Catrina

It still manages to shock me and I gasp at the feel of hearing her words. Her acceptance, her claim on me, makes me feel complete as if I found the missing piece of my existence.

I am pulled into her arms and I go eagerly, wanting to believe her, wanting to really believe that this is my mother. I finally found my mother. I am no longer an orphan.

The wetness on my cheeks makes itself known when my mother pulls back and wipes my cheeks. I didn't even realise that I am crying.

A tug on my hair makes me realise that Cayden has walked up to me. He wraps both of his arms around me and my, our mother and then pulls us closer.

"You are my brother." My voice reflects with the wonder I feel at this revelation. I found both my mother and brother because of this stupid date. I feel like laughing as well as crying at the same time.

Cayden chuckles at my wonderstruck compliment and then once again tugs at my hair.

"I always used to dream about you and these fiery curls but couldn't guess who you were," he says laughing at his own words. I feel a little awkward of his statement wondering how could he dream about me when he didn't even know me.

"Let's discuss this inside your home, can we? My m... wife shouldn't be standing for long periods of time," says the one who caught me. He looks at me and then turns to stare at Connor who's literally looking like a fish.

It's then I realise that I am still in yesterday's clothes, probably looking like I've just woken up with a bird's nest as my hair and the biggest thing being that they know Connor and that I was literally running out of his house. What would they be thinking about me? And how do they know Connor?

All these questions pour into my mind so fast that I feel a little breathless on the onslaught. Only when I am being pulled into the house by Cayden do I come back to reality.

What should I do? How do I react?

Walking silently behind Cayden and debating about my next step about all this mess, I watch the new man, whose name I still don't know, pull his wife on the couch and then settle beside her. He then without any pause removes her shoes and then lifts up her legs to place them in his lap. He then starts massaging her swollen feet. The look of pure love and devotion in his eyes for his wife while the wife is caressing her pregnant belly and murmuring things about how the baby knows when her father is touching her mom and shows it by kicking and rolling around inside is overwhelming.

The effortless coordination between the couple makes my yearning go deep and I feel my nose tingling. I look away from the couple not wanting to intrude in their private moment when my gaze collides with Connor.

He was watching me all along and the realisation makes me yearn more but I try to conceal it as much as possible. I have a new mess, a much bigger one to sort out right now instead of Connor's and mine's estranged relationship.

"So, how do you know Connor?" asks my newfound biological mother. I turn to look at her hopeful expression and my anxiety turns up a notch.

"Uh... I... He was my high school friend," is the only thing that comes out and I let out a breath. God! This feels like an interrogation.

"Oh, so this is where you grew up?" asks my mother excitedly and I understand her concern. She wants to know all about me. I feel the same and most of all I want to ask her why she gave me away. She kept Cayden then why did she give me away?

"No, actually..."

"No. We studied in Silver Oak High in the Upper East of the Blue Moon town," explains Connor interrupting me and I frown at his use of the old term for my hometown. It's now called as the Samfiol Hills but earlier it was a part of this Blue Moon town. It later got separated as a new town.

"Oh... then are you two dating? Is that why you have come all the way to meet Connor?" asks my new mother, her curiosity very evident on her face. I feel my cheeks heat at her almost accurate sentence but feel the need to contradict her. It's now or never. I have to make it clear now itself.

"No, we dated when we were in high school but we are just friends at the moment. I work as a nurse in the Seven Hills hospital," I explain in a rush. Cayden's frown doesn't go unnoticed but I just ignore it.

I want to leave this place but I want to know my new family too!

"Oh, then how come you were walking out of the house so early in the morning in those clothes?" asks the other elderly woman who I now assume is Connor's mother. She is standing beside him.

I open my mouth to answer but no words come out. Swallowing the hurtful comments, I just look at Connor, mentally pleading him to save me from this embarrassment.

"Mom, please stop with the questioning. I'll fill you in the details later. Let me introduce you to her first," he says and then continues before his mother could reply.

"Mom, meet Catrina St. Clair. She's my high school friend. The one I talked to you about a week ago," he says while looking straight into his mother's eyes as if trying to convey some unvoiced message.

After a moment, his mother's eyes widen and then nods slowly before turning her head to look at me. My mouth feels dry at the intensity of her gaze but instinct tells me to not look away. I haven't done anything wrong to feel guilty.

"It's lovely to finally meet you, Catrina. And from the events that happened earlier, I assume that you were adopted by the St. Clair family and just now came to know about your mother and brother. You need to know a lot more about your biological family before making the decision to be with Connor or not. Whatever it is, I will support your decision, dear," she says while smiling at me in genuine encouragement and I feel the breath leave my lungs in a woosh.

"Catrina, she's my mother. The couple who's in their own world on that couch is Fenris and his wife Sierra. The man over there who claims to be your twin brother is Cayden Vlček and the woman beside him is Christine Dalka," explains Connor.

Digesting the new information, I make a note that Christine and Cayden both have different last names. Does this mean that Cayden was adopted by her? If yes, then why did she give me away. She had her own child then why adopt another child?

Suddenly, this information and the drastic changes in just a few minutes become overwhelming making me feel exhausted. All I want to do is curl up in my bed and sleep without care of my past and future families.

I smile at all of them and feel out of place. This is getting awkward by the second. I can't stop my hands from trembling anymore. Suddenly I feel the walls closing in on me and I feel my lungs gasping for air. It's like my oxygen supply has been cut off.

I feel a hand on my waist just when I feel black dots closing in my vision. Holding on to Connor's arms for support, I desperately try to take hold of my body but it isn't agreeing. My body's shutting down while Connor's panicked voice causes my head to explode. Another voice is shouting from the background asking about what's happening to me whereas all I can manage to do is fall victim to the darkness calling to me.

~~~~~~~

The bright light falling on my eyes wakes me up from my slumber. Opening my eyes and then squinting them at the harsh light, I raise my hands to cover them from the light. Turning my head, I look around myself and find that I am in Connor's bedroom with Connor nowhere in sight.

I go to sit up in the bed groaning when I have to use double the energy to lift myself up. I feel lethargic. I sit in bed and then think about all the events which happened since yesterday night.

From Connor's reaction to the news of my miscarriage, it is clear that he feels guilty and it is possible that he wants to be with me only because he feels responsible for my loss. I cannot let him enter my life only because of this reason. I can't live without him loving me and I am not allowing anyone to be a part of my life only because they feel responsible towards me.

The same fact applies to my mother as well. If she left me because she didn't want me then, then she has no right to be with me now. The churning in my stomach increases at the prospect of everyone wanting to be with me only because they feel guilty or responsible and not because they really want to be with me.

Before I get the chance to delve deeper into the thoughts of my new mother, the door to the bedroom opens making me startle. I look to see Cayden standing on the threshold waiting for my reaction.

Even if I have so many insecurities, I can't not smile at him. He appears to be as much confused as I am. So, I just follow my gut.

"Come on in, Cayden," I say but my voice cracks a bit. He smiles at my invitation and immediately walks inside to sit on the edge of the bed on my side. He lifts his hands and takes my left one, enclosing my hand in both of his. The warmth in them somehow comforts me and I guess I feel homesick.

"You are my twin sister, Catrina. I can somehow understand your dilemma."

Tears well up in my eyes at the confirmation of him being my twin. I have a sibling that too a twin. It's said that twins shouldn't be separated because they feel incomplete without each other. Maybe that's why I feel so comforted by his smile or touch.

"Please don't cry. You looked so lost when I introduced myself and Ma almost collapsed when you lost consciousness."

"I am just overwhelmed. I always thought that my real parents gave me away because they didn't want me. My adopted parents made it clear that they adopted me only because they got financial aid to do so. All of that really made me lose my self-confidence and then when I lost..." I stop myself just in time realising that I almost vomited my life's pity story in front of this person. He's my brother but I hardly know him.

Cayden raises his brows at my abrupt hesitation but I am saved from answering or explaining myself when Connor enters the room and immediately the tension in the room turns up to almost stifling.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Cayden growls, making the hair on my neck to rise in caution.

"I will excuse this disrespect only once," snarls Connor and now I sit up straighter, alarmed at this behaviour of theirs. Are they enemies?

"You fucked with her, didn't you?" roars Cayden and I am surprised that no one has come running up here since the both of them are loud enough to wake up a sleeping grizzly.

"Don't disrespect my mate," roars Connor in return. I almost fail to hear his words but when I do, the meaning rings alarm bells in my mind.

"WHAT?" shouts Cayden and this time, I have to cover my ears.

"Stop it, you too," I scream unable to take it anymore. "If you can't talk like adults then get out. Both of you are causing me a headache," I groan at the hammering inside my head.

Connor immediately walks over towards me from the other side of the bed and sits near me. Him sitting on the bed, causes the mattress to dip making me slide towards him a bit. Taking advantage of this, Connor slides his arms around me and pulls me towards him. The comforting touch immediately soothes me and I wonder if he has some wizardly skills.

"Don't be stressed, please. I'll not shout," he concedes, running his hand over my back but I don't miss the glare that he shoots at Cayden above my head.

"What did you say to Cayden about me being your mate?" I ask, clearly not wanting to be kept in the dark. Earlier also, when Connor's mother talked to me, she said something about my family background and making a decision. It confused me and that's what triggered that panic attack.

"Hah! You haven't told her about yourself? That you are a fucking..."

"Shut up, Cayden. Stop using this situation to rile me up. It's hurting your sister more," says Connor quietly while pulling me a little closer. It feels as if he's making sure that I won't run, not that I don't want to, but his effort makes my stomach to flutter a bit.

"Fine. But if you hurt her again, I'll kill you and that's not a threat," says Cayden and I detect a slight change in his voice. Connor stiffens beside me and I look up to see his jaw clenched hard, so hard that I fear he'll gnash his teeth beyond repair.

Not waiting for a reply, Cayden walks out of the room leaving me with Connor. I am almost sitting in his lap and I can feel his entire body trembling as if he's trying to control himself. Is he scared that Cayden will kill him? Or is he angry that Cayden threatened him like this over me, whom he doesn't even know?

Not thinking anymore about all this, I lift my hand to touch Connor's jaw in the effort to make him loosen up his jaw. He immediately leans into my touch and it makes me realise that I am being intimate with him and this can cause me a heartbreak much more severe than the last time.

Snatching my hand back from his jaw, I scoot back and wait for him to explain himself.

He realises the shift in my mood but doesn't comment and sits up in front of me. Taking a deep breath he opens his mouth to speak the words which I never thought anyone would say in real life.

~~~~~~

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