I remained silent, unwilling to talk about it. I turned to look at Aron, asking for his help to get out of this very uncomfortable conversation.
"Dad, I don't think it's right for us to talk about that."
"No, don't get me wrong, son. I don't mean any harm. I was just surprised, I didn't think it was true. Jace and Elaine, as well as Elliot, grew up with you. I consider them my children. I simply don't see why you have to lie. No one was going to judge them for taking each other as chosen mates."
"It's difficult, honey. Maybe if he wasn't the Alpha, no one would have judged them, but an Alpha who takes a chosen mate instead of the mate that the Moon Goddess sent to be his Luna has less power, and you know it. The Luna is the Alpha's complement, everyone knows that. The fact that we would have accepted it doesn't mean that the entire pack would have agreed."
"You're right about that, honey." My father took my mother's hand. "I assume Jace hasn't found his destined mate either. How can a wolf resist the mate bond? It arrives and destroys everything you've ever believed in. It seems impossible to me."
My father was eternally in love with my mother, who was his destined mate, and I understood why he thought that way, but I knew that the heart cannot be commanded. Maybe I was his destined mate, but he loved Elaine. Love always surpasses all rationality.
"I'm worried that his mate will show up at some point." My mother looked at my father with concern. "That would jeopardize the stability of the pack. Do you think he would have the courage to reject her?"
My words left my lips before I could stop them. "He does."
Everyone turned to look at me, and I wanted to hit myself right then.
"You think so, honey?"
Quickly, I tried to fix my stupidity. "Elaine and Jace have loved each other for many years, Mother. If Elaine had the courage to let her partner go for love of her children and Jace, I'm sure he would do the same."
"Yesterday she looked very bad, and this morning she didn't seem any better. When that man showed up and said he was her mate, I was in shock. None of us knew how to react." Aron fell silent, staring into space as if he were going back to yesterday's memory.
"But you..." His eyes settled on me. "You went to her and took care of everything. You did what a great friend would do, Azula."
I just smiled at him. Neither he nor anyone else knew everything I was willing to do for the people I loved.
"You still love her, don't you?"
"I never stopped loving her, Aron. Not her, nor Elliot, nor...Jace." Saying his name cost me dearly. The truth was that I could no longer see Jace as a friend, not anymore, but it would be suspicious not to say it, so I said it, against my better judgment.
"Then why?" His eyes looked at me questioningly, demanding an answer to a question I didn't feel prepared to answer, least of all here, in front of everyone.
"I don't want to talk about that, Aron, not now."
"Then when? When are you going to say it, Azula? We were best friends, and you..."
"We're not children anymore, Aron. There are some things I'd rather not talk about."
Aron got up from the sofa angrily, as if he had suddenly opened a locked door in his heart.
"So you're just going to keep hiding, hiding the truth and hiding from me. We were best friends, Azula, we grew up together, and one day you just left. You turned your back on everyone and acted like we didn't matter, like nothing mattered. I want to know, no, I need to know, what happened to my little sister? What happened to my little Azula?"
"I grew up, Aron, that's what happened."
"No." Aron laughed angrily, shouting, his chest heaving as if he were about to lose control. "Bullshit you grew up. You're going to tell me the truth now, Azula. No more excuses and pretending everything is fine. Damn it, I'm your twin, your brother, your best friend." Aron approached me, and Alec was about to get up. I felt him getting angry beside me at the way Aron was talking to me. I put my hand on his chest so he wouldn't get up, and I stood up.
"Calm down, Aron. Now is not the time for us to talk about this."
"Calm down? You want me to calm down? I've been calm for six goddamn years, believing that we don't matter to you anymore, and now it turns out we do, that you decided to walk away for some reason unknown to everyone who knows you, a damn reason that led you to hurt all the people you say you love. I want you to tell me now, talk Azula, talk now!"
Anger and pain mingled in my chest, becoming one. I understood that he was hurting from the past, but he didn't know what I had had to go through. He didn't know how much it cost me to talk about this. I wasn't the only one involved in this. If I told Aron that Jace had rejected me, it would end up breaking everything. Aron would hate him forever, and I didn't want that. He was his best friend.
"Talk, Azula." Aron shouted, and Alec rose from the furniture.
"I advise you not to yell at my queen again, or we'll have serious problems."
"This has nothing to do with you, Alpha King, it's a problem between siblings."
"It has everything to do with me if you yell at my Luna. Control your shit, and then you look for her. Let's go, Azula."
Alec pulled me by the arm and got me out of there. The look of pain that Aron gave me before I left finished breaking my heart. I hadn't realized how much damage keeping a secret could do until I saw it.
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