#9 The Lonely Rogue

Junie

“You know, Mack is from the original families.” Ally said as we sat in the living room watching TV. Mack, Nikki, and Cole were on duty today.

“Really?” I turned around to look at Mack who was standing off in the corner.

“Yes, Luna. I’m from Alpha Noah Landry’s bloodline out of Blood Moon. My grandparents were Meredith and Jack Landry.” Mack explained in a quiet voice.

“Hm.” I said thoughtfully.

“We’re very proud of our family lineage around here.” Ally laughed

“Don’t you hate always being compared to your family’s accomplishments and failures?” I asked Mack and he perked up at my question,

“It can make it hard to be your own person, Luna.” Mack said,

“I understand that all too well.” I replied before turning back around on the couch.

Ally gave me a strange look but I just shrugged. She went back to flipping through the channels and settled on a Christmas movie.

“Christmas in June?” I asked and Ally laughed,

“It’s never too early to start watching Christmas movies.” She said.

“They all seem exactly the same toe.” Nikki mumbled.

“That’s because they literally have the same exact plot.” Cole agreed

“Oh, bah humbug!” Ally complained loudly.

“Ally, you in here?” A voice I didn’t recognize called through the castle.

Ally turned towards the door just as a young boy walked in. He stuttered to a stop when he saw me, his face immediately turning red. He was clearly Ally’s age, no more than 16 years old, with black hair and blue eyes. He was dressed finely in khaki pants and a silky red, button down shirt.

“Austin!” Ally giggled, jumping up from the couch and running towards the boy. Nikki, Mack, and Cole watched her with smug expressions. I seemed to be the only one confused.

“You didn’t tell me you weren’t alone.” I heard him mumble as he hesitantly hugged Ally.

“Oh, this is my new sister, Caspian’s mate, Junie.” She grinned, pointing at me. I stood up and smiled at Austin, moving towards the pair.

“Queen Luna.” Austin quickly detangled himself from Ally and bowed his head.

“It’s okay, Austin, you can just call me Junie.” I waved off his politeness and shook his hand.

“Oh, it’s nice to meet you.” Austin said, rubbing the back of his neck with an embarrassed expression.

“Are you two….friends?” I asked and Austin’s face actually got redder.

“Sure.” Ally smirked at me and I knew immediately that they were not just friends.

“Does your brother know about this?” I cocked an eyebrow and Ally’s smirk turned down in a frown, “I’ll take that as a no.”

“Please don’t tell him.” Ally begged me.

“He’s gonna find out eventually, you know?” I said, shaking my head in disapproval.

“You’d be surprised.” Ally huffed and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Just don’t do anything stupid or we’ll all be in big trouble.” I said, giving her a stern expression.

“You’re the best!” Ally squealed, throwing her arms around my neck.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” I scoffed sarcastically as she kissed my ass.

Lydia entered the room then, not at all interested in Austin’s presence.

“Junie, I wonder if I might have a word with you?” She said,

“Sure.” I agreed, giving Ally one last look before following Lydia out of the room.

“I wanted you to meet someone, an old friend of mine. She’s in the sunroom.” Lydia explained as we walked through the halls of the castle and towards the backyard.

Next to the french doors that led to the back patio, were another set of doors that opened up to a four seasons room. Lydia opened the door and motioned me inside. Sitting at the small garden table was a woman the same age as Lydia. Her back was to me, so I couldn’t see her face, just a mess of dirty blonde curls. I looked back at Lydia who seemed to be nervous about something.

“Constance.” She called out towards the woman who finally turned around, “This is Caspian’s mate.”

I smiled politely at the woman and walked towards her, prepared to shake her hand in greeting. I tripped over my feet when my eyes locked with hers; it was almost like looking in a mirror. She had the same almond shaped hazel eyes as me; they were a unique mixture of green and honey gold that I’ve only ever seen in my own reflection. Her face was covered in freckles and her skin soft and warm. The woman’s face froze when she saw me, seeming just as startled as I was.

I was the first to recover, reaching out my hand with a wide smile.

“It’s nice to meet you, I’m Junie.” My smile began to falter as my hand remained empty between us.

Constance slowly stood up, ignoring my hand and staring intently at my face. I dropped my hand and rocked back and forth on my heels, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

“Constance has been my close friend since we were children. She comes from the Oxford family, the Alpha bloodline of Silver Moon.” Lydia explained, coming up to stand between us.

“Wha….what’s your name?” Constance asked timidly.

“Junie, June Cooper.” I answered almost automatically.

Constance’s eyes went even wider and her face paled to the point I thought she was going to pass out. She glanced towards Lydia with an open mouth.

“I wasn’t sure if I was right, but I couldn’t ignore how much she looked like you.” Lydia said, seeming to be replying to a question Constance hadn’t even asked.

I glanced between the two of them skeptically, trying to figure out what was going on. Violet started whimpering in my head, pawing at my mind and crying out.

“What’s wrong?” I asked,

“That’s our mother, can’t you feel it?” Violet cried.

“Our….mother?” I felt the color drain from my face.

“Yes.” Violet yipped excitedly.

“Our mother left us.” I argued.

“We don’t know why she left us.” Violet barked back in a stern voice.

“Her name was Shelby.”

“According to our father, who lies.” Violet replied.

I returned my focus to Constance and Lydia, trying to piece together what Violet was saying. Like Lydia said, it was hard to ignore the likeness.

“You’re my mother.” The words came falling out of my mouth before I could stop them. Constance’s head snapped towards me, her mouth opening and closing as she struggled to find a response,

“Violet knows.” I added, wanting to make sure she knew that it wasn’t me who recognized her.

“Violet?” Constance asked.

“My wolf.” I snapped, a real mother would know that, “Dad said your name was Shelby.”

“I gave Corbin a fake name when we met.” Constance said,

“Why?”

“Why don’t we sit down?” Lydia suggested, motioning towards the garden table.

“I just want answers.” I argued, crossing my arms over my chest. I wasn’t here for an epic reunion. Lydia frowned but didn’t respond, instead she took her own advice and sat at the table behind us.

“I gave Corbin a fake name because I didn’t trust him, nor did my wolf. We knew right away that something was off, but it’s hard to deny your mate, even when you sense he’s evil.” Constance explained.

“And you just left your children with a man you deemed as evil?” I said in a voice void of emotion.

“I….I didn’t plan on leaving you and Reid with him. I was going to come back.” Constance mumbled, refusing to meet my gaze, “But, when I got here, I just couldn’t bring myself to leave.”

“How motherly of you.” I snarled.

“I know I wasn’t a very good mother to either of you….” I interrupted her,

“You weren’t a mother. Period.”

“You’re right, I wasn’t. I knew how despicable your father was and I just left you two with him.” She said, her voice monotone.

“Why did you leave?” I asked, struggling to keep my voice from cracking.

“I knew what Corbin was involved in from the start, he never tried to hide it. Before I had Reid, he was so involved with the rogues that we nearly got caught by the Alpha of the Cypress pack. He had the good sense to back off after that and then we had Reid. Those four years were pure bliss, Corbin stayed away from the rogues and was a dotting, loving father and mate,

“When I was pregnant with you, the man who raised Corbin after his father died came to our house. I wasn’t privy to their meeting, but after that, Corbin was never the same. He became even more vile and cruel than before and was determined to bring Reid down with him. I had hoped that after you were born, he would react the same as before, but he was too far gone,

“He was absolutely terrifying after your birth, going on and on about my failure as a mate in providing him with a daughter instead of another son. With each day he became more dangerous, I feared for my life. So, I left in the dead of night to seek comfort and help from my old home. When I came back to the realm, I had every intention of getting help, but I couldn’t bring myself to admit my failures to anyone else. Instead, I lied and prayed that the Moon Goddess would show you and Reid mercy from your father.”

Constance’s voice cracked and broke as she spoke, tears falling from her face, but I felt no pity or sadness for her pain. Pecking at the back of mind was an uneasy feeling about her story and her emotions. It was all too perfect, too rehearsed. She was hiding something, I just couldn’t tell what.

“The Moon Goddess showed us no mercy, why would she? If our own mother left us, why would the Moon goddess help us? You thought father was cruel before, you truly know nothing about it. He blamed me for you leaving, every single day he blamed me. He never relented on his dislike of having a daughter, I was nothing but a useless mouth to feed to him and he poisoned Reid with the same ideology.” My hands were clenched into fists at my side as I attempted to keep my head.

“June, you have to know how sorry I am.”

“I don’t. Sorry implies remorse and I don’t believe that you feel that. You left us. You could’ve come back, you could’ve saved us, you had the ear of the queen! I won’t forgive you and I won’t ever understand you.” I lost control, shouting at the woman in front of me who had my eyes and my hair but none of my pain.

“Junie….” Lydia gasped but Constance shook her head,

“No, she’s right. I failed her, I failed both of you.” She sighed, looking between us.

“I can’t be here anymore.” I grumbled, shoving past Constance and ignoring Lydia’s protests.