#Chapter 5: What’s Mine is Yours

My eyes widened as I looked at the furious alpha. He was breathing heavily, his hand encircled tight around Patti's wrist. He pulled her up into his arms against his chest. She settled into his arms like she belonged there, although she still stared at me with the same love she always did. For a moment I was struck by the same similarities between them. Her hair was darker than his, her skin paler, but their eyes… their eyes were a near identical match. I tried to form a coherent thought. What on earth was he talking about? Patti was my daughter and had been for the past five years. "Why are you being so mean to my mommy?" Patti asked, looking up at Lionel with wide, innocent eyes. "What?" Lionel asked with a furrowed brow. He looked at Patti, with an expression that was somehow both befuddled and stern. "Please don't be angry with me." Patti said, her voice cracking as he looked down at her with a frown. Tears welled up within her big brown eyes and I wanted nothing more than to rush forward and grab her from him. "Alpha Lionel please," I begged. "There must be some sort of misunderstanding. Please, put her down." He scowled at me once again, holding Patti tighter to his chest. "This isn't Vera, this is my adoptive daughter Patti." I pleaded with him, an embarrassing amount of desperation in my voice. I didn’t care that he was the most powerful man in the park.He couldn't take my Patti from me. I wouldn’t let him. I was wolf-less but I had nails and teeth and I loved her more than anything. "Patti? No this is-" Lionel blinked in confusion. He looked down at my daughter with a strange look. His brown eyes swept over Patti's face, and I was forced to acknowledge again the fact that they did have the same big brown eyes. There were a few similarities between them. I had never seen Vera, but I understood how he could've mistaken Patti for his own flesh and blood. He brushed a strand of dark hair out of her face. "Yes, you.. you're not Vera." He mused quietly. He didn’t say anything as he glanced up at me, putting Patti down. "That means that Vera is still missing." He said, coldly. "Start the search again!" He shouted harshly to the various employees who had been watching the confrontation, silently. "Oh!" Patti hit her forehead with her hand. "We were playing hide and seek!" She exclaimed. "Hide and seek?" I had been holding my breath for so long, I was lightheaded. I felt almost dizzy with the whirlwind of activity. "When I heard you calling for me, I forgot what I was doing! I was winning too." Patti sighed with a pout. "Vera!" Patti started shouting, running back into the house. "Vera! Come out, come out!" "Vera, no more hide and seek!" Lionel called, as we started following Patti. We followed Patti as she ran through the house. She navigated the halls with a strange confidence, as if she'd known them her whole life. It made me feel odd, watching her so in tune with this strange environment. Finally we landed just outside of the laundry room. Patti took in a deep breath, sniffing the air. She pointed to a laundry cart, full of white sheets. "There!" Patti exclaimed excitedly. "Vera!" She rushed over to the laundry cart, grabbing the sheets and blankets and throwing them onto the floor. I cringed slightly as the hall started filling with dirty laundry. But Patti was right. After a few minutes, Patti grabbed a blanket and uncovered Vera, a little girl that looked startlingly like my adopted daughter. Vera was sleeping peacefully in the sheets. Patti giggled. "I win, Vera!" Vera stirred, waking with a frown. "Yeah, but it took you so long that I fell asleep. I don't know if that counts." "It definitely counts!" Patti argued lightly, grabbing Vera's hand and helping her out of the laundry bin. "Oh." Vera yawned as she climbed out of the cart. "Hi daddy, hi Patti's mommy." "Vera, darling, you scared me." Lionel sighed, kneeling beside her and hugging her tightly. Vera rolled her eyes, but hugged him back. Lionel looked between the girls, before looking at me suspiciously. "Girls, can you please go play in Vera's room? I need to talk to Patti's mommy." The girls exchanged a look. There was something mischievous in that look. They looked back to Lionel, suddenly looking extremely innocent once again. "Okay daddy." Vera said, smiling sweetly. "Come on, Patti! I wanna show you my stuffed animals." "Okay!" Patti grinned. Vera took her hand and started leading her along. "Bye mommy!" Patti said, waving at me as she and Vera left. Lionel let out a heavy breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Come with me please." He said. I swallowed. "Alright." I nodded. My heart was racing as he led me through the winding halls of the mansion. I couldn't help the deep sense of dread that filled me. This didn't feel like it was going to end well for me. Finally we arrived in his study, clean and bright. He fell into the chair behind the desk. He looked at me like I was a wild animal that he had cornered. "Please sit down, Ms Lupa." He said, his voice calm and cold. I did as I was told, sitting in one of the smaller chairs across from the desk. "Patti is my daughter. She must be. Not only do she and Vera look the same, but their scents- they're identical." I felt like I stopped breathing. It made sense that they were twins. Nothing else made any sense though. "They must be twins. There's no other explanation, but I don't understand..." He shook his head. "How has Patti been with you this whole time?" He asked. His eyes didn't hold condemnation, but he was clearly suspicious. "I- she just was left on my doorstep five years ago. Five years yesterday, actually." I said. "I didn't do anything wrong, I just found her and I couldn't have left her. And she was so sick, no one else wanted to adopt her. I love her so much." “What do you mean sick?” Lionel demanded, voice harsh. “She was born in her wolf form.” I responded. “When I first took her to the doctor, they said she might never transform into a human. She has a regiment of medicines she needs to take and transforming takes a lot out of her.” There was a knock on the door. "Enter." Lionel responded, eyes not leaving mine. "Here's that file, you asked for." A blonde woman entered the room, holding a thin manila folder. She handed it to him. "Thank you." He nodded, dismissing her. He opened the file, eyes scanning the documents within with an impressive speed. "Your file is clean. Your credit is weak, but the adoption papers are in order and you haven't had any run ins with law enforcement." I blinked at him, baffled. "Of course. Do you really think I would steal a child?" He sighed, leaning forward, his eyes locked intently onto mine. "Thank you for everything you've done for Patti. It's clear that she adores you and I'd hate to separate you--But I think there are only two potential solutions to this problem." "I can have security escort you out and have a restraining order at your door in two weeks, meaning you can no longer come within five hundred feet of my daughters." He said. I could feel my heart as it shattered into a thousand pieces, like the vase from earlier. "Or?" I asked, my voice small and desperate. "Or you could be a nanny for both of the girls for the next six months."