The Claiming by Cooper Book 5
The Beta Trials by Cooper (Jace & Jordan)
Chapter 61(Gianna)
When Jordan comes in, I’m glad to see her. I’m ready to go for a walk. But then, I really look at her face and see that something is wrong.
“Relax,” she says, as she comes to sit beside me on the bed.
“Your face doesn’t reflect your words,” I tell her.
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She huffs out a breath. “I just received a huge blow that I’m still reeling from, and now I have to give you some information that may be very difficult to hear.”
“Are werewolves always so ominous? I feel like every time you say something, there’s a dark cloud of doom behind it,” I say, trying to lighten the mood.
I’m thankful when Jordan laughs then reaches out to take my h*and, looking at me first before t*ouching me. I reach out, taking her h*and, almost feeling like she needs it more than me.
“We met about your amulet,” she says. “Am I in some kind of trouble for having it?” I ask, not at all sure what it means that I have an amulet that suppresses a werewolf.
“No. No, it’s not that,” she says, holding my h*and and taking a deep breath before looking up at me.
“Dr. Braxton tested your DNA after seeing the amulet. He wanted to find out if you were truly a werewolf and if so, who your parents might be.”
My stomach t*ightens and it feels h*ard to breathe.
“And?”
“Well, the good news, or the bad news, depending on how you take it, is that you are indeed a werewolf. I don’t know what that means for you having a wolf, that will be up to Dr. Braxton to figure out and he’s planning to head here to do more tests on you, but…that’s the first part.”
I’m stunned. I mean, I’ve always loved the outdoors. I’ve always preferred to be out in the mountains hiking rather than being in an office or in the city, but a werewolf? Then, the rest of what Jordan said sinks in.
“The first part?”
“Yeah. Dr. Braxton is pretty confident he knows who your parents are.”
The pain I felt in my stomach before is nothing compared to what feels like the kick to my gut now.
“You know who they are?”
“I do.”
I feel tears burning in my eyes, but I lift my chin and look at her. “Where are they?”
“They’re both dead,” she says, and it takes all the steam out of my bravado. “Dead?” I’m not sure why it matters. Two minutes ago, I didn’t have a family and now I still don’t, but somewhere, deep inside me, there was a blossom of hope that maybe I had a family, even if they didn’t want me.
“Your parents are dead. But, there are others who are family. An aunt, and uncle, grandparents, and lots of cousins.”
I take in what she’s saying. I may not have parents, but I could have a family. I could have what I’ve never had in my life. Before I let that hope blossom again, I need to know more.
“How sure is Dr. Braxton? You said he’s coming to do more tests.”
“Yes, he is. But he also said he’s sure.”
I look down and nod.
“And, this family….do they know about me?”
“Yes. By now, almost all of them know about you.”
I look at her. “Do you know them?”
She chuckles. “Yeah, I know them.”
“Are they good people? I mean, will they be upset that I’ve been raised as a human? That I want to keep this child?”
“No. None of them knew you existed. They are just as shocked as I am, but they want to meet you. Your aunt and uncle are outside. I told them I’d come talk to you first.”
“Are they my aunt and uncle on my mother’s side or my father’s?” I ask. “Your mother’s. Her name was Mila. We don’t know how she got you out of the pack. We don’t know anything at this point, but you can rest assured that we’ll find out.”
There’s something in the way she says it, something in her tone and posture that makes me look at her more closely. “We?”
She looks at me and tears that I didn’t see before begin to spill out of her eyes. “Mila was my aunt. She died before I was born. Your Aunt Jara is my mother, and Uncle Seth is an uncle to both of us.”
The shocks just keep coming. This woman is my cousin? Is that why I have felt a bond to her all along? Is that why I have trusted her when I didn’t trust anyone else?
“And they want to meet me?” I ask. “Yes, they are waiting outside to see if you agree to meet with them.”
“And what about my father. Does he have any family here?”
I watch as she presses her l*ips together. “Your father…well, he wasn’t a nice man. He is responsible for the death of your mother, and probably why she snuck you out of the pack.”
She looks down before looking back up at me. “I’m probably not supposed to tell you this, but I refuse to lie to you, and while I know this is a lot to take in all at once, I think you deserve to know the truth. Your father mated with a human. It’ s not something that is done in the werewolf world. Matings between humans and werewolves cause some sort of craziness in the child.”
She takes another deep breath, before squeezing my h*and. “You have a half-brother. He is one of the rogues that is capturing and raping the human females.”
I feel like I can’t breathe, like there isn’t enough air in the room.
Jordan takes my face in her h*and and holds my gaze. “Breathe, Gianna. Breathe. In and out. In and out. That’s right. In and out.”
I watch her eyes go unfocused for just the briefest of moments as she helps to calm me down.
“Dr. Teresa says that if I get you upset one more time, she’s kicking me out,” she says, when I calm down and she lets go of my face.
“I have a much better understanding of the look you had on your face when you walked in just now. You’re right, that is a lot of information all at once.”
“If it’s too much, I’ll tell Mom and Uncle Seth that they need to wait.”
I shake my head. “I’d like to meet them. I’ d like to know more about my mother, if they’d be willing to talk to me about her.” Jordan smiles. “Oh, I’m sure they will. They loved Aunt Mila. I’ve grown up with stories about how incredible she was. I know they’ll tell you anything you want to know about her.”
She looks thoughtful for a moment. “We didn’t think about it, but my mom has pictures of Aunt Mila when she was younger. Now that I know to look for it, you look like her, your mother, more like our Uncle Seth. I look more like my mother.”
She gives me a moment to digest that. “Are you ready to meet them?”
I nod, and she gets up, reaching down to hug me. “I’m so happy you’re my cousin,” she whispers before straightening and walking to the door.
She walks out and I take the few moments that’s she gone to try and calm myself. Dr. Teresa told me it’s not good for the baby if I get worked up. So, I take deep breaths until I hear Jordan outside the door.
I sit up straight and I’m ready when she opens the door and then steps back.
A woman that looks remarkably like Jordan steps in first. Immediately, her h*and goes to her m*outh, and she s*ucks in air. Right behind her is a man that looks so similar to me that he could be my father.
“Oh, goddess, you look just like Mila,” the man, Uncle Seth says, walking toward me. “Is it okay if I approach you? I know you’ve been through a lot.”
I nod and he reaches out his hands. I take them and then he sits where Jordan was sitting a moment ago.
“Don’t cry,” he says, and he gently wipes tears I didn’t know were falling off of my cheeks.
“You look so much like me,” I tell him, unable to stop the tears.
“Seth and Mila always looked like twins,” the other woman, Jara says as she comes to sit on the other side of the bed. “You really do look just like I remember her looking.”
“Mom! Dad’s going to come barging in here if you don’t stop crying,” Jordan says, coming to stand next to her mother, wrapping her arm around her shoulders.
My Aunt Jara wraps one arm around Jordan’s waist and then reaches out to take my h*and in hers.
“I know this must me a lot for you, finding out you’re a werewolf, finding out you have a family, but you have no idea how happy it makes me, and Seth,” she says, looking at him. He hasn’t taken his eyes off of me and I can see that he, too, has tears in his eyes.
“We’re both so happy to have you in our lives. I know that you don’t know us, but I want you to know right now, you are welcome here, you are welcome in this family, and you are loved.”
I lose the battle with my tears, and I begin to sob. No one has ever told me that I was part of their family and I’ve never felt as loved as I do in this moment.
I close my eyes as the tears begin to fall and then three sets of arms come around me and we all cry our happy tears together.