Nine

LUNA CELINA’S POV

I couldn’t believe it!

Surely, this was a prank. It had to be a prank. There’s no way, this girl standing in front of me could me mine.

My wolf whined in the back of my head and it made my heart skip a beat.

Trying to regain composure, I swallowed hard and cleared my throat. “How old are you, child?” I asked her.

“Eighteen,” she replied. I looked at Vincenzo, who gave me a squeeze on my hand. I shook my head; I couldn’t handle this any longer.

“Excuse me please,” I said and rushed out of the office. I even caught a whiff of her scent and I nearly fainted. It was so familiar, too familiar to be exact.

“She looks so much like me,” I mumbled as tears fell from my cheeks.

CASSIE’S POV

My chest tightened when the Luna left. I felt like crying, like I was rejected for the second time.

“I’m s-sorry,” I tried hard not to cry. I didn’t mean to make the Luna leave. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, dear. Maybe you should come back later,” he said and turned to Gerald. “Thank you for coming. I’ll keep in touch with you,” he said to him. Gerald smiled and ushered us out of the office.

“We’ll meet you in the car dear”, Mrs. Smith said to me and I nodded before walking down the hallway. I ran down the stairs and I didn’t even care if people stared after me as I ran out of the pack house. I went to the car and got in the back seat.

Tears didn’t struggle to fall down my cheeks as I tried to maintain my composure. It was even getting harder to breathe as I tried not to make a sound.

It was hard.

Why was I being rejected for the second time? Why did this one hurt even more? Where do I actually belong? Why did the Luna and I look so much alike?

A sob escaped my lips as I buried my face in my hands. My heart was aching badly making me cry harder. There are so many things I just don’t understand. I was curled up on the seat and didn’t even know when Gerald and Mrs. Smith got in the car.

“Cassandra,” I heard my name but I didn’t look up. I didn’t want to make eye contact with any of them. I was a disappointment. I’ve always been a disappointment.

I didn’t want to see it in their eyes.

I heard them sigh and the car ignition was turned on. My cries turned into whimpers as we drove back home.

When the car was parked, I got out first and ran straight to my room. I climbed my bed and covered my whole body with the comforter. I couldn’t cry anymore; I was too tired to cry.

I felt a warm hand on my shoulder but I didn’t open my eyes. I knew it was Mrs. Smith. 

“I’m sorry,” my voice was hoarse and my throat was dry. “I don’t want you to think that we’re disappointed in you or anything, because we aren’t,” Mrs. Smith said. I knew she only said this to make me feel better and that made my chest tighten. 

“Cassie,” she said my name but I still didn’t show any effort to move. I didn’t want to see the look on her face, it’ll break me the more. She sighed. I knew it was somehow rude to not answer an older adult but that was the only thing that could save me right now. I didn’t want to cry again.

“Am I going to be a rouge?” I found myself asking. The thought of me being a rouge scared me more than anything else in this life. A rouge can never be accepted in any pack all over the world. I don’t even have a wolf that I can shift into and fend for myself. I was just useless.

“You’re not going to be a rouge, Cassie. Stop overthinking everything. You’re going to be living with us until the Alpha sends for us again,” Mrs. Smith said to me. I sighed and shook my head.

She then let out a soft sigh and ran her hand across my back. “Get some sleep. By the time you wake up, lunch will be ready,” she said and stood up. I waited, hearing her walk out of the room and closing the door behind her as she left.

I slowly pulled down the comforter and sat up. My throat was dry and my eyes were sore from let out waterfalls of tears. “I hope everything goes well,” I mumbled and laid back down.

I didn’t want the Alpha and Luna to send me back to my old pack. Alder won’t be too happy to see me and I’m not even sure if I wanted to see him either.

I’d rather walk on hot coal than get humiliated by him again. But it didn’t mean I didn’t want to see Jack. 

In the midst of all my thoughts, I fell asleep.

LUNA CELINA’S POV

“Celina, you’re overthinking. I don’t like this”

I raised my head to see Vincenzo, my husband by his desk with his hands folded across his chest and a frown on his face. I knew he was worried about me. I was also worried about myself.

“Vincenzo, I’m fine. I’m not overthinking,” I told him with a fake smile. He scoffed and stood up from his seat. “I too saw it, my love. There’s no point in hiding anything right now. Just say how you’re feeling and we’ll fix what’s happening,” he said as he sat across me on the couch where I was also sitting. 

I ran my hand through my dark brown hair, the same hair that that girl had.

“What if she’s the one?” I asked him. I heard his breath hitch. Then, I knew his heart skipped a beat. It had to, mine skipped a beat too.

“I won’t lie to you, Celina. Something deep inside me has been praying that she’s the one,” he said to me. “Why?”, I asked even though I knew the answer to the question.

“Celina, the girl looks exactly like you. The same shade of dark brown hair, to the point that the highlights are also the same thing. There’s a birthmark on her collar bone, just like yours and also like the one that Mariana had,” Vincenzo said as his voice broke. 

Mariana was our baby that got kidnapped when she was just a baby. She was barely one year old before she got ripped away from us. Only the Smith family and our family knew about it. We had to lie to the pack that she died. 

“Vincenzo, what if she’s the one?” I mumbled, my chest was heavy. “I didn’t smell her wolf. Mariana didn’t have a wolf too,” he said to me but I shook my head. “Mariana’s wolf was hidden. Because she’s a lycan like me,” I told him. Then his eyes widened as he looked at me. “What if the girl is a lycan too?” he asked. 

I let out a shaky sigh and ran my hand through my hair. I wanted to believe that that girl was ours but at the same time I didn’t want her to be ours. I wanted to believe that Mariana, our Mariana was dead and gone. 

I needed to speak to Mrs. Smith. 

“Let her come here tomorrow, we’ll interrogate her and see for ourselves. There should be something that will link the both of you together. If she’s our daughter, we’ll know,” Vincenzo said. I shook my head at him, “We can’t just conclude whether she’s our daughter or not in just one day by talking to her. It’s a gradual thing that we have to be careful with.”

He seemed to go into his thoughts again. Then he spoke up after a few seconds, “Maybe she should come to the pack house and live with us.” “We haven’t initiated her into the pack yet,” I reminded him. “Let’s do it then. I couldn’t smell harm on her. All I could smell was innocence. She won’t be a threat,” he said to me.

“And what if she’s not our daughter?” I asked him.

He shrugged, “It’ll hurt and sting too. But we can’t send her away because she’s not our daughter, Celina. She’ll remain here and be our member.” I nodded at what he said and he pulled me closer to him.

I immediately wrapped my arms around him and snuggled closer into his touch. It was always calming me down. I loved it.

“Sometimes, at night I still think of her,” I said after a long moment of silence. I heard his heart skip a beat. 

“Me too,” his voice was quiet. “I imagine her running up and down in the pack house, causing chaos everywhere,” he said and I chuckled.

Even as a little baby, Mariana was very chaotic. If she didn’t get what she wanted, she would cry and cry until it came to her. She had Vincenzo wrapped around her tiny finger and there was nothing anyone could do about it.

Even our fathers; her grandfathers were in love with her. The whole pack loved the little baby.

“If your mom hears about this, she’ll literally fly down here from Italy,” I told him and he laughed. “Yes, she would,” he chuckled and I smiled. I looked out the window to see the moon. It was brightly illuminating every place that it could touch.

“All will be well,” I heard Vincenzo say and I nodded.

MRS. SMITH’S POV

I was confused about what had happened this morning at the pack house. “It’s not like we were expecting rainbows and rubies, Nana,” Gerald chuckled as he handed me a glass of milk. I shook my head, “At least, it should have been better. The poor girl is feeling dejected.”

“Can’t you see that they were shocked? Nana, this isn’t a Bollywood movie. Actually, a Bollywood movie is worse,” he chuckled and I knew he was trying to lighten up the mood. 

“What I’m trying to say is that they didn’t reject her. The youths that even saw her today had the same expression on their faces. It’s normal for something like this to happen. All we need to do is just make them realize that Cassie is actually their daughter,” Gerald said.

I sighed and drank my milk. This was harder than I thought. Didn’t day see the evidences? Were the similarities not enough?

“She didn’t even want to eat dinner,” I told him. He gave a small smile and patted my knee. “From what I’ve studied about her. I feel she has been rejected before. Another rejection hurts worse than the first one,” he said.

“They didn’t reject her,” I countered. He nodded at me. “Yes, it’s true. They didn’t reject her. But to her, they rejected her. You’re a doctor, Nana. You know this things, you’re letting your emotions take over,” he said to me. 

I closed my eyes and sighed. He was right. I was letting my emotions take over and they were getting the best of me. 

“The girl is still young. Young people tend to overthink everything. The only thing we can do is make her feel loved,” Gerald said and I nodded. “I’m sure the Alpha and Luna will soon realize that she’s theirs,” I said to him and he nodded.

“No matter the situation. A mother will always recognize her cub, whether they’re grown or not. That’s just how nature is. Even if it’ll take a lot of time, they’ll still get connected and everything will be back to normal.” Sometimes, I just fall in love with this man the more because of the things he says. He always knows what to say and how to say it. 

I hope all will be well for all of us. The moon goddess will take control. She started it, she has to finish it.