Accidental Surrogate

Ella

As per usual the news about my latest hypnosis session is all over the palace by the time Sinclair and I surface from our rooms. Thankfully not the details about my teenaged despair, rather the premonition of our potential victory. I’ve realized how important it is to give people hope in this conflict ever since my early days visiting the refugees, but it really is remarkable the difference it can make in morale. In fact, the increase in public and political optimism is palpable as we attend the days’ scheduled summit events, the Alphas have even agreed to fly to the coast to witness the continental front of the refugee crisis first hand.

Unfortunately, there’s at least one person who isn’t thrilled by these revelations: my sister. I’m dressing for dinner when Cora ambles into my dressing room, her feet dragging with exhaustion. She slumps onto the chaise as I try on gowns, watching me with begrudging amusement. “You know, just once I’d like to come home after a long day of surgeries and not discover that my little sister has accomplished some impossible feat yet again. What’s next, Ella? Are you going to grow a tail?”

“I think you’ll find I’ve already done that.” I joke as my wolf wags her tail in my mind’s eye, eager to show off the beautiful rose-gold appendage.

“Har har,” Cora quips, rubbing her sore neck. “Come on then, tell me all about it.”

Sighing, I slip out of the red dress I was attempting to stretch over my belly and exchange it for a green number that will match Sinclair’s eyes. I’m not particularly eager to linger on this particular subject, but if she’s going to hear the story from anyone, it ought to be me. I gradually share the details, stopping and starting as the emotions catch up to me, using my wardrobe dilemmas as an excuse to delay the inevitable. It’s a relief when the tale is finally complete. “So it turns out those priests weren’t all bad,” I conclude, “for everything they put me through, they also kept me going when I was ready to give up.”

I peek at Cora for the first time since I started talking and discover her cheeks streaked with tears. “You never told me.” She states hoarsely, and I feel as though I’ve been punched in the gut. I guiltily search my sister’s lovely face, hating the pain in her deep brown eyes. There’s a flash of betrayal, but also a deep hurt I understand all too well.

“I didn’t even remember myself.” I answer, my voice barely louder than a whisper. “I never wanted to leave you Cora, you and the other kids were the one thing that kept me hanging on.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” She asks, a bitter note in her melodic voice. “You only got that low because you were bearing the brunt of the hardship for all of us, and now you say we’re also the reason you couldn’t find peace.”

seat near her hip. “And it wouldn’t have been true peace, because I’d known I would be leaving so much pain behind for the people I cared about most. I would have missed out on my future – on seeing you become a doctor, on finding my

felt like you couldn’t confide in me then when you were in the thick of it, but I never knew you got depressed at all. You always seemed to have

her soft skin with the pad of my thumb. “I think you’re rewriting history a bit there… you’re the one who

with obvious frustration. “It took a lot of therapy for me to reach that point – when we were children I truly thought you weren’t fazed by any of it. It made me feel even

hope you know

“You were in survival mode. It’s not your fault you never felt safe enough to come out of it.” An unidentified emotion

brows. “I don’t suppose you’re referring to a certain wolf with a sly smile

“You know smug

smug.” I reply apologetically, leaning my shoulder against hers. “I’ve

so tangled and confused that she doesn’t realize

all you like, I’d have to be blind not to notice. The reason you can’t shake him is because

that nonsense.” Cora lashes out, surging up from the chaise. “So I find him attractive – maybe I even care about his well being. That doesn’t mean I

hasn’t escaped my notice that the women in my life seem to be uniquely scarred when it comes to love, and it breaks my heart to see brilliant figures like Cora and Isabel so skittish of being hurt. “How do you know you don’t want a relationship when you’ve never been in one –

arms over her chest. “I’m not like you, Ella. I don’t need a partner to feel complete, I