Luna Hannah nodded her head before she left, but she knew she would see Marley again, another chance to explain herself.

Gabby carefully closed the door, moving back to sit on the bed. She glanced at the two mates, wondering if she should leave. Layla was angry. The Doctor hated how Hannah advised her own mate against her, saying that she would hurt her mate.

She wouldn't dream of hurting Marley.

Marley was panting, licking her lips. After eight years, she finally saw Hannah again. She wished she hadn't. The woman changed so much since the last time she saw her. She felt betrayed, but she also felt sorry for Hannah.

It didn't look like she had it easy for the last almost decade.

Marley put her head down. "I'm sorry," she whispered, gulping as tears started to fall from her face.

Layla cupped her mate's cheek, kissing her nose. "You don't have to be sorry for anything."

Marley grabbed Layla's hands, pulling them away from her skin. She loved the sparks that came with each touch, but she didn't feel worthy of them. "No," she shook her head, "I wasn't honest. I hid my secrets. I lied to you, Layla."

Gabby played with her fingers, and Layla stayed silent. "Marley," Gabby whispered, "if this is about the Healing Moon Pack, nobody is mad at you. You were doing what you thought was right."

Marley sobbed into her hands, the guilt finally taking full effect. "No," she cried. "I used you. Sort of. Kinda of," she added, trying to explain her actions.

Layla shushed her, "How about we talk about this when we are all calmed down? I know you must be hungry."

Gabby nodded, patting her belly, "I know I am."

*•*•*•*•*

Layla turned to look at Gabby, "Why are we at my parents' house?"

Gabby giggled, rubbing the back of her neck, "Well, they caught me moving your stuff, and they made me take it to their place."

Layla rolled her eyes, "You could had said no."

"They threatened to ground me," Gabby lowered her voice, quiet embarrassed. "I wasn't going to argue with Melissa grounding me. She may be your mother," the nurse joked, "but I am terrified of her."

"My mother isn't that bad," Layla shook her head before turning around. "She isn't. I was surprised that she wasn't gushing after you."

"She's worst," Gabby butted in, parking the car. She looked behind her to see a sad Marley. "I'm just teasing you. Melissa already loves you, probably more than she does Layla."

Layla playfully slapped her friend.

"It hurts," Gabby teased, "but you know it's true." She quickly hopped out of the car before Layla could hit her again.

Layla rolled her eyes at her best friend's behavior, "No need to stress about it, Marls. My parents already love you, and nobody is mad at you, ok?"

Marley nodded, but didn't say anything back. Layla sighed before she quickly got out of the car. She opened the door, noticing how Gabby already left. The Head Doctor could already hear her parents gushing over Gabby, surprised that she was awake.

Marley stayed in the car, snuffling as she slowly lost the energy to cry. "Layla," she whispered, "I need to tell you something — everything."

Layla took a deep breath, "Marley, you just woke up. I'm more worried about feeding you. Luna Hannah already told me your an Alpha, and I understand this law you have." She carefully unbuckled Marley, kissing her cheek, "Let's go inside."

Although she was surprised, Marley shook her head, "No."

Layla was taken aback.

"I lied to you, don't you understand?" Marley shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest in an act to ready herself for Layla's anger. "When I told you I was going to the bathroom, in the hospital, I lied. I didn't need to use the restroom. I wanted to get closer to-"

"The past Alpha and Luna, Joey's parents. I was there at the court meeting, Marley," Layla interrupted, still standing outside the car but leaning inside.

Marley nodded her head, "Yeah, but they're also my aunt and uncle."

Layla blinked, "What?" She got inside the car, closer the door with more force than needed. Marley jumped, almost having a heart attack. The doctor stared at her mate, "Marley, why doesn't Joey know your his cousin? Why doesn't the pack know?"

"Supposed to be a secret," 'Marley shrugged.

"The previous Luna, Cecilia Moon, is my father's older sister," Marley started, "and when exploring for more resources, she found her mate. Since she was the oldest, she was the rightful Alpha, but she left with her mate. Every couple of years, she would return to help my father lead."

Layla listen carefully.

"For the first ten years that she was gone, the pack members challenged each other for the Alpha position. Many believed, since Cecilia left, that my family wasn't worthy of the Alpha tittle."

Layla hummed, "Leadership problems, huh?" The Doctor remembered Marley talking about her pack when they first meet, saying they had leadership issues and had a hard time pushing back rogues.

"Cecilia cleared the air, for the most part I guess. There is only a small percentage of the pack that still argues it, and they challenge from time to time. When she got pregnant, she stopped visiting till Joey was ready to be on his for a little while.

"Life was good until the rogues came. Cecilia sometimes came alone, but this time she said she was bringing her mate. Apparently, there was a whole meeting about her mate knowing about us. We were scared that packs were going to attack us, use us for their own profit and desires, but Cecilia said she was an Alpha and she was mated to one. She said she could protect us better if he knew.

"Anyways, they never made it, and a month later, the rogues came.

"Jasmine was there," Marley whispered, "she ripped my mother's pack mark off."

"Jasmine was there," Layla repeated, squeezing her eyes closed as she thought. Jasmine's betrayal cuts deeper in the pack than she could ever believe.

Marley nodded her head, "Not all the time, but she came. She would threaten us, telling if we didn't use our powers for them, she would kill our love ones. She was terrifying, my worst nightmare. When I started to smell her, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me."

Layla snarled, "I'm going to kill her."

———— A U T H O R N O T E | 31 ————

I'm sorry for the long wait. I've been having a hard time seeing the positive side of things.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see if I can write another one for tomorrow fo make up for the last couple weeks.

QQ (#36): What is something you do to calm yourself down?