Dead Luna
Chapter 55

Amelia's POV

APPLICATION FOR PACK TRANSFER

Name:Juliette Marie Hearst

b. 05/27/1983

Date of application: 02/17/2005

Originating pack: Willamette, Portland Oregon

Reason for transfer request: political asylum Father: Gregory James Hearst, Alpha

b. 12/24/1956 d. 09/15/1986

Mother: Anne Marie Lewis-Hearst, Luna

b. 03/11/1961 d. 09/15/1986

Spouse: Prince Alexander William Worthing, Lycan

b. 01/10/1970

Children: Amelia Jane Worthing

b. 02/02/2002

I could hardly believe what I was reading! My father is a Lycan prince? Does that make me a princess? Why does my mom work in the pack house kitchens of Winter Moon, rather than living the life of a queen in a palace?

I'm trying to wrap my brain around this and figure out how any of this makes sense, but it doesn't. And why didn't she ever tell me anything about any of this?

Jackson gives me a little more information on the car ride home, but that makes even less sense. If mom was raised by her aunt and uncle as an orphan along with Francine and DeeDee, why do they treat her like a casual acquaintance or an omega servant instead of family?

Eventually, I head inside the little house.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" Mom says, as she cooks a breakfast of toast and fried eggs for herself in the tiny kitchen. "Have you eaten already?"

"Yeah," I say, setting the file down on the small dining table, open. Mom wont fail to see it once she sits down to eat. "I need to shower. I'll be back in a few minutes."

I take my time in the shower washing off the funk of having been in heat, thankful that Ambrosia is able to mask most of the symptoms quite effectively when she is sober. Then I select some vey casual blue jeans and a graphic t-shirt to wear for the day, and then spend some time doing my hair. I've waited my whole life to learn about my origins, what is a few more minutes at this point?

Eventually I emerge from my room, and see mom is still sitting at the table, her breakfast barely touched. I still down across from her and wait for her to say something. Anything. But she sits there, looking rather timid and uncomfortable.

"So...," I say cautiously, "Jackson was telling me this weird story about how Leonard Hart is my second cousin, and that you were apparently and orphaned child raised by your aunt and uncle along with Luna Francine and Deirdre. Seems rather fishy to me, since you've never mentioned it, and they treat you like a servant."

"Raised might be too strong a word for my upbringing." Mom says bitterly, which confirms at least part of what I heard. "Barely tolerated, would be a more accurate description of how they treated me. Once my parents were gone, they kept me mainly for appearance sake. Oh, look at what a kind and generous Alpha and Luna we have, taking in the poor orphaned girl. I wasn't abused or mistreated in any way, but they never actually loved me."

"My parents were the Alpha and Luna of Willamette pack, and they were both killed in mysterious circumstances when I was still quite young, as well as my baby brother. I was very young at the time, so they never told me anything about their death. It was only years later I was told that they had been murdered in mysterious circumstances, and the official records don't go into much detail. But the culprit was never found. Anyway, at that point my uncle took over the pack, and I was raised mainly by the servants. I suppose I did occasionally play with Fanny, DeeDee, and their brother Garrett, but the girls were both a few years older than me, and Garrett had no interest in playing with a girl unless to tease or torment me, like children often do."

"I

I grew up among the omega pack house servants, mostly helping in the kitchens a bit when not at school. I enjoyed learning how to cook, and was quite good at it."

"Then when I was grown, there was a royal visit by Prince Alexander Worthing. On the second day of his visit I turned 18, and it turned out we were mates. Unfortunately, he was several years older than me, and betrothed already. It was far too late for him to break things off with Eleanor, and it would have caused a political scandal."

"That is the problem with being royalty, they often must do what is expected of them rather than what they would like to do. He was married soon after we met, before I even knew that I was expecting you."

"By then, Fanny and DeeDee were already mated and living in this pack. Garrett was about to be alpha, and didn't want me staying in the Willamette pack where I also had a claim to the alpha title as well as a half Lycan daughter, so I asked for a transfer to here. Fanny always enjoyed my cooking. And I always kept a low profile, in case anyone came looking for you or I, even though I knew the chances were remote. I'm sure Alex has forgotten all about me by now.

"Why didn't you ever tell me any of this?"

"Oh, I couldn't keep a low profile if you knew as a young child. A 5 year old cant keep a secret worth beans! When you were getting older and more mature, I considered it. But I didn't want you ever pining away for a life we could never lead. I can't give you a castle, a life of luxury or fancy gowns, or any of the trappings of Royalty. And then when you were mated to Leo, I didn't want you to reject him because he was just a Gamma. I thought the two of you would be happier not knowing about it all. But now that you can choose whomever you want, I want you to be able to follow your heart, and not be forced into a union just for political gain as your father was forced to do."

"I see," I say, beginning to understand things better. "So you were protecting me."

"Yes! If word spread around that you are Prince Alexander's daughter, they might come and take you away, for who knows what purpose? No. I'd rather the Prince or his people not replace out about you until you are happily mated, so they can't get their noses into your personal business like they did to Alex."

"Losing my mate like that, to rejection, was the hardest thing I ever had to go thru in my life. I haven't been able to shift into my wolf Lavender since that day. But I have you, and that has been worth everything." Mom tells me, grabbing my hand and looking into my eyes with love.

"Thank you for taking such good care of me all these years," I say as I give her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I love you so much!"

We spend the next few hours chatting about mostly insignificant things. I learn that I look a lot like the prince, which makes sense since other than my height, my nose, and my dark brown hair color, I don't look much like my mom. Moms face is more angular than my rounded one, and her lips thinner. Her eyes are brown, whereas mine are green.

Apparently Prince Alexander has black hair, green eyes, a very distinctive "Roman" nose, and is very tall and muscular. As well as "dreamy", according to mom.

"You know I'm headed to Willamette pack tomorrow, right?" I suddenly recollect, and it made me worry. "Is that likely to be a problem? Should I even mention our family connection?"

"I don't think there will be any problems," Mom says looking thoughtful. "Garrett is still alpha for now. His son Darrin is only 16, I think. He was always friendly to me, even if we weren't actually friends. You should be fine."

Hmm. I met Willamette packs Luna Heather at the Luna Luncheon a few weeks ago. She seemed nice enough. A little quieter and somewhat older than most of the other Lunas, but I didn't detect anything sinister about her. She honestly wanted mine and Ambrosias help pretty badly because so many of her pack members were single. I felt I could take my chances that things would go well.

Alpha Garrett was present at the Alpha meeting as well, but again, he wasn't someone who stood out much in a crowd. He had the same wavy dark brown hair that mom and I both had, and brown eyes. He seemed quite friendly.

Everything should be fine. And if not, I'm only there for a couple days. And then I'll be off to another pack.