The Alpha and His Contract Luna
80. Let's take a paternity test

My first instinct is to deny everything. I mean there was just no way he was my father. Because thatwould mean that Lilly was my sister.

A sister I didn't know I had. A sister I met by coincidence when Sebastian took me as a mate.

“Look, there's just no way I'm your long lost daughter. I was raised in an orphanage not stolen frommy pack” I tell Lucas trying to still my frantically beating heart.

"Are you sure of that?’ A voice whispered in my head. "You and Claire were after all left at anorphanage and according to Sarah, both of you looked to be less than a year old’

I shake my head. Trying to push away the thoughts. Not wanting to accept what my mind waswhispering.

“Why are you refusing to see the truth, your story fits with that of his and his beta’s missingdaughters’

“Blue? Midnight?” I call them, ignoring the doubts in my head but they don't answer.

It was like they shut me out or maybe I was the one that shut them out.

My eyes follow Lucas’ movement when he gets up, pulls out his wallet then removes a photograph.He hands it to me. At first I refuse to take it but curiosity gets the best of me.

I gasp when I look at the picture. The face staring back at me is identical to mine, the only exceptionbeing that the woman has strawberry blonde hair and green eyes.

“That's Hailey” Lucas whispers slowly.

I try to make sense of everything. Try to come up with a possible explanation of why I looked exactlylike his dead mate.

“This is nothing, people have at least one doppelganger out there in the world" I argue against theevidence staring me in the face.

My hands are shaking and I feel like I'm being ripped in different directions.

“Why are you fighting the truth?’ the voice whispers in my head.

To be honest I didn't know. But maybe it was because I didn’t want to believe that I had such a cruelfate. Didn't want to believe that someone would steal two little girls from their parents, one ofwhom had a father that had recently lost his mate and their baby girl was the only piece of his matethat he had.

“Wait you said that Hailey had two older siblings, A sister and a brother who were twins right? Lukeasks

Lucas nods his head at his son.

"And mom once told me that her mate rejected her” Lilly adds, the wheels in her head turning.“Mom has a twin brother, Uncle Clive...grandma used to tell me that she had another child, adaughter who died. There were no photos of her though and when I asked mom, she said that herdeath was painful to all of them, so all her photos were taken down because it was just too hard tolook at them, especially for her mate. You never told me who her mate was though and I neverasked, just assumed he moved to another pack or something.” She finishes.

I turn to look at Valery. See the pain in her eyes. She wasn't hurting because her mate was hurting.This wasn't just her mate's pain. It was her pain too.

"You're Hailey's sister, aren't you?” I asked softly. I see the answer in her eyes before she evenreplies.

"Yes, she was my baby sister” she answers with tears in her eyes. Her voice choking.

I stare at her. “The one that slept with Lucas the day he received his dead mate's ashes?”

Luke throws me a threatening look but I don't pay him attention. I wasn't trying to be mean oranything. I just wanted to make sure that the information was pieced together without any missingpieces.

"Yes" she murmurs in shame. “It's not one of my proudest moments, but I was hurting. I had lost mysister and gotten rejected all in the span of two weeks. I didn't want to tell anyone yet so when Iwent to check on Lucas and Freya I asked him if I could join him in drinking. I just wanted to drownthe pain and heartache. I was horrified when I woke the next morning naked in his bed.”

“He was mine and Clive's best friend. We never saw each other like that or ever got romanticallyinvolved. Our friendship was purely platonic. I felt disgusted with myself. Not only had I slept withmy bestfriend but also my sister's mate. On top of the pain, I was dealing with the guilt of what hadhappened between us. We agreed to forget it ever happened, that was until I was late and a trip tothe doctor revealed that I was pregnant”

I realize that she still carries the guilt. Just like Lucas.

“That's when your parents asked you to become mates?” I asked and both she and Lucas nodded.

I could see the sense of their thinking. Lucas was drowning in his sorrow and pain. Being the Alphaand a single dad he needed a Luna. Valery was a good friend. She was rejected by her fated and wascarrying Lucas’ baby so it made sense to mate them

They had a foundation to build their relationship. I'm sure their parents were hoping they wouldheal each other.

"You were pregnant when Freya was kidnapped, what happened to the baby?” Luke is the one thatasked. Suspicion in his eyes.

"Yes, I was six months pregnant. As for the baby, you're that baby Luke” Valery replies with a smallsmile that doesn’t reach her eyes.

"You were born ten months after Freya, your older sister. We were happy but still overshadowed bythe death of my sister, our guilt at sleeping with each other and the disappearance of Freya andAbby...it was a painful period for not only us but the entire pack”

Lilly looks from her parents to me then back to them again. Different emotions flickering throughher eyes.

"If indeed Lauren is dad's daughter then it means not only is she my sister but also my cousin?” shesays it more like a question. As if she can't even begin to fathom what she was uttering.

Not that I believe for one second that Lucas is my father but if he was that would be totally messedup. Being siblings and cousins at the same time is just... It just doesn't sit right. It's all kinds ofmessed up and wrong.

“Look, like I keep telling you, you've got the wrong person.” I tell them before turning to Lilly. “Youknow my story, know that Claire and I grew up in the orphanage. So I can't be your sister slashcousin”

She frowns a bit. “Yeah but didn't you tell me that you and Claire were left at the orphanage doorstep together?”

She turns to face me fully. “I mean think about it Ren, two baby girls about five months or so appearat an orphanage together. They're not related at all so that's particularly strange right? But what'seven stranger is that thousands of kilometers from the orphanage, an Alpha’s and a Betasdaughters have mysteriously gone missing and no one can replace them. Even more of a coincidence isthat the Alpha’s daughter had red hair just like one of the girls that arrived at the orphanage”

I swallow because she had just voiced the thoughts that I have been battling.

“Yes but there's a flaw in your reasoning. If Claire is the beta’s daughter then shouldn“t our DNA testhave confirmed that we were related given that she was the daughter of your Hailey and Valery'sbrother?”

Lucas did say that the siblings were the children of the betas.

“Not necessarily. My twin brother isn't our beta. He found his mate in a different pack. She was theonly daughter of the Alpha so that meant that the title fell on whoever her mate was. Clive changedpacks and Lucas picked John and Olivia to be our beta couple” Valery explains.

If that was the case then Lilly's conclusion now made more sense. Valery's explanation would explainwhy Claire and I weren't related.

“Is that true Lauren? That you arrived at an orphanage with another girl?” Lucas asks, pulling mefrom my thoughts, hope rising in his eyes.

I nod. “Yes, the woman running it said they found us at the doorstep and we refused to beseparated, so we grew up together and became sisters even though we weren't related by blood”

I then shake my head. “But it doesn’t make any sense though. If everything is true then why wouldsomeone take us only to leave us in an orphanage? There was always the possibility that we couldbe found”

“I don't know, we've never quite figured out why someone would take Freya and Abby except formaybe revenge. Lucas and John were the leaders of the strongest pack in these parts so they had alot of enemies. Any of those enemies would have paid someone to take the children not only tohurt Lucas and John but also to weaken. A person is most vulnerable when they're grieving and indistress.” Valery answers my question.

“I still think you have the wrong person” I insist.

Lucas stands up and looks at me. The same hope still swimming in his eyes.

“Deep in my gut I know you're my daughter. My wolf feels the connection to yours...but if you'restill doubtful then we can get a paternity test”

I didn't want to but didn't I owe it to myself and him to get it done. Maybe after it turns outnegative he can finally let the issue go.

"Okay" I agree. “Let's get the test done. Today if possible” I finish and he nods his head.