Page 77 of His Sunshine Baby

“Oh yes, you are,” says Reagan, angry. “Look at you. Why are you even here? You don’t meddle with the pack’s affairs. You never fight. You stay the farthest you can from the rest of the pack. You only train those kids half-heartedly.”

I glare at her, angry. How dare she judge me? I’ve only been trying to do what I’m supposed to do ever since I was raised here. What does she know about my childhood? What it was like to be the outcast of the pack while she was gone Moon-Goddess-knows where!

“You’re the one who never gave me any answers!” I growl back.

“You don’t need that to know who you are! You have an inner wolf! You have your Alpha Aura, even if you never use it! Stop acting like a coward, Elena! If your ex comes back, do what you must, but don’t you dare lower your head to anyone.”

I’m speechless. Since when does Reagan push me like this? She is the one who’s never around and when she is, she eludes me! I remember her conversation with Clark, the one Levi recorded. Reagan always denied it, but she knows who my mother is and where I came from. But if I ask her about that, she might run away from the White Moon again.

I grab my sun necklace between my fingers, trying to calm down with the cold metal under my fingers, and take a deep breath.

“I’ve always wondered why I had this, why I was different. I tried so hard to be like the other pups in this pack, Reagan. But I couldn’t. I was too strong, too fast. The only ones whom I could fit in with were the other misfits. Daniel and Diego. They became my whole world… my only friends in this pack.”

“Elena…”

I shake my head. I need to finish speaking, to let her know what I’ve been carrying around all these years.

“When I stopped trying to fit in, I thought I had finally found my place. But that’s when everything changed, again. You left, and Clark made me his goddaughter. I was placed a step higher than the others, and I didn’t understand the reason why. I thought Clark had chosen me because I was the strongest, but neither Eric nor Orpheus are anywhere near as strong as Diego was. I wasn’t leader material either. I was just a wild, rebellious, teenage she-wolf. I knew it had to be something else.”

Reagan ignores me, her eyes wandering to the foam of her pint.

“There is something about me, something that you and Clark know and are desperate to hide. Something that is connected to me being so strong.”

The old woman sighs. She turns to me, whispering in a very low voice so that no one but me can hear her, even with werewolf ears.

“All right, I will tell you more.”

I stare, shocked. Is she for real? She never agreed to say anything no matter how long I begged for it before!

“What, really? Are you serious?”

“Yes, yes. But you have to promise me two things, Elena.”

I frown. Why are we bargaining now? It’s never easy with this woman! After a while, she looks around us and murmurs again.

“First, I want you to promise me you will not leave Silver City once I tell you this. I don’t even want you to leave the White Moon or Opal Moon territories, you hear me?”

What the heck? I thought she would ask me to keep it all a secret.

“Why?”

“Because once I start talking, you will want more, and I don’t need you to be in danger recklessly.”

“All right. What is the second condition?”

“Everything has to stay between us. Only Clark and Xavier know what I’m about to tell you... well, your uncle Xavier knows the big lines. But aside from them, you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone else.”

“I’ll tell Danny,” I answer honestly.

Whether she likes it or not, Reagan knows how close I am to him. There isn’t anything about myself I haven’t told Daniel, and I’m pretty sure the same goes for him. So, I know my mentor has to be aware anything she says will get to Danny’s ears as well.

Indeed, she sighs.

“All right, I guess that kid is part of the deal. Are you sure you can trust him? He’s not going to talk?”

“With my life, Reagan. And you already know how important Daniel is to me.”

She can’t ignore he was my only friend after everything that happened. There really isn’t anyone else I would think of sharing my secrets with. Even Nathaniel only knows very little about me, despite the fact that we have been seeing each other for two months now.

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