I froze, too stunned to even speak.


    Lilith was… my mother?


    My mother. As in… my very much dead mother who I had never truly gotten to know because she had passed away when I was just a baby.


    For a moment, it seemed so absurd and impossible that I almostughed out loud. I nearly expected Alexander, Sophia, and anyone else who might have been in on the joke toe out from behind a bush and startughing with me, or perhaps at me.


    But then I thought back to the years I’d spent with Lilith. Thete–night talks. The moments when I had felt so connected to my friend that I had genuinely thought of her as a mother to me. The times when I had literally told her that I saw her that way.


    Lilith had told me once that her daughter was still out there, alive and well, but she couldn’t tell her that she had been watching over her for years.


    <b>勳 </b>


    At the time, I thought it was Lilith’s nerves getting the best of her; perhaps she felt guilty for abandoning


    her daughter and feared that her daughter would turn her away if she revealed herself.


    But now… Now, it all made sense in sickening rity.


    Lilith was my mother.


    I was the daughter she didn’t reveal herself to… Because she literally couldn’t, otherwise I might suffer


    the consequences.


    “Mom…?” <b>I </b>finally choked out. My voice sounded small, so small, like a child’s voice. As if, for the briefest of seconds, I had reverted to the scared little girl who only ever wanted her mother back.


    Lilith let out augh that was part sob and pulled me close again. This time, I didn’t hesitate. I wrapped my arms around her and held her tight.


    “Mom,” I cried, “I can’t believe it’s you–after all these years-”


    “Shh.” Lilith rubbed soothing circles on my back, just as she had for years whenever I neededfort. No wonder it worked so well each time. Nothing could everpare to a mother’s touch. “I know, sweetheart. I always wished I could tell you, but I couldn’t.”


    I sniffled and pulled back, wiping at my wet eyes. “You knew the whole time who I really was?” I asked. Lilith had only known me as long as I had been married to Alexander, so as far as I knew, she had only seen me as an adult.


    +15 <b>BONUS </b>


    Lilith’s face softened, and she nodded. “<b>I </b>watched you since you were a little girl. Do you remember <b>when </b>you were five and nearly drowned<b>?</b><b>” </b>


    I furrowed my brow, thinking, and suddenly it hit me–a familiar face peering down <b>at </b><b>me </b>through <b>the </b>water when I nearly drowned in ake on a summer vacation. My father and stepmother didn’t <be </b><b>to </b>save me, but a strange woman did.


    I remembered her lifting me from the shallow water and cradling me in her arms briefly.


    “I’ve got you, dear,” the woman, beautiful and warm and safe, had whispered as she held me against her chest. “I’ve got you…”


    “That was you?” I breathed.


    Lilith nodded, her eyes misting with tears again. “Yes. And I would have swept you away from your father and his new wife that day if they hadn’te running and ordered me to put you down.” Her face briefly darkened before she shook her head, seemingly dispelling the thought, and her smile returned.


    “I spent years seeing you whenever I could,” Lilith went on. “Eventually, I heard word that you were to be married off to Alpha Alexander. I knew it was nothing more than a political marriage that neither of you wanted, and I couldn’t leave you in this big house to suffer on your own.”


    “So you applied for a job,” I whispered.


    She nodded. “Yes. Alexander hired me as a maid, and, well… You know the rest. You and I became very close. For the first time, I finally got to truly be a part of your life. Perhaps not as your mother, but the closest thing to it.”


    Her smile turned wistful. “Despite everything you endured growing up, you turned out to be a beautiful, kind, and intelligent young woman. I was so happy to see you like that that I was okay just being a maid in your eyes.”


    “You were never just a maid to me.” I reached out andced my fingers with hers. “You were a friend. And a mother<b>.</b>”


    Lilith’s eyes went watery again, and she looked away. “But Alexander was so cold to you. It broke my heart seeing you constantly yearn for his affection when he treated you like a stranger. And then your wolf went away, and you found out you were sick… Goddess, it was so hard not to tell you the truth then.”


    “Why didn’t you?” I asked. “I was dying anyway, and you knew I would be reborn. You could have told me.” Lilith shook her head. “I wasn’t certain if the curse would still allow you to be reborn if I told you who I was. I couldn’t risk the consequences, so I continued keeping the secret.” <fn82f3> Latest content published on F?ndNovel</fn82f3>