The memory of the black wolf still lingered in my mind the following morning.

Obviously, he wasn't real- there was no way that a wolf was simply wandering around the streets of London, of all places. Putney was a green area, but this was impossible. I must have dreamt it all, some subconscious confusion between seeing the blonde guy at Adam's event and my love for animals.

Whatever the case was, I had no plans to waste my morning trying to figure it out, especially not when I had to get ready for a late lunch at my parents' place.

It was our family tradition to meet up like this once a month. I loved my mum and dad, and I missed seeing them as often as I did before I moved away to uni. They were both amazing parents, even more so because they loved me unconditionally despite not being their biological child.

I was three years old when my birth parents died in a car crash. It was a sheer miracle that the paramedics saved me, as I was stuck in my car seat at the back of the toppled-over vehicle. To this day, I still didn't know why the authorities were unable my birth parents' identity, though they gave me a crappy explanation years later that they could find no IDs on them or in the vehicle. The only clue to my family's identity was the necklace on my neck with my name, Aurelie, but that didn't help much.

When the authorities could not find any close relatives of mine, they put me up for adoption. That was when my mum and dad found me. Growing up, they told me countless times how they fell in love with me the moment they saw me, and I was eternally grateful to them for bringing me into their home and giving me all the loving and care a little girl could ever wish for.

With the car parked in their drive and a large bouquet of stargazer lilies and blue iris in hand, I made my way to the front door and rang to get my parents' attention.

"Auri! Sweetheart, I had missed you so much!" My mum was so excited to see me she was barely letting me go from her tight embrace.

"Seraphine, you need to let her breathe, darling. Surely you want her to survive today, don't you?" My dad emerged from the kitchen and came to my rescue, pulling me in for a hug of his own while he raised his eyebrows at my mum. They were so cute together.

"I know, Vic, but I miss having our gorgeous girl around. And thank you for the flowers, sweetie- they are beautiful as always". My mum grabbed a vase that she filled with water from the kitchen and put the bouquet on the coffee table in the living room, as we sat to catch up. "So, how is work, Auri?"

My parents were not huge fans of my job, but they knew I was good at it, so that put their minds at ease... a bit.

It always felt like such a change coming home. Here I was sweet, little Auri in my parents' eyes, and outside, I was Riley-as tough of a fighter as they came in the field. It also helped that I had a nickname that could easily pass for a guy's name. I loved seeing people's faces when they realised that their security and protection expert was not Mr Riley Boswell but very much a Miss.

"The usual- saving the world from impending doom. Riley Boswell — world saviour."

They laughed at my joke, yet I couldn't help but feel that they were holding back for some reason. On the surface, they both seemed relaxed, and I nearly wouldn't have caught it if it wasn't for the constant exchange of glances between them. It was like they were trying to butter me up before they told me whatever was up with them.

Except, I was never one to wait patiently. "Okay, what's going on? Spill it. I know you both well enough to be certain that something is bothering you."

My gut had always been right up to now, and the way they both tensed up confirmed my suspicion.

My parents had never acted like this, not even when they told me I was adopted. What the hell was troubling them to this extent?

Awkward silence filled the room before my mum tried to say something, but she just leaned back into the sofa chair again. Thankfully, it looked as if my dad had mustered the courage to speak.

"Auri, remember that we love you very much and everything we have ever done was for your good," he started, his eyes fixed on me.

Ha, this was how every super dramatic scene in movies opened and it never ended well. Both of them were always very open and honest with me, which was why I was wracking my brain for any explanation about what they could have been hiding from me.

Oh no, are they getting divorced? I pushed that thought out of my mind because it was ridiculous — they loved each other; I knew that for a fact.

As I was going through countless scenarios in my head, my dad's gaze shifted toward the garden. "You can come in now, Lucien."

The door opened and my eyes nearly popped wide because in walked the tall blonde guy from the day before.

What was he doing in my parents' house and how did my dad know his name? Was he the reason for their distress?

I didn't even think about it as I sprung from my seat and placed myself between him and my parents, ready to protect them and rip this guy to shreds if needed.

"What the hell is he doing here? Do you know him?" I turned toward my parents, impatient to get to the bottom of this. "The creep has been following me around, and I swear he was in front of my house last night as well. Well, him and a wolf, but clearly the latter was probably the tiredness yesterday." My mum and dad tensed again, causing my unease with the whole situation to grow. Nothing made any sense. "Somebody better start giving me answers."

Blondie took a step toward me. If I had to guess, he was only a few years older than me and definitely gave off a vibe of being a fighter, like me. But he didn't know that I was not intimidated, not at all. So much so that when he placed his hand on my shoulder, I was ready to push him off and kick his arse, but something was holding me back. My parents didn't react to his move, and my gut was telling me to wait before I did anything rash.

"It's best if you sit, Aurelie," he said with slight hesitation.

It shocked me he knew my full name. For most of my life, everyone knew me as Riley. Even most of my documents were under that name, so it was not like he could have rummaged through my post and found my birth name. But it was the sympathy that I could see in his eyes that was unnerving, as if he knew what was about to come, and I was not going to like it.

"How do you-" I tried to ask, but my mum interrupted me.

"Sweetheart, it really is best if you sit down. You too, Lucien. lt is better if we start." She was holding my dad's hand in hers, the way she did whenever something was wrong and she needed him. Suddenly, her tight hug earlier made sense — she knew that this moment was going to come.

"Auri, you know that we have told you the story of your adoption many times. We always tried to be as honest with you as we could, but we might not have shared all the details with you, not so far at least. Now is the time to tell you everything, darling." She sat next to me, wrapping her arms around my shoulders, my heart pounding hard in my chest as I waited for her to continue.

"It was 24 years ago that we found you at the adoption centre." My mum took a deep breath, twisting nervously the wedding ring on her finger. "I remember it as if it was yesterday — your dad and I couldn't have children of our own, so we thought adoption would work best for our family. They introduced us to all the kids in the centre, yet it didn't seem like any of them were the right fit for us."

Nobody dared to speak when she paused to calm her trembling voice. I had heard this story a million times and still, I was not sure what she was going to say next. Whatever it was, they had kept it hidden from me until now.

It was only when my dad took hold of her hand again that my mum was ready to continue. "So, we asked the director if there were other kids we hadn't met. That's when he told us about this little girl who would growl at everyone whenever she was upset or angry. No one wanted to adopt her because of her behaviour and her unusual looks. But when we met her, she immediately stole our hearts." Tears strained at my mother's eyes. "She had magnificent silver-grey hair and a tiny dragon-like birthmark just below the hairline at the back of her neck. Her eyes were a spectacular blue colour with golden rings around the irises. She was so different and yet so perfect in our eyes that we did not hesitate to adopt her."

I listened as she told the story, but it made no sense. They had adopted me, but I was a brunette. I have never had grey hair or any sort of birthmark on my neck. Sure, my eyes were exactly as my mum described them; however, that was the only similarity.

"I can sense your confusion, honey, but you are the only child we ever adopted. It's you, Auri- the girl in the story is you," she reassured me as she pulled me by the hand and placed me in front of the big mirror above the living room fireplace. "Let me show you."

I looked at it it and couldn't understand what she wanted me to see- the only thing there was just my reflection.

Next thing I knew, she touched the bracelet on my wrist that I had my whole life, the one they gave me when I was little, and told me it would always protect me. It only took a second or two for her to say some strange word, and what I saw in the mirror changed.

It was still me- my face, my eyes. I was sure of that because I had to pinch my cheeks to make sure that my mind was not playing tricks on me. But my hair was suddenly a magnificent silver-grey colour and when I lifted it , I could see the tiny dragon-like mark on the back of my neck in the other mirror that my mother was holding.

My heart gunned into overdrive. What the hell did just happen?