Mate **DRAFT. NO LONGER WRITING**

Chapter 9 - TRUTHS

“BECAUSE THE TRUTH IS, IT DOESN’T MATER WHO I USED TO BE. IT’S ALL ABOUT WHO I’VE BECOME.”– UNKNOWN   

Green oak furnished with a brass handle and edges trimmed with brass loomed under the eaves of the cream double storey house. The garden was neat and ordered, the grass short and soft and the pebble path from the fence to the porch was pristine white, just as it looked when she last saw it. She had so many memories here that she had to stop and breathe for a few moments. This was where she grew up. This was where her “adoptive” family lived. This was her home. Her first tooth. Her first birthday. Her first – well, everything. This was where she ran away from. This was where she was accepted. This is where she returned.

She owed the truth to Luke and Jillian. They deserved an explanation as to why she abandoned them. They had done everything for her and she hadn’t done anything. They need to know why. Why she ran. What happened on the day she changed? What she’s been doing for ten months.  How she’d been earning her living.

And she need to know the truth. Their version. Where they got her from. Why they kept her parentage a secret. And more.

It’s now or never. She breathed. Big breath in. Half a breath out. She lifts her hand and raps on the door. She hears light footsteps before she hears her.

"Hold on! I’m coming!” She could hear her breathing as she ran down the stairs. Short and rhythmic. She sensed her hand on the handle before she turned it. The door opened and she was met with an opened mouth and wide eyes. They were silent for a few counts.

“Hi Mum.” She greeted nervously. She was suddenly bear hugged. Jillian was crying into her shoulder, murmuring “my girl’s home. My girl’s home”. She hugged her back, burying her face in her neck. That’s when she finally noticed what she smelt like: strawberries and origan.

She smelt masculine aftershave and pine sap. Heard heavy footsteps walk down the stairs. And heard his deep, warm voice.

“Jill? Who is it?” Luke asked before he rounded the corner into the doorway. She lifts her head and smiles shyly at him. His hazel eyes glistened with tears as he embrace her through Jillian’s hug.

“Where have you been? We’ve been searching for you -” Jill broke the group hug.

“OK Mum! A little too cliché.” She interrupts, stepping back and holding her hands up palms out. Her and her cliché-ness is just freaky – especially when it’s like she knows every word in the fricken cliché book! She sighed.

“I know. I know. But it’s hard for a mother when her little girl goes running off without an explanation. I just love you so much and it’s scary not knowing where you are.”

“You love me?” Yes she knew that she loved her. She loves her, but she just had to clear up on this snippet of info. Because she didn’t know what had changed.      

“Of course I love you sweetie. I have since the day you were born.” She flinched. She was telling the truth all bar one sentence. She knows she got her at five months from an orphanage in North California.

“You’re lying.” She whispered, earning me shocked looks. “You didn’t know me when I was born.”

The wind whistled. No one talked. No one moved. Tears were visible in Jill’s eyes, threatening to spill over. Ice, dead flesh and coffee. It filled her sinuses, bringing an unwanted chill up her spine. Her heart picked up a notch and her wolf instincts came to the surface.

“My sister’s a dog? When did this happen? You didn’t get bit or anything did you?” She’d recognise that voice anywhere. Sure, she hadn’t seen him in three years but she still remember him. She always wondered why he didn’t visit often and why he moved a lot. And now she knows. He’s a vampire. She flips around, growling through her teeth.