What on earth had Byron just told him? Jeremy blinked his eyes, trying hard to process the meaning of Byron's words.
He and Celeste were not twin siblings. More precisely, he wasn't Celeste's twin brother?
Celeste and he had grown up together, inseparable since childhood. How could they not be twin siblings? Jeremy stared at Byron in disbelief and shock. The man must give him a proper explanation.
Byron heaved a heavy sigh, fully aware that he wouldn't find peace until he offered a proper explanation. Indeed, once he revealed this information, he knew Jeremy wouldn't just let it rest.
"You were adopted," Byron said.
"What?" Jeremy's mouth fell open, momentarily overwhelmed by this revelation. The air seemed to escape Jeremy's lungs, leaving him momentarily breathless. His mouth agape, he struggled to find words, but his voice seemed to betray him, failing to produce any sound. He swallowed hard, desperately trying to regain his composure, his mind reeling with a storm of emotions.
"What? How?" he managed to utter, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm adopted? But I've... When was I adopted? Who are my biological parents?"
As far back as he could remember, his parents had been Jeff and Nora, and his twin sister had been Celeste. These memories were deeply ingrained in his mind, and he couldn't recall when he had been adopted.
"You were adopted since you were a baby. And I never had a clue about the identity of your biological parents," Byron responded, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
Curiosity burned within Jeremy as he inquired further, "But do my parents themselves know who my true birth parents are?"
Caught off guard by Jeremy's question, Byron paused, his eyes darting away before he answered, "I don't know."
And why didn't his parents tell him? Jeremy couldn't help but wonder why his parents had chosen to keep him in the dark. They kept it hidden so well. And they treated him and Celeste equally. Jeremy had never harbored even a shred of doubt.
But why did they choose to adopt him? Jeremy remembered he had seen an old album in the house. Jeff and Nora had kept all the photos of him and Celeste. From infancy to adulthood.
"Why? Why did they adopt me?" Jeremy asked aloud. He didn't expect Byron to have an answer, but the question lingered in the air.
And then he remembered a photo he had seen before, a prenatal ultrasound of his mother while she was pregnant. And Nora had shown them when he and Celeste was a kid and had found the photo. Nora had told them that there were two babies in the photo, hadn't she? Was he really adopted?
"But my mom was pregnant with twins, wasn't she?" Jeremy asked suddenly.
Byron's muscles stiffened for a moment, but he quickly concealed the stiffness. He swiftly masked his unease, attempting to restore a semblance of composure.
"This matter is very complicated," Byron replied.
"Just how complicated is it? You have to explain it clearly to me. How many more secrets are you hiding from us?" Jeremy demanded, his eyes filled with a mixture of frustration and betrayal.
Byron opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but quickly closed it again. "All you need to know is that you're definitely not Celeste's twin brother," he finally uttered, his tone tinged with a hint of something complicated.
Jeremy shook his head, took a step back, and still couldn't snap out of the shock.
Amidst the shock, it seemed like many things suddenly made sense. It now made sense why Jeremy had first transformed into a wolf before Celeste and why it took so long for Celeste to have her first transformation. If they were twins, they should have shifted at the same time, right? It also explained their mate bond. If they were twins, they could never be fated mates. Unless both of them were cursed, of course.
A sudden realization washed over Jeremy, sending away the struggles and torments he and Celeste had endured. It all seemed like a cruel joke, a twisted irony. If only they had known the truth about their sibling status, perhaps the pain and anguish they had experienced were entirely needless. Celeste wouldn't even have felt compelled to escape their union.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Jeremy's words escaped his lips, their delivery strained and squeezed, as if fighting their way out of his constricted throat.
Byron remained silent.
Jeremy suddenly remembered that there were many times when Byron seemed to be able to tell the relationship between him and Celeste. He recalled that time they paid a visit to Byron's cabin, asking him about the mate stuff, and the way Byron playfully teased them when they had that early morning phone call. Did Byron secretly know all along? Did he have the scoop that they were fake siblings but destined mates, and just let them struggle in the mess?
"Do you know about the struggle between Celeste and me? And you never thought to tell us about this? If I hadn't come here today, how long were you planning on keeping us in the dark?" Jeremy burst out, a raging fire of anger building up.
"I... I had no clue you guys were wrestling with this thing so intensely. I'm sorry," Byron muttered under his breath. A fleeting glimpse of unusual guilt flickered in his eyes, leaving Jeremy wondering what exactly lay beneath that guilt.
Indeed, Jeremy and Celeste had been struggling because of this misunderstanding. But it was precisely because of these struggles that the magnetic force of their mate bond became crystal clear. Celeste was willing to sacrifice herself just for Jeremy. She even chose to leave her pack and became a rogue. And Jeremy was willing to abandon the wolf pack to get Celeste back.
Thoughts of Celeste flooded Jeremy's mind, and he no longer had the patience for bickering with Byron here and now. He'd have to dig deeper into Byron's secrets when he had the chance to swing by again. But right now, time was a precious commodity he couldn't afford to waste.
He spun around, ready to make his exit.
"Hold up! Where the heck do you think you're going?" Byron's voice echoed from behind.
"I'm off to get Celeste back. She's coming back with me this time, no doubt about it."