The Girl They Buried
759 Words
No one spoke.
The silence inside the treatment room pressed against my ears until it became painful.
The rogue's eye never left mine.
"I'll tell the truth..."
He paused to catch a ragged breath.
"...but only to her."
The words settled over the room like a storm cloud.
The Alpha folded his arms across his chest.
"No."
His voice carried the weight of command.
"You will speak in front of us all."
The rogue gave a weak, tired smile.
"It isn't my story to tell."
"It became your story the moment you crossed my border," the Alpha replied.
The rogue didn't even look at him.
"It belongs to her."
His gaze settled on me again.
Something tightened painfully inside my chest.
No one had ever looked at me like that.
Not with pity.
Not with admiration.
With certainty.
As though he'd spent years searching for someone he never expected to find.
Mara stepped closer until her shoulder brushed mine.
"Aria..."
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"You don't have to do this."
I looked at her.
"For nineteen years..."
The words came before I could stop them.
"Everyone has decided what I should and shouldn't know."
My throat tightened.
"I'm tired of living inside everyone else's silence."
Pain flashed across Mara's face.
Not anger.
Regret.
The Alpha let out a slow breath.
"If he says one thing that threatens this pack..."
His eyes hardened.
"...this conversation ends."
The rogue nodded once.
"Fair."
His breathing hitched.
Fresh blood seeped through the bandages wrapped around his ribs.
Even speaking was costing him.
Still...
He turned toward me.
"What do you know about your mother?"
The question caught me completely off guard.
I frowned.
"Very little."
"And her death?"
"They told me she became sick."
A shadow crossed his face.
"I imagined they would."
My pulse quickened.
"So it wasn't true?"
He closed his eye for a long moment.
When he finally spoke, his voice was barely audible.
"I'm not here to tell you how she died."
Disappointment settled heavily inside me.
"Then what are you here to tell me?"
He looked directly at me.
"Enough."
"Enough for what?"
His expression softened.
"Enough to keep you asking questions."
Frustration rose inside me.
"That's not an answer."
"I know."
"You keep saying things that only make me more confused."
"I know."
"Then stop speaking in riddles."
A faint smile touched his lips.
"You have her temper."
I stared at him.
"You keep talking about things you shouldn't know."
"I do."
"Then tell me how."
He was quiet for several seconds.
Long enough that I wondered if he'd drifted back to sleep.
Finally...
"We searched for you."
The words barely reached me.
I blinked.
"...Me?"
He nodded once.
"For years."
My stomach twisted.
"Why?"
His face grew solemn.
"Because we believed you were alive."
Confusion washed over me.
"I am alive."
His eye held mine.
"Now."
One word.
Cold.
Heavy.
Impossible.
"What does that mean?"
He swallowed painfully.
His breathing became uneven again.
"They told us..."
He stopped.
Closed his eye.
Gathered enough strength to continue.
"...the child died."
Every hair on my arms stood on end.
"The child?"
His eye opened again.
"You."
The room tilted.
"I don't understand."
His voice grew weaker.
"You weren't supposed to survive."
The Alpha took one deliberate step forward.
"Enough."
The rogue ignored him.
"They buried your name."
A strange ache spread through my chest.
"My name?"
"They erased you."
I shook my head.
"Why?"
For the first time since we'd met...
He looked helpless.
"I don't know."
There was no hesitation.
No hidden meaning.
Just truth.
There were things even he didn't know.
The realization frightened me almost as much as everything else.
The room fell silent once more.
His breathing had become shallow.
Uneven.
Mara reached toward him.
"You need to stop."
He gently caught her wrist.
Then looked at me one final time.
"They told us..."
His voice cracked.
"...you were dead."
No one moved.
No one breathed.
The words echoed through my mind.
Not...
They wanted you dead.
Not...
They tried to kill you.
They told us...
...you were dead.
Someone...
Somewhere...
Had believed I died nineteen years ago.
My entire life had been built on secrets.
But suddenly...
The secrets felt far bigger than my family.
Someone had erased me before I'd ever had the chance to exist.
Not from Beaumont.
From history.
And for the first time...
I realized something that made my blood run cold.
I hadn't spent my life becoming invisible.
Someone had made sure I already was.
- Writer
