Chapter 118
Evelyn’s POV
I felt all the blood drain from my face the moment I heard those words.
Oh, boy. Was this the kind of weekend I was, unknowingly, in for?
Apart from wanting to take a short break from the ongoing drama within Kane’s pack, I was really hoping that I could learn more about who my mother was back then. More specifically, her hidden will.
Brooke and Angie must have picked up on my tense disposition and gently ushered me through the main hall. “Come along, Evie. Let’s get you settled,” Angie said.
“Yes, there are a few people whom I want you to meet,” Cheryl said with a smile. “I’m going to have Marshall take your bag to your room.”
She looped my hand into the crook of her arm and led us into the formal living room. The place was tastefully adorned with soft colors and plush couches. Small groups of women were chatting throughout, each holding a drink and talking adamantly.
Brooke handed me a glass of what appeared to be rosé. I gently began sipping at it, hoping that it would calm my
nerves.
“Evelyn, this here is Victoria and Rachel,” Cheryl introduced. “They also knew your mother when she was younger. Way before she married your father.”
Both women gazed at me with disbelief.
“Evelyn? My Goddess,” Rachel whispered.
“You really are a splitting image of your mother,” Victoria hummed.
My mouth grew dry. “R-Really?”
I was still considered a child when my mother passed. As time moves forward, I’d worry that I’d eventually forget how she looked when she was still with me.
“Oh, no question about it.”
“We still remember when she had you,” Angie commented. “The two of you were inseparable. Always going everywhere together.”
I let out a shaky laugh, not wanting my emotions to get the better of me so soon. “Yes, I can remember trailing after her everywhere. Some of the staff members used to call her little shadow.”
A sweet memory I’d almost forgotten entirely. When my mother passed, it was like all the color and life had been stolen from that house, Smiles were barely seen, and everyone was barely scraping by.
“We could hardly believe the news when she announced that she was going to marry your father,” Angie remarked.
Cheryl shook her head and took a large sip of her wine. “That poor excuse for a man did nothing but suck the life from your mother.”
“Do you remember how insecure he was that he’d been married to an Alpha woman?” Rachel asked. “Goddess, you would have thought the man had been stripped of his title and sent to live out the rest of his days in a far-off
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“I’m afraid that not much has changed in that regard,” I muttered over the rim of my glass.
Granted, it wasn’t in my nature to talk ill of others. Surely, not so openly. It wasn’t exactly a lie, though. My father had made his feelings toward me known since I was a child. He resented the fact that I had a close relationship with my mother.
The ladies around me broke out in soft laughter while nodding their heads in agreement.
“Now that, I have no doubt.”
“It’s absolutely heartbreaking to see that pack fall to ruin at the hands of your father,” Brooke noted.
“He destroyed everything that your mother spent her whole life building,” Victoria chastised.
I never wanted to harbor such hatred toward my own father. But everything these women were saying was true. My father wasn’t the alpha my original pack deserved. He didn’t know the first thing about running a pack.
I sensed a sudden shift in the energy of the room. It became a bit tense. Both Angie and Brooke gave knowing looks to Cheryl, who took control of the conversation.
She cleared her throat. “Not to fully change the subject, but we fear that you may have fallen into the same situation as your mother did, Evelyn.”
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