Chapter 387: Sharing Secrets
"Who is their father?" August asked as she continued walking a few steps behind Nedra on the way to the facility.
"What?" Nedra asked without breaking her stride.
"Sage and Selah," August replied, watching her feet as they navigated some knotty roots. "I can’t begin to fathom how you had them here."
"I don’t know what you’re talking about," Nedra said dismissively with as little emotion as possible.
This was a secret she had kept for so long that she had no inclination to come clean about it now. Regardless of how Goddess-sent or good natured this August seemed to be, she wasn’t going to just reveal her deepest sacred truth to her.
"They look just like you, and Sage is a remarkable young male. You would be proud to know him," August added.
It was obvious by Nedra’s reaction that Selah and Sage were more than just any members of Nedra’s family. Her reaction was one of a worried, protective mother.
"I am sure he is remarkable," Nedra said without betraying any more emotion than she already had previously. It had already gotten her into trouble. August was already onto her.
No one had ever gotten even the slightest hint over the years that Nedra was pregnant or had bore pups. It was a massive undertaking on her part to hide the pregnancies, to hide Selah when she was a pup, and to continue on after both of them as if nothing had happened. It was the biggest sacrifice she had ever made, and she wasn’t about to blow it all now and possibly subject her children to danger.
"If you did have them here, it might be beneficial..." August started only to have Nedra whirl around on her with fury flaming bright in her green eyes.
"Why are you continuing to act as if they are mine?" Nedra exclaimed, outraged that this female didn’t know when to just shut up about it.
"I-I am sorry," August stammered, startled and confused by the sudden outburst. Why would a mother deny her children? It was heartbreaking, particularly since she knew one of those children so well.
Nedra groaned and turned back around to continue traipsing through the undergrowth, cursing herself inwardly for making this part of the woods so dense and the facility so far. It was on the shore overlooking the sea, but did the island really need to be this big?
"I am pregnant," August called timidly after Nedra, still rooted in the place where they had stopped walking.
Nedra froze. The Luna meant to kill Zagan was pregnant. Goddess, why? She turned to see August twisting her hands nervously in front of her, looking at her feet.
"I thought you could help me," August admitted. "I didn’t mean to upset you."
"Why would you allow yourself to be brought here if you are pregnant?" Nedra asked, walking back to stand before the naive alyko once again.
"Allow myself?" August scoffed. "As if I had a choice."
"If you are as powerful as Penelope believes you are, it sounds like you should have had a choice," Nedra quipped, unsure as to why she was aggravated by this news. "You accidentally set the majority of the alyko on this island free, and I doubt your impressive abilities didn’t start there. You should have had a choice."
"I don’t... know what I’m doing," August threw her arms out on either side of her. "I was hoping to figure it out while I was here. And Penelope convinced me to come. Should I have stayed and watched as our pack fought a losing battle for me? Allowed others to sacrifice their lives for me and then be taken away with him anyway? Allowed my mate to be killed?" Her voice faltered as she recalled the limp body of Graeme’s wolf and his dim aura after Zagan had attacked him. "I will not allow them to die for me."
"Well then you are no Luna," Nedra replied. "You are more important than you give yourself credit for. And so is your pup."
"No life is worth more than another," August growled.
"I don’t think you believe that," Nedra chuckled. "You would sacrifice others for your mate if you had to. And I am sure your mate felt the same way. He probably would have sacrificed his entire pack for you."
"Nothing was sacrificed," August said. "And nothing needed to be. I came voluntarily to avoid that, and I am fine."
"For now," Nedra said wryly. "And yet here you are beseeching me for help in how to protect your unborn pup."
"Forget it," August growled again. "You are truly heartless, aren’t you? Denying your precious children, helping the vampire catch and imprison all of the alyko here, giving up in your fight against him. You could have done something different to help free them, and yet you didn’t. So who are you to talk?"
"I know what sacrifice is," Nedra snarled. "I have sacrificed more than you can imagine."
"Have you? Or have you sacrificed others and convinced yourself it was you who lost?" August snapped.
Both females glared at each other, their chests heaving as birds chirping happily nearby, unperturbed by the argument in their midst as they went on with their carefree lives.
"As long as you keep moving and don’t stay too long in any one spot, your pup will be fine. The pregnancy will essentially be paused whilst you are here, and no one will be the wiser. That is, assuming Zagan doesn’t find a reason to drink your blood and discover the increased hormones in it," Nedra said, exhaling heavily as if in defeat before she turned and continued walking. "The facility is close."
August watched her retreating form before she finally started walking again, hurrying her steps to catch up with her.
"With both pregnancies, I was fortunate to have few people visiting me. Most everyone leaves me alone—even Seth. He is the father," Nedra told her, suddenly sounding exhausted. "I couldn’t end the pregnancies, because they are so precious to me. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t have the children here with me. This is the situation I found myself in. You may not understand, but I have done everything in my power that I could. I am not denying them. I am trying to protect them."
"Okay," August said softly. "I apologize if my words hurt you. You are right that I wouldn’t understand. Perhaps you can be reunited with both of them someday."
"Perhaps the vampire will finally die. I wouldn’t want to be reunited with them before then, because that would mean they were caught. That would mean they were in danger, and that is a nightmare I don’t want them to live through."
