Dayla

Chapter 2

-Dayla

The nights ever since the incident in the cave were cold. They were unfriendly, as if they had switched loyalties. My house and My territory were both in a disarray. 

I had dismissed my staff and was conducting operations to hire a new one, interviewing them myself. 

It was a seemingly bothersome task, because I didn't know what to look for in someone who could potentially do my laundry. But I tried. 

In the end, I decided to hire only necessary people- people who would perform tasks which I couldn't. So far, I had hired around five people. 

But the thoughts about my staff were dismissed when I thought of why I was doing it in the first place. And then those thoughts connected to the Alpha of Chaos. He was definitely a character.

His warning rang clearly in my head. It was stupid that I was even considering it, but something about it was genuine. He spoke with conviction and truth. Ironically, I expected him to lie and  bluff, and I expected him to kill me. 

But he didn't. That shows that he too values that person. So, someone from my family?

"Who does he have? I don't have anyone. I don't-" I murmured and stopped with a start. 

My parents.

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I walk into the prestigious mansion that my parents built for themselves after they relieved themselves of their duties of a leader and passed them onto me. 

The interior glitters like new jewels and sparkles too much into my eyes. A chandelier hangs over me, and I rest on the plush, velvet sofa. 

There's glass everywhere- a mirror here, and a mirror there- no doubt to sustain my mothers narcissistic tendencies. Seth's warning or rather, information resonated through me again. I don't particularly feel close to my parents in any which way possible. I lost that connection with them when I found out that my brother had died. 

A short funeral was held for him, and then they abdicated their position to the next heir, the younger child. Then I discovered that they had built this mansion for themselves, to try and run away from the fact that their people might need them at that time.

I shifted uncomfortably on the sofa. A trip to my parents meant having to deal with unwanted emotions and that meant I wasn't focused. I wanted to stay focused. So I waited, and I traced patterns from everything to anything. 

A sudden sound of a scurrying footsteps shook me out of a state of passiveness. I look back to see a woman scurrying towards me with her arms wide open to take me into a hug. The woman was timeless- but something didn't settle right. My mother was beautiful and I had inherited my blue eyes from her. But she was tired now and I could see it in the barely noticeable wrinkles on her face that she had tried to cover up with botox and illusions. 

"Dayla, how nice of you to come here." She patted my back awkwardly when I didn't hug her back. 

"Let's skip the pleasantries, mother. You've got something to hide from me. Seth is threatening me with someone who he has- someone close to me. Tell me, mother. Are you a part of his scheme?" I demanded. 

My mother turned around and scoffed. 

"That's idiotic. You should listen to what you speak sometimes." 

"Is it? Or are you hiding something from me?" I demanded again. She combed a hand through her brown hair. 

"Dayla, you need to know that... we didn't plan for this to happen. After your brother we didn't want to stick with this profession. It was pressurising- for your father, especially. He couldn't deal with threats, executions, enemies everyday. It wasn't meant for us." She said and turned around. I saw regret and guilt in her eyes. 

"Well, do you think I wanted it?" I exclaimed. Her claims were ridiculous. I didn't understand them. She couldn't claim to have been tired of her job and then left it to me.

"We didn't have a choice! You need to understand. Your brother didn't want it either! He was irresponsible. You were smart, courageous, and you had everything going for yourself. You were beautiful and charismatic. Your brother was hated. He was stupid. Stupid for trying to run away." She screamed at me. And now I truly see it. She's frustrated, and she doesn't understand the severity of this issue. 

"Mother... tell me what you know." I pleaded with her. The tears brimmed in her eyes and she looked away. 

"You would hate me." She whispered. 

And I feel like everything crashed down. It didn't matter if I hated her; my relationship with her was rocky already. It mattered less to me, but it mattered more to my conscience. 

Could I stand it? Could I stand the truth? 

I dismissed those thoughts from my head. I looked at her, and morphed my expression into one that demonstrated care and kindness. My mother saw my face and started sobbing. 

"Just tell me. I won't hate you." I said to her gently. I bit my lip when she looked to the ceiling. She would c***k eventually. 

"Your father and I hid something when we made you alpha. You were the next heir, that's true..." She trailed off, not knowing what to say next. 

And what she was about to say suddenly dawned on me. It was related to my brother. He was two years elder to me- he would've been twenty five right now, if he hadn't died. 

"Speak the truth."

"We never found his body. He was still out there. But we didn't look for him. We left him there, in the thick forest- to die, because he wouldn't come back." She spoke ruefully. I stood up, suddenly angered by the fact that she left my brother to die. Godric was my partner in crime- my brother, who would have protected me from this burden of a responsibility. 

"Do you know if he's still dead?" I asked emotionlessly. 

My mother sobbed and nodded. 

"He had to have died. He couldn't survive for such a long time." 

But her statement didn't matter anymore. My mind already reached a probable conclusion. And I've found my answer. I've found the answer. 

My brother is alive. Godric is alive. And Seth has him.