After almost nine hours of being on the road, not including their lunch break, Leah and Alex finally arrived in their new town. Slowing down to see what their new neighborhood was like, it took them a few more minutes before getting to the house. Since their mom had gone by herself to look at the place and get the keys, neither of them had seen the house aside from pictures their mom had taken. It was an average-sized, two-story home, with a small front yard and a backyard that opened to the woods. Taking a moment to learn their new home, the siblings walked around to the back, checking to see if they had access to the woods or if the side fence wrapped around the entire yard.
Returning to the car, they both grabbed whatever they could carry and started bringing everything into the house. Dumping it all in the living room, they decided to call for food before choosing rooms and moving everything upstairs. Their mom already had the cable and internet set up so they browsed the local delivery for something different than their lunch.
Breaking the silence, Alex hesitantly asked, “Lee, I know I’m not supposed to talk about this with Mom, but I was hoping you would answer me. Why didn’t Dad want me? He didn’t stay long enough to even get a chance to know me.”
There were only two topics their mother refused to talk about, her husband and her missing child. But Leah knew it was only a matter of time before Alex started asking questions. She had noticed a slight change in him recently, similar to a change she had gone through when she was much younger. Putting her phone down, she decided now was the perfect time to answer him, since their mom still should have been on the road. “First and most importantly, he should not mean anything to you. He left, end of story.” Thinking she would leave it at that, Alex started to get up and go explore the house, but sat back when Leah continued, “Next, he left mom and me, not you. He didn’t know about you. Mom never told him. She planned on it, the day he left, she was going to tell him she was pregnant, but when we got home, he was gone.”
Interrupting, Alex wanted to understand, “Shouldn’t he have known? I mean you keep telling me that we’re different, that we can smell and hear things that others can’t. You even said that mom’s scent had changed and you asked about it.”
“I did. Mama had been smelling different for a few weeks. Day and I—" stopping to hold back her emotions, Leah took a deep breath and continued, “We knew something was different with her but we didn’t know what. That day, when we were out, I asked her. We were in the car, heading to the store and I asked why she smelt different than she normally did. I think that’s when Mom started to realize that I wasn’t normal. I mean, we were always different, with our special connection, but it was more than just us being twins, and I think that day was when Mom finally realized what it was.” Alex knew she was talking about their brother, the one he never met. Leah was usually so careful to not say his name, and the few times she slipped up, he knew she was on the verge of breaking down.
“Yeah, Dad should have known about Mom. But he was proud. He saw her as weak, as a disappointment. Even though they were soulmates, Dad had this notion that because she couldn’t change forms, she was less than worthy. That even though she came from a good family, her latency was something to be ashamed of. What he didn’t realize, was that I could smell him. He taught me how to find the different layers of a scent, what was being hidden and how, and then how to find the true scent beneath that. I used his own techniques against him. I don’t think Mom knew for sure, but I did. He had been cheating on her for years. He had a whole other family, a new mate, and daughters to replace all of us. It’s why there’s such an age gap between us. His new mate had pups two years before you were born and he didn’t want anymore. He never planned on having you. Neither of them did.”
Alex interrupted again, “So I was just a mistake? An unhappy event for both of them?” A little hurt, Alex wanted this story to be over.
“No! Never!” Leah’s response was so vehement, Alex looked at her shocked. “You might not have been planned but you were never a mistake. Not to Mom and not to me. You were a wake-up call for Mama. She knew there was something up with Dad. She might not have known what it was, but she knew, and she was going to finally stand up for herself. If Dad had rejected you when she told him about you, she was going to leave him, taking us with her. She had been planning for months on how to get us away from him, knowing his treatment of us wasn’t how a father should treat his children or his mate. But he left first. He finally grew tired of being with a family he thought of as a disappointment and moved in with his new mate and pups. If the rumors I’ve heard from my people are true, he treats them all worse than he treated us. His mate isn’t his true mate so he still pines for Mom, but takes it out on her, wanting to forget Mom ever existed, but a part of him still misses her. He’s raising his daughters to be pawns in the same game his parents raised him, that bloodlines are important, and true mates are only important if they can lift your status.”
Looking at her brother in the eye so he would know how important her next words were, Leah continued, “I will not let you fall into that way of thinking. I refuse to let you follow that path when you enter this world. Me and mine, we believe in true mates, in finding your one and only, but if you don’t find her or him, then finding someone you can love is just as important. We don’t believe in the whole arranged marriage and bettering your status. I will not let you go that way either.”
Alex was shocked, his sister rarely spoke about him entering her world even though she told him all about it. Wanting to know what changed her mind, he asked, “What do you mean ‘when I enter this world’? I thought you said you didn’t know if I could.”
Smiling at her brother, thankful she could finally share this aspect of her life with someone who could experience it rather than just knowing it existed, Leah replied, “Your scent, brother, it's finally changing. It's subtle but it’s there. I can smell a hint of the woods on you and soon you’ll be able to truly follow me out into the night.”
Excited about the change in his future, Alex started peppering Leah with questions. Would it hurt? What was the best part? How would it affect his normal life? What would he have to do to change? Laughing, Leah interrupted his barrage of questions, “Food first, little brother! My wallet’s still in the car, I’ll go grab that while you look for a good pizza place. Mom should hopefully be here by the time it gets delivered. I’ll answer all your questions but some of them are best experienced first-hand rather than me explaining them.”
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