Chapter 0496

"Take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

"Thank you, Zachary." She rushed up the stairs while I settled onto the sofa.

Lottie talked nonstop during breakfast. Between spoonfuls of cereal, she tried to give Evelyn every possible detail about school. I couldn't get a single word in. Instead, I found myself watching Evelyn.

Her grey eyes shone brightly as she listened to every word from Lottie's mouth. I remained surprised that Lottie had slept through the night without any nightmares. Because I couldn't quite believe it, I hadn't slept at all. Well, that and the fact I couldn't get Isabella out of my head.

"Daddy?"

I blinked several times and smiled at Lottie.

"When will I shift?" she asked curiously. The question caught me off guard.

"When you're much older."

"But Evrin can." Lottie smiled at me. "And he can barely walk."

"Athena's twins?" Evelyn asked.

"Yes."

"One of them can shift?"

I nodded.

"Is that possible?"

"Athena could when she was young."

"Wow. Do you know if my mother could?" she asked with a frown.

"I don't know. I don't think there's much information about your mother. I believe it has more to do with who Athena is."

"The last female Alpha." Lottie announced proudly, looking at Evelyn. "Don't be sad about your mommy. I don't have one either, and I'm okay."

Evelyn looked away, running her hand through her short blonde hair. It was starting to grow out, though she still hated it. I liked it. It suited her.

"Go get ready." I told Lottie. She shoved another spoonful into her mouth and ran off toward the stairs.

"You want to find out about your mother?" I asked.

She frowned at me. "Yes and no. I understand that Athena and I are cousins and that our mothers were sisters. I know she gave me up to my dad. I know she wasn't ready to have me. But that doesn't stop me from being curious about her. What was she like? Do I carry any of her traits? Do I resemble her?" She sighed. "Then there's the part of me that wonders if it's better this way. I can't miss what I never had."

She passed me as she took the dishes to the sink. Holding out her hand, she waited for my mug. Her fingers brushed against mine as I handed it over. A sharp current shot up through my finger, and I almost dropped the mug.

Evelyn didn't react to the spark. Instead, she asked me if I hadn't gotten enough sleep while slowly taking the mug from me.

"My brain is on overdrive." I told her.

"I take it you didn't talk to Jasmine then." she muttered with her back to me.

"We talked, and I rejected her."

I saw her freeze, but she didn't turn around.

"I was at the hospital with Athena and Alexander. Athena wanted to talk with her, and everything that came out of her mouth was a lie."

"I lied." she whispered, and I heard the sadness in her tone.

"It was different. You were being forced to do something you didn't want to do. She just kept spewing more and more shit. Making demands. She couldn't even look Athena or Alexander in the eye while she was bullshitting them. And that Alpha Julian was just something Levi had told her."

"So it's not true? There's no Wolf trying to claim power?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" She turned around to face me, supporting herself on the counter. "They seem to come out of nowhere. And she did say she was running from him."

"I can't be sure about anything these days. But Alpha Ryan of Crestwood City is alive and well. It hasn't been taken over. Jasmine came from a place called Silver Streams."

She frowned at me. "I know that name."

"Silver Streams?"

"Dad told me that was where he met my mother."