Page 53 of The Dark Elf's Secret Twins

“No one has ever said that to me before,” he mutters, letting out a sigh of disbelief. “Thank you Cyra. You’ve put things into a whole new light for me. Maybe I can finally start getting better.”

“Let me know any way that I can help,” I say reassuringly. “And while we’re being open and honest with each other, now’s the time for me to tell you all about my past.”

Lykan takes hold of my hands in his, stroking the back of mine with his thumbs.

“If you feel comfortable doing so,” he tells me. He speaks in a tone clear and eloquent, nothing like the brash security guard at Le Lazurt.

I close my eyes for a brief moment, taking in a deep breath and letting it all out. I spent the last few while encouraging Lykan to open up and now it’s my turn. Confronting one’s own past is no easy task but I knew it was the best way he and I could move forward.

You can do this Cyra… Just take your time. It’s only fair.

“Firstly, I have zero clues on who my father is,” I tell him.

“Nothing at all? Did you ever think of searching for him?” asks Lykan.

“Of course, many times I tried to but Protheka is just too big. Vhoig is but a speck on the map. It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact I’ll never find him. Besides, given how my mother is, my father could be any human roaming this world…”

“Your mother?”

“Yeah, she’s a whole different case. I tried to get her help in searching for my father but she wants nothing to do with him. Shit, she doesn't even remember a thing about him anyway.”

“How is that?” asks Lykan. “No offense to your mother, but how does one forget the father of their child?”

“None taken, and the reason why she doesn’t recall anything is because… Well…”

Just say it, there’s no use beating around the bush.,

“Take your time, I’m here with you,” whispers Lykan, running a hand down my back.

“Simply put, she’s laid with more men than I can count.”

My love’s eyes widen in surprise.

“Oh, she’s…”

“Yeah, she’s a whore.”

“Well I wasn’t going to phrase it like that.”

“It doesn’t matter, that’s what she is. She’s practically the go-to girl down in the Lowtowns,” I sigh. “As a child, it was the strangest thing to see my mom going to bed with different men three or four times a day.”

“I’m sorry to hear.”

“It’s fine. My mom was always good to me and looked after my needs but… It was just the fact she’s so accepting of that life. When I finally caught onto what her job entailed, I made it my mission to find a line of work where I didn’t have to spread my legs.”

Burned into my memories are the images of walking into my mom’s bedroom while another man would be taking her. They had long lost their effect on me but I would do anything to erase them from my mind.

“So I worked odd jobs here and there until I could finally leave home. I got a job at Le Lazurt and… the rest is history. I knew I wanted more out of life than what my mom did. Sure, the customers at the bar were a little grabby but…”

I pinch Lykan by the cheeks.

“I had my protector by my side all along.”

“Well, thank you for sharing all of that,” he replies. “I see now why you’re the way you are. I had always thought of you as, well…” his voice trails off. “For lack of a better word, a bitch.”

“Yeah,” I laugh. “I get that a lot.”

“But I see now how I totally got you all wrong. You were just… How can I phrase it… Putting up a front?”

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