"Your daughter? But how is that even possible?" My mother questioned and then I realized that no one else knew what had happened between me and Zephyr the night before he banished me.
They only knew about my banishment, they didn't know that he had sexually assaulted me and I would have to be reminded of that terrible experience. I would just have to tell them but I couldn't do it in front of Nevaeh, I would just have to take her somewhere else.
As if on cue, I heard a knock on my door and it opened shortly after to show Linda. I smiled at her arrival, happy that she would be able to take care of Nevaeh while I told my parents everything.
"I'm so sorry your highness, I didn't mean to barge in like this but you said to come to your room shortly after we got settled in. Am I interrupting your discussion? I'll leave right now." She said but I stopped her.
"Wait! I didn't say you could leave, did I?" I questioned and she instantly apologized.
"I'm so sorry your highness, I just thought that……." She began but I stopped her.
Linda is still new to the job, she began working as a maid in the palace just a few weeks ago so she tends to overreact most of the time but overall, she's a nice and helpful person.
"I actually do need your help right now. Please take Nevaeh with you in the meantime, I'll come take her back soon." I instructed and she nodded.
"Yes, princess." Linda answered and I rolled my eyes.
"Linda, I want to request something from you. Throughout our stay here, I don't want you to address me as Princess or your highness, just call me by my name." I instructed and she seemed really hesitant.
"But you're highness, that's……" She began protesting but suddenly stopped when she saw the serious look that I was giving her.
"Yes Evelyn." She said tightly and tried to take Nevaeh from my arms but Nevaeh clinged to me.
"No mummy, I want to stay with you." She objected.
"Listen to me darling, I need to do something very important now so you have to go play with Linda for a little while, I promise I'll be there with you soon. Do you remember our little game, you still want to win, right?" I asked and the frown on her face quickly transformed to a smile.
"Yes mummy, I want to win the game. I'll go play with Linda and I won't say your name outside. But remember your promise as well, don't take too long, OK?" She gushed and I nodded.
"Yes, I won't." I assured and kissed her forehead before handing her over to Linda. Linda left the room with her and I closed the door behind them.
I finally turned my attention to my parents who had been standing there, bewildered and looking confused as hell the whole time.
"You have a child and that girl just addressed you as a princess. Do you care to please explain to us what is going on?" My mum asked and I sighed and took a seat on the bed.
I tried to put it to them as plainly as possible.
"Zephyr raped me and Nevaeh is the product of our encounter." I said calmly and my mother nearly screamed.
"What?!" She said and placed a hand on her mouth, clearly horrified.
"How did this happen? Why didn't you tell us?" My father asked and I scoffed lightly, a bittersweet laugh stuck in my throat.
"How could I have told you? It happened so quickly that it was difficult for me to accept at the time and in case you don't remember, I wasn't exactly your favourite child back then. I was practically the black sheep of the family so there was clearly no use telling you. I had thought that mother would blame me for angering the Alpha and accuse me of causing my own rape, Moira would most likely have made fun of me and you Dad, I figured you wouldn't have said anything, just like you never said anything when the Alpha or other people used to hit me for nothing. I figured keeping that terrible experience to myself would be much better than sharing it with family that considered me dead to them. Even if I wanted to tell you, I wouldn't have been able to.
On my 18th birthday, I found out that Zephyr was my mate and although I was scared, a tiny part of me hoped that he would finally see the truth, mend his ways and treat me properly but still, the biggest part of me knew that he was probably going to reject me due to his deep hatred for me.
After we both found out we were mates, Zephyr took off without saying a word to me and I was just filled with mixed emotions. I tried not to dwell on it too much because during that time, I had been unwell and was trying to quickly recover.
Zephyr returned later in the evening and just barged into my room while I was still asleep. He grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room before taking me to his own. He locked the door and I tried to assure myself that he was just going to reject me but it turned out worse.
He beat me up badly with his belt and brutally raped me afterwards. The next morning, he woke me up and made me take a bath, after I had dressed up in the clothes he gave me, he told me that the previous night had been a mistake and thus, he went ahead to reject me. I couldn't take the pain, the heartbreak and the shock so I let go of my fear of him for the first time and talked back to him, he got angry and that's when he banished me from the Pack.
I was immediately escorted out of the Pack by the scouts and I wasn't even given the chance to say anything to anyone." I said and found myself sniffing, trying my best to hold back the tears. I had promised myself that I wouldn't cry if I had to narrate my past but it just seemed impossible now.
"I can't believe this, my baby had to go through so much but I couldn't be there for you, I couldn't support you through your darkest moments and I feel terrible for that. You may have forgiven me but I certainly can't forgive myself. Not only did I join the others to point fingers at you, I turned a blind eye to all your pain and suffering. I honestly don't know what came over me during that time but I've hurt you so much my child and I have no excuse for that. I'm the worst mother ever." My mother wailed and I exhaled. Even though I want to tell her not to speak like that, we all know that what she’s saying is true.
“Please don’t say that Maria, we really didn’t know. Believe me Evelyn, if we had even an inkling of what happened to you, we wouldn’t have sat back quietly. No parent would be OK with hearing that their daughter was raped, no matter what she did.” My father said and I stifled a laugh.
“Oh really? Even if you’d known, what could you have done then? Everyone was scared of the Alpha, including the both of you. You wouldn’t have pointed a finger at him and especially not for me. We were all powerless at that point. I’m just glad that Selene was kind and ensured that she sent an angel to save me after I was banished.” I said instantly remembering when I had woken up at Ana’s house after fainting during the storm. She had saved me and I owe my survival all to her. She gave me a family as well when I desperately needed one and deep within my heart, I know that she’ll always be my mother even if we aren’t blood related.
“Yes dear, praises be to Selene but what happened to you? And why are you being referred to as Princess? How did the miracle happen?” My mother asked all at once and I breathed out. This is the conversation I’d been trying to avoid but I guess I’ll just have to tell.