“Having that woman give him paperwork would’ve made Eric look harder at it. As far as the Fairies, I’m not sure why people assume Aiden is easily fooled. Or that he would sign something like that. Like I said… he can sense motivations. Which they do know…since they don’t let the Fairies on the Council meet their secretaries. If someone’s motivation was to trick Aiden… he’d know.”
Aiden snorted, “Yet I didn’t sense that about my mother. Outside of her, you tend to be correct.” I frowned, “Well, from what I know about Alania… she didn’t believe she was tricking you. Her own motivation in her mind was for the greater good.”
“Alania actually believed that because her interests were what she believed to be best she could do no wrong. It’s actually quite fascinating what she deluded herself into believing. The point is, if someone is deluded enough… you’d never know if they truly believed at their core what they were doing was for good. That takes a special type of psychosis though. People usually still understand right from wrong even if they think what they are doing is wrong but it’s for the greater good. Alania didn’t.”
Aiden’s eyes sparkled, “Fascinating. I love your brain. I have another quandary for you.” I said, “Umm ok… I guess.” Aiden asked, “Then how was it my sister could sense Cassandra’s motives?” I paled. That was Eric’s mom. My eyes darted to his and I looked down. Everyone was quiet.
Eric said, “You have nothing to fear from me. I’m actually curious, as my mother was adamant her actions were for the best.” I sighed, “Aiden has to know the answer.” Aiden smiled saying, “Of course I do. My sister’s wolf might believe it out of your mouth though.”
I sighed, “I mean… well… Haley… is… different… than other Fairies… especially in regard to herself.” Bjourn snorted, “We know. That doesn’t explain the answer.” I sighed, “It does though. She’s pure of heart. Tricking her now that she accepts her Fairy side is complicated.”
“Part of Haley’s genetic makeup craves acceptance… her light will tell her where she won’t get that. For example… Cassandra. Her light wouldn’t let her go through that trauma again… it would lash out. Plus, Haley can sense people for who they are.”
“Patricia was probably never mean to her, but there was no way they liked each other. That’s not really like Haley from what I’ve heard. She’s nice to everyone. Plus… Cassandra might have been adamant to you that her motives were pure, but that doesn’t mean she actually believed it.”
“Like what I mentioned a second ago, Cassandra might have thought what she was doing was for the best, but she would know it was wrong. Even if she believed it was for the right thing. Besides, you can’t hide the truth of those feelings from the pure of heart Fairy. Or any Fairy. Alania and Cassandra are different in many ways, though they are similar.”
“Alania believed with everything in her that she wasn’t interfering, or pushing an agenda, because she believed all paths serving her greater purpose were the intended paths for life. She was deluded and possible in a state of psychosis. That’s ultimately because they worked best for her. In those paths she had people adoring her.”
“Alania was selfish to her core from what I’ve heard. Cassandra… well everyone says she loved her pups… that’s a thing everyone says….a lot….so….that’s a thing that we all totally believe…because people say it.”
Eric rubbed his temples again and Bjourn raised his eyebrow. Aiden cooed, “How evasive. You don’t believe she did love them.” I hummed, “I didn’t say that… that’s totally not a thingI said. In fact… I said we all believe it…because people say it.” Freya hummed, “You kind of did say it and your lying skills are atrocious.” Well, atrocious seemed like an unnecessarily harsh word. Freya laughed in my head.
Aiden chuckled, “Say more, please.” I replied, “I’m trying… to explain…. but like, I’m just saying if anyone looked at… or interviewed Darrin’s old soccer coaches… one might not claim so boldly she loved all her pups.”
“I mean…maybe if one looked into they’d find out that Cassandra didn’t even go to Harold’s graduation… she only attended his party… and she had them all doing things they hated. Jackson was forced to the quit piano, according to his teacher, because he got better than Eric.”
Bjourn raised his eyebrow and Eric growled. I hummed, “Anyway…. Moving on. Because I totally didn’t do those things or email people with an alias as a pup because I LOATHED Cassandra for being mean to my Xander…So I totally didn’t look into her to find out all the shady things she did.”
“Some things I couldn’t prove…but suspected…. I wrote those down too…Or I didn’t….I didn’t do that… nope… nor did I store all the evidence when she died… because… she I mean she died. So, it’s not like I needed to keep her away then.”
“I was going to hand over my evidence… when I met someone from the allied packs…ok mostly Haley… I was hoping to give it to her…. to prove Cassandra should stay away from my mate. I mean if I had such evidence… which I don’t… so… that’s silly.”
Aiden burst into laughter. I waved, “Yeah so… while Cassandra claimed she wanted what was best for Eric… in my opinion that was more about what was best for Cassandra… which she does have in common with Alania and maybe someone wanted to say that to her… in person… and never got to. Because they had a lot of evidence to support that claim.” Aiden was all out cackling now.
I continued, “Anyway, what was best for Haley didn’t actually matter to Cassandra. That woman couldn’t have hidden that because she truly felt that way. Cassandra could lie to herself… but not to her motivations.”
“Which means she couldn’t lie to or trick Haley once she saw who she really was. From what I heard… while… umm… in other places… Cassandra didn’t bother to hide from Haley how much she hated her when they were alone.” Everyone stared at me.
I blushed, “I mean… that’s just what I’ve heard… from… well…ok it was a lot of people… but it’s not like it’s firsthand information. I could be wrong…. and…” Aiden interrupted, “Wow. Melanie, you are just as advertised and it’s marvelous.” It didn’t sound marvelous.
Aiden chuckled, “You are not wrong, but I am curious where you heard it. I doubt anyone was talking about Cassandra in Red Run. I would adore the evidence you compiled as a pup before Cassandra died about how she treated her children.”
Bjourn snorted, “Melanie was best friends with Elise. EJ’s mate hated Cassandra as well.” That was true… but I specifically mentioned when I lived elsewhere. Maybe I had an inside the head thought. Freya warned, “You did not.” UGH! One brief moment that felt like progress.
Aiden nodded, “True. That’s not what she was talking about though.” I frowned. Eric asked, “What were you talking about then, Melanie?” Aiden gasped, “You believe me? Oh, be still my beating heart this is an odd sensation.”
Eric growled, “You can’t lie, Aiden. I’ve believed you many times in the past, so don’t act like that’s new. Plus, I’ve never been more certain you are right.” I looked at the floor and desperately wished it would swallow me.
Me and my stupid inability to quiet talk. I’d kept the secret about being in the Resistance and being its leader so long… yeteverything else just flies right out of my mouth. Bjourn cleared his throat, and I glanced up.
Gosh he had an imposing stare. No wonder Kingsley was mated to Hastein. She could withstand any cold stare. That thought made me laugh. All three men looked at me surprised. I explained, “You’re screwed. K can withstand any stare.” Bjourn smirked replying, “I’m sure she can. She will be our Queen.”
Eric said, “I’m sure the woman in question will be fine. Where did you hear about my mother and Haley? And where are these interviews from former coaches of my brothers?” I sighed, “I mean… on my computer…if they existed…which they totally don’t.”
Aiden chuckled, “Melanie, please stop trying to lie and give him the information.” I hummed, “Fine… just… one second.” I pulled up my old files and sent them to Eric and copied Jackson, Harold, Darrin, and their Betas.
I announced, “There you go. I was going to give it to you when I was younger….I was hoping mostly for Haley…but I wasn’t going to let it blindside you or anything… we just never met… then Cassandra died, and it felt mean to besmirch her name…even though everyone said she was awful…they didn’t even know the half of it.”
