sitting position and scooted a little to the right to make space for my brother.

“Yes, we must.”

William slipped inside the room and locked the door behind him. He wasted no time joining me on my bed, replicating my pose by resting his back against the tufted headboard, with his legs outstretched in front of him under the duvet.

“Why did you lie to Mom and Dad and say it was all because of your heat? I doubt they even believe you. You're not the type to be so careless to an extent that you would fail to complete your dose of heat suppressants,” he spouted without bothering to have a bit of preamble or warning. “Why didn’t you just admit that you met your fated mate during the battle? Willa, I hope you know you cannot hide that fact forever.”

“I know,” I murmured, pulling at the fabric of the deep green duvet. “Especially when I have received a claiming bite.”

“You what?!”

I immediately hushed William, my hands cupping his mouth tightly into silence.

“Will you be quiet?!”

He angrily pried my hands away from his lips, his green eyes had taken a deeper shade and was glowing dangerously.

“You were claimed and yet you returned here alone? Is your mate not going to dignify you by following the proper courting etiquette? Why is he not here? Why-”

“We are in the middle of an ongoing strife among our kind. Who has time for courting?”

William’s glower deepened. “You deserve one.”

“From an enemy?” I retorted with an arched brow.

“Don’t try to be obtuse on purpose. Enemy or not, he is your fated mate, and you’ve bonded!”

A sigh erupted from me, and my shoulders sagged further down, as if the weight of the recent events was too much to carry. And honestly? It really was too heavy to bear.

“Our bond is incomplete,” I finally said after a beat of silence.

William looked like he was smacked for a moment, the wind stolen from beneath his sails, and he faltered for a split second. But when he managed to recover his composure in the next moment, all he managed to say was, “Willa Coraline Alfiero!”

“And I left him,” I added, pointedly focusing my eyes on my very interesting duvet.

“Please tell me you didn’t,” William murmured.

I could feel his unwavering gaze on the side of my face. But I feigned ignorance of the intensity of it and continued to drop one bomb after another.

“He bears no responsibility over me.”

“Yes, he does! He is still your fated mate, and he bit you!”

“I don’t want him to. I chose not to have him court me or stay with me.”

For a brief moment, William spluttered in utter disbelief. It took him a couple of tries before he was able to say something in perfect coherence. “What are you saying, Willa? Your fated mate has been an integral part of the future you wanted for yourself. What changed so suddenly? Is it because he is an enemy? Then why did you even go with him that night?”

I growled in frustration and finally dropped the biggest bomb in my arsenal. “My fated mate is Gallahan Wick!”

William was stunned into silence, and we were left sitting side by side, letting my words hang heavily in the air.

“Surely not,” he whispered in denial. “Why would Gallahan Wick be in that battle? He doesn’t take part in any town invasions of the Culling Army! He is usually only active on raids of the human monarch’s castle.”

I considered my brother’s words for a moment.

It was true. Gallahan Wick was elusive, which was a brilliant tactic on his part, considering he had enemies left and right who wanted him dead. He was so elusive that William, who had been part of the League since he was eighteen, only ever met him in battle once before. But when Gallahan did get involved in fights and raids, he would appear in his human form, wearing a freaking black hooded cowl to hide his face, and things usually ended up bloodier than ever.

“Maybe Agvanda is different,” I reasoned. “After all, it is the largest human territory of the continent.”

William hummed, looking pensive; his eyes mellowed down from the glowing deep shade of green it had taken moments prior.

But then he ended up shrugging my theory aside, forcing us to return to our original topic. “Still! Gallahan Wick? The moon goddess wouldn’t be cruel to make someone be Gallahan Wick’s fated mate.” 

I snorted softly, the sound weak and hollow. “What am I supposed to do, Will?”

“Even I don’t know, little Will,” he said softly, taking my hand in his. “All I know is that you can’t hide this for long. No secrets can stay a secret forever.”

“Perhaps this secret would be the first.”

“Don’t be naive. For all we know, he could be launching a continent-wide search for you already.”

I stiffened a little at the prospect. “He wouldn’t. Why would he? I have made myself clear by leaving him. Besides, a search for me would waste his resources when he has human kingdoms to pillage and people to subjugate.”

“He will, if he finds a way for you to become a valuable pawn for his cause. You can become his bargaining chip to exert control over the Peacemakers or something like that.”

“Surely he won’t go that far. I… I am still his fated mate.”

But even as I said it, I held little confidence.

“And he is Gallahan Wick, Willa. We know what he has done. He has killed many and tortured plenty. His reputation and his actions speak for himself. He will and he can stoop low.”

I felt gutted, but the feeling was caused by two different reasons. The first reason was that there was a part of me that knew there was a chance my brother could be right. The second reason was how Gallahan made no error in how he saw me. I was judgmental and self-righteous, and it was absolutely sickening how quick I was to agree to what my brother was saying about my fated mate, who wasn’t even here with us to defend himself.

“If… If he looks for me, what if it’s because he wants to try and work things out between us?”

William shook his head and squeezed my hand. “You have wounded his pride when you left him, Willa. I don’t think he is as forgiving as you give him credit for.”

I fell quiet, losing the ability to say anything more. William, too, didn’t utter a single word anymore. We sat in shared silence, still holding hands in the same way we always did since we were kids whenever one of us was in deep trouble. None of us had been in such a situation since we were fifteen when William was caught sneaking out for a drink with his best friend.

“Regardless,” William suddenly said, shattering the stillness that had enveloped the room. “You are going to be fine, Willa. I will always have your back.”

“I know.”

“Now… There is a pressing matter I want to broach. Please do not freak out.”

The seriousness in his voice and his plea at the end did me no favor, and dread started to flare in my chest.

“What is it?”

“I have been with you since we were in the womb, Willa.”

“Yes?” I replied slowly as confusion mixed with my dread.

“I know you like no one else does.”

“Okay? I don’t disagree with that. We grew up together, Will.”

He hesitated for a bit, and he looked like he would rather go back to shit-talking Gallahan than proceed with the point of conversation that he started himself. “So I would not likely mistake anything about you, and that includes your scent.”

“My scent?”

The direction he was steering our talk to was odd yet intriguing. So I adjusted my position and angled myself to fully face him, folding my legs and crossing them in the process.

Even then, William didn’t let go of my hand. It was a sign that what he was trying to say held some weight that warranted me a degree of comfort or an anchor of some sort.

“Yes. You’re my twin, Willa, so I am familiar with your scent like it is my own.”

“For the love of all that are good in this world, just spit it out, William Aleksei Alfiero.”

“I want you to see a healer, because I think…” He looked pained and ready to die as he finally uttered, “I think you might be pregnant, Willa.”