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."