CHAPTER TEN

Violet's pov

"Who's there?" I heard someone calling out from somewhere inside the cottage.

Definitely a lady's voice.

I panicked.

My chest pounded in fright.

Who?

Could it be his mother? I wondered.

A thief?

My body jolted forward at the sudden realization of who the lady could be.

His mistress?

I bit my lips in anger, almost drawing blood. 

"His mate indeed." I scoffed.

"Who's there?" I heard her call out again.

Swiping angrily at the tears that trickled down my face, I fought the urge to crumple at the exhaustion that hits my body.

Everything had been a lie.

I was a fool for beginning to think I was something.

For starting to open up and believe Xaden.

I beat my chest, trying to still the pains that groped me. Mira's voice echoed in my head.

Nothing.

I was nothing. I reminded myself.

Now I know why he doesn't let anyone go through this place and why he likes to soothe himself here.

I turned to leave, but my legs pulled me across the room. I stopped in front of a door and deliberated whether I should see who had captured Alpha Xaden's heart.

I pushed the door open softly, peeking to catch a glimpse of Xaden's mistress.

And there she stood, her back to the door, while she stared at something outside her window.

Her long chestnut hair reached her waist. She was so slim and small that I felt like an evil witch for every negative thought I had towards her.

Drawn by her stoic stance, I stepped fully into the room, fascinated by the small creature that held Xaden's attention.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?" She asked without turning.

Coughing slightly to cover my anxiety, I answered, "Only when it holds a glimmer of hope."

Laughing, she said. "You are one angry lady."

I sighed, "That is what life scoops out."

No wonder Xaden likes her, I thought. I could tell she's one effeminate woman. I just couldn't open up myself to be nicer to her.

Turning in defeat to leave the room, her words stopped me dead in my tracks.

"He's good. Treat him well." She said,

What mistress says this to her rival?

I suddenly felt sorry for feeling insecure. Here was a woman who was willing to share her man with a stranger. 

She's probably another pawn in his devilish schemes.

Feeling sorry for her, I turned to assure her I'd never come in between her and Alpha Xaden. Although for a moment I was beginning to enjoy the show of wealth and sophistication, however, I'd be more than glad to return to my peasant duties in my new home with the Winter Wolf pack.

"I'm---" I began, but my voice trailed off as I stared dumbfounded at my double.

She also stood agape, staring at me flabbergasted. 

Tears formed in her eyes and spilled. Her lips moved shakily.

I couldn't understand or process what I was seeing.

How?

She looked older. She was definitely not my twin.

"Violet?" She whispered shakily.

Stunned, I nodded, waiting for an explanation. Why I looked like Alpha Xaden's mistress.

"My daughter." She cried, stumbling towards me with her hands extended.

Intuitively, I shrank back from her extended arms suspiciously.

"Your daughter? What do you mean?" I shouted.

Sobbing openly now, she whispered intermittently.

"I'm your mother."

"It's your mama, Violet."

The color on my face drained. I tried to remember.

I never had a mother. This woman was lying.

"I am an orphan!" I screamed, backing out of the room in fear.

Her shoulders shook terribly, her pale face willing me to remember. Her eyes were dreary, bereft of any color.

Unwittily, I stopped, as an image flashed through my mind.

***

"Mama!" A little girl with short limbs and scrawny legs ran across the room to a very beautiful woman holding something like a wool and a knitting needle in her hands.

As soon as she saw the little girl run towards her, she immediately set the wool and needle on the stool beside her and caught her flying form.

Laughing, the woman rained kisses all over the girl's face.

"My beautiful pumpkin." She teased, her hands churgling the girl's stomach.

The little girl laughed with glee as she molded the woman's cheeks into her small hands.

***

"My beautiful pumpkin." The woman before me whispered.

The ground where I stood rumbled.

By what? I couldn't tell. All I felt was my body vibrating steadily for several minutes as I tried to make sense of what had flashed through my mind and the woman standing before me.

I was that little girl?

Was I the beautiful pumpkin?

I had a mother?

Alpha Xaden had been right?

I stared blindly at the woman standing across me, tears forming in my eyes.

"Mama?" I called, like I was rehearsing how to pronounce the word correctly.

Mama?

As the reality and the implication of what I had seen and heard hit me, I bolted.