"Nice to see you again, nanny."
She scowled.
"Is there something distasteful in the air? Your face doesn’t look good."
"You know what's distasteful here. And you know I will never forgive it."
Evander simply sighed
"I didn't expect you to understand me, nanny. But still, even though I expected it, I don't know why it hurts."
She shook her head.
"My realization of who you truly are underneath those innocent scales hurt you? You killed your own family to become alpha. You took advantage of your brother's insecurity and got him out of full moon. Before you, we were the epitome of forgiveness and mercy. After you came, you made us just like split moon."
He winced. The uncanny link to Isabella stung.
"You know somewhere in there, in your heart, if you still have one, that I wasn’t responsible for any of the things that happened that night."
Leaning back in his chair, and letting red take over, he looked straight at her, his voice low.
"But, I don't need to explain myself to you, do I? Maybe I would if only it was still back then, when I still loved and thought of you as a mother. In the end, you proved...that you can't ever be."
"I never wanted to be your mother"
"its obvious",
he cut her off, saving himself the problem of listening to her harsh words.
"You wont take the girl. That's final. Alec?"
Alec walked up to where she was standing, holding her hand.
"You better leave."
He said to her and after much scowling and profanities, she walked out.
"Hey."
Isabella said, coming in and closing the door behind her. No answer.
"How are you doing? I mean, she's tough."
She said again, trying to lighten up.
"It was when I was much younger."
He said and let out a humorless chuckle.
"Or should i say....not even born yet."
She stood where she was, scared that a noise would snap him back to reality and he wouldn’t want to open up anymore.
"Nobody knows this, except the alphas of the three moons. All of the descendants of the family of the full moon alphas possess magic. I don’t know how, and I don't even know if it turned out a blessing or a curse for me. My brother.....well, after he was born, everyone expected him to show signs of the gift, as we call it, but it didn't happen. Even five years later. My dad grew worried. The first born was always alpha and everyone expected him to, just like my dad, show signs of it three days after birth. He didn't."
He sighed and swirled a pen in the air.
"In short, five years after the birth of my brother, I was born, my mum almost lost her life, but as my dad always said, it was worth it. Since the very first day I was born, I showed my gift. Nanny Mel used to be a maid then, but to me and my elder brother, Alexander, she was more of a nanny. Once it was announced that I would be the next alpha after my father, even though it was two years after my birth and I was a bit too young to notice, nanny Mel changed. As i grew older and I was left in her care more and more, she didn't miss a chance to tell me that I was an imposter. I didn't even understand the word."
He looked up to the ceiling that had his 3d wolf on it and sighed.
"How am I an imposter when I looked just like my father?"
She looked up and for the first time, actually noticed it. The wolf was beautiful.
"Luckily, my brother...he never changed, never hated me. That fateful day, dad and mum were in, asleep, and after i took out a book, I had closed their door. I was twelve then."
He stood up, circled around his table and sitting on the edge closest to her.
"I and my brother were in the kitchen and nanny was at it again. He got angry. Yeah, he has anger issues. He was seventeen then. He threw a big tantrum, threw things, I don’t know how it happened, but the house caught fire."
As he said the last word, he held her arm, pulling her into a hug, burying his face in the crook of her neck, making his voice a bit muffled.
"They burnt down. Both of them and the house. I and my brother got out. Damn, I would have done anything. But I was weak, i was young and I’m sorry..I’m so sorry."
She could feel the wetness on her neck as she lifted a hesitant palm and patted his back.
"I understand. You.
Don’t say anything more, okay?"
He didn't answer, but she could feel the slight nod.
"When i did that after you attacked us, it wasn't just your betrayal that had me that way...it was the fact that I didn't do the same for my parents. That I didn't save them too. My brother left his home because he couldn't stand it, and my life lost color. Nanny Mel only did what she absolutely had to, but hated me. I became alpha once I shifted."
He took a deep breath. The white and gray and black made sense now.
"I'm sorry. I didn't think. I was stupid and there is no other explanation for that. I don’t know if you will ever be able to forgive me, but I’ll wait. I'll wait for you to let go of the hate, and if possible, feel the way you felt for me before."
She said the last part in a whisper, but she knew he heard. Slowly, he released her, holding her shoulders and not only looking into her eyes, but boring into her soul, as if trying to see if she meant it. His tear stained face was still beautiful and even though she was used to seeing his emotions bare, seeing him so sad still somehow stung. So she didn't think before she leaned in and kissed him, recreating the feeling just before she shattered everything.