Chapter 28: Unexpected Revelations
268words
"Different how?" I asked, trying to sound merely curious.
"Less... brooding. Still serious, obviously—he's the Alpha, that's his job—but there's something else there now. Something I haven't seen in him for a long time."
"What's that?"
Jackson smiled. "Hope."
Before I could respond, the cabin door opened and Liam entered with Ethan. One look at their faces told me something was wrong.
"What is it?" I asked, setting aside my equipment.
"We found something," Ethan said, placing an old leather-bound book on the table. "About your family."
My heart raced as I approached the table. "What did you find?"
Ethan opened the book to a marked page. It contained a family tree, handwritten in faded ink. He pointed to a name near the bottom: "Elizabeth Hayes."
"According to our records," Ethan explained, "Elizabeth Hayes was a member of the hunting family who disappeared about thirty years ago. She was presumed dead by her family, but..."
"But what?" I prompted when he hesitated.
"But there were rumors," Liam continued, "that she had fallen in love with a werewolf. A member of our allied pack to the north."
I stared at the name, a strange feeling washing over me. "You think she might be my mother?"
"The timing fits," Ethan said gently. "And there's more."
He turned the page to reveal an old photograph. It showed a young woman with familiar eyes—my eyes—standing beside a tall, handsome man with dark hair.
"This is Elizabeth," Ethan said, "and this is Nathaniel Grey, a beta from the Northern Pack."
