20 - My Truth

LUCY'S POV:

Seth looked at me crazy after my Alpha aura slipped out and onto him. I didn't mean to. I wasn't angry with him; I was angry with my crazy dad and how I felt powerless over everything.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that," I said honestly.

"So you are Alpha Kragen's daughter?" Seth asked.

"Yes," I said without hesitation, but my stomach churned at the honesty I was speaking.

"Seth, I will speak truthfully, anything you ask me, but I need you to promise that you won't tell OUR Alpha any of this. I understand you cannot lie to him if he asks you directly. However, I would like the opportunity to speak my truth to him myself. I owe him that much. Can we agree on that?" I added.

I looked over at Jason, who nodded at me. I didn't have to say anything or ask any questions. I knew that was his way of telling me my secrets were safe with him.

For someone who didn't trust anyone, I trusted Jason very easily. Jason was the sweetest soul I had ever met. He always checked up on me, even when I thought I was a slave.

He made sure I was well-fed and rested. He spoke to me as a normal she-wolf, making conversation and always making me laugh, but he was also protective—not just of me but of all the she-wolves in the pack.

Between him and Leander, I felt like I knew a little bit about what a father's love might have felt like.

Seth cleared his throat, bringing me out of my thoughts. "I, uh, actually do think that's fair. Alpha would like to hear this from you, not me," Seth said, looking at his plate.

Was he suddenly nervous? I wondered.

"I know you have more questions," I state rather than ask this time.

He looks up to meet my eyes. This time, I can see real confusion. "Last night, you made Dax bow to you. Is that because you have Alpha blood? Even then, I don't really understand it." Seth was asking a question but, at the same time, was questioning his own question, and I wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

"I have never seen a wolf do that, Seth, but, to be transparent, I haven't spent much time with anyone in their wolf form, so maybe there is something I am missing." I pause for a moment before I add to my thought, "I felt Dax reach out to me, but Nia won't tell me if they spoke."

Seth furrows his brows, looking at me. "Nia, who I'm guessing is your wolf, can talk to other wolves?" Seth confirmed my suspicions at that moment. It wouldn't be normal for Nia to be able to do that.

What. The. Hell.

I had felt Dax reach us but couldn't hear anything. Maybe I was just too tired to know what I was feeling. Nia had been stirring during my conversation with Seth but remained silent. I knew she wasn't going to tell me anything. Yet.

"She won't say either way. It felt like he was reaching us, but I could be mistaken," I say honestly, causing him to take a deep breath.

"I'm too far now to mind-link Alpha, but last I heard, Leon was acting out of sorts over you being in the dungeon; why? What did you do to him?" Seth asked, glaring at me.

News to me. I'm not entirely surprised, though.

I swallowed hard; my saliva felt thick and unmanageable.

"He doesn't know it fully, but Leon is my... well, he is my mate," I say, sucking air through my teeth and holding my breath.

I know my descenter had to have worn off some by now, but the aroma of the bacon and other breakfast food was so strong I'm guessing he hadn't noticed.

Seth tilted his head at me, narrowing his eyes for a moment.

"You're not joking," he said.

"No, I'm not, but he doesn't really know, and honestly, Seth, I don't think he should find out. I'm a mess, and with what's going on with my dad, it's best he doesn't," I said desperately.

I could see he was torn by the revelation I had given him. I recalled what Liam told me about Seth's mate rejecting him.

"I won't reject him," I said, feeling obligated to tell him this even though I wasn't 100% sure that I wouldn't.

"It's just complicated," I said, looking at the ground now.

My mind drifted to the last several years of my life. Could Seth ever understand why I don't want a mate?

'You said you wouldn't lie, Lucy; you better not reject my mates,' Nia said with a growl.

Mates. Plural. So, she also caught the roasted marshmallow scent.

Wait. Woah, HER mates? I'm doing it again, not paying attention to Nia's feelings. She has wanted her mate, but I'm resisting.

She was paying attention to my thoughts. I knew it as Nia pushed forward in me, my eyes glowing silver before I pushed her back down.

I will talk with her; right now is just not the time I decided.

Jason was now a few feet away from me, staring at me, and Seth was staring as well.

"What pack was your mother from?" Seth asked after a few moments of awkward eye connection.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. There's a lot I don't know about my family, especially my mom. Had I known my life would turn out this way, I might have been brave enough to ask her more questions. I've never met her family. For all I know, she was born into my dad's pack, but I don't think she was." Suddenly, I spill my truth so easily.

I stiffen my posture as I recognize this fact. I hate to admit that speaking about this out loud felt good. Jason takes my hand as he sits down next to me.

"Your eyes are very…. unusual, dear. Has anyone ever told you that?"Jason had a keen sense of other people's emotions; you could always tell by the way he spoke softly at times.

Now I'm the one sighing. "My mom always told me that there were many unusual things about me. I wasn't allowed to shift in front of others. Nia was terrified of my dad, so she never came forward with anyone in our pack," I said regretfully.

'I wasn't scared of your dad, Lucy. I didn't want him to hurt you if he saw me come forward,' Nia retorted in an irritated voice. 'I'm sorry you got stuck with me' was all that I could manage to respond back to her. I felt her huff another sigh of disappointment before curling up in the back of my mind.

Maybe there were times when she was mad at me, but I had never noticed if that was the case. However, I felt it now. She was angry. I knew she wanted her mate, but I hadn't expected this kind of reaction.

"You just barely turned 18, and you ran from your pack when you were barely a teenager, right? I'm trying to do the math here, Lucy, but help me out. How old exactly were you when you shifted the first time?" Seth asked while moving seats to sit closer to me for some reason.

Seth approaching me this way made me uneasy. He had never hurt me, but we have always been a little bit at odds. I looked at Jason, who gave me another understanding nod.

"I ran away when I was 14. I was ten the first time I shifted. My mom didn't let my father know until..." I paused what I was saying, realizing at that moment that she was killed the day after she and my father argued about me shifting.

When I finally looked at both of them, they looked shocked. Seth's eyes burned holes in my face, and Jason looked pale. I'm guessing that information wasn't normal either.