Chapter 11: Mother

Olivia’s POV

​"Mother!"

​The word left my mouth before I could stop it. For one terrible second, I forgot everything. I forgot I was standing in the Full Moon Pack. I forgot the fancy royal dress I was wearing. I forgot the tight knot of fear in my stomach. I forgot that Alpha Lucian was sitting only a few feet away from me, or that his mother was watching me.

​Most importantly, I forgot that I wasn’t supposed to be Olivia anymore. I was Princess Annabel. And Princess Annabel had absolutely no reason to call this woman Mother.

​Silence fell over the room so quickly you could hear a pin drop. Every single pair of eyes snapped to me. Lucian looked at me with deep, heavy suspicion, his brother moved in his chair, and Lady Rebecca froze in place. Even the woman standing right behind her—my own mother—stared back at me.

​But the look on her face wasn’t what I expected. There was no shock. No happiness. No gasp of relief. There was no sign that she recognized the daughter she had been separated from for four years. She just looked confused, blinking at me as if I had suddenly grown two heads.

​"Excuse me? Sorry?" my mother asked softly, her voice polite and completely cold.

​My stomach dropped into a deep, bottomless pit. I wanted to run across the room. I wanted to throw my arms around her neck, hide my face in her shoulder, and cry until my chest stopped hurting. Four long years of wondering if she was dead or alive, and here she was standing right in front of me.

​Yet she was staring at me like I was a complete stranger.

​Shit.

​The harsh truth hit me like a slap to the face. Everyone was watching. I was in a room full of people, and Alpha Lucian’s dark green eyes were locked onto me, watching every move I made. I was playing a game where one small mistake meant death.

​"What did you just call her?" Lucian asked, his voice dropping low with heavy suspicion.

​His tone was calm, but somehow, that made it so much worse.

​I pulled in a fast breath, forcing my wild heart to slow down. I needed an excuse, and I needed it right now.

​"I... I’m sorry," I stammered, trying to keep my voice steady as I looked at the woman who birthed me. "Ma’am... you look exactly like my nanny. The woman who raised me after my mother died. I used to call her mother. I lost my real mother when I was six."

​Thank the gods Annabel had told me so much about her childhood. Her real mother had died when she was six. After that, she had been raised mostly by servants and nannies while Alpha Kenneth handled pack matters. I just prayed nobody in this room knew enough about the royal family to doubt my story.

​"I... I apologize for yelling like that," I added, lowering my eyes to look ashamed. "You just brought back a lot of old memories."

​My mother relaxed a little, though her face still held a slight frown. "It is fine, Princess. There’s nothing to apologize for. People say we all have someone who looks like us in the world."

​"Yes," I answered quietly, my chest hurting as I pulled my chair back and slowly sat back down. "People look alike."

​I looked up for a second and immediately wished I hadn’t. I met Alpha Lucian’s eyes. He hadn’t relaxed at all. He was staring at me with cold suspicion, his fingers tapping slowly on the wooden table.

​God, that was too close. I had been here for barely a day, and I was already giving the man reasons to question me.

​I looked away before my face could betray me. Lady Rebecca walked toward the table, and my mother followed behind her. That was when I noticed something that confused me even more.

​My mother pulled out Lady Rebecca’s chair, then began serving her.

​My brow furrowed. She was a maid? No—not just any maid. From the way she stayed close to Lady Rebecca and quietly attended to everything she needed, it looked like she was her personal maid.

​My mind raced in dizzying circles. How? How had my mother ended up here in this pack? What had happened after those rogues took her four years ago? Why was she serving Lucian’s mother? And why hadn’t she ever come back to look for me?

​I had spent four years wondering whether she was alive, hoping to reunite with her someday. And now she was standing a few feet away from me. Alive. Serving another woman. Pretending she didn’t know me.

​Unless...

​My hand froze around my fork. Maybe she was pretending too.

​Of course. She had heard me being called Princess Annabel. She had seen me sitting at Lucian’s table. Maybe she realized something was wrong and decided not to expose me. That had to be it. My mother had always been smart.

​I almost let out a breath of relief, but then I felt someone staring at me.

​I slowly raised my eyes. Lucian. Again. Could this man stop watching me for five minutes? His dark eyes moved from me to my mother before returning to my face.

​I quickly looked down at my plate and forced myself to eat. The piece of meat tasted like dry paper, and my throat was so tight I could barely swallow. My mind was too busy. I needed to speak to my mother alone. I needed to know where she had been, how she had survived, and why she was here. But I couldn’t do any of that with Lucian watching me like I was a criminal waiting to make another mistake.

​We ate in awkward silence for the next ten minutes. The only sound was the metal forks hitting the plates.

​Then Lucian spoke again.

​"I heard you are very good at playing the violin," he said quietly, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

​I almost choked on my food. I coughed quickly, covering my mouth with my hand as my eyes went wide. I grabbed my glass of water and took a fast sip before looking at him.

​Annabel was good at the violin. The real princess had taken lessons since she was a child, and I had heard her play countless times back at the palace. Me? I couldn’t even play a basic plastic flute without making it sound terrible.

​"Yes," I answered carefully. "I play."

​"Good. Tomorrow night is the pack festival," Lucian said. "You will play for the leaders and the guests. Get ready."

​Shit. Shit. Shit.

​I lowered my fork and stared at him. He couldn’t be serious. "I don’t think that’s a good idea. I... I only play when I am comfortable, and I don’t feel comfortable here."

​Lucian leaned forward, putting his arms on the table and looking straight into my eyes. "It wasn’t a question, Princess. You don’t have a choice. Get comfortable before tomorrow."

​Before I could make things worse, Lady Rebecca spoke up from her seat. "Lucian, please. If the girl doesn’t want to play, don’t force her. There is no need to treat our guest so meanly on her first night."

​Lucian kept staring at me, but his answer to his mother was sharp. "Mother, please stay out of this. She will play."

​Lady Rebecca let out a small breath and went back to her food.

​I sat there, frozen in fear. How on earth was I going to pretend to play the violin in front of a whole pack tomorrow?

​To make things worse, I noticed the man sitting next to Lucian—his older brother—was still staring at me. He still hadn’t touched his food. His eyes kept returning to me, and it was starting to make me uncomfortable.

​"Excuse me. I am not hungry anymore, and I’m still feeling a little tired," I whispered, pushing my chair back before anyone could stop me.

​I stood up, kept my head high, and walked out of the dining room as fast as I could without running.

​When I finally got back to my room, I closed the door tight and began walking back and forth across the floor. My mind was racing.

​My mother was alive. My mother was alive. Even thinking the words made my chest tighten. I had imagined this moment so many times over the years. In every version, I ran into her arms, she hugged me, we cried, and she explained everything. Not once had I imagined her looking at me like a stranger and asking, Excuse me?

​But she had to be pretending. What other explanation was there?

​I stopped pacing. I needed to get her alone. I needed to find a way to talk to my mother without half the mansion watching me.

​What happened to you, Mom? Where have you been for four years? Why didn’t you come back for me?

​The questions were making me crazy.

​I walked over to the large glass window, looking down at the big yard below. Lights were on, and armed guards were walking around, checking the grounds. Servants crossed the courtyard carrying supplies.

​Then I saw a familiar person near the side door of the house. It was my mother. She was standing near the stone wall, holding a small silver tray and talking to a guard.

​My heart jumped. This was my chance.

​I didn’t wait. I ran out of my room, going down the big stairs into the dark living room, and slipped out the side door into the cool night air.

​My mother was still there. As I stepped closer, hiding near the stone pillars, I heard the last part of her conversation with the guard.

​"...Lady Rebecca asked for clean blankets in her room before morning," she said in a quiet maid’s voice. "Please make sure the laundry room stays unlocked."

​"I’ll let them know," the guard replied. "Thank you."

​It was just simple work talk. Nothing important at all.

​The sound of my shoes on the small stones made her stop. The guard noticed me approaching and bowed his head. "Princess."

​I gave him a small nod, and he walked away.

​Finally. We were alone.

​My mother turned her head, her face twisting in confusion as she saw me standing in the dim light. I hurried toward her, unable to hold back my emotions anymore.

​"Mother..." I whispered, tears filling my eyes. "It’s really you. It’s me."

​My mother took a small step back, her face turning cold as her eyebrows pulled together. "Excuse me... Princess Annabel."

​I stopped right where I was, completely confused. "Mother, why are you doing this? Why are you still acting?" I quickly looked around. The guard was gone. The yard was empty. No one was around us. "There’s no one here! It’s me, Olivia! Please, come to my room so we can talk. I’ve missed you so much."

​My mother looked at me with cold eyes and shook her head. "Excuse me, Princess, but I don’t understand why you keep calling me Mother. I am not your mother. You are mistaken."

​My mouth dropped open.

​"But..." My voice broke. "You are."

​"Princess, I don’t know who you think I am, but we’ve never met before."

​I couldn’t breathe. Four years of searching. Four years of wondering. And now my mother was standing right in front of me, telling me she didn’t know who I was. Was she still acting?

​Before I could open my mouth to speak again, a deep, strong voice came from behind me.

"What is going on here?"

My entire body froze. No. Please, no.

I slowly turned toward the voice, and my stomach dropped.

Alpha Lucian stood in the doorway, his dark green eyes fixed on me. For once, I couldn’t read his expression.

How long had he been standing there? More importantly, how much had he heard?