Page 173 of His Sunshine Baby

For some reason, I figured both twins would have the Royals’ blue eyes, but Reagan shakes her head.

“No. Only Lilyan inherited Queen Diane’s blue eyes. For some reason, your father’s were gold. But Queen Diane’s father had gold eyes too, so maybe it’s a female thing.”

It feels good to finally hear about my parents. What they looked like, what kind of people they were… It’s like my ownstory is being completed, filling in the gaps I’ve been trying to fill my whole life.

“Althea was a dancer. She was young when we met her. Your father knew she was his mate right away. She was human, so she had no idea what that meant, but they fell in love anyway.”

“My parents were fated mates?”

“Yes,” nods Reagan, “and very much in love. Your father broke his engagement to be with Althea. She was younger, so they decided to wait a couple of years before getting married. Her family was supposed to leave, too… It took her a while to make up her mind, but she couldn’t leave your father, so she parted with her group and stayed among us. Not too long after, she got pregnant with you.”

“What about Nora’s mom?”

“I don’t really know. She must have met her mate one of the times I was gone. After Althea’s pregnancy was announced, I left our clan more and more often to find Cynthia’s pack. I couldn’t…”

“You were the fiancée, weren’t you?”

Daniel’s sudden words surprise both of us. I turn to Reagan. My father’s fiancée? She mentioned a warrior she-wolf. Judging from Reagan’s reaction, Daniel is right. My gosh… Reagan used to be engaged to my father?? I never paid attention, but generation-wise, Reagan could have been my mom. give or take a few years. And if Althea, I mean my mom, was younger than my dad, it makes sense.

“Yes. Gabriel was a wonderful man, and I admired his strength. We were childhood friends and started dating. I won’t go into the details. But yes, I was engaged and loved your father. When your mother came, and I understood he was leaving me, I was heartbroken. I didn’t understand what a fated mate bond was, even less with a human…”

Moon Goddess. I’m feeling so sorry for Reagan right now.

I still vividly remember the pain I was in when Nathaniel mentioned he had met his fated mate. I can’t imagine what Reagan went through. Falling in love, your happiness being so close to perfect when you’re engaged, and all of a sudden, a woman appears and everything collapses. I know the said-woman was my mom and wasn’t to blame, but…

“I kept leaving the clan, under the pretense of looking for Cynthia. Truth is, I was running away from the pain. Seeing your parents happy together made it feel worse every time I came back. I left for longer and longer periods of time. I would go farther, trying to forget my pain and focus on something else. Even Queen Diane asked me to stop and relax, but I couldn’t. I just… wanted the whole pack to forget me. I was the poor girl Gabriel had thrown away for a human. Lilyan was nice to me though; she kept trying to console me, even introduced me to other men. I never really listened to her. I probably should have…”

I can’t help but feel so, so sad when listening to her.

No wonder Reagan became so lonely and bitter. I see my mentor in a different light now. She was always that strong, fighting woman to me. I never realized she carried her own emotional baggage and scars. This explains why she never wanted to talk about the past with me. I probably wouldn’t feel like sharing my story with a child my ex conceived after leaving me for another, either.

“What happened, then? You made it sound like the attack was your fault,” says Daniel.

“It was more complicated than that. We knew vampires clans were watching us, but the barrier always protected us. We thought they wouldn’t attack our clan, big and powerful as it was. And we had a witch on our side, just that was enough to keep them at bay. Until one day, I couldn’t cross the barrier anymore.”

“What?”

Reagan nods, frowning.

“I don’t know what changed. It just became impossible, it kept rejecting me. I thought… maybe I had come to hate your mother too much, and that was why.”

Something just doesn’t feel right about this. It was her own pack, they shouldn’t have shut her out… What kind of barrier was it? Reagan said it kept people with bad intentions out, but it doesn’t seem like she fit into that category.

“So you were shut out?”

“It lasted for days and then weeks. I didn’t know what I had done wrong. I even left a few times, thinking it would be better if I calmed down. At some point, Lilyan talked to her mother, asking her to put the barrier down to let me in. Queen Diane and Denica, the witch, were reluctant though. That barrier had protected us for years.”

“But they did, didn’t they?”

“Yes. Anytime I came back, they would temporarily take down the barrier for me.”

“Is that how they were attacked, then?” I ask.

Now it makes sense. If they took the barrier down, that explains how the clan was wiped out even despite the Queen’s efforts. Reagan sighs and nods.

“I believe so. It happened right after I had left again. I had a big fight with Queen Diane, who was reluctant on letting me go. Once again, Lilyan helped me convince her. They lifted the barrier for me to leave, and that was the last time I saw the clan alive. When I got back, the barrier was gone. And they were…”

She doesn’t need to finish her sentence. I sigh.

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