My Adopted Sister is my Mate

KAEDEN

15 years.

It has been 15 years since I left. Since I ran away from my pack in a desperate bid not to turn into my father. And now, I'm back.

I was 18 when I left, filled with rage and cold bitterness. And a year prior, I had begun to unravel mysteries about my father's rule, about why the magick creatures, the witches and the elven folk were slowly disappearing, about my mother.

Anyways, when it was time for me to get tertiary education, I decided that I was going to use it as an opportunity to run away, to train, to make myself stronger than my father and then come back to hold him accountable for all the evil that he committed under the guise of being the most just Alpha there ever was.

And now, I'm a man of 33, of the sacred age when an Alpha's heir is to rise up to the ranks of Alpha whilst the previous Alpha settles into the role of regent. Now is the time.

I have but 5 months until the blood moon, after all. And the blood moon is when I am to ascend to the throne.

I stare at the silver, washed out gates of the Silvermoon Park, watching them groan like a dying beast as the guards pull them open. I lean back to where I am seated at the back of the black SUV, letting my eyes wander to the towering ancient oaks that line the driveway, to the fountain centering the entrance.

My wolf, Fenris, paces restlessly behind my ribs, filled with excitement and anticipation. A wolf always yearns for home, and I have denied him the pleasures of home for far too long. He lets out a soft growl and I sigh.

"Down, boy."

As I step out of the car, a hot wave of what seems to be agitation settles on me, but I shake myself back into place. I have nothing to fear.

My father is but a man. And I am stronger than him. The scars mapping my body detailing the tales of the decade I have spent in the brutal northern territories can account for that.

A floor guard glances at me and recognition instantly hits him. Before I can speak, he immediately ushers me in and mutters something about informing my father. As I would expect.

I enter inside and am nearly dazzled by the sheer and blatant display of extravagance at the interior. The Silvermoon mansion has always been extraordinary, the pride of the wealthiest pack in the world. But this, this is something else. It seems that in the past 15 years, my father has accumulated three times the wealth we already had. The entire place is so riddled with gold and priceless jewels and expensive paintings and sculptures that it almost hurts to look at.

"Comfort" Fenris sighs.

"No, greed." I snap back.

Fenris hisses at me. He has never truly forgiven me for the hell that I put him through for 10 years at the Northern territories. He is too aware of what he is, an Alpha, deserving of comfort and riches and splendor, and we... we do not always share the same view on things.

The floor guard comes in. "He is waiting on the porch."

Before I get to the porch, I can already smell his scent of cedarwood and expensive scotch.

Silas Vane. After 15 years.

He stands on the marble steps, his hair silvering perfectly at the temples, wearing a bright white suit, looking every inch like the image he has carved for himself. The perfect Alpha.

A fraudulent bastard.

I force my lips into a tight smile as he descends to meet me, with a smile that would have looked cheery if it met his dark, malevolent eyes.

"Father."

"My son. You're back. The prodigal Alpha, back to where he belongs. Back home."

Not yet. Here is not yet home to me.

He gives me a forced embrace, stifling me with his scent. And as he does so, I cannot help but notice that I am now taller than him, with broader shoulders, thicker arms, denser muscles.

He is still a very strong man, has barely aged, but I am stronger. Much stronger.

He takes his hands off mine and looks at me, still smiling. But I notice there is a tightness to his smile.

He noticed the physical differences too.

"You have been gone for so long. So long. What has it been, 15 years? I almost thought you for dead. I was so worried." He steps closer. "And if you hadn't come back this year, I would have declared you so."

If he cared enough, he would have searched for me. But he never did.

"Well, I'm glad that you recognize exactly why I am here. Let's not pretend that this is a family reunion, Father. I am here strictly for the succession."

Silas' smile refuses to falter, though his eyes hardens. "I never understood exactly what I did to you. Especially given the fact that I have done everything to usher you into an easy and glorious reign. Everything I have done, I have done for you."

I refuse to tell him how much of a lie I know that is, of the news I have heard of his desire to rule for longer, of his exploration into the dark magic in a bid to gain immortality.

Everything that he has done, he has done for himself. So that he can rule forever.

And he is deeply unhappy that I have returned.

A sweet smell suddenly overwhelms my nose, of vanilla and wild berries and storm clouds.

I feel Fenris ears perk, his fur bristle, and a soft growl fills my ears.

Goosebumps envelop my skin. What is going on?

"Ah, yes," Silas says in a chirpy tone. "Avara, you can come forward."

Avara. That name sounds familiar, like a name I have once heard, a name I know, but have not thought of in a long time.

And suddenly, I remember.

......................

It was a night before my escape. I had a million and one things on my mind and definitely had no space in my mind to entertain any more things.

So when my father summoned me to the living room to meet who he said was to be my little sister, a small child of no more than 6, I could not be bothered to comprehend the gravity of what he was saying.

A human sister. The only question I bothered to ask was why the fuck he was adopting a human girl to be my sister.

My father cooked up a story that I instantly recognized as bullshit, as he always did. About how the girl was a victim of a rogue attack, how her parents died and he found her alone when he came for damage control, of how he found a fatherly bond between himself and the girl and instantly decided that he wanted to do nothing but to protect her for the rest of his life.

"Even though she is a human? You are to let a human bear the surname of an Alpha?"

"There is nothing wrong with being a human. Besides, it is not like she is to become Luna, she is just to take my name and my protection."

It took me one glance at the little sobbing 6 year old's bright green eyes to realize that she was definitely not a human. Not werewolf, but not human. I could not place what she was but my mind was too preoccupied to think too much about her.

And I had dismissed her as a political prop, and nothing more than that. Greeted her, consoled her, told her I was her brother, then hurried away to continue packing up.

............................

Now, I feel a bit of guilt that I haven't thought of her in the past 15 years. Not even once. I should have written to her, tried to form a connection with her.

She is my sister, after all.

Avara steps in and my breath ceases for a second. She looks ethereal, still with the bright green eyes, pale skin, black hair in waves cascading to the back of her waist, a wearing a soft cream gown that makes her look pure and innocent and almost out of this world.

My sister, I tell myself, almost as a warning, but for some reason, Fenris is going berseck and the sweet smell has become dangerously stronger, as if coming from her.

A blonde, easylooking wolf of about the same age as she is walks behind her and for some reason, I feel unease at the way he smiles at her, the way he holds her waist, the way she leans into him. I look at him and can almost detect a cruelty mirroring that of my father.

"I'm glad that you are here, Avara. Kaeden meet the person who has become the lady of this home whilst you were playing soldier in the dirt in God knows where, your sister, Avara. You remember her, right? I introduced her to you the night you left. Oh and her boyfriend, Julian."

Julian speaks first. "Welcome back, Kaeden, Alpha heir."

"Julian... Julian?"

"Thorne."

Thorne. Son of Cassius Thorne, Beta of Silvermoon. What a delectable match.

That sweet smell hits my nose like a storm again and forces my attention back to Avara, who stares at me with a strange expression on her face. Not a smile, not a frown, almost calculating. That look inadvertently brings a smile to my face. With that gown of hers, she almost looks like a bird in a golden cage, but I see fire in her eyes. Which tells me enough.

She finally moves close to me. "Hello Kaeden."

Her voice completely contrasts the fierce expression which she has carefully tucked away. It's soft, like velvet over glass. Fenris perks up again, basically panting. It's an uncomfortable feeling, being around her, knowing who she is and feeling... well, feeling the way I feel.

"Avara. You were just a child when I left. But look at you, a full grown woman."

"Yes," she sighs and I swear that there is a bit of disdain in her voice. "It has been a while."

I stretch out my hand to give a cold, formal handshake, already ready to leave and process what is going on with my body.

She reaches for it.

And the moment our hands touch, the world tilts.

An electric shock bolts up my arm, searing straight into my chest. I feel a sudden, violent alignment, as if something deep inside me has snapped into place. My vision blurs and swarms with gold.

Fenris surges, his sharp claws raking inside of my chest, and lets out a deafening, blood-curdling howl and shakes me to my marrow.

MATE

AVARA

"Who does he think he is, coming back after 15 years and acting like he owns the place?"

Julian is rambling beside me but I can barely hear him, walking so fast that it is difficult to keep up with him. His jaw is hard, and cold anger is radiating off him.

"I'm just as surprised as you are that he is back. I thought that he would never come back."

"Of course he does. Spends 15 years wasting away his life, neglecting the pack, the people, then waltzes back in talking about how he is ready for the succession. He shouldn't have come back. He had become a ghost. Everybody had forgotten about him. Damn it."

I hadn't. When Silas took me, brought me to him, I was scared, destabilized, terrified, my mind hazy, thoughts blurry. It was two days after that night, that night...

I try to think again of that night and give up trying to recollect more than I know. Julian says it's a trauma response, remembering so little of the night when my actual parents died. Silas, my adopted father, gave me a bunch of books on the effects of trauma, on how trauma can make certain thoughts fade to the back of the memory because the brain desperately wishes never to recollect them ever again.

Anyways, Silas had always been harsh, cold, standoffish, right from the very first day. Sometimes I wonder whether it is love that made him adopt me or something else because, the way he acts sometimes...

But Kaeden had been the light in those dark, scary days, for the whole of the thirty minutes that he spoke to me. That night, when I was brought into a whole new territory that I could already sense would be dangerous, he had hugged me, smiled at me, told me not to be afraid, made me laugh, made me feel warm and welcome and happy.

Then he had disappeared. For 15 fucking years.

So no, I had not forgotten Kaeden Vane.

For many years after, I had waited for my big brother to come back for me. I had stared at his portrait hanging over the mantelpiece in one of the living rooms for so long, I developed a little childish innocent crush for my brother. I craved that hug, craved the way that he made me feel that dark, scary night, missed him so badly that one would not believe that we had only met for less than an hour.

And then, when I realized that he was not coming back anytime soon, I grew resentful of him.

Maybe my feelings were not justified. I mean, he never said that he was coming back for me. He never made any promises. But I felt betrayed. l felt hurt. I felt abandoned.

And now he is back. And I don't know how to react. I don't know why my breath hitched and goosebumps ravaged my body when we touched. I don't know why he moved from looking at me like a distant memory he had barely thought about to looking at me so intensely, I felt that I might melt under his gaze.

I don't know why it bothers me so much.

"So what now?" Julian is still snarling. "He shows up now and just takes the throne? Just like that?"

I shrug. "I mean, he is the true heir. It's his birthright."

Julian hisses. "That's bullshit. What happens to everyone who has been toiling to preserve and enrich the park? What happens to me? I've spent years slaving after your father, basically working as his second right hand man."

"Three years." I roll my eyes, knowing exactly where the conversation is heading.

"It doesn't matter the time. I've spent years looking after the pack, looking after you."

"And that makes you more deserving of the throne than the son of the Alpha?"

Julian turns to me with a snarl on his face. "How can you not be bothered by this, Avara? I'm the son of the Beta. You're the legitimized daughter of the Alpha."

"And?"

His voice gets lower but sharper. "Don't act stupid. If he had never come back, we could have had a chance to lead the pack together, you as Luna and I as the Alpha. Once Silas stepped down, there would have been no one to challenge us."

I stare at him blankly. He has never been open with his intentions but I have always suspected that I was just a means, a ticket to what he truly desired, to be Alpha of the Silvermoon Pack. Not that it bothers me so much that he came to me with other intentions other than love, I mean, I don't even know whether I am fond of him and his suffocating nature. The only reason I am with him is because father desires so, and I have seen enough of how Silas reacts when he does not get his way to be foolish enough to disobey him.

"When you talk like this, you sound like a gold digger." I tell him bluntly.

Julian's expression shifts instantly. He reaches out his hands, his fingers tracing my jawline possessively. "No, no. Why are you talking like this, Avara? I love you, you know I do. I mean, I am always at your side."

Yes, always at my side, suffocating me, always wanting to know what I am doing, where I am going, what I am up to. Monitoring me, pestering me. As if I am not already controlled enough by my father.

"But we cannot deny that this was an option for us," he continues. "Until he came back. And we deserve that power, Avara. You know how much we have done for the pack."

"I never wanted to rule the pack. I'm human, Julian. I don't even deserve to."

"Maybe alone, but with me by your side, you do." He sighs. "I'm sure there has to be a way to get rid of him. Send him back to wherever he came from."

That night, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, still trying to process my feelings towards Kaeden's return. My eyes trail onto a little necklace, one that I had on my neck as a little girl when I was... rescued.

Kaeden had toyed with the necklace the night they met, put it on his nose and made funny faces. That had made her laugh.

I smile and feel led to toy with it the way he did. I lift it and place it on my nose.

As soon as I do, I feel a sharp pain across the centre of my forehead, one that makes me to stumble an almost fall.

Then I hear a voice, clear, one that I swear I used to know, used to love.

"Hide her! Hide the spark!"

I crumple to my knees and instantly feel rough hands on my waist. I turn to see Kaeden's worried face. I realize that he is holding me, breathing heavily, like he had sprinted towards me.

SILAS

Fuck.

I stand by the floor-to-ceiling window of my study, watching the moonlight, my wolf, Alaric, howling, desperate to break out, run, kill, hunt, anything to deal with the deep anger brewing inside of us.

Kaeden, that idiot son of mine, is back.

The boy I had spent years trying to break and mold into my malleable weapon, and who decided to turn his back on me and run away 15 years ago, leaving me with nothing but a miserable note informing me that he was going away, and that he was not coming back anytime soon, has decided to spring back with eyes hungry for a throne he does not deserve.

At age 33, the perfect age to ascend to the throne.

And the idiot thinks that I will give it to him as I should. As I am expected to.

Well, it has been a long time since I did anything that anyone expected me to do. And I am not about to change. Especially given my plans to rule forever.

When Kaeden left, I must admit that I felt hurt at first, well, to be honest, very disrespected by his decision. So disrespected, that I judged his decision and decided that he deserved death. In fact, I embraced the thought of his death, wondered why I had not thought of it before he gave me a reason to. With him gone, I would have no resistance. Any other person daring to go up would only be allowed to ascend the throne on the basis of my benevolence, one that I was not willing to give.

So, whilst I maintained the image of the benevolent widower, the lonely, perfect Alpha whose selfish son decided to abandon regardless of his having lost his wife only two years prior, I secretly sent several assassins after him over the course of at least 10 years.

None returned. Which meant that he had either killed them, or they had failed to locate him and feared my anger.

I was tempted to go on my own several times, but I did have an image to maintain.

Eventually, I gave up, assumed him dead, decided that I was losing too many men in the pursuit for him.

And now he has returned.

I really shouldn't be as worried as I am. Most of the pack despise him, despise his decision to leave, view it as treason. It would be difficult for him to get the pack on his side.

But...

When he came close to me as we met, he towered over me. His face, hands, hard eyes, all indicated that he had gone through a very harsh life and had emerged stronger for it. Much stronger. And with his mother's blood running through his veins...

Damn it. Why did I never consider that he might be back just in time to take the throne? Why did I waste time dillydallying in amassing wealth instead of pursuing the true thing that would guarantee my everlasting power?

Immortality.

I down the glass of scotch in my hands and close my eyes. I was going to wait, to take my time to get the conduit ready so as to set the course of my attaining immortality gradually and carefully. But time is no longer on my side. So, I have to begin.

Avara.

My harvest that I have been painstakingly and patiently watering, waiting to bloom.

Why the heavens had decided to make a squeamish, stupid, fragile little girl a Nyxarel, I might never be able to guess. But she is. And for that she holds the most powerful key towards my immortality.

It is time she begins paying her debt for my years of benevolence.