We were eating a late breakfast, as we had all mostly slept in. The savory aroma of bacon and eggs was heavy in the air around us as we sat together in the kitchen. The plan was to sleep in, eat breakfast, and then head to the mall again, as it was Black Friday. Whoever didn't want to go, stayed here and got out the Christmas decorations. I had debated staying, because I just wanted to relax after yesterday, but it turned out we all ended up staying.

The doorbell rang around eleven, and while it was literally just down the entryway hall, Kota brushed it off to "let one of the pups get it." A mere few minutes passed before the patter of bare feet alerted us to someone coming into the kitchen area.

"Alpha?" I glanced up to see a small boy who couldn't be older than seven. His eyes were downcast and his voice small.

Kota put down his fork and stood from the table, walking over to the boy. "Hi, Jeremy. what is it?"

Jeremy shuffled his feet on the hard floors. "There's a lady at the door. She asks for the Alpha."

Kota sighed and glanced back at us, clearly frustrated our brunch was being interrupted. "Just me?"

Jeremy shrugged, glancing back over his shoulder. Kota ran a hand down his face in thought before he waved us over.

"Might as well." We left our food as it was and gathered behind him. Jeremy motioned to the foyer I had met individual pack members in last night — in fact, I vaguely remembered the timid boy and his family — before he scampered off down a different passageway.

My heart thudded as we walked, even though I was sure I had nothing to fear. My friends surrounded me, as if the same thoughts were on their mind: Jack had found me. No, don't think like that. Jeremy said it was a lady. I reminded myself, pulling at my fingers as we grew closer to the foyer. Unless it's a trick; he would do something like that. Planting myself hidden behind Kota and between Jaycee and Sydney, they became a protective shield as we stopped in the archway.

"Alpha Anderson," the person greeted as they stood up. Her voice hit me like a brick wall, slamming against my mind full of memories, and I sucked in a breath as subtly as I could manage. Not enough, apparently, because Sydney shot me a strange glance.

"Hello, Ma'am." Kota responded politely, but I could tell he was slightly thrown off by her arrival. "I've been told you're here to see me?"

"Actually," the woman corrected, and I squeezed my eyes shut, willing it all to disappear. "It's 'Your Majesty' to you, and no I am not. I am here to see your mate. I believe her name is Eirenae, yes?"

I could physically feel everyone stiffen around me, the air getting thicker with tension. Kota's voice hardened, but it was laced with hints of bewilderment and awe. "Anne?"

I swallowed hard and my mind screamed at me to run. Why wasn't I running yet? That was what I did best in situations like this: I avoided them. It took a lot of self-discipline to keep my legs from going full speed through the house and out the back door. I had to stop that habit, I was stronger now, I could take it. I had to. I ran from Jack, I didn't need to run from my mother.

Eva's hand came from behind me, and she gripped my arm as she leaned in to whisper. "Do you want to run? I can get you out of here if you don't want to talk."

The temptation was strong, as once again my legs itched to move and get me anywhere but here. But I shook my head and kept my expression passive. I was Luna, I could be brave; I had to face her. I deserved to know why she left me and how she was standing here, in my home.

"Where is she?" Mother's voice was clipped, almost impatient. It made me want to bolt more, but I fought the feeling and shimmied through the gap between Kota and Jaycee, ignoring both of their warning growls.

The first thing my eyes landed on was not my mother, but in fact the gangly child that stood next to her. She looked to be around ten or eleven, twelve at the most, with blonde hair — it was a couple shades darker than mine — falling in soft waves until they lapped at her waistline. Her brilliant green eyes that shined brighter than even Kota's danced around the room in awkward discomfort. Not even a speck of recognition hit me, yet she was clinging to my mother's arm. I stared at her for a few moments, hoping something — anything — would come. Finally, I gave up and shifted my eyes to the left, landing on my mother.

She didn't look much different than I remembered. Her bright blonde locks still stopped at her shoulders and her figure was much the same. Her eyes — once a bright and lively shade of blue — now sank in to show her years. When she met mine, she didn't smile, but she wasn't necessarily frowning either.

"Eirenae?" Her voice was softer than it had been talking to Kota. I clutched the wolf necklace in between my fingers and moved my eyes to the floor. Her sight must have followed my hands, "you're wearing the necklace; you know who I am."

I nodded, but didn't meet her eye. She took a step towards me and I visibly stiffened every muscle in my body.

"She's still timid," Sydney explained from behind me and I nearly lost it. I wasn't shy, I was angry! Why, why did it take her so long? I finally created a safe place with Kota. She could have come for me years ago when I needed her! Or at least let me know she was alive out there somewhere!

"Timid?" I could hear the frown in my mother's voice. "Why would she be? I did not raise my daughters to be fragile!"

Barely even noticing the plural form of "daughter", I clenched my fists together and ground my teeth. Her words were the tipping point, and I knew I could no longer be silent. Lifting my head, I made sure my eyes held a burning fire, lit by the details of my past I was aggrieved by.

"You do not have a right to say that!" My voice came out in a snarl, and I knew all my friends had to be shocked. The furthest I'd raised my voice around them was just above a whisper. "You did not raise me! You left me in the hands of- of that monster when I was barely seven years old."

She opened her mouth but I kept going, not giving her a chance until I was finished. "We thought you died! At least, that's what the cops told us. And now you show up here, out of thin air, expecting me to be that seven year old, free-spirited child?!" I sucked in a breath, "well that child died when you did.

"The second you disappeared, Jack turned on me. I was his relieving punching bag, practically his slave! I had no choice but to cook his meals and clean up after him, all the while he watched me starve and take every blow he sent my way." I was still fuming, but in the back of my mind I was aware that this was also the first time my friends were hearing this; the first time Kota was being told my whole story.

"You could have taken me with you! You didn't have to leave me behind, or at least come for me after you were safe!" My voice cracked and my eyes finally filled with tears, creating a blurred line across the horizon of my sight. "Instead, you've been hiding like a coward."

Mother took the chance to butt in, "Sweetie, I tried!"

My voice dropped back to its usual whisper. "Then why was I stuck under his thumb for eleven years?" A low rumbling came from Kota's throat, his itch to protect me, but thankfully he was letting me hash this one out on my own.

"When I decided to run, I planned to take both you girls. Jack took you to school and I took the chance. Last minute, I figured out a way to pick you up and take you with, but then we got hit and I decided to take the opportunity to stage our deaths."

I studied her face, wanting to believe her. It felt off to me, and by Kota's stance beside me, he was wary of her too. But still, I couldn't stop the questions rising in my throat. "But why didn't you stage mine? Why wasn't I taken with, and more importantly, why didn't you ever come back?"

Her eyes glistened — I didn't know what to make of that. "Honey, I did! I went back after several months, but the house was being occupied by someone else; you'd moved away. I've spent the last odd-some years trying to track you down, praying you were alive, with no luck. Finally I started searching packs, hoping you'd found a mate in one and you were safe. Gossip travels fast, and it wasn't hard to pinpoint that you were at the Shining Moon Pack."

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. She was supposed to be a queen; she had to have resources for goddess's sake! Yet, still I had been left in the wreck of that car, alone and miserable while she took my sister away. I wanted to believe her, I did. I hoped she would come for me one day, and that little girl inside was still praying for her mother's miracle of a rescue. But something didn't feel right, and one glance at the girl beside her confirmed my suspicions.

She stared up at my mother with confusion, looking as if she was dying to open her mouth. I didn't miss the hard squeeze the queen gave her hand; a warning to stay quiet. Finally, those green eyes found mine, and they were desperately conveying a message.

I crossed my arms and stepped towards my mother. "Alright, I don't buy it. What do you want from me?"

The queen recoiled and Cole spoke up from somewhere near me. "Eirenae don't you th-" I held up my hand and was shocked it actually worked.

"Sweetie, I don't want-"

"Cut the crap, I'm not here for games. I want to trust you, but you know I can't for painfully obvious reasons. Besides, Tally's behavior gave everything away." It had hit me in a rush: the resemblance between all three of us; our hair color, our eye shape, skin tone, everything down to how the child's button nose matched mine from the old pictures. She wasn't a carbon copy of me, but she was definitely blood related.

Images from my childhood flashed across my eyes, leaning over a crib to coo at the baby sleeping inside. Holding a green-eyed infant in my own tiny arms, and taking family pictures with the newborn when I was around six.

Tally's lips stretched into a thin, pleased smile to tell me she was happy I understood. Briefly, I worried she was mute like I had been for so many years.

After a few moments of hesitation, Mother let out a sigh. "Fine, you're very deceptive — a quality you seem to share with your sister." A not-so-subtle collective gasp could be heard around me.

That's right, I mused to myself, now you've all met my long-lost-supposedly-deceased sister. "So what is it?" I pushed her out loud.

"You're the heir to Werewolf throne, darling. It's time you come home and work towards becoming the strongest Luna you can, the path written in the stars as your goddess-given birthright."

"Absolutely not." Kota stepped in, unable to contain himself. All it took to quiet him was slipping my hand into his.

"Where is 'home'?" I wanted more information before I gave my answer, even though I had already decided. I gestured to my friends, "last we heard, the Royals have perished and when I shifted, we believed I might be the last one living."

"Its just you and me left." She said, "and I've built the Menai Moon Pack back up from the ground. It's not too far from here, actually. I didn't want to hide all the way out in Alaska like my mother did and all the generations before her."

I nodded to my sister, "what about Tally. She's Royal too."

Mother's eyes were hard. "You're the heir. Your people need you ready."

I snorted. "I didn't grow up in this world! Everything is new to me still. I'm not just about to drop my new life in this pack to be your puppet on a string, molded into the perfect heir you imagined! You've been picking Natalia over me all along, why is this different? Leave me be and train her for it."

"No," she argued harshly, "she can't."

"What do you mean she can't?" My voice was rising again, "she knows you, she's been with you all along! You abandoned me with that sorry excuse of a father, and I'll bet you were well aware of what he was capable of!"

She lost it, breaking her posture and letting go of my sister. "He's not your father!"

Everything went dead still, the silence that followed her raging voice was deafening and cold. My body refused to move, refused to speak, refused to breathe.

The queen was the first to move, sitting down in the nearest chair as if all of this was too much for her to handle. "Your blood father died before you were born, before I even knew I was expecting." No no no, this couldn't be true. I wasn't Jack's? My breaths started to come out funny, and Kota squeezed my hand still linked in his to calm me.

"Then Jack is Tally's father? But not mine." I processed out loud. She nodded, confirming, and Tally's expression turned horrified. I wanted to reach out to her, but I wasn't sure she would let me; she had been raised her entire life not truly knowing me after all.

"Explain," my voice was low, somewhere between a rasp and a growl, "now."

Anne crossed her legs and folded her hands in her lap, as if appearing dainty and proper was going to help her case. "When he died, I was still in hiding — a story I'm sure you've been told about the last known Royals. I'd lost my mother and so now it was just me. Being so young, so freshly mated, I knew my wolf would only weaken from that point on, falling into a state of depression, white wolf or not. So, I did my best to prevent that by searching for a second mate, a choice mate. Jack was what I needed at the time, and he helped me and my wolf." Her words made me suddenly appreciate Mrs. Anderson much more. She'd lost a mate, yet she was still here for her kids.

I cleared my throat, "does- does he think-"

"That you're his? Yes. I let him, because I discovered your existence after we were together so it fit alright." She gaze raked over me, as if just noticing the resemblance I had to herself, "thank goddess you took after me in practically every feature." I wasn't sure if that was supposed to be a compliment or just a fact.

"Later, when I was pregnant with Tally and thought we were a happy little family, I realized how much of a mistake I had made. He was different, especially after I trusted him with the information of what I was, and who you would become." She cast her eyes to the floor, "that was when he became abusive. It was mostly verbal, but I think that was because of the pregnancy. I never thought he would touch you; as far as he knows, you're his daughter."

I growled again, not daring to speak so I could keep my temper in check. I needed to hear everything.

"Now do you understand?" Her voice became

softer, pleading almost. "Tally can't be the heir because she only holds half of the Royal bloodline. You have the full set of genes, born to true Royal parents. You have a gift, Tally will not. I'm not even sure if Tally's wolf will be white." Tally ducked her head to let the waterfall of hair separate herself from us.

"I don't have a gift, Mother." I said slowly. "I don't even know what I am expecting."

Her eyes met mine and her eyebrows arched. "You don't have it yet? Even after everything you went through, none of that triggered anything?"

I shrugged and glanced over my shoulder at my friends, who were astoundingly keeping quiet throughout this whole ordeal. "No?"

She huffed, clearly impatient, "it will come, surely soon now that you've got your wolf and you're healthy." Shaking her head, she added, "goddess I was so wrong. I thought leaving you there would protect you; instead, it slowed everything down."