CHAPTER 5: THE TRUTH AND THE CHOICE
1146 Words
Mei Ling POV
I am sitting in Amar's office, and my whole world has exploded into a million pieces.
The woman is my mother. My real mother. The mother I was told was dead.
According to what she has told Amar and me over the past few hours, my father was the Alpha of this pack once. Years ago, before I was born, he fell in love with Aisyah, the daughter of the Eastern Pack's King. It was forbidden. The Eastern Pack had a law: royalty does not mate with common wolves. Royalty does not produce half-breed children.
But my father was not common. Apparently, he was a lost prince from an old and powerful bloodline. A bloodline that had been thought to be extinct for centuries. And when Aisyah got pregnant with me, the truth was revealed.
The Eastern Pack's King demanded that either my father kill me and reject Aisyah, or they would start a war that would destroy everything.
My father chose to run.
He took Aisyah and me to Roshan's pack and asked Roshan to hide us. He claimed my mother had died in childbirth, and he raised me in secret, never telling me the truth. He died when I was seven, taking his secrets to his grave.
"Your father died thinking he had failed you," Aisyah says, and there is something like sadness in her eyes. "He died thinking you were lost forever. But I never stopped looking. I spent years searching for you."
"Why?" I ask, and my voice shakes. "Why do you want me? I am nobody. I am not strong. I cannot be a princess."
"Because," Aisyah says, and she steps closer to me, "the Eastern Pack throne is mine now. I am the Duchess. But without you, the other royal families will challenge my rule. They will say I am not legitimate. But with you, with my daughter by my side, I am unbeatable. You have royal blood on both sides, Mei Ling. You are the strongest possible heir I could ever have."
"I will not let her go," Amar says. He is standing next to my chair, and his hand is on my shoulder. His touch is warm and grounding. It is the only thing keeping me from flying apart.
"You cannot stop me," Aisyah says, but she does not sound angry. She sounds almost kind. "I am offering you a choice, Mei Ling. You can come with me, claim your birthright, and become royalty. You can have power. You can have a family. You can have everything you have ever wanted."
She pauses.
"Or you can stay here with this Alpha and become a target. Every pack in the region will hunt you. You will never be safe anywhere that is not protected by royal power."
She stands up to leave. She walks to the door and then stops.
"I will give you three days to decide," she says. "Think about what I am offering you. Think about what you could become. But know this, daughter. The moment other packs find out you are alive, they will come for you. You will never be safe anywhere that is not protected by the Eastern Pack."
She leaves with her warriors. The office suddenly feels very quiet and very empty.
For a long time, neither Amar nor I speak.
"I will protect you," Amar finally says. "No matter what. I will keep you safe. I will fight anyone who tries to take you."
"I know you will try," I say, and I start to cry. "But she is right. I am a target. Being here makes your pack a target. Everyone will come for you if you protect me."
"So what?" Amar says, and his voice is fierce. "You think I care about the risk? You think I will let you go? You are my mate. You are mine to protect. I do not care who comes. I do not care how many packs try to attack us."
"I do not know what I think anymore," I say, and I bury my face in my hands. "I do not even know who I am. I thought I was a nobody. I thought I was just Mei Ling, the weak girl that nobody wanted. But now I am finding out that I am royalty. That I have power. That I have a whole other life waiting for me."
Amar pulls me into his arms, and he holds me while I fall apart completely. His embrace is strong and safe.
That night, I cannot sleep.
I go to the window and look out at the forest, thinking about what it means to be royalty. Thinking about what it means to have a real family. Thinking about what it means to have power for the first time in my life.
My wolf is awake inside me, and she is so much stronger now than she has ever been. I can feel her presence like a second heartbeat.
What do you want? I ask her.
For a long time, she does not answer.
Then, finally, she speaks.
I want to be strong, she says, and her voice is clear and powerful. I want to be powerful enough to protect myself and everyone I love. I want to be more than what anyone expects of me. I want to be unstoppable.
Even if it means leaving Amar? I ask.
No, she says. I want him too. I want both. The power and the love. I want to be strong, but I also want him. We should not have to choose.
But that might not be possible, I think.
Then, my wolf says, we will make it possible. Because we are done being weak. We are done being afraid. We are done letting other people decide our fate. We will take control of our own destiny.
I feel something shift inside me. Something breaking and rebuilding. Something dying and being reborn.
And I know what my choice is.
I will become strong. I will claim my power. But I will do it for me. Not for my mother. Not for the Eastern Pack. For me.
And I will keep Amar. I will keep the love that he offers me. I will have both.
But before I can go tell Amar what I have decided, I hear a sound that makes my blood freeze.
An alarm. A loud, wailing alarm.
The sound of an attack.
I run to the window and see fire on the horizon. I see flames rising into the night sky. I see wolves running.
Someone is attacking the pack.
And I know, without being told, exactly who it is.
Roshan has sent rogues to kill me.
The war has already begun.
And this time, I will not run.
This time, I will fight.
This time, I will stand my ground.
- Writer
