Chapter 198: Combination

Azura’s POV

I opened my mouth to speak, but the words died in my throat.

I stopped entirely, my lips parting as a cold realization washed over me.

What Aunt Ellisa had said was completely right.

Looking at it from their side, my story sounded absolutely insane.

There was no logical way a three-month-old baby would have known everything I knew about my parents.

I shouldn’t have remembered the Zanzia Pack, the blazing fire of that terrible night, or the names of Alpha Kealen and Luna Helen.

To them, I was a stranger dropping dead names like a ghost haunting their peaceful afternoon.

I paused, letting the heavy silence stretch across the dusty clearing.

I looked at Ellisa, forcing my trembling legs to hold me upright against the weight of their disbelief.

"I know it sounds stupid," I said, my voice barely a whisper that trembled in the cool air.

"But I know because I saw it. I lived it."

I swallowed hard, the lump in my throat feeling like a thick stone.

My eyes stung as I looked between the two twins, desperately wishing I had a token, a necklace, or anything to prove the blood running in my veins.

"I am not forcing you to believe me," I added, making my tone even softer as I let my hands fall limply to my sides.

"I just want you to know... you are my family. The only blood I have left."

Aunt Ellisa went quiet. She did not say a single word, her posture turning as rigid as stone. Her sharp green eyes didn’t leave my face.

She just watched me with a heavy, intense stare that felt like she was trying to peer directly into my soul to find a lie.

When she couldn’t find one, her gaze shifted to her sister, tracking the tears that were currently falling from both Aunt Alisa and me.

"All my life, I have wanted a family," I whispered, my voice breaking slightly as a fresh wave of heat spilled over my eyelashes.

"People I could look at and say, yes, I am related to them. People who look like me."

Standing just a few feet away, Torin suddenly slapped his palm right against his forehead, the loud smack echoing through the quiet yard.

"Excuse me!" he barked, his voice coming out loud and dramatic as he stepped closer to me, his features twisting into an offended frown.

"What exactly do you consider us? We are your pack. We are your family!"

I turned my head to look at him, seeing the genuine hurt on his face, with Axel nodding right along beside him.

A tiny, sad smile pulled at the corners of my lips, though my eyes remained heavy with tears.

"I know," I replied softly, reaching out a hand to briefly touch his forearm to calm him down. "But I wanted someone I could say I am related to by blood. Someone from the beginning."

Hearing that, Aunt Alisa stepped away from her twin sister.

She left Ellisa’s side and walked a few inches closer, her eyes glued to me.

She was just looking at me now, watching every twitch of my face, waiting for me to drop another piece of the past.

"I don’t know how to make you believe me," I said, my voice cracking completely as I looked up at them.

"I don’t have physical proof. I don’t have a royal seal or a matching birthmark. All I have is the truth, and that is what I am telling you right now."

I pressed my lips together into a tight, hard line, trying to stop the pathetic trembling of my chin.

Silas and Rhydor stood still behind me, their heavy presence the only thing keeping the air from collapsing under the pressure.

"If you think I am lying... if you think I am just pretending to be someone I am not to gain something..." I paused, my voice dropping so low it was barely audible in the breeze. "Then I am sorry for bothering you."

My heart ached so badly it felt like a physical weight crushing my ribs.

I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to force the tears back into my skull, but it was completely useless.

They kept pouring down my cheeks, hot and thick, ruining whatever strength I had left.

Unable to take the painful silence any longer, I turned around on my heel.

I couldn’t stand there and watch them walk away from me first.

I started to walk away, my boots dragging heavily through the dirt as I headed back toward the pack house.

"How old are you?"

Aunt Ellisa’s sharp voice rang out from behind me, stopping me dead in my tracks.

I paused, my back still turned to them.

The question felt completely random, cutting through the heavy grief of the moment.

I turned around slowly, my brow knitting together in deep confusion as I looked back at her.

"What did you say?" I asked, blinking away the moisture so I could see her clearly.

Aunt Ellisa placed both of her hands firmly on her hips, her posture completely stiff as she stared across the clearing at me.

"I said, ’ How old are you?"

"I am 19," I answered slowly, wondering what my age had to do with anything.

"I will be 20 in three months."

Ellisa narrowed her eyes, studying my face, my posture, and the way I held my chin up even while crying.

"If someone bullied you, what would you do?"

I blinked, completely thrown off by the strange interrogation.

"Pardon?"

"It is a simple question, girl," Ellisa snapped impatiently, tapping her foot against the dirt.

"If someone bullies you, what do you do?"

I took a moment to think, looking into her fierce green eyes.

My chest expanded with a sudden surge of pride, a trait that had kept me alive through years of absolute hell.

"If someone bullies me... I fight back. I always fight back. All my life, I have been a fighter. I don’t bow down to anyone who tries to break me."

Aunt Ellisa gave a single, slow nod, her expression shifting from irritation to a strange, deep curiosity.

"If you are given a massive responsibility to carry, with no time to enjoy yourself, what would you do?"

"Would you abandon the duty? Or would you just go with it and suffer?"

I stood up straighter, my voice becoming steady and firm as I answered.

"If I want to be a true leader one day, I cannot abandon a responsibility that is meant for me. That is cowardly."

"But at the same time, I cannot let it take over my life completely. I get to choose when I can be free. When I can just be me, and not a ruler."

I paused, taking a breath, locking my eyes with hers.

"I will go with both," I stated firmly.

"I don’t want to choose just one side. I can never do a boring job without adding some fun to it."

Aunt Ellisa just stared at me.

The impatient, tough mask she had been wearing completely shattered.

Her face was totally shocked, her lips parting as her green eyes went incredibly wide.

She looked like she had just seen a dead person walking right out of the forest.

"Kai," she whispered, the name escaping her lips like a quiet gasp.

Aunt Alisa turned toward her twin sister immediately.

Her red, tear-filled eyes snapped to Ellisa, her expression turning sharp and urgent.

"That is not Kai," Alisa said quickly, her voice high with emotion as she looked back over at me.

She studied the curve of my nose and the shape of my jaw.

"But... she does look exactly like Helen. A little bit around the eyes."

Aunt Ellisa sniffled loudly, her hand trembling slightly against her hip.

"No. She does not look like Helen. Look at the way she stands. Look at that stubborn chin. That is Kai."

Alisa’s head moved in a slow nod, her fingers coming up to rub her nose as she tried to keep herself from completely breaking down in front of the Alphas.

Her voice was incredibly shaky as she spoke.

"Yes... I know she does. The attitude is all him."

She was holding her tears back with everything she had, her chest heaving as she kept her eyes glued to me.

"She looks like Kai. But if you look closely, past the dirt and the anger, you can see Helen’s features in her smile."

Ellisa seemed to think about it for a second, her gaze softening into something deeply nostalgic.

"Yes. She has Helen’s face, but with Kai’s ridiculous personality. He always said the same thing about duty and fun."

Suddenly, both sisters turned their heads sideways at the same time.

It was a completely identical, perfectly matched movement that only twins could do.

"Yes," they said together, their voices blending into one perfect harmony. "She definitely has Kai’s personality."

Aunt Alisa took a sudden step forward, her whole body shaking as she closed the distance between us.

"Azura?" she breathed out, her voice cracking into a million broken pieces.

I felt a massive sob tear through my throat, but I forced myself to smile through the pouring tears.

I nodded my head repeatedly, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird.

"Yes, aunty," I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.

"It’s me. I’m your Azura."

That was all she needed to hear.

Aunt Alisa closed the remaining space between us in a flash, throwing her arms around me and pulling me into a hug so incredibly tight that the breath was knocked right out of my lungs.

She buried her face in my neck, crying loudly as she pressed a warm, desperate kiss right against my forehead.

"Oh my God," she sobbed, her hands gripping the back of my shirt as if I would disappear if she let go.

"I thought I would never see you again. We thought you were gone forever."

She held me even closer, her frame shaking violently against mine as the years of hidden grief finally spilled out.

"I never got the chance to see you as a baby. I never got to hold you in the nursery. I had so many things I wanted to do with you... so many gifts I wanted to buy for my niece... and none of them came true."

I buried my face deep into her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

My entire body was trembling from the sheer shock of finally being held by someone who shared my blood.

My hands gripped the rough fabric of her dress, holding onto her like a lifeline.

"My baby," Alisa whispered, her hand moving up to gently stroke my hair, untangling the messy strands with pure motherly love.

"My little Azura."

Aunt Ellisa was not part of the hug.

She was still standing a few feet away, her arms down at her sides as she just stood there watching us.

Her face was tense, her jaw clenched tight as she tried to maintain her tough, emotionless exterior.

I slowly pulled back from Alisa’s warm chest, though I kept one of my hands locked in hers.

I turned my head to look directly at Ellisa, my small voice sounding incredibly vulnerable in the open yard.

"Aunt..." I whispered, the word feeling heavy and beautiful on my tongue.

"Do you believe me now?"

Ellisa let out a long, slow exhale through her teeth, her shoulders slumping just a fraction.

"I am not the type of person that gets emotional," she said, her voice sounding rough and scratchy.

"I don’t do the crying. But I will admit that you have a way of..."

"Look at you, talking about emotion," Alisa suddenly interrupted, cutting her sister off with a watery laugh as she looked over my shoulder.

"What exactly are those things running down your face, Ellisa?"

Ellisa frowned, looking confused as she reached up a trembling hand to touch her own cheek.

She pulled her fingers away and looked down at them, seeing the clear, wet moisture gleaming on her skin.

"Oh my God," Ellisa whispered, her eyes widening in genuine shock as she stared at her wet fingers.

"What have you done to me?"

A genuine smile broke through my tears.

I stepped completely away from Alisa and walked right up to Ellisa, wrapping my arms firmly around her stiff waist before she could try to push me away.

"I didn’t do anything," I murmured, burying my face against her shoulder. "You just don’t let your emotions flow. You keep them locked up too tight."

Ellisa’s arms stayed wide open for a few seconds.

She did not hug me back at first, her body completely frozen like a statue as she processed the warmth of my embrace.

But then, slowly, the wall she had built around herself completely collapsed.

Her arms dropped down, wrapping around my back with a fierce, desperate strength.

Heavy, quiet tears fell from her eyes.

She didn’t let out a loud sob like Alisa, but her shoulders shook as she wept silently into my hair.

"All I ever wanted... when we left the pack that day... was to see you grow up," Ellisa whispered right into my ear, her voice thick with a lifetime of regret.

She held me even tighter, her fingers digging into my skin.

"Today, I am finally seeing the woman version of you. I missed the baby one so much. I always wanted to see how cute she looked in her cradle."

I pulled back slightly after a long moment, wiping my damp eyes as I looked at both of them.

Standing between them, I realized they were both significantly taller than me, standing with the proud, elegant posture of true Zanzia women.

"Thank you for coming to this pack," I said, a bright, happy smile finally breaking across my face. "If you hadn’t come to deliver that craft to Axel, I would never have gotten to see you. I would have spent my whole life searching the territories."

Alisa reached out her hand again, her fingers gently touching the side of my head.

She traced the unique white streak running through my dark hair, her eyes filled with wonder.

"You are the two things we missed the most in this entire world," Alisa whispered, her voice barely audible as the wind blew through the trees.

She looked deep into my eyes, seeing the ghost of the family she had lost so long ago.

"A perfect combination of my brother and Helen."