The Fragility of Fate ✔️

12 | Truths

Miesha

"I'm leaving Neve, can you please let your Alpha know?" It wasn't as much a question as it was a statement, because in reality I already made up my mind.

I'd managed to muster the courage as I walked downstairs, determined to get this over with. I held my head high, strength in my voice as to not showcase my fragility with each painstaking step to the living room.

"...and where are you going to go?"

Neve's tentative pause before answering heightened my nerves. Her composure highlighted she'd expected things to play out this way.

I hadn't figured it out yet, and frankly I didn't care. I just needed to get out of here and was beginning to get agitated. After the events yesterday, I felt cornered... perhaps metaphorically more than anything else because I just needed to get away.

Neve wasn't one to avoid confrontations, "You're leaving because of Gabriel. He'd never hurt you..."

Adrienne stood from her chair, walking slowly towards me. Her physical presence a silent show of support and care.

"I am well enough to care for myself now. This was only ever temporary, and while I am so grateful to have been so well received by you both and your Alpha, I can't impose on you all any longer."

"Well, that's fucking bullshit..."

Adrienne was reaching her level of tolerance, pointing a finger at her chest, "Neve! That's enough!"

Neve stood, walking towards me slowly, running her fingers through her short hair in frustration, "You can't keep running Miesha. You might be able to run from Jacob but you can't outrun fate."

I began shaking, my crutches the only thing keeping me upright. Adrienne shifting closer, in an effort to preempt my retaliation.

The room was silent.

The tension was palpable.

"Jac.....ob?"

All but screaming, I didn't hold back,"I... never... told... you... his... name!" A tidal wave of fear landed right on top of me. I couldn't breathe. My eyes boring into her accusingly, "How did you know? Do you know him? Is he here?!? Who is he to you?!?!"

I couldn't take this any more. It felt like a hurricane was closing in on my mind, as if it were gaining on me with each passing second. I started shuffling backwards until I hit the dining table, sending the glass vase center piece splaying across the ground as my body upended like a boat capsizing in a storm at sea. My crutches dropped from my arms as I landed heavily on the timber floor, my line of vision quickly dissipating before me as I struggled to maintain my grip on reality.

Neve scoffed, "That piece of shit? I'd like to see him try, trust me, he won't come near this place..."

Almost exasperated and unsure of how to handle the situation, she tried a gentler approach,

"I'm here to protect you, and I would with my life. But running is not the answer Miesha... "

Adrienne dropped to her knees, resting her hand on my shoulder, "Miesha, please. Calm down. He isn't here. You're safe. We will expl---"

My eyes pleaded for answers, my voice cracking in desperation, "I know you're both trying to protect me, but I know you're hiding something. Please... please... just tell me what it is..."

There was no reply from Neve or Adrienne. Only the sound of heavy footsteps slowly approaching and the shutting of the front door behind them.

Oak... Citrus... Leather.

The stranger on the hill.

I held my knees to my chest, trying to make myself as small as possible, leaning into Adrienne who was still down beside me.

My eyes didn't deviate from his black shoes. I couldn't bring myself to look up much less move at all. But my wolf not shy in doing so on my behalf, peered out from the shadows at the man before me.

The stranger crouched down, his green eyes piercing right through me. There was no misreading who I was to him...

A mix of trepidation masked with calmness swept across his face as he carefully brushed some of the broken glass away from where I lay. Watching his weathered hands as he did so, my gaze trailed from his fingers to his arm, following the intricate tattooed tree branches that wrapped around it, before littering his neck in leaves that peered out from his shirt. The landscape of his territory was etched across his skin and I was momentarily struck by its beauty.

"Miesha..."

His voice was gruff. But I couldn't deny the gentleness in his tone as it pulled me from my thoughts.

I kept still.

His voice shouldn't be calming me, should it?

Adrienne was rubbing my back whilst Neve watched on edge from the entry way.

"I'm sorry our first meeting is under these circumstances... "

He paused.

"My name is Gabriel... "

And as if ripping a band-aid clean off a raw wound, the words tumbled out of his mouth that sent shock waves through my soul, "Jacob is my twin brother, but he is not your mate...."

In a moment in time where it felt like even the room itself held it's breath, I slowly looked up, locking eyes with him as he finished his sentence,

"I am."

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