(Rigel)

I make my way to meet my mother and Aziel. I knew he had returned from his therapy session.

He has taken this initiative and I do wonder if I should go down that route too. But the thought of opening up to a stranger is unsettling for me.

My steps halt when I hear his voice through the door. The heightened hearing helps me. He is speaking to my mother.

"I don’t know how to tell her what I have been through. After so many years of abuse, speaking to others is a laborious task for me, even with Amaia..."

His voice has such an anguished plea that it reminds me of my darkness and how it has shaped my whole life. I can’t even bring myself to share those harrowing scars that have scarred me for life.

Wounds so deep that they are etched into my soul.

"I only know how to speak with you openly because you know, you have seen what I have been through," he continues to lament with my mother.

"Aziel, what we went through changes you for life. We won’t be the same people. My sons are battling their own demons, and so is Amaia. But we are together now and will nurture each other to heal," she kindly tells him.

I stand there, listening to them for a while and then finally knock on the door.

"Come," my mother gives permission. Opening the door I enter the room. They smile seeing me but I can sense the tension, the suppressed grief, the hidden suffering, the bruises which have tortured their souls.

"Rigel, come sit with us." Mom pats the space beside her. I sit and clasp my hands together, facing Aziel.

I see myself in him. The happy memories of childhood, the ones I spent with him flash in my brain.

"You can speak to me. I will understand. I know you don’t wish to worry Amaia." I wish to tell him all this.

She has wounded all of us in one way or another. Some of us have bled more some less and some like me have lost parts of them which will never heal.

Aziel gives me a wounded smile. "I wish to heal and lead a normal life or something close to it but I don’t know how. That’s what I was discussing with mom."

My mother has such a big heart. She has adopted Aziel as her son and I am sure she sees my three brothers in the same way.

"I think we need to find you your mate. Rigel and I did and believe me that helps," Mom says with a smile of her own.

Aziel takes a deep and desperate breath.

"If only..."

"Tell Amaia to bless you with some of her luck on finding mates," mom teases, her eyes crinkling at the sides.

The atmosphere lightens and both of us burst out laughing.

"Yeah, I am going to talk to her. Is she free?"

"She is with her friends in the grounds outside. Go, I am sure she would love connecting you with them." Hearing this, Aziel thanks me before taking his leave.

The door closes and I lean on my mother’s shoulder, holding her. With eyes closed, even my shadows relax in her proximity.

Mom keeps her arms around me, kissing the top of my head. She lets me relax for a while before speaking.

"There is something I mean to speak with you about. But..." I sense her body tensing. Whatever it is, it’s not going to be pleasant.

Does she want to speak to me about living with her in Fudaria? That will be a difficult decision.

I straighten up and face her. The trepidations are so apparent in her eyes. She is afraid of my reaction, I can tell.

I collect both her hands in mine and squeeze. "You can speak to me freely."

She nods in appreciation. "It’s about your father. I want you to know the truth before we go to war."

My father? What about him I wonder.

"What is it?" I ask, confused and her lips purse. She is trying to keep them from quivering. Her eyes become watery.

"Orion is not your biological father..." She pauses and draws in a breath. My heart is tightly squeezed in my chest. "Hathial is."

A mountain seems to have been dropped on my head, crushing me. The man whom I always believed to be my father is someone I have no connection with. The one I blamed for my condition and not coming to my rescue.

A man I have barely met twice is my real father.

The shadow magic. The sudden drawness to him. The peace I experienced in Fudaria. It makes sense now.

But...

Letting go of my mother’s hands, I abruptly stand. My shadows go restless on my skin. The agitation grips every limb.

That means I am the Prince of Fudaria and not Orion. That Saiph is only my half-brother and others are not even my brothers. I have no blood relation to them.

No, no, that can’t be. Any stability I was trying to find. Every lost connection I was desperate to stitch together has been snatched from me yet again.

I grab my head, wishing to pull my hair. The rage is blinding me, tunnelling my vision. So much rage that all I can see is red.

"Does she have something to do with it?" I rage out, not at my mother but I can’t control this tumultuous anger clawing my very existence.

My mother frantically stands up. "Rigel, listen." She takes a step forward but I step back.

"Just tell me, Mom. Please," I frantically say and she sadly nods. Trying to keep her tears from slipping out.

No matter what I do or where I turn, that woman has destroyed a part of my life which can’t be reversed.

Her actions have taken my father and brothers from me. Wedged this distance between us that I won’t be able to bridge now.

I love my brothers. Will I even be able to live with them?

The man I called father will probably throw me out, knowing I am not his son. How will I survive, especially without Amaia? 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

She can’t leave all her mates just for me. And we can’t live here.

"No, no...no no." Vigorously I shake my head. A maelstrom of fury has engulfed me, tearing at my flesh.

"This can’t be...THIS CAN’T BE," I yell until I feel my lungs would explode. My hands hold my head, transporting me back to where she tortured me. My knees wobble and I kneel on the floor.

I have to control myself but I can’t, I don’t want to hurt anyone. My mother is right beside me, trying to get closer and hold me. I can sense her, she is saying something but the voices in my head, the insults, the mocking is so loud that I can’t hear anything else.

But the tempest inside me is going to explode any moment. My shadows shift trying to shield my mother from it.

Only then do I feel Amaia’s comforting arms and her soothing voice.

"I am here."