The air in the hospital suite felt like it was being charged by a thousand volts of static electricity. The flickering lights groaned, and the heart monitor let out a long, high-pitched scream. But through the chaos, it wasn't my voice that filled the room. It was Arkin's, vibrating with a power that seemed to ripple the very fabric of the air.
I told you, the sentinel voice echoed, projecting with such force that even Leonardo flinched. I told you, even if you get rid of my child, she will keep coming back to you. She will watch you die. Thank you for bringing her to her father, Eleanor. For that, I will forgive you, even if you aren't supposed to die yet.
I felt a strange, cold split in my consciousness. It was as if I had divided into two people—one standing in the room, and another hovering above, able to catch the frantic, dark thoughts of the nurses rushing down the hallway. I could hear their fear, their confusion about the electrical surge, and their whispers about the "cursed" Khian matriarch.
"Am I really a curse?" I whispered. The thought burned. I had only just found my father, only just touched the hem of a real family, and now the woman who held the keys to my past was being snatched away in a ball of fire.
I turned and buried my face in my father's chest. Leonardo's shirt was damp with tears he couldn't hold back.
"Although she knew and prepared me for this day, I never thought it would happen so soon," he said, his voice breaking. I gripped his arms, trying to offer some comfort, but I felt like a hollow shell myself.
"But I know my mother," he continued, wiping his eyes with a shaking hand. "She was always three steps ahead of everyone. She would detect any unusual thing before it happened. I guess... I guess she really was tired of this world."
The North Wing was restricted, but for an Alpha, doors didn't stay locked. We found her in a room filled with the rhythmic hissing of a ventilator. Ms. Eleanor looked small—so much smaller than the formidable woman who had bailed me out of jail. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, and the silver in her hair seemed to have lost its luster.
Leonardo moved to her side, taking her hand. "Mom," he whispered. It was the first time I heard him use the word, and it carried the weight of twenty years of resentment and longing.
Eleanor's eyes flickered open, cloudy but focused. She looked at Leonardo, then her gaze drifted to me.
"I lived like a dead person all these years," she rasped, her voice barely a thread of sound. "I might have been an Alpha back in my days, but I suffered just to survive... just to pull through until the day I could reunite you with your father."
She looked at me, but her eyes seemed to see through me, looking at a ghost I couldn't see. "Rebecca," she whispered, calling me by my mother's name. "Rebecca, I am sorry. I am sorry I turned off the life support machine. I am sorry I made Hannah go through such hardship. I am sorry I lied to Leonardo and told him she was dead. I know sorry isn't enough... but I was so young. So naive. I hope now that I have fulfilled your wishes, you will let me rest in peace."
I stood at the foot of the bed, my fists clenched. "You can't go yet," I said, my voice trembling with a mixture of grief and fury. "I haven't taken my revenge on you yet. You don't get to just leave after what you did."
A ghostly smile touched her lips, and for a brief second, the air behind her seemed to shimmer with the faint image of a woman who looked exactly like me, smiling back.
Eleanor turned her head toward Leonardo. "My son... I know sorry isn't enough. I am leaving too soon, but please... find a place in your heart to forgive me."
"Mom, you aren't dying," Leonardo insisted, his voice thick with denial. "The doctors said—"
"I will be announced brain dead in a few minutes," she cut him off with the authority of a leader. "I cannot use my powers anymore, and do not waste yours on me. At least you got to call me Mom after a very long time."
She took a shallow, rattling breath. "Listen to me. Even if I am here, do not bury me. Carry on with my funeral. Go ahead with the distribution of my property. I will only truly leave when Hannah has taken her revenge on me... but tell the world that I am dead. This is my command as the former Alpha, and you shall follow it."
Her eyes closed, and her hand went limp in Leonardo's.
"Mom!" he cried out, but the doctors rushed in, their faces grim as they ushered us out of the room.
I felt like the world was spinning. I went to the lead doctor, grabbing his white coat. "How many percent? What is the chance?"
"Twenty percent," he said, not meeting my eyes. "But she is in a deep coma. It is most likely she will not wake up. Prepare for the worst."
Leonardo didn't say a word. He stood by the window, his back to me, but I saw his shoulders shaking as he tried to scrub the tears from his face.
Weeks passed like a blur of grey. The world was told that Ms. Eleanor Khian had passed away. There was a grand funeral—a sea of black umbrellas and fake tributes—but I wasn't allowed to go. My existence was still a secret, a card my father was holding close to his chest until the right moment. I spent my days in a hidden apartment Leonardo kept, pacing the floors until my feet ached.
One afternoon, Lila arrived, carrying a garment bag and a look of intense seriousness.
"Laura said you should make yourself available for your grandmother's probate hearing," Lila said.
"I thought I wasn't supposed to make an appearance yet?" I asked, stopping my pacing. "I didn't even attend the funeral. What will they think of me if I just show up now?"
"I am just following orders," Lila responded, her voice soft. "Laura said it is vital. They know of your existence—the rumors have been flying—they just don't know what you look like. They don't know you are that Hannah."
She laid out a black silk long-sleeve dress and a wide-brimmed hat before exiting and shutting the door.
I stared at the dress. It was time.
The hearing was held in a massive, oak-paneled boardroom. The air was thick with the scent of old money and suppressed greed. As I walked in, my face hidden beneath the veil of the black hat, every head turned. I felt the weight of their stares, heavy and judgmental.
Near the front, I saw them. Leah and Leon sat like royalty next to their mother, Matilda Khian. My heart hammered against my ribs. These were the people who had made me a pariah in high school. Leah, who had laughed while she destroyed my future. Leon, who had looked the other way.
Matilda looked around the room with a sharp, possessive gaze, her chin tilted up as if she already owned the building. My father sat at the head of the table, his face a mask of cold stone.
Laura stood up, clutching a thick legal document. "As we all know, we are gathered here for the hearing of the late Ms. Eleanor Khian's will. I will skip the formalities and proceed to the reading."
She cleared her throat. "According to what is written here, sixty percent of Ms. Eleanor's will—including her lands and the Eleanor Enterprise—is going to Ms. Hannah Khian."
A collective gasp rippled through the room. Leah's head snapped toward me, her eyes narrowing as she tried to peer under my hat.
"Thirty percent will go to Mr. Leonardo Khian—the Eleanor mansion and the main estate," Laura continued. "The remaining ten percent will be divided among her pack mates: Thorne, Zendaya, and myself."
Matilda bolted upright, her chair screeching against the floor. "Who is Hannah? What about me and my children? This is an outrage! This is unfair!"
Leonardo didn't even look at her. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a plain white envelope, sliding it across the table toward her.
"You heard I was at the hospital, Matilda," he said, his voice dangerously low. "But you never came to visit. You never even wondered why I was there. I suppose you were too busy praying for my death alongside my mother's."
He pushed his chair back and walked toward her, each step sounding like a death knell. "For nineteen years, you deceived me. You lied to me. I thought you were genuine."
Matilda clutched the envelope, her face pale. "What are you talking about, honey?"
"Do not call me honey, you traitor," Leonardo growled. "Leah and Leon are not my children. You lied to me from the very beginning."
The room went deathly silent. Leah looked as if she had been slapped, her mouth hanging open.
"What do you mean? Why would you say that?" Matilda cried, her fingers trembling as she ripped open the envelope. She pulled out the DNA results, her eyes scanning the paper as she began to shiver. "Honey, this is just paper... it's not true! It's a mistake!"
"I should have known," Leonardo said, his voice echoing in the large room. "I should have known when I couldn't smell my blood in them. I suspected it, but I trusted you. I was too busy with the pack to take the doubt seriously. But when Hannah walked toward me... I smelled her immediately. She is my blood. They are not."
"Please! I can explain!" Matilda wailed, tears streaming down her face.
"How can you explain nineteen years of a lie?" Leonardo's eyes flashed gold. "I raised them, so I will not throw them into the street. But as for you, I am utterly disappointed. You are finished. The Luna title is stripped from you. You will never be near me again."
"What?" Matilda gasped. "But what about Leah? What about her marriage with Alpha Kasper? The contract is based on her being your heir!"
I slowly reached up and removed my hat, letting my red hair fall over my shoulders. I looked directly at Leah, who was staring at me with a horror so deep she looked like she might faint.
"The contract stays," I said, my voice cold and clear. "But the bride has changed."