The Lunas Second Chance Mate
Chapter 71

Alyson's

POV

I knew that Jennifer lingered in town still. Even after our last conversation, her banishment would not be official till I was the Luna. As such, I had asked for Ryan to have guards monitor her current living quarters and whereabouts.

I had a few of my own guards. It felt odd always having them around, and how they would always bow their heads in respect. I had granted one guard the task monitoring Jennifer, he reported back, "She seems to be staying in this small cabin not far from the lair, but on the outskirts of town. There is one servant and an old woman living with her."

"What does this old woman look like?" I asked.

He shrugged, "She has full white hair and walks with a stick to guide her, not support her like she's feeble. I think that she might be blind."

Chills of excitement swept from my head to my spine. She had to be my mother. Jennifer had kept her isolated in this little house to keep her in the dark.

It occurred to me that when I officially cast Jennifer out of the Pack, she might try to take mother with her as one final attempt to hurt me. But I could not allow that. My wedding was tomorrow, and I would have my mother attend. "Show me where," I requested.

The guards nodded, and led me towards the Alpha's lair. Beyond it, other houses dwindled to forest. Out past a line of trees was a small field and the little cabin with a smoke stack. It looked quaint and cozy, but far too small for three people, especially if one of them were Jennifer.

I felt so nervous. I would meet my mother and I had not seen her since I was twelve. I did not know if she could recognize me by my voice, even though it was not as if she would know me by looks due to my change in appearance.

Cautiously, I ventured up to the front door with my two guards behind me. Before I knocked, I told them, "Please wait for me out here. I'll be fine inside." I didn't want to alarm her with the presence of too many strangers.

I knocked, and waited, wondering if Jennifer would open the door.

Instead, a middle-aged maid opened the door. Her expression flushed with shock, but she also seemed at loss for words as if she had no idea how to handle a stranger's visit.

"Hello, is Brianna Clark here?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, but my mistress is not here right now, so we can't have any visitors." The maid closed the door more so that she only peered out with half of her face.

"Are you alone?" I asked, wondering if she meant Jennifer, or my mother, or both were gone.

"No, my mistress is out. The Luna."

"She's no longer the Luna." I said. "But I will be Luna tomorrow when I marry the Alpha Ryan Alexander."

The maid looked past me at the two guards beyond who were keeping their distance under instruction, but did validate my claims more than just my words.

"I have heard nothing of it." She said.

"I'm sure you haven't," I replied. "But tell me, is Brianne Clark here?"

Another voice called out from inside. "She is. Let her come in, please. I wouldn't mind a visitor."

I knew my mother's voice and waves of nervousness radiated through me. I was excited, but also anxious that she would not know me or reject me, or if I would replace out she betrayed me too. "What about?" The maid began to complain

But my mother hushed her, "Let her come in. I want to meet this she-wolf. There is something familiar about her that I can't really place. I am intrigued."

The maid stepped aside with a regretful sigh, and I entered the one-room cabin. My mother was seated in a rocking chair with a cane leaned up beside it. Her hair had gone bright white, and she had far more wrinkles around her mouth and eyes than she once had. She still looked beautiful, a lot of her features were so similar to Jennifer and mine in my past life.

Her cloudy eyes were grayish instead of the purple like amethyst, and she stared off towards the corner of the ceiling. Upon further examination, her face looked younger than her bright white hair might lead one to believe.

She was draped in a dramatic completely black dress.

"Welcome visitor," she said with a smile in her tone. "Who do I have the pleasure of meeting, and to what do I owe this honor?"

I wanted to run to her and embrace her. But I stood frozen in place and unsure what to say.

"My name is Alyson." I said. "I came here for you."

She tilted her head to listen to my voice. A tear fell down from her left eye. "Alyson? I've never known an Alyson. But there is something in your voice that I like. Reminds me of a daughter I lost."

"What happened to your daughter?" I asked.

Her expression froze in a dazed sadness as if she had never moved on for one second. "I'm not sure. She was gone from me at twelve. She was to be the Luna, but my other daughter became the Luna instead, and I was brought here. I haven't been able to leave without help, and eventually I was told to stay here at all times."

Jennifer had rendered our mother a prisoner in this little house to protect her identity. She could never hide it from her mother, and I was grateful that while she could kill her sister, she had not been able to kill her mother.

"You should not be trapped here like this?" I said. "When did you go blind?"

"Do I know you?" She asked. "There's something I like about your voice, Alyson, stranger from the unknown."

My throat tightened with emotion. I wanted to tell her, but I also didn't want to overwhelm her.

"I'm from out of town," I said. "I know Jennifer, truly know her. And I came back here after..." I didn't know what to say.

"Alissa? Could that be you?" My mother's voice shook with the weight of her guess. She reached out her hands towards the sound of my voice. "I know it is you. Please don't tell me that I'm wrong, and I've gone crazy. I would know my daughter from a stranger..." The desperation in her voice broke my heart. I could not hold back another moment. "You're right. It is me." I ran to her and fell to my knees at her feet, she grabbed me into a tight embrace and stroked my straight hair.

Plenty of tears were flowing from her face. She began to sob. "Where did you go? What happened to you, my precious child." Her hands tightened on me as if she could never let go again.

"We need to get you out of here," I said. "You should be living in a place of honor, like the Alpha's Lair. Or back amongst Clan Clark, wherever you'd like to live."

"Never leave me again, where did you go? What really happened to you?" She cried.

I didn't have the heart to break her by telling her the terrible truth in that moment, so I remained silent. Finally, I asked, "What did Jennifer tell you about it?"

"She said that you disappeared. You ran away instead of becoming the blood provider for Alpha Jacob, and she was going to be with him instead. It didn't make any sense, but then I had a terrible accident and I went blind, and they brought me to live here. I haven't been able to leave since, but your sister has been kind to visit me every day so that I wouldn't be lonely."

Tears were falling down my face too at that point.

"Where did you run to? Why didn't you tell me?" She sobbed.

"I was away, but I did not run away." I said quietly. "I actually was pretty close by for many years..."

"Then what happened?"

All of the sudden the door swung open and crashed into the wall.

Jennifer's cold voice sliced through the moment, "Mother, don't believe anything this she-wolf tells you. She is an imposter."