He grabs the 1997 births register, and we quickly go through it, when I finally spot him.
“Here! Born on October 3rd, Alec... Blackwood?”
That’s the right birthdate and first name, but why is his last name different? It doesn’t make sense. I know my last name! Bluemoon, Nora Bluemoon! I grab the 2000 births register, thinking I may have missed something. Maybe my name was misspelled, or I was registered as... Blackwood, like Alec. But after checking twice, still nothing. No name even remotely similar to Nora Bluemoon or even Nora Blackwood. There is a Luce Norwood, born in early October, and a Janice Bell in January, but those two are the closest I could find.
“Alec Blackwood,” reads Nathaniel, who’s still looking over the 1997 register. “Firstborn son of Stephen Blackwood and spouse Alice Blackwood, born Alice Frost. It says your parents got married in June the same year.”
I nod. Those are the names of my parents! So why am I not registered under their names like Alec? I can’t believe it!
“Do you know of the Blackwood family?” I ask Tonia.
“There are a few Blackwood, in the Gold Moon and Rising Moon Clans mostly. It’s a rather common last name for werewolves.”
Nathaniel and I both grab each Clan’s register and start looking. I find it first and show them. My parents and brother are indeed in the Gold Moon’s Clan register, along with a long line of ancestors.
“Do you remember living in this Pack?” Asks Nathaniel.
I shake my head.
“No, I was too young. Our parents died when I was seven, and Alec and I lived in the slums until the Jade Moon Clan took us in a few months later... I don’t remember much before that.”
The trauma of my parents’ death is still lingering somewhere in my mind, but I really don’t want to think about it now. All of this is unbelievable! How can I be totally omitted from all of those documents? Did my parents not record my birth? If we were part of the Gold Moon Clan, I should have been registered like any of their pack’s children!
Nathaniel sighs and grabs those documents back. He tries to give me a reassuring smile, but I’m too confused right now.
“Don’t worry, princess, there must be a logical explanation. For now, let’s not focus on this, ok? I will try to look deeper into this. At least we now know your parents’ names, and we are still looking for your brother. Maybe he will be able to help you understand some parts of your story you didn’t know about.”
I nod, but I still don’t know what to believe about Alec. I didn’t mention to anyone yet that my brother tried to sell me to Marcus. I don’t know what Liam understood from my conversation with Liz, but for now, Nathaniel and Damian don’t seem to know about it, and it might be best to keep it that way until we find Alec. He is still my brother, after all. I hope he is still in the area, and we can talk things out.
I get up, trying to process everything that just happened, and Tonia and Nathaniel are thoughtful enough to give me amoment. They start chatting about trivial matters, making it visible they are changing the topic on purpose.
I make myself some herbal tea, trying to calm myself.
“Nora? I still have one more thing to discuss with you, princess.”
I come back to Nathaniel, my cup in one hand, and he smiles as I sit facing him again.
“About?”
“The Jade Moon Clan.”
I had forgotten about that matter. Nathaniel did leave them with an unambiguous warning, and summoned Vincent as the Alpha for a fight in five... No, four days now? This is going to be dangerous. People from other Clans might even come and watch, and the Jade Moon Clan’s turf is exceptionally well located, and thus, envied by others.
“You challenged Vincent for the Alpha position. Are you going to fight him yourself? Do you really want to take over our Clan?” I ask.
He has a sneer on for a second, looking at me with a mysterious expression. What is he thinking now?
“No, Nora. I thought you would fight this Alpha to take over the Jade Moon Clan.”
...Excuse me?
Chapter 6
I keep punching, aiming right at the targets like Tonia told me. I’m sweating like crazy, as I have been at it for two hours now. But I’m genuinely feeling great. I finally got back to the gym, and I really missed our morning workout sessions. She lets me hit a couple more times the target, encouraging me all along. When we finally stop, I’m panting.
“You’re doing great, baby girl!”
“I still feel this is never going to be enough, Tonia. Nathaniel is crazy.”
