Return Of The Lost Heir

Box Of Secrets

It was just after nine a.m., when we arrived in Lutton. Lutton was a small town that was in between two cities and was along the major highway, making it the perfect stopping point. I hadn’t originally planned to come here but found a help wanted ad for The Mountain view Inn Motel & Diner, they were looking for another server and offered affordable staff housing, it felt like a no brainer. When I called, Lottie, the owner, answered, she had asked me a few basic questions before giving me the job. I had to give her a few vague answers and lied about my age and life. I didn’t want her to take pity on us. I claimed I was a single mother needing a fresh start. It technically wasn't a lie; I have been the one raising Jack since he was nine months old.

Lottie’s POV

I scanned the train carts looking for Blair and Jack. I was nervous. It had been years since I saw either one of them, and it seemed Blair didn’t remember me on the phone. I held a sign with both their names, so she was able to find me. Her eyes scanned through the crowd before they landed on me. She smiled and waved.

“Blair! Jack!” I yelled with a big smile as I waved back. They made their way through the crowd over to the side where I was waiting.

“How was the train ride?”

“Long.” She chuckled. “Happy to finally be here.” She looked down at Jack, his eyebrows raised, and his head tilted as he stared at me.

“Is everything okay?” She asked, kneeling down a bit. Jack let go of her hand, taking a step closer to me.

“Do I know you?” He asked quietly.

My eyes widened in surprised, Blair showed no signs of recognizing me. But Jack did. My expression quickly returned to normal before Blair looked. My chest tightened as I forced a smile.

“What do you mean, Jack?” She asked confused, you’ve never met Lottie before. He ignored what she said, his eyes fixated on me, I slowly knelt in front of him with a warm smile. “I must be a familiar face.” I said, trying to settle Blair’s nerves, realizing she really didn’t remember me. Jack continued to stare at me, his expression softening as he smiled. “You knew me when I was a baby.” He said softly. My breath hitched, and without hesitation, he wrapped his arms around me. I paused for a moment, unsure how to react. My hands hovered for a moment before hugging him back.

“Jack?” Blair said, confused.

“Don’t worry, she will remember soon.” He whispered before letting go and grabbing Blairs hand, a big smile on his face.

“Sorry about that.” Blair said awkwardly, unsure of what happened.

“No worries, I must look like someone he knows.” I said, forcing a smile, confused by what happened.

We headed to the parking lot, getting into my Blue Volkswagen.

“Town is only a few minutes away. There isn’t a lot to do here, but it’s a beautiful place.” I smiled. “Most people that live here work here and have lived here their whole lives. We have all the basic things. Grocery store, Gas Station, Hospital. The Mountain View Hotel is the only hotel in the area, but most people that stay here are passing through. There is a campground about 30 minutes away that people come to yearly.”

“Wow this place really is small.” She said with a laugh.

“Very, but it is nice hear, I am sure you will love it.

There are a few other businesses as well, but those are closer to downtown where everyone lives. There is a school if you’d like to enroll Jack.”

She looked back at him, a worried look on her face.

“For now, I’ll have him stay close till we’re settled in.”

We had just pulled into the parking lot in front of the building.

“Well, here we are.”

“Wow this place is beautiful. How long have you had the hotel for?”

“It was originally my parents, but once I met my mate-my husband Matt.” I said quickly, hoping she didn’t hear me. “They gave us the hotel, and we’ve been running it for the last 21 years.”

“Wow that’s awesome.” She said with a smile as she looked around.

I popped the trunk open and helped Blair with her suitcase.

“Follow me, and I’ll show you where you’ll be staying. We walked down the sidewalk past the hotel.

“Its about a two-minute walk from the hotel, we have about six cabins we rent out, and with Jack, I thought you might prefer a more private living space.”

“Oh, are you sure? We don’t mind staff accommodations.”

“Don’t worry, we already got the cabin set up for you. Plus, it’s closer to the park we have.”

We had just got to the small wooden cabin and walked up the few stairs. I handed Blair the keys, she hesitated for a moment before grabbing them. But unlocked the door and gently pushed it open. We had the place stocked with food, essential items, and some toys for Jack.

“Wow!” Jack yelled, running to look at all the toys. “A new train set!” He said, grabbing it and dancing.

Blair looked back at me in shock.

“You didn’t have to do all this.”

“We wanted to.” I smiled. “You get settled, and when you're ready, head over to the Diner, breakfast is on me.” Before I could turn around, Blair hugged me tightly.

“Thank you.” She whispered, her voice cracking.

There was so much I wanted to say but couldn’t. I needed to wait until she showed she remembered me. I smiled before heading out the door and heading to my office, I needed a minute.

I had just wiped my tears when I saw they entered the diner.

“We couldn’t wait any longer. We’re both so hungry.” I grabbed two menus and a colouring page and sat them in a booth by the window.

“Can I get you a drink to start?”

“Pancakes and apple juice, please!” Jack asked as he started colouring.

“Do you want whip cream on top?” I said with a smile.

His eyes beamed with excitement as he looked at me.

“Yes! Lots of whip cream.” He said excitedly, making me laugh.

“I’ll have pancakes too, with eggs, bacon, and a coffee, please.”

“Coming right up.” I walked over to the computer entering in their order when Colin Mind linked me.

“How did things go? Are they here?”

“Yes, they are safe. There at the Diner now. I said, smiling as I watched them. “Can you meet later? we need to talk.”

“Ill be there after nine. Is everything all right?” A slight worry in his tone.

“Yes, everything is fine. But will talk later.”

“Okay, see you later.” Colin said, cutting off the connection.

Ding! The bell rang, getting my attention. I turned around and grabbed the plates off the window.

“Here you go.” I said, placing the food in front of them. “Enjoy.”

I headed back into my office, where I had a view of the tables and stood by the giant window when Matt snuck up behind me.

“That has to be her. She still looks so much like him.” He said, shocked.

“Right?” I chuckled. “Even Jack is a spitting image to him.”

“Have you told Colin?”

“Yes, but she doesn’t remember a lot, I think her memory has been manipulated or something.”

“What do you mean?” Matts face shifted with worry.

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “Something seems… weird. She doesn’t remember me, and I don’t think she knows she’s one of us. But Jack.” I said, looking up at Matt.

“Jack recognized me. He remembers I knew him as a baby.”

“Wait really? But we only knew him for nine months before they disappeared.”

“I know, he also said not to worry that she will remember me.” Matt stared at me in shock.

“What should we do?”

“I’m not sure, but we have to tell her, her birthday is in a few weeks.”

“Shouldn’t she have shifted already, though?”

“That’s why I think she’s been manipulated or something. She should have almost three years ago. She is the Alphas daughter, after all.”

“Hmm. Lets Invite them over for dinner. we will talk with her then, see what she remembers, we will teach her the rest, and the kids can help her train."

“Colins is going to come over later to discuss it, I think we should give her a few days. Their life has already been hard, but now it’s about to completely change.” Matt wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

“They will be okay; they belong here with us, and it will be easier for Jack to be raised here.”

Blairs POV

We had just finished breakfast and headed back to our room, Jack immediately ran to his new train toy. I walked over and turned the TV on, something to drain out the anxious feeling I had. What would happen when dad or Alex realized we were gone? Would they come looking for us? What would happen when they found us? My right leg consistently bounced, as I thought about them.

“I need to distract myself.” I whispered. I looked around the room, looking for something to do when my backpack caught my eye. The same feeling washed over me, I walked over and unzipped my bag, the dusty box laid on top. I gently grabbed it out of my bag and sat back down on the couch. My fingers gently tracing the edges, coating them in dust. I was nervous, I couldn’t remember anything about this box. How long had I had it for? Why was it hidden?” I questioned while examining it. “There must be a way to open it." I said, fiddling with the lock. I lifted the box in the air, turning it as I looked over it, I lifted the box high enough to look under it and saw the key taped to the bottom. “What was the point in locking it if I was going to tape the key to it?” I said, annoyed while I shook my head. I ripped the key off the bottom and slid it into the lock, turning it clockwise. It let out a small click before the lid gave way. I slowly lifted the lid up, pausing before I looked inside. Only a few things laid on the bottom. A velvet box, an envelope, and a folded piece of paper. I grabbed the small velvet box and opened it. It was a beautiful silver necklace with a full moon pendant, surrounded by an intricate pattern—I carefully took it out of the box and admired it.

“Wow this is beautiful.” I moved my hair to the side and unclasped the clip, clipping it back behind my neck. The moment the pendant touched my chest, a wave of relief washed over me as my anxiety wavered away. I gently touched the pendant confused as it gave me a sense of peace, belonging, and something more. I looked back down into the box and grabbed the envelope, pulling out a stack of pictures. I looked at the first photo. It was a picture of mom and me. Her glowing light blue eyes shined through the photo she was so beautiful, and my heart ached for her. The next photo was of her holding Jack as a baby. It looked like it was taken not long before she passed away. The third photo was a family photo. As I looked closer, I realized the man holding me was not my dad. He had dark black hair with striking hazel green eyes. As I flipped through the rest of the photos, none of them contained our father. When I came across a photo of Lottie, my eyes widened. It was a picture of mom and Lottie laughing as they sipped wine near a fire.

“How come Lottie never mentioned she knew us.” The next photo was a group photo. I only recognized Jack, mom, Lottie, and me. But the guy was standing beside mom with his hand on her waist. “Why don’t I remember any of this? Who is this guy?" I shuffled through the photos, finding a few of just the man and I. My eyes were drawn to one specific photo. It was a picture of both of us laughing as he swirled me around. I looked so much like him. My chest tightened; I was so confused I couldn’t remember any of this. Like part of my memory had been taken from me. I had so many questions, and it seemed Lottie was the only one who could help me.

I looked back down in the box, the folded paper the only thing left. I stared at it for a moment while my fingers lingered above it. “Maybe it had answers.” I thought, finally gaining the courage to grab it. I slowly unfolded it. “NEVER FORGET!” Was scribbled in bold and underlined at the top of the page. I unfolded it more. Only a few sentences were written.

“Todays date is September 29th 3:52pm 2013.’”

“Wait that was five years ago. I was twelve.”

“Time is running out! This box holds the truth. Go to Lutton. The answer is there!” I stared at the paper, a chill running down my spine as I swallowed hard. I read it again, again and again. My fingers traced along the smudged ink. “Time is running out." My jaw ticked.” What does that mean? And go to Lutton? How did my younger self know, what does she know that I don’t?” I questioned myself, terrified by the realization. Did something deep inside of me influence my decision to come to Lutton, or was it fate. I stared at the letter lost in my thoughts when Jack caught my attention.

“Come play!” He yelled as he held up a little train for me to play with. I gave him a big smile, pushing down the unsettling feelings I had. No matter what, I needed to be strong for him. We spent the rest of the evening playing with trains, coloring, and hanging out at the small park. I tried being present, but my mind was filled with confusion and so many questions.

James POV

I groaned as I slowly sat up and rubbed the back of my neck-my body pounding as usual from a night of drinking. I grabbed the Tylenol from the table popping a few in my mouth and using the last bit of whiskey in my glass to wash it down. It was eerily quiet, Blair should be up, making breakfast, washing dishes or mumbling about how worthless I was. And Jack should be making some kind of irritable loud noise that bothers me. I looked over at the clock. 10:58.

“Blair get me a coffee.” I barked, my voice horse. There was no response.

“Blair!” I groaned getting off the couch, and walking to the kitchen. The dirty dishes were still sitting in the sink from yesterday the garbage was still over flowing, and no breakfast.

“That useless girl.” I frowned and made my way to the bottom of the stairs.

“Blair!” I yelled again. Nothing. I stomped up the stairs and headed to her room. “Get your ass up, you have things to do.” I said banging on the door.

Mike groaned as he swung open his door. “Shut the hell up, why are you yelling.”

“When did you get home?”

“A couple hours ago.” He groaned.

I turned the nob and opened the door. “Blair get out her-“ I looked around the room, my breath hitched. Her bed was made, no clothes laying around and no Blair.

“What is it?” Alex asked leaning against the doorframe rubbing his eyes before scanning the room.

My eyes flickered to the half open closet door, I walked in and yanked it open.

“Her suitcase is gone.”

“Hah, she actually did it.” He said walking into the room and plopping down on her bed. “Took her long enough.” He chuckled.

I stood there looking into her closet my mind racing. “I can’t believe she actually left.” I mumbled. My chest tightening, sure she was a pain in my ass and not my daughter but to take Jack and run, what a reckless thing to do. Where the hell would she go-she has no memories, Lilly wouldn’t want thi-. I let out a chuckle. Not like she cared about what Alex, or I wanted, and Seline probably won’t find her.

I inhaled deeply, a strange feeling washed over me. Was it sadness, anger or relief. No. It didn’t matter, she left it wasn’t my problem anymore. I’m not going to feel sorry for some little girl and her brother. I wasn’t going to take care of someone else’s kids anymore, I know they were Lilly’s, but they aren’t mine. I exhaled, a small smile appearing on my face.

“Good riddance.” I turned around and headed back down the stairs, Alex following.

“Wait is that it? Your not pissed or anything?”

I grabbed a beer from the fridge and popped it open.

“Nah, she wants to run? Let her. She’ll learn the world is a hard place and come crying back.” They were finally gone, after years of babysitting I was finally free. I took another swig of beer, it tasting more bitter then usual.

Blairs POV

Once I had put Jack to bed, I headed outside and sat on the light wooden chair on the small deck. Lutton didn’t have many streetlights allowing the night sky to light up the area, I had never seen so many stars before, and I couldn’t help but admire the beauty.

Something about Lutton made me feel safe, a feeling I hadn’t felt in so long. I didn’t understand why, after reading that note, I should feel cautious, but I feel happy. Like things were going to work out. Yeah, things would be hard, but I needed to do what was best for Jack and me. I promised myself we would never go back. I couldn’t. Jack deserved better, and I wasn’t going to let him be raised in a house like that, mom wouldn’t have wanted this.

As I looked up at the night sky and the stars twinkling, I felt a presence near by, I looked over at the small lake that ran through Lutton, my eyes squinting as I analyzed the tree line behind. A large black and James Wolf wondered out of the trees, its eyes piercing into mine. It stopped for a moment and observed the area before it slowly started walking towards me. My body froze, I felt a little nervous, but it didn’t seem aggressive, I stayed still watching every move it made, as it got closer its body shifted, and it leaned down stretching its legs out like it was bowing and slowly shuffled closer. It was 12 feet away when it fully stopped and laid down. I gave it a weird look, surprised by its behavior. I contemplated for a second before standing up and slowly walked down the three stairs.

“This is stupid.” I thought to myself. But I couldn’t help but be intrigued, I had never seen a wild animal like this close up, and it seemed harmless. I walked a few more steps before kneeling down, to not pose a threat. It stayed leaning down but shuffled its way, stopping an arms length away. I took a deep breath, my heart thumping, and slowly reached my hand out.

“Hello.” I said with a smile even though my voice quivered.

It sniffed my hand before licking it, catching me off guard. It stood up and walked around me while sniffing. Once it was back in front of me, its eyes pierced back into mine.

“Well, you're friendly, huh?” I chuckled, bringing my hand up and scratching behind its ear.

“Sissy.” Jacks voice cried out. I looked behind and saw him crying on the deck. I got up and ran up the stairs to him, lifting him into my arms.

“What’s wrong?”

“I had a scary dream.” He cried as he wrapped his arms around me.

“Awe it’s okay.” I said, giving him a squeeze.

“It was just a dream I’m here.” I looked behind us, the Wolf still standing there. It tilted its head back and forth as it watched us.

“Look Jack.” I said, pointing. “There’s a wolf.”

His crying slowly stopped as he saw the wolf.

“It looks like my stuffy.” He smiled as he rubbed his eyes and let out a little woof. The wolf tilted it’s head like it was perplexed, then slowly walked up, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

Jack wiggled his way out of my arms and ran down the stairs before I had time to stop him.

“Jack, no!” But within seconds, he had wrapped his arms around the wolf, giving it a hug. But it didn’t seem to mind. It kept looking at me till Jack let go, then it licked his face, making him giggle with excitement. He continued petting the wolf while I sat down on the steps and watched them. Soon, they were running around together. Jack ran back to the stairs with a big smile on his face.

“I want to show the wolf my stuffy.” He smiled. I handed him the wolf stuffy, and he ran back over, smiling as he brought the stuffy up to the Wolf. It sniffed the stuffy, then licked Jacks face again.

“This is so weird.” I thought.

There was a faint whistle that caught all of our attention, and the Wolf bolted, stopping for a brief moment to look back at us.

“Bye daddy!” Jack yelled, waving.

“What? That’s not your dad, Jack.” I laughed confused.

Colin’s POV.

My heart pounded as I shifted behind a tree and walked up to the door. Lottie and Matt waiting for me.

“Did you see her? What happened?” Lottie asked. Trying to contain her excitement.

I smiled. “Jack knows.”

“Knows what?” They both asked.

“That I’m their father.”

“What, how?”

“I don’t know, but he knew. He ran up to me and hugged me, then called me daddy.”

“Jacks memories must be intact.”

“Blair was also wearing the necklace I gave her that night.”

“She wasn’t wearing it when I went and got them. But that’s a good sign it must mean she remembers.”

“Will have to wait and see.” Lottie smiled as she hugged me. Lilly will be so happy you're all back together.”

“Do you think Blair will be able to forgive me after all these years?”

“Of course! We will talk to her."