Greymoor Academy: I Accidentally Bonded With Four Lycan Royals!

Maisie

The school was, once again, buzzing with excitement. Halloween was only a couple of weeks away. And so was Lana’s mating ceremony to Cole.

If I didn’t already think it was weird that it was happening on the eve of Halloween, then it certainly set me off when I heard the Queen was making an appearance at the celebration. Which meant everyone was attending.

Including me. Especially me. Considering the Lycans had to be there as some odd sign of goodwill to show the world that Lycans and wolves were coexisting harmoniously.

I scowled at the thought of being at the Night Shade pack again as I walked over to the library.

"Maisie. Wait!"

I froze in the hallway, books clutched to my chest as I turned slowly. Lana was hurrying over, her eyes fiercely bright, and when she stopped in front of me, she was panting a little.

I stared at my twin sister. Even if I looked and felt nothing like I did months ago while I was slaving away at the Night Shade pack, standing in front of her always... somehow, dragged me back to that place. For a second, I was in ragged clothing again, cleaning the floors at her feet and she was sneering at me like I was dirt.

But I blinked and it was gone and I was Maisie Adams. Not the maid. But a royal. And it was reflected in my tone when I spoke in a manner of greeting that was both familiar but void of emotion. "Lana."

Her blue eyes met mine and they were like shiny little orbs. She used to have that look in her eyes whenever she needed something. It always worked, especially with the boys. They would claim she had stars in her eyes and do whatever she wanted them to do. Sadly, it worked on me, too. All the time.

"You’ve been ignoring my calls and messages," she said quietly. "It’s been so hard to get a hold of you."

I waited. She wanted something. I could almost taste her desperation.

"My wedding dress fitting is this Saturday," she said, tucking a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Luna Kaida and a few other Lunas will be present. I wanted... I wanted to invite you personally. We could catch up over tea."

Tea. Lana wanted to have tea.

I didn’t hesitate before answering, "I’ll have to decline. I’m busy this Saturday."

"Busy with what?"

"Feeding my cat," I said dryly.

"You don’t have a cat," she said in accusatory manner.

"I could buy one," I answered, picking invisible dirt out of my nails.

Lana took a hesitant step forward. "I’m sorry, Maisie." The words were barely above a whisper. "I know it won’t fix anything. I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, and maybe I never will."

My fingers curled into fists and I wanted to tell her she was right and simply saying sorry wouldn’t fix our ruined relationship. But she continued, voice shaking as she stared down at her trembling hands, "It wasn’t as easy as you think it was for me, May. I was an Omega adopted into a Beta family. Every day felt like I had something to prove. That I belonged. That I was worthy of the name they’d given me. I thought if I became Luna, I could finally earn it and keep my place. I didn’t want to end up..."

"Like me," I finished when she tracked off. "Like the help."

Her throat bobbed. "But I couldn’t outrun you. When the mate bond chose you, I got scared. You weren’t another one of the girls Cole was sleeping with. I could survive those. I had survived them for years." She smiled sadly. "Every time he cheated, I told myself it wouldn’t matter once the mate bond found me. I believed it had to. I believed all that waiting had to be for something.

"But it didn’t. I didn’t know how to handle it." She fidgeted with her sleeve. "And instead of blame Cole, I took it out on you, because it was easier to imagine you a thief than accept that I had fantasized and built my life around someone who would never choose me."

A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it swiftly. "I am sorry. I truly am."

My throat tightened.

I didn’t think I had any soft spot in me left for her. But then I found myself asking, "Why get married to him then, if you know this?"

She laughed and sniffled. "I love him, Maisie. Ever since we saw him for the first time when we were little. I’ve always loved him."

I didn’t point out that every time we’d met Cole when we were little, he had treated us like shit because we were Omegas. I should’ve known I wasn’t the only one who got attracted to men with a mean streak.

Must be something in our blood.

She took my hand and squeezed. "It would mean a lot to me if you came. I could use some company around those old heathens."

"I’ll... think about it," I said, and she beamed.

She turned around to leave when I caught her wrist. "Lana, about Dad..."

I tracked off, unsure where to begin or how to broach the subject, but Lana’s smile dwindled. "They told you."

I blinked, taken aback. "Y-you knew? About Mom and Dad?"

There was a hint of darkness in her blue eyes. "I saw things when we were little. Men coming by when they thought no one was watching. Visitors who never called him Richter. Mom, too. Sometimes she used another name. Silas, I think. And after they died, and we were taken so quickly, and the house was burned down to the ground, I thought it was strange as well. And getting adopted by the Braxtons? It made me suspect if there was some higher hand at play. But I never asked questions. Truthfully, I don’t care enough to find out why. So whatever it is you want to say to me right now, I’d rather not know."

"How can you be so indifferent about this? They were our parents," I hissed.

"I know who they were," she said, and for a moment, her voice trembled. "That is enough for me."

I didn’t understand her. "You don’t even want to know who our biological mother is? Where she is? If we have other siblings? You really don’t care about that?"

Her expression didn’t change. "No, Maisie. I have a family, and I understand why this is so important to you."

She didn’t speak the words, but I heard them loud and clear. She got Mr. and Mrs. Braxton. And while she might have claimed it was difficult for her, everyone in Ashbourne knew they cherished her. It was almost a popular gossip on if they loved Lana more than their own daughter, Regina.

I didn’t get that. I didn’t get a do over. I didn’t get anyone who cared enough to fix my hair or my injuries. I had Jenny and Regina, and they became all the family I needed. But still... it was hard acting like I didn’t care that Dad was gone.

And I understood why it was important to me to find out more about Dad. It wasn’t just because of Gruer’s words. I simply had to know the man who would forever remain in my heart as my father. The memories were all I had.

"It is not enough for me," I whispered.

"No," she said with a surprisingly gentle smile. "I expect it is not. You were always the more curious one of us. I am content with where I am. That doesn’t make me indifferent. And I think that if Dad went so far as to hide his identity and us, I would think it was for a good reason, and I’m not in the business of looking for answers that don’t want to be found."

A chill ran down my spine for some reason.

She squeezed my hand. "What you do not know cannot kill you, Maisie," she said, and now there was no softness left in her voice at all. "Sometimes, that is the only mercy there is."