Chapter 2

Dahlia

When the man’s eyes flicker to Ellen, I pull her closer to me. His gaze returns to me, his jaw ticking.

“I can always know when it's Helen or Dahlia” His tone softens, “The scar.” His eyes drift to my temple, just above my brows.

“How do you expect me to believe you're Dahlia?” He directs the question to me.

My breath catches, “I am Dahlia.” I say confidently.

But deep down, I am not sure of anything.

He narrows his eyes, confused. Just as I am

A scar? A way to tell us apart? So Noah and his brother had known Helen and me well enough to notice the difference between us.

Why hadn’t Noah said anything? When he spoke of her, it sounded as though she was just a name, not someone he had known personally.

Noah's arms loosen slightly around me, “We were both present at her burial. I don't think she resurrected from the dead.” He says mockingly, his voice calm like a man who had everything under his control.

“Daddy, who's this man?” Ellen asks softly.

“Someone….You don't have to know him.” Noah responds sharply.

His brother flinches.

Their fight must have been brutal for him to reduce his own brother to just someone.

“You disappeared.” His brother snaps, like he was finally releasing all the anger he had been holding back. “For seven yeaaars….” He throws his gaze at me. “I didn't expect you'd be married to Dahlia and even have a kid.”

“This conversation is over.” Noah declares. He leans down, his lips brushing my ear, “Take Ellen to the car, I'll be there in a moment.”

I stand there frozen and conflicted. Deep inside I wanted to stay, to try and understand the whole situation but another part of me wants to stay away. I have a safe and comfortable life. I don't want anything breaking it apart.

“Dahlia had the same scar, remember? Or are you just trying to fool yourself into thinking that Helen is not dead.” Noah snaps at him.

A man, possibly in his fifties, walks out of the room. He stops seeing us in its entrance, “Alpha Smith.” He bows his head to the stranger, “I thought you left for the restroom. I was about to call you.”

His eyes move from me to Ellen and then it widens when he sees Noah. He bows, “Mr Smith, I… I didn’t see you there.”

Ignoring the man and totally forgetting Ellen needed the restroom, he takes my hand and walks us out of the restaurant.

He opens the back seat door, lifts Ellen in and settles her into her seat. He brushes her hair smoothly, “We'll be home soon. Can you hold your pee just for two minutes?”

Ellen nods gently. He shuts the door, then opens the front door for me.

“I have a feeling you’ve got a lot to say tonight.” I say as I slide into the car. He closes the door behind me, shifts into the driver’s seat, starts the engine and we pull away.

The stranger's figure looms at the rearview mirror. He stands in front of the restaurant, his figure shrinking as our car disappears down the street.

Noah parks the car in the driveway. As I carry Ellen inside, a tight feeling creeps into my skin.

“Mummy, tonight was not that special.” Ellen says as I help her onto the toilet.

I pull her pants down and she sits on the toilet seat, “Why do you think so? We met someone new today. And the best part is that he's your uncle.” I smile faintly, trying to lighten her mood.

“Daddy doesn't like him and that man called him alpha..” she whispers, “are we related to the alpha?”

“I guess that's what it means.” I take her to the bath tub, wash her, change her into her pajamas and quietly tuck her into bed.

I close the door behind me and walk to our room.

The hiss of running water drifts from the bathroom. I sit quietly at the foot of the bed, hands folded on my thighs while I wait.

The rush of water cuts off. The door opens and my head turns before I realise it has.

My gaze traces the path of his damp skin until it disappeared beneath the towel wrapped around his waist.

He pauses, staring at me as well. I quickly pull myself out of the contact, taking a deep sigh.

“I'm just realizing now that you didn't tell me much about your family or that you were anyway related to the Alpha family… Gosh I should have known…. from the name Smith.”

“Dahlia..” he calls out softly.

“Your brother said he never heard from you for seven years.” I continue, looking him in the eye. “And Helen…How does he know Helen?”

“Helen was part of the family for a moment.” He starts to loosen the towel around his waist, not even seeming to register that I was in the room.

I turn away at once, heat rushing to my face. Even after seven years of marriage, moments like this remind me of how new we still feel to each other. Not yet intimate, just safe around each other.

He never crosses the line.

“What was her relationship to the both of you? She seemed pretty important to the both of you.” I press.

“She is.” He remarks. His footsteps slide across the room.

His words are telling me the opposite of what I had known for seven years. He had told me my entire family was dead, my parents and Helen. I had assumed they were all gone before he met me. I never imagined he had known Helen too or worse known all of us.

The gaps in my past claw at me and the fact I can't reach them makes me mad. I don't even know why I care so much about what Helen meant to either of them. I should be focused on Noah and the life we're building.

But the more I try to ignore the past, the more it feels like I'm living in a story that started before I arrived and she was in it. Perhaps I'm merely her replacement.

“As a sister in law? I need to understand.” I say carefully.

He slips into the smaller bed by the window and pulls the covers up, “Do we have to do this tonight?”

“What was Helen to your brother? What was she to you?” I ask again.

Everything I thought about him not knowing any of my family was a lie. I could remember he said they were both present at her burial. Which means he hadn't met me first or maybe he had. I swallow the rest of the thought before it can breathe.

He flips to the other side, turning his back to me. “Good night.”