10.
1206 Words
I turned to come face to face with my sister, Imani, who was panting so hard before me. Kosey was behind her, his head bowed as he refused to meet my gaze.
"What is the meaning of this, Kosey?" I seethed.
"Forgive me..."
"Forgive you? I told you not to let her know!" I yelled, throwing my hands around.
"What do you mean I shouldn't know?" Imani asked, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"Listen, Ima..."
"Bani, for how long did you plan on hiding this from me? I am your sister!"
"I never said you weren't. And can you please stop calling me that silly nickname?"
"Why? I like it. And I'm sure you like it too, so stop pretending. Besides, that is not the problem right now. You found your mate, and you thought it was best to hide it from me? Your one and only sister?"
Yes. My one and only dramatic sister. I shifted my gaze towards Kosey and growled a bit.
Anisa wasn't ready to meet anyone yet. Heck, the young woman is scared out of her wits, and I'm sure Imani will not make things any easier for her.
She talks a lot and would overwhelm Anisa in no time.
"Look, she's human..."
"I know that already. All the more reason I should meet her. I also know she's scared of you and has fainted after spending just a few hours with you." She replied, placing her hands on either side of her waist.
"Kosey!"
"I'm sorry, Elian. You know how she is. She found out as I was about to come back, and I couldn't hide it, anyway. Besides, she's your sister. There was no way I could match her overwhelming command."
I puffed out some air, wondering how I was going to send Imani away without hurting her feelings.
"You can come in, Alpha Elian. She's awake." Milena’s voice drifted from the door.
"Take her back, Kosey," I mumbled, snatching the bag he was holding.
"What? I will not be leaving without seeing her! I can help."
"Help with what exactly?"
"Make her feel more comfortable and not be scared of the biggest and cockiest man I have ever seen!"
"Imani!"
"Bani stop yelling. You are going to scare her even more."
She was right. I was going to scare her more with that. As it is, she was already afraid of me.
"I promise I'll behave and only speak when you ask me to. I won't do anything unless you say so."
I knew better than to trust Imani. But with the way she was looking at me, and the urge to go back into the room and see my mate, I couldn't stop it.
"Please, Bani," she pleaded, taking one of my hands in hers.
"Fine!" I gave in.
"Yes!!!" She jumped a bit, throwing her hands up in the process.
"But..."
"Let's just go in. I know you are eager to see her."
I clamped my mouth shut as Imani pushed the door open and stepped in. My breath caught in my throat as soon as Anisa's hazel eyes landed on mine. She was sitting upright, her back leaning against the headboard.
The curtains were raised, allowing the light from the sun to seep in fully. And for some unknown reason, it was as though Anisa was glowing from where she sat, despite being sick. I ached to touch her and bury my face in the crook of her neck. To have her arms wrapped around me as well. To...to...to...
'Wait till she stops being scared of us first, you brute!' a thundering rumble said in my head, almost startling me. The voice felt too real, like it wasn't just my subconscious mind talking to me but something. Like it was part of me.
"How are you feeling?" I asked as I sat on the bed, moving a bit so I could touch her forehead. But she flinched a bit and inched back.
I was bad at doing this. I have no idea how to make her fear me less, or better yet, accept me.
"My goodness!" Imani gushed, causing Anisa to wince a bit. "She's so beautiful, Bani!"
"Imani!" I snapped.
"Right. I'm sorry," she murmured, hiding behind Kosey.
"Did you find anything?" I decided to ask Milena so as not to overwhelm Anisa.
"I think there's something wrong with her head. From time to time, she's going to experience headaches, especially when a situation is shell-shocking or too overwhelming for her. I'll explain more when we are alone."
I nodded. "But there must be a reason for that, right?"
"She said she had an accident before she woke up and found herself in a forest."
"What?" I asked, furrowing my brows.
"A car hit me. However, I woke up in the forest with no blood stains or any injury whatsoever." Anisa explained.
"What is a car?" Imani asked from behind Kosey. At least, she had not disturbed her with her stories and whatnots.
"Oh," Anisa said, as though realizing we have no idea what she meant. "Something like a carriage. A moving carriage."
"And after this carriage-like object hit you, you woke up in a forest and found my brother?" Imani continued, as she took slow steps towards Anisa.
Anisa looked between the two of us. I suppose she was trying to figure out if we are siblings.
"No," she finally said, shaking her head. "He saved me."
"He did?" Imani asked, clapping her hands dramatically. "But why are you scared of him if he saved you?" By then, she was sitting directly opposite to where I was sitting. But Anisa didn't flinch or move back when Imani took her hand in hers.
"I...I..." Anisa began. I couldn't help but wince a bit at the pain in her voice, or the look that flashed in her eyes.
"I don't belong here. I want to go home." She finally said, breaking into tears. "I don't know how I got into this book, but I certainly do not want to know, nor do I care. So please, take me back home."
She was talking about a book again.
"A book? Are you trying to say we are all in a book?" Imani asked, not letting go of her calm facade, which was helping Anisa.
"Yes," Anisa sniffed before she continued. "This is a book and you all are characters in it. How do you think I knew about Belinda and the rejection?" She asked, staring at me with her tear-stained face.
"I..."
"This is a book. We were made to read the book in school, but I never liked reading and only managed to get through the first thirty pages. However, on the day I had the accident that got me here, which was yesterday, I read the rejection part from Mel's book."
I guess she noticed the confused looks on our faces and decided to explain more.
"Mel is my only friend. I read the single page where Belinda was rejecting you before Mel took the book away. I was on my way back home after my shift at the diner when I got into an accident and woke up in the forest."
- Writer
