Chapter 122: Blunder
"I don’t do it for myself," she smiled as she looked at Maya. "It’s much easier to do it for you."
Maya stood up from the seat and sat on the bed next to Winnie. She absolutely understood what Winnie meant. How was it so much easier to stand up for another than herself? She had only gone against the High Alpha three times and all three were because of Keenan.
"And I am forever grateful," she replied.
Winnie laughed as she rested her head on Maya’s good shoulder. "You always make it sound like it is the most unbelievable thing to do but your disbelief only confirms my suspicions."
"What do you mean?" She asked, looking down at Winnie.
"Alaina wouldn’t bat an eyelid if her cruelty was paid with kindness. In fact, she believes that’s the appropriate way things are to be done. So I don’t think you did all the bad things she keeps saying you did."
"But I did do them," Maya said with a sad look on her face.
Winnie lifted her head and turned to face Maya. "Will you tell me then?"
Maya winced. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to share, but it would be impossible not to see the irony of her advice. Her situation was different—she wanted to believe but at the same time, one might say she was being unfair.
"It’s a long story," she mumbled.
"We have some time before we have to leave. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to but it wouldn’t be fair to me." She grinned.
Maya laughed. "Considering you won’t take my advice—"
"That’s not true," she cut in and looked away. "I am just scared. What if he rejects me when he does find out why? What if I have ruined it too much to be fixed? My mind is filled with a lot of what-ifs."
"I understand," she replied with a soft look in her eyes. She really did. These were questions she asked herself and why it was imperative that she made significant amends first.
"But I won’t completely dismiss what you said. It does weigh on me more than I admit and a part of me is even hoping Alaina would tell. That would certainly make things easier." She sighed loudly. "Spoken like a true coward. But let’s not digress. I am asking about you now."
Maya twisted her fingers. "I suppose I should start from the beginning."
"Go on."
"I am not the High Alpha’s biological daughter," she mumbled.
Winnie’s eyes widened as she looked at Maya, but she didn’t look completely surprised. "I see."
"You’re not surprised."
"Well, not really. Alaina has said something that makes it sound like she used to know you. She also said you whine so the Alpha would come running. That doesn’t make sense in the current circumstances, so she must be referring to a past event."
"Yes, my clearest memory is her attacking me in an abandoned building and Marcus coming to rescue me."
"Marcus?" Winnie sat up and turned so she was facing Maya, who was resting her back on the headboard. "You used to know the Alpha."
"I’d say a little more than that. You might not remember but I do recall Alaina having a younger sister. I didn’t play with the other kids except Marcus. Asher and Theo always hung around him, so I do have memories of them."
"Wow," she blinked, looking at Maya intensely. "I don’t remember."
"I see. Did something happen?" She asked with concern.
"I am not sure," Winnie replied. "I don’t feel any different but I suppose I wouldn’t remember if I did."
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"You don’t have to apologize. The only sad thing is I can’t remember my family."
"Same. I was brought to the orphanage as a baby," she replied.
"Whoa, how do you remember that?"
"I don’t. Alpha Keenan told me and he did look after me a lot when we were children. Alaina isn’t wrong," she said with a dry laugh, "when I did whine, he came running."
"Wait, one minute. Then what happened? How did you get here?"
"The High Alpha adopted me when I turned five, and I never heard from Alpha Keenan until he appeared in Father’s territory three years ago. That’s when I realized he had been sent to the mines for a decade, and when he escaped, he was caught and brought to Father."
"Wait, someone would have noticed that you’re not the High Alpha’s daughter. You appeared at age five and you would have been missing from the orphanage."
"Father gave strict instructions to the matron to pass on that I died. He said my old name was dead and I’m Maya Olsten now."
Winnie’s eyes widened large enough to burst. "Are you Penn? Penelope?"
"Wait, you remember."
"No, I don’t," she mumbled. "But I do remember three years ago when Alpha Keenan was caught after escaping the mines; she blamed you. He was caught at the orphanage because he came to look for you."
Maya placed her palm over her mouth. "That was why he was caught?"
"I am certain. Alaina threw a fit for days."
"He looked for me. He didn’t recognize me when he was brought to the High Alpha—"
"I doubt he would, if he is convinced you’re dead."
She nodded and bit the inside of her cheeks to keep from crying. "I did recognize him as soon as I saw him. The guards had dragged him to the front of the mansion and I made a fatal mistake. My adoptive sister saw the recognition on my face and..." she paused. "I did do it, you know. I could make all the excuses I want to make, but it wouldn’t change that."
Winnie held her hands, squeezing gently. Maya sniffed and let out a sad laugh.
"But I did try to ease his suffering as much as I could. If I didn’t do it, she made it worse—especially if Father was involved. The wolfsbane incident was truly an accident. I didn’t know the ointment was tainted and Maelle laughed at my blunder." Her hands tightened around Winnie’s. "He nearly died and she just laughed."
Maya realized for the first time just how angry she was. She was so worried about doing things right while dealing with the overwhelming guilt of what she had done, not to mention making sure Keenan didn’t die that her anger was only surfacing now.