*Isla*
I hum a lullaby to Maddy as I rock her to sleep in my arms. Thanks to the wet nurse, she has a full belly, and I feel blessed by the Moon Goddess to have the opportunity to sit here and watch her sleep.
I’ve made peace with the fact that I’m not keeping her. In fact, one of the women from the nursery told me earlier today that they’d contacted some family members that are related to Sydney’s mother, and they are planning to come and pick her up in a few days. Of course, they will be thoroughly interviewed by the king and myself first. Maddox will allow that, I have no doubt.
I’m not the Luna, and I probably never will be, but when it comes to taking care of the packs’ children, I am willing to assert myself. Perhaps spending so much time with Maddox is making me feel more confident in my ability to make a difference for the better in the kingdom.
As I rock and hum, I think about Maddox. I know he’s very busy today. He’s trying to decide what to do with all of those people who had a hand in the deaths in Duster pack, and I can’t imagine it’s easy. He isn’t the type of person who just kills indiscriminately. I hope that others know and understand that. I say a prayer to the Moon Goddess that the situation is going well for him.
I also think about Zabrina. I hate her, that’s for certain. I can’t pretend that I don’t. Not only did she trick me, kidnap me, and try to kill me, she is ultimately responsible for the death of Private Parker, a sweet guy who did nothing wrong. All he did was try to fulfill his duties as assigned to him by his king.
She’s also responsible for Private Wylie’s death, and while he made his own choices that ultimately led to his demise, I believe he was brainwashed or at least heavily influenced by the vixen who arranged all of this.
She can try to blame whomever she wants to, but Zabrina caused all of this havoc. Lots of people are dead now because she was greedy and wanted to be queen.
Taking a deep breath, I try to remind myself that it doesn’t matter how I feel about Zabrina or what she’s done. It’s up to Maddox and the others in charge to make sure she gets what she deserves. Whatever he decides, I will accept it. I can’t imagine watching her die, but then, I would be lying if I said I wouldn’t feel better about going on in this life knowing she can never hurt me or anyone else ever again.
I look down at the face of the sleeping baby in my arms, and I think that she will be safe in a world where there is no Zabrina.
Maddy coos and shoves her thumb into her mouth, and I want to bend down and kiss her little cheek, but I don’t want to wake her. I wonder what life will have in store for her. I wonder if her name will stay Maddy or if her new parents will change it.
A tear forms in the corner of my eye and I can’t help but think about how sad I’ll be when I have to watch this little one leave. But I remember what Mystica said to me, and I do believe that someday, Maddy and I will be brought together again, that even if she leaves the castle soon, that doesn’t mean we will never see one another again.
A soft knock at the door brings me out of my thoughts, and I quietly call, “Yes?” thinking it’s probably one of the nurses who has come to gather Maddy back to the nursery too quickly.
It is a nurse who opens the door. “I’m sorry to bother you, Miss Isla,” she says, her voice just a whisper. “But you have a visitor here to see you.”
My forehead crinkles. I can only think of one person, other than Maddox, who would come looking for me, and Poppy would shout in my head that she was looking for me. “Who?” I ask.
The nurse moves aside, and I am looking at a face I haven’t seen in months, one I have missed.
“Ben!” I say, forgetting that I am holding a sleeping baby. The nurse comes forward and takes Maddy, and I get up and fly at my little brother, wrapping my arms around him as he squeezes me tightly.
He’s never hugged me this tightly in all of the years that he’s been alive because he’s never been this strong, and I feel so grateful that he’s standing here, that he’s doing better, that he’s strong enough to squeeze me and take my breath away.
“What are you doing here?” I ask him, still whispering as Maddy is carried away from me. My eyes follow her, and I wish that she never had to leave me. But Ben has my attention now as he starts to answer my question.
“I had to come and see you,” he says with a shrug. “I have some stuff to talk to you about.”
“But… what about school?” I ask him. “Aren’t you missing class? Mom and Dad just let you come?”
“Uhm, well, we have a few days off from school for teacher conferences, and I told Mom and Dad I was staying at my friend A'maree's house.” He gives me a sheepish look as he knows I don't like it when he lies.
“But how did you get here?” I ask, still confused.
“We have some money now, thanks to you, and the parental units have been giving me an allowance, along with the other brothers. So I saved it up a couple of weeks, and now, here I am.” He grins at me, and I don’t even know what to say.
Snapping out of it, I say, “Where’s your stuff?” He has no bags that I can see.
Turning around, he shows me a backpack that looks like it only has a couple of changes of clothes in it. Leave it to my baby brother to leave home completely unprepared. “I couldn’t let them think I was going to be moving out of the house or anything.”
I fold my arms. “You’re not moving out of the house,” I remind him, and he brushes his hair out of his eyes.
“Okay, okay, but I do need to show you some things that I found. I think they’re going to be really important to you.” Ben’s looking directly into my eyes now, and I feel a shiver go down my spine.
“All right,” I agree. “But not here. We should go to my room.”
He looks around. “Oh, this isn’t your room?”
I knock him into the door. “No! I don’t live in the nursery!”
“Well, it’s not like I don’t know what your job is now, sis.”
I start to walk out the door with him, and he sort of shrugs.
“Everyone refers to you as ‘the breeder’ so even if you wanted to hide it, you couldn’t.”
I take a deep breath. “Just don’t say anything to Mom and Dad, okay?” I say. “I don’t want them to know the truth. And Maddox and I are–”
“Maddox?” he repeats with a chuckle. “Dang, I guess the two of you are close, huh?”
I can feel my face turning red. “We are.” That’s all I care to say about it.
Opening the door, I head out into the hallway and he falls into step beside me as I head back to my room, which is quite some distance from where we are located now. Ben has to walk a little slower than usual because his legs are so much longer than mine. It’s unusual for me to think of my sickly brother being so healthy, but he’s so strong and confident now. Walking beside him now, it seems like he’s just a regular guy, and I am so happy for him.
“Man, this place is amazing,” he murmurs as we walk past the priceless pieces of art and other masterpieces.
“I know,” I say. “Just be careful not to touch anything.” Visions of that horrible Mrs. Washingtonshiresauce showing up and pummeling my baby brother haunt my mind as we make it to my room.
“What happens if you touch something?” Ben pauses by the door with one finger hovering over a vase I’ve almost knocked off of the small table it sits on a thousand times.
I shake my head. “Don’t do it. You’ll be sorry.”
He slowly lowers his finger until he’s touching the rim of the gray vase with burgundy flowers that probably costs more than my parents’ house, and I shake my head at him. When Ben pulls away, he accidentally hooks the lip on the vase and knocks it off of the table.
I hold my breath as he tries to grab it. For a second, he has it, but then it’s in the air again. Ben’s hands shoot down lower, and he grabs it, but then it shoots up, into the air, and he fumbles it a few more times before he finally gets his hands around it.
He cradles it to his chest and says, “Phew! That was a close one.”
I shake my head at him. “I told you not to touch anything.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” Carefully, Ben puts the vase back on the table, and I open my door, stepping inside of the antechamber.
Ben follows behind me, and I turn to say something to him, just in time to see his backpack hitting the vase. I only have time to get a squeal out of my throat as it falls to the stone floor and shatters into a million pieces.
Covering my mouth with both hands, I stare up at him, and my baby brother says, “Oops.”
All I can think to say is, “You’re lucky Alpha King Maddox likes me!” I have no idea where that vase came from, how old it is, or how much it’s worth, but I have a feeling Poppy will be angrier at me about its demise than Maddox will be.
I grab Ben by the lapels and pull him into my room. “What is it you have to show me?” I ask him.
“Oh, right!” he says. He takes his backpack off and tosses it onto my bed. Without unzipping it, he turns to me and asks, “Have you ever seen your birth certificate?”
My forehead crinkles as I ponder that question. Have I? “I don’t know,” I admit. “Why do you ask?”
“Well, I’ve seen it,” he says, unzipping his bag. “And yours is different than mine.”
“Well, yeah, I’d think so since I’m a lot older than you. And a girl,” I tease him, knowing that’s not what he meant.
Ben pulls a piece of paper out and hands it over to me. Before I even look at it, he fills me in on what he means. “Your last name is different than mine, sis.”
My heart lurches into my throat as I glance down at the paper.
He’s right. My name isn’t Isla Moon. But I’m not too surprised to see what it says.
My name is Isla Masina.