Chapter 79: 80: Shifting Reality

ARIEL

I nearly drop the coffees onto the ground when I return to the patio and see her.

The person standing in front of me has Vivian’s clothes, Vivian’s hair, even Vivian’s face—but she also has patches of fur, claws, and fangs.

I’ve never seen anything like her before.

~Not fully human, not fully wolf.~

“Vivian…you’re…you’re a werewolf?!” I ask, in complete shock. But instead of an answer she just buries her face in her paws.

~Am I seeing things?~

~Have I officially lost it?~

~Is all the stress finally getting to me?~

But as I inch closer to her, I know that I’m not crazy.

My hands shake as I set the coffees down on the patio table.

She still hasn’t answered my question.

She continues to conceal her face as her body shakes with tears.

But I won’t let her avoid me forever.

I need answers.

I walk over to her and place a hand on her shoulder.

“Vivian,” I say gently, “can you talk in this form?”

In ~my~ wolf, I can only speak by mind-linking. But she’s not fully shifted.

She peeks up at me from behind her paws.

“I can,” she says darkly.

I let her appearance sink in.

Her eyes are the same deep brown color, but now they are shot through with specks of gold.

Her expression, usually cool and collected, suddenly has a feral quality.

“What are you?” I ask in wonder.

“My father is a human,” she says after a pregnant pause. “But my mother was a werewolf.”

~Oh my Goddess!~

“You’ve been a werewolf this whole time?!”

“~Half~ werewolf,” she says.

I can’t believe this.

I feel terrible. I’ve spent so much time doubting Vivian because I thought she was a human, but she’s really been one of us all along.

“Please don’t tell anyone,” she begs me. “Nobody knows.”

“Nobody?”

She shakes her head.

“Vivian, why? Why does it have to be a secret?”

“I wasn’t raised around wolves, Ariel,” she says. “If people saw me like this, they would think I was a monster.”

“But you’re with us now. You can be free to show this side of yourself.”

“Ariel, no,” she says sharply. “You don’t understand. It would ruin my career.”

“The president doesn’t know that his ambassador is half wolf?”

Desperation fills her eyes as she searches mine pleadingly.

“Promise me you won’t say anything. To anyone,” she says.

How can I refuse?

“I promise.”

“Thank you, Ariel,” she says, and then tries to turn away from me again.

I stop her.

“I’m so embarrassed. I look hideous.”

“I think you’ve never looked better,” I say with a smirk.

She smiles too, and I get another glimpse of her impressive fangs.

“I swear I wanted to tell you,” she says. “I thought about it all the time. But I just didn’t know if you would accept me.”

~Wow…~

I can’t believe the trauma that Vivian has endured, having to hide this part of her identity for her whole life.

Wolves don’t like to be ignored.

Hers must always be clawing at her insides, desperate to come out.

I was ripped away from my family by the Hunters when I was seventeen. They tried to diminish my connection to my wolf. But Vivian didn’t grow up around wolves at all.

She never got to experience the community of a pack or the guidance of the Moon Goddess.

She had to navigate the life of a werewolf all on her own.

“Of course I accept you, Vivian,” I say. “Can I give you a hug?”

She nods, and I pull her into me.

I squeeze her close, and as she sinks into my touch, I can’t help but wonder if I’m the first person to ever hug her in this form.

When I pull away, her fur is gone, her fangs have retracted, and her claws have been replaced by pale pink nails.

She wipes a tear off her hairless cheek.

“How can you be so nice to me when I lied to you this whole time?”

“I have secrets myself,” I say. “Everyone does.”

~It’s true.~

Very few people on this earth know about my healing abilities. I don’t know what I would do if that part of myself was revealed against my will.

“I’m going to freshen up,” she says. “I think shifting smudged my makeup.”

But before she walks away, she locks eyes with me. “Ariel, I know you feel like everyone is trying to change you. Please don’t let them.”

With that, she collects her tablecloth samples and disappears from view.

I drop down into the nearest chair, reeling from everything that I’ve just learned.

I can’t believe that Vivian has been hiding such a big secret this whole time.

And she would still be hiding it if I hadn’t walked in at that exact moment.

Just then my vision goes black as two warm, familiar hands cover my eyes.

“Hi baby,” Alex’s voice whispers in my ear.

I get up, turn around, and plant my lips onto his.

“You look a little shaken,” he says. “Did something happen?”

~I made a promise to Vivian.~

~I’m going to keep it.~

~Even if that means hiding her true identity from Alex.~

“Just finished planning some more details for the unification ceremony,” I say. “Do you want to take a walk through the gardens?”

“A walk through the gardens?” he mimics me. “We can have more fun than that!”

ALEX

I grab Ariel’s hand and start pulling her after me.

“Let’s go on an adventure!”

After a few steps, my walk breaks into a run as I lead us in the direction of the nearby river.

~Oh Goddess.~

~I wish we could really run away from the palace.~

~From all our responsibilities.~

~Just the two of us.~

“Slow down!” Ariel calls out behind me. “Alex, wait!”

I stop in my tracks and catch her in my arms.

“What? Can’t keep up with me anymore?”

“No... it’s just... my heel keeps getting caught on the hem of my dress,” she says. “I don’t want it to rip.”

I look her up and down, just noticing her full appearance.

The long gown. The pointed shoes. The sparkling necklace.

She looks stunning.

But she doesn’t look like ~my~ Ariel.

~My~ Ariel has dirty boots, messy hair, and bruised knees.

She sees me eyeing her.

“What? You don’t like my outfit?”

“You look hot, don’t get me wrong,” I say. “But you look even hotter in your armor.”

She bites her lip, her eyes falling to the ground.

“Alex, I need to tell you something,” she says.

My heart drops at that horrible combination of words.

“I resigned from the warriors.”

“What!? Why?”

I can’t believe what she’s saying.

“I just... I wasn’t enjoying it anymore. I want to focus on my other responsibilities.”

“But you love the warriors more than anything.”

“That’s not true,” she says. “I love ~you~ more than anything.”

“But—”

“It’s over, Alex. I already told Steve.”

~I can’t believe this...~

~And I hope to the Goddess she didn’t do it because of me.~

“Don’t worry,” she says, brushing my hair off of my forehead. “I can try to steal back my armor if we want to use it in the bedroom.”

By the look in her eyes, I can see that she doesn’t want to talk about this anymore.

So I’m not going to make her.

I take off my jacket and lay it out for her in the grass.

“Your throne, my lady,” I say.

She smoothes out her dress and sits on it. I take a seat next to her.

We lie back and look up at the sky.

“Everything is changing,” I say. “I fucking hate it.”

“I think this might be what growing up feels like. See? You’re even starting to get gray hairs.”

“No, really?!” I say. “Pull them out!”

She pecks me on my cheek and giggles. “Just kidding!”

I roll on top of her and bury my face in her neck.

“Let’s go inside and take this fragile dress off of you,” I growl into her ear. “I want to play rough.”

ARIEL

We make a beeline for the palace.

I feel Alex’s hand resting on the small of my back, pushing me from behind.

I can’t wait to get him alone and strip him down. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the afternoon.

But as we’re about to reach the foyer, I hear a shriek coming from inside the palace.

“What was that?” Alex asks me.

“Sounds like Natalia,” I say. “Throwing another fit.”

As I open the door, there is another gut-wrenching scream.

My heart nearly stops when I see Natalia at the bottom of the stairs, Xavi in her arms.

Her wails grow louder by the second.

I run over to them, and get a glimpse of Xavi.

There is a large cut running across his forehead, and blood is dripping down his face.

“What happened?” I gasp.

“I looked away for one second,” she sobs. “He fell through the bannister—he hit his head—”

“Oh Goddess, Natalia—”

“I didn’t mean to—I don’t—I don’t know how it happened—”

“Give him to me!” I say.

I try to take Xavi out of her arms but she pulls him away.

“No! I need to get him to a hospital.”

“Natalia, trust me,” I say. “I promise, I will not let him die!”

The ~last~ person that I want to know about my healing powers is Natalia.

But Xavi’s unconscious, his breathing is getting shallower and his tiny body is losing blood quick.

“Give him to me,” I command.

There’s no time to waste.