Chapter 0024

Athena

I found Isabella in the kitchen.

She was shoveling food into her mouth.

Her dark eyes were watery.

Her face was blotchy from holding back tears.

"Aren't you supposed to be in your room?" she snapped at me.

I flinched at her tone.

Isabella had never been short-tempered with me before.

"I was... I'm hungry," I stammered. "Alpha Alexander said I could help myself if I ever needed to."

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly.

"Julian has been banished," she spluttered.

Tears finally broke free and streamed down her face.

"Oh," I breathed out, puffing my cheeks.

I tried to think of something reassuring to say.

All I could manage was an apology.

Her dark eyes studied my face.

"It's not because of you. It's because he's an idiot. I warned him so many times that Alexander would only tolerate it for so long. I'm trying not to cry, but Midnight is grieving for her twin. I can't control it."

"Your wolf?" I asked.

I couldn't remember if she or Alpha Alexander had told me her wolf's name.

"Yes," she confirmed. "Not only are Julian and I twins, but the wolves gifted to us by the Moon Goddess are twins too. Midnight knows it was his own fault, but she still sobs."

I slipped into the seat opposite her, frowning.

I didn't understand the separate wolf concept.

None of the Silver Creek members had them, at least not that I knew of.

Then again, they never told me anything.

"Can I ask you something?" I ventured.

"As long as it's not about Julian."

"Is it normal to have another voice, your wolf, living inside your head?"

She tilted her head, staring at me intently.

"We all have one. Well, not you, but we all do. When we shift, they take over, and we become a voice to them. It's a spiritual thing. Surely you know that."

I had mentioned it briefly to Alexander.

But so much was happening that I never brought it up again.

"It's just... all of you here talk about them. My brother never did. In fact, I never heard anyone at Silver Creek refer to their wolf. Is that weird?"

"Super fucking weird," Isabella stated bluntly. "If they had a wolf like Midnight, who never stops talking, you'd know about it. Have you told Alexander?"

"Sort of. I haven't discussed it because..." I glanced down at my stomach. "Then there was an attack, and now he seems to be avoiding me."

"I'm telling you, Athena. That is really weird. Midnight wants to know if you've ever seen their wolves."

I shook my head.

"You saw us shift and take down that beast. Are you really saying you've never seen anything like that at Silver Creek?"

"My brother had a rule. Shifting was to be kept in the woods."

"You need to tell Alexander." She shoved more food into her mouth.

Isabella saw my hesitation and offered to come with me.

"It's better that he knows everything you know. And I'm sorry I snapped at you." She gave me a small smile.

She linked Alpha Alexander for me.

She asked him to meet us in his office.

We waited almost thirty minutes before he appeared.

The waiting made me panic more.

It reminded me of some of the abuse I received from Silver Creek.

Sometimes, when I knew it was coming, they would make me wait, tormenting me further.

"Even I can smell your panic. And I'm not an Alpha," Isabella muttered.

"I thought my scent was weird."

"It is, which means your panic levels are stupidly high. You need to relax."

The door swung open.

Alpha Alexander strode in.

"You wanted to talk." His voice was still cold.

Normally he would be watching me, but instead his eyes were fixed on Isabella.