Luna Amelia

Not Feeling Well

Chapter Five

*Mila*

I wake up early, the beautiful black wolf still on my mind. I reluctantly get up and head downstairs. Sleep is no longer an option. I stumble blindly into the kitchen, fumbling around the wall in search of the light switch. I flick it on and start up the coffee machine. Caffeine is definitely needed after my restless night of sleep. I kept replaying that scene from the party over and over again. The rogue wolf stalking me… and then the black wolf. I shiver. 

There’s a pang in my chest—something is missing. Those eyes haunt me. 

“Mm, that smells amazing,” my mother sighs heavily as she walks into the kitchen. “You’re up early,” she comments. 

I glance at the clock on the stove, noting that its barely five in the morning. 

“I couldn’t sleep,” I tell her. 

She nods as though she understands, but she couldn’t possibly. “Last night was very eventful.”

“I think I’m going to clean my old things out of the attic,” I announce suddenly. She’s been asking me for weeks to do it so she can put things in the school’s second-hand fundraiser. 

She blinks at me. “You don’t have to do that right now, Mila. You should go lay back down. You’ve barely slept at all.”

“I’m restless,” I tell her. “I need something to do.”

Shrugging, she begins fixing herself a mug of coffee, and I opt for a to-go paper cup. We part ways at the top of the stairs and I head back to my bedroom. I throw my hair in a top knot and dress in leggings and an oversized sweater and then make my way to the attic. 

All the boxes are covered in cobwebs and dust, and I begin looking around for the ones with my name on them. I find mine in a corner near the dormer, stuffed to the brim with old toys and stuffed animals. I sit in front of them on the floor, cross-legged, and begin going through them. I’m halfway done when I notice a small crawl space with another box hidden away. It’s dust and cobweb free, so obviously someone has looked through it recently and stuffed it back into its hiding place. 

Normally I wouldn’t go through it, and it wouldn’t really pique my interest. I’d probably just think it was pack stuff. However, written on the box, in my mother’s handwriting, is the name Freja, and it’s crossed out, my name written beneath it. 

I can feel in my bones that this box is bad news, but I find myself reaching for it anyway. I’m drawn to it. 

I carefully open it and peek inside. It’s filled with baby books, a frilly coming home outfit, a baby blanket, and a manila envelope. I rip it open desperately, as it has Freja written and crossed out on the front, Amelia Isa Vesta written beneath it. It’s filled with a bunch of papers—documents. I scan them, finding a birth certificate for Freja Clarice Banes. The birthday is the same as my own. Further in the stack I find an amended birth certificate. It documents Freja’s name change… to Amelia. And the parents listed are not my own. 

Last, but not least, are adoption papers. Clearly marking the process in which my parents adopted me.

I feel my stomach drop, and I feel ill instantly. I can barely process this. I’m actually Freja Clarice Banes? Who are my parents if the ones I’ve known my whole lives aren’t really my parents? Why would they keep this from me?

I know one thing for certain. If I thought I didn’t know myself before, I really don’t now. 

I anxiously shove the papers and the box back where I found them and grab up the bags I’ve gathered and toss them in the hallway by the stairs, locking myself in my room afterwards. What do I do? Do I confront my mother? Maybe she’ll tell me that this is a misunderstanding… but I don’t think that it could be. Those documents made things crystal clear. 

I can’t face her, though. Not now.

I throw myself on my bed and bury my face in the pillow, letting out a muffled scream. This is insane. There’s no way this can really be happening. 

A knock on my door startles me, and I sit up, trying to calm myself down. 

“Yes?” I ask, but my voice comes out a little strangled. 

“Amelia, your father has requested that we pick him up. We’ve been invited to lunch with Alpha West. Get dressed quickly so that we can leave soon.”

I panic. I can’t go anywhere with her! She’ll know something is wrong—I’ve never been able to keep secrets from her! But apparently she’s been keeping some from me. 

“I can’t go,” I call through the door. “I’m not feeling well.”

“What’s wrong?” She demands, probably alarmed by the weak tone of my voice. 

“I think Im just fatigued,” I lie. “I’m feeling tired and I have a migraine.”

I can feel her disappointment radiating through the door. “Alright dear,” she sighs. “Get some rest, and have Dottie bring you some lunch up later, okay?”

“Sure thing,” I answer her quietly, and then I hear her footsteps fade as she heads back down the hall. 

Well, I’ve succeeded in distracting myself from the wolf, that’s for sure. About an hour later I can hear my mother getting into the town car, and then I hear as the engine starts and drives slowly away. 

And suddenly I’m not confused and sad anymore. 

I’m pissed.