Gray Valley

t h i r t y - t h r e e

I EXCHANGED GLANCES WITH MARTYN. His face was full of disbelief, as he watched Mary embrace their father, without any hesitation, whatsoever.

"If Mary were still here," Martyn had said the day before. "She would be on my side... You know that."

Martyn had been so sure that she had left due to her hatred for their father... But, by the familiarity she welcomed him with, it was clear that it wasn't the case. It would appear that Martyn didn't know his sister well enough.

"My lovely daughter," Michael sighed gently into her hair. "I was wondering when you'd come back to me."

"I'm sorry for the delay father," she apologised, stepping away from him. "My search took a little longer than we had anticipated."

"A search for what?"

"I moved between various Gray Wolf packs, searching for a cure the Brown Wolf illness..." she explained.

"You were looking for a cure?" Martyn inquired. "To prolong the life of a Brown Wolf, right?"

The happiness seemed to return to his face. The fact that she was looking for a cure seemed to reassure him that Mary was on his side.

But I knew better.

"And you'd do something like that?" I asked incredulously. "For the Brown Wolves? It sounded to me as though you hated them."

Martyn may be quick to believe her, but he hadn't seen the way she treated Anna. He loved his sister too much to see how twisted she was.

"I have my reasons," she smirked. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"You mean the word of your father." A low growl escaped her lips, as she turned to glare at me, the gray in her eyes darkening considerably.

"What?" Martyn stared at me, shocked.

"Lyn, what's going on?" Liam's voice echoed in my mind. "What do you mean by that?"

"It would appear that Maryanne is a lot more like Michael than you thought, Martyn," I answered. "You see, like your father, Maryanne despises Brown Wolves."

"B-but, Mary, I t-thought you left because o-of him..." His voice shakily trailed off. "Isn't that what you told me?"

"Not exactly, Martyn. I said that I left for him; not because of him."

"Growing up, Mary would often argue with Michael... I, too, was convinced that she left because of her hatred for him, but..."

"It seems they had many people fooled," I muttered. "I don't know what reason they had for purposely hiding their relationship, but they did... And they did it well."

"So, you don't care for Brown Wolves?" Martyn was still struggling to accept his sister's deception.

"Why should I?" she snarled. Martyn stared at her, his face full of hurt.

"Did you end up finding a cure?" Liam asked her. She didn't reply but turned back to face her father.

"I wish to speak with my father, alone."

"Very well," he replied grimly, his face retuning to its usual flat expression. "Alpha Grayson, if none of you have any objections, I will be taking my daughter to somewhere quiet to speak to her alone."

Liam stepped forward, looking as though he wanted to disagree, but I blocked him with my arm.

"Go ahead," I told him.

"But, Lyn-" he began.

"Just let them go," I gritted out.

The moment they left the room, Martyn sunk to his knees, tears falling down his cheeks. Although I wanted to comfort him, I stayed back.

Sometimes, it was best to get it out.