Gwen’s POV
There must be something wrong with me.
That’s the only reason I’m sitting here, feeling sorry for myself, instead of staying by my twin’s side and making sure she’s okay. A twin I haven’t seen in eighteen years. One I thought was dead.
That’s why she feels like a stranger, right?
It’s not my fault that I don’t feel any sort of attachment to her.
Maybe this is about me getting lost in my mind, thinking of how she was always everyone’s first choice. How I was always her backup.
I remember crying for days on end when my mother took her and left me behind. Even at five, I knew my mother didn’t love me like she did her. I never figured out why my mother hated me so much. Enough to erase my identity and force me to live as her favourite daughter when she lost her.
And just when I thought I was done living in her shadow, just when I reclaimed my own identity, she shows up again.
And goes right into the arms of my mate. My mate, who was her childhood friend. Who looked far and wide for her, because they were destined to be together. But he found me instead. And I became her replacement.
And now that she’s here, I realise I wasn’t her replacement. I was her backup like I have always been. In the same way my mother only came back to get me because she lost her, Stefan only chose me because he couldn’t find her. And now he has. That means my job here is done, isn’t it?
“Your sister is awake.”
I turn to look at Hanna as she takes the stool beside me at the bar. “Is she okay? Has she said who attacked her?”
“She’s okay. She’s talking to Stefan. Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll find whoever did that to her and make them pay.”
“I’m sure he will,” I say, pouring myself another glass of the wine I’ve been nursing for a while. “She was his destined mate, after all.”
“Was she?” Hanna asks, supporting her elbow on the counter and cradling her chin in her hand. “If she was, he never would have bonded with you while she was still alive.”
I shrug and sip my wine.
“Wait… You’re not like, thinking that he’s going to ditch you now, are you?”
“He looked for her for five years, Hanna. Now, here she is. What am I supposed to think?”
“I don’t know what you heard while I was giving you all those unofficial lessons about the entire bonding business, but just to remind you, he can’t leave you now without causing himself great pain.”
“He would fix it right away by bonding with her.”
Hanna sighs and reaches for the wine bottle beside me. “You need to stop drinking. The alcohol seems to be putting weird ideas in your head.” She rises to put it away and then faces me again. “So, do you want to see her?”
“Not now,” I tell her. I wonder what Mari will feel about seeing me. Does she even remember me?
Happy? Oh… I think I know. Annoyed that I stole her childhood sweetheart. Finishing off my wine, I drop from my stool. “I’m going to town.”
“Can I come with?”
“Sure, I can use a little help job hunting.”
“You’re looking for a job?”
I nod.
“What kind of job?”
“I don’t exactly have a college diploma, but I have lots of experience waitressing in clubs. So probably that.”
Hanna chuckles. “Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to fly with Stefan.”
“I need to make my own money.”
“Yeah, and your mate is a millionaire. He’s not going to let you work as a barmaid!”
“I don’t need him to let me.”
“You do remember that you’re the werewolf queen, right?”
“Look, Hanna. I’ve relied on myself since I was a teenager. I’ve found that depending on people clips your wings when you need to take flight. So, no. Unless there are some diplomatic duties I can carry out as the werewolf queen to make me some sort of income, I need a job.”
“I know I said our marriages are not your usual type, but you should know that now that you’re bonded to Stefan, everything he owns is yours. So you aren’t exactly in want of money.”
“Until he decides to cast me aside.”
“Leave us, Hanna.”
I jerk in surprise at Stefan’s voice. I turn around to find him standing in the middle of the living room, his grey gaze set on me.
Hanna gives me a pointed look before walking away.
I direct my gaze to the ground as Stefan approaches. “Why would you say that?”
How much did he hear? His slippers appear in my line of sight. “Gwen?”
I suck in a deep breath and look up at him. “Let’s be honest, Stefan. The only reason I’m here is that I look like her.”
He shakes his head. “You know that’s not true, Gwen.”
“Do I?”
“If that’s what you really think, why did you mate with me? Why go through the bonding ceremony with me?”
“As if I had a choice? Thanks to some weird shit happening to my body because you bit me, I had sex with a man I don’t even know. Before I knew it, I was making stupid decisions about my life with a man who was looking for someone else all along.”
Raking his hand in his hair, he says, “Gwen, you’re drunk and pissed off. I get it. So let’s not talk about this right now. Why don’t you go and sleep it off?”
“I’m not drunk! You know what? I need to get out of here.” I hold out my hand. “Can I have my car keys? You’ve kept them long enough.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“Somewhere I can’t see your face.”
There is the sound of footsteps and I look up to find Levi approaching. “Boss? I’ve got some news.”
“Yeah, why don’t you go and take care of that? It’s probably about whoever abused your mate.”
“Wait in my office,” he tells Levi while taking a step towards me. I back off and find myself pressed against the bar counter. I hold his grey eyes in defiance, so I don’t miss it when the turquoise ring appears. I gasp. He said that when his eyes do that, it’s a sign that the other werewolf in his body is around. Is that him? “I’m sorry about this. Let’s talk later.”
I frown. What does he mean? Then I suddenly feel drowsy…and I recall. That night he took me from the nightclub. He stared into my eyes with his glowing eyes and I didn’t wake up until the next evening.
I’m about to cuss him out when everything goes black.