Faye had been impatiently waiting for Princess since she left. It had been less than 30 minutes, but it felt like forever. She kept shifting her weight on the stiff hospital mattress, the sheets rustling loudly with every restless movement she made. Her eyes darted around the quiet space, unable to settle on anything for more than a few seconds.

She looked at the clock, then back at the time again, waiting. The hands on the wall seemed to be moving in slow motion, ticking with a dull, heavy thud that only made her irritation grow. One of the pups’ cries brought her back to reality, and she quickly attended to the baby, still having Adam Kings on her mind. She reached down into the clear bassinet, gently patting the tiny swaddled bundle until the soft whimpering faded out. Even as she focused on her newborns, her chest felt tight with a familiar, burning anxiety. Wondering what was happening and hoping he wasn’t laying his hands on her girlfriend.

Then the door opened. The sudden rattle of the handle made Faye sit up completely straight, her heart hammering against her ribs.

"Princess," Faye called, but it wasn’t Princess. Her voice cut off instantly, the hopeful look on her face vanishing into a frown.

It was her brother, Paye. He stepped into the room with his usual casual stride, holding a metallic container in his hand.

"Princess is currently with her brother right now, saw them earlier..." Paye said as he closed the door and walked to her. He didn’t seem to notice the sheer panic radiating off his sister, completely relaxed as he navigated the room. "Freshly made ox bone stew, personally prepared by Eriko," he said, dropping the food flask on the table beside the untouched pizza box.

Then he looked at his sister, whose mind was on the ticking clock and the door. Faye wasn’t even looking at the food flask; her eyes were already glued back onto the small gap at the bottom of the doorframe.

"She is still in the hospital, puppy. Relax, okay?" he said, sitting on the single couch. He stretched his legs out, leaning his head back against the cushion with a massive sigh of exhaustion.

"That is where Princess sits. Stand up from there," Faye said, seeing her brother sit where Princess usually sat while watching over her whenever she slept. She pointed a sharp, accusing finger at the cushions, her wolf instinct flaring up over the simple invasion of her girlfriend’s designated spot.

"I am just coming back from picking your nephew up from school. I need to rest before going to work... also, you should calm down I’m your brother," he said. He didn’t move an inch, simply waving his hand off to dismiss her attitude while he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

"Sorry, brother. I just can’t think straight because of her and her brother having a conversation." Faye muttered, her shoulders dropping as she let out a shaky breath, trying to control the low growl building up in her throat.

"They are siblings. Conversations are normal things." Paye reasoned softly, his voice level and entirely too calm for Faye’s liking.

"His last conversation with her was a beating," Faye said flatly. The words came out cold, cutting right through his relaxed demeanor like a knife.

"There’s no way Adam beat his little sister. He pampers her like an egg." Paye scoffed, shaking his head as if the entire concept was a joke. He picked up a small informational pamphlet from the side table, flipping it open with a dry chuckle.

"Well, not anymore. Ever since Princess lost her strikes, he changed his way of pampering." Faye retorted, her fingers gripping the edge of her blanket until her knuckles went pale.

"I’m guessing it’s because you were pregnant and refused to marry her and... what are the remaining strikes?" Paye said as he busily read a pamphlet. He turned the page, his eyes scanning the medical fine print without looking up at her.

"Well, she lost a fight to Yuki and a video of..." Faye stopped talking immediately when she noticed who she was talking to.. her brother, who didn’t know there had been a sextape of her online for a while. She caught the words right at the back of her teeth, her breath hitching as a sudden wave of heat rushed to her face. She didn’t want another room reserved for him due to him passing out after hearing about his little sister. If Paye found out about that specific video, his protective brotherly instincts would probably cause his internal systems to totally short-circuit right here on the floor.

"I’m just saying, your choice of man you fell in love with... I hate him. And I’m still wondering how on earth you let that Alpha father your sons," she said, trying to change the topic. She leaned forward, throwing a harsh scowl at her brother to steer his attention far away from her slip-of-the-tongue.

"He wasn’t like that when I met him... you even liked him. You used to call him your brother-in-law." Paye murmured, his tone suddenly dropping into something quiet and reminiscent.

"I don’t remember calling him that or anything from the past." Faye said, her brow furrowing.

"Because you tampered with your memory," he muttered. He didn’t look up from the paper, but his voice carried a strange, heavy weight that made the room feel incredibly small. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Faye tried to rethink things because Malo had said she tampered with the school water system, but how on earth did she not remember anything about the Kings? Her mind felt like a blank slate whenever she tried to push back into those specific school years, meeting nothing but a solid, frustrating wall of dark fog.

Princess was remembering, or might have remembered, everything because she marked Faye, but Faye didn’t remember anything. The bond between them was supposed to share everything, yet Faye was still completely locked out of her own past history.

"You know, when you attended school, you left some things behind. There is no record of me attending Oakland School 6 years ago. Someone wiped my credentials. The school yearbooks are all gone... no pictures or my name." Faye stated, her voice dropping into a hard, demanding whisper.

"That’s because someone took advantage of what you did... or you had a conversation with somebody you don’t remember." Paye replied smoothly, his tone remaining entirely casual despite the massive secret he was dangling right in front of her.

Faye stared at her brother. She hated it when he knew something but didn’t want to say it and instead beat around the bush or leaves to avoid questions.

Malo once told her that her brother knew more than he let on and that she should ask him for information.

Why did the two leave Oakland six years ago, and why did they return after six years?

"Why do I feel like you are not telling me what I need to know?" Faye asked. She leaned across the bed, her eyes locking onto his face with absolute intensity.

"What?" Paye asked, finally tilting his head up to look at her.

"You like beating around the bush, always hiding from my questions. You hid the truth about me being a moon wolf. Answer me this one question: why did you ask me to stay away from Alphas when you were busy tangling with one?" Faye demanded, her voice rising slightly with a sharp edge of accusation.

Paye dropped the pamphlet onto his lap. His face went entirely serious, his posture instantly straightening up as he looked toward the closed hospital door.

"Shhhh. He is here. Don’t say anything about that word... and for your information, my warning about you staying away from Alphas was because I knew you were going to tangle with one, and that’s the one you tangled with." Paye hissed, leaning in close over the edge of the bed so his whisper wouldn’t carry past the small room. "The Kings are tamed Alphas, and if you happened to pay attention during your studies, you would understand what I mean by that. Lunas are the only ones who know how to tame Alphas, and they are very rare, just like you are rare."

"They fuck are you whispering about?" Faye snapped, her confusion turning into pure irritation at his dramatic shifting.

"The Petros have two Lunas, one being Adam’s wife and her sister. I don’t know why that girl let you get close to Princess, but I’m sure there were no good intentions. No Luna lets their Alpha go off easily..." Paye explained in a low, chilling murmur, his eyes fixed entirely on hers as the heavy reality of the Weres politics finally settled into the space between them.