Page 96 of Awakening the Beast
“Not now, Jasper,” Vivienne barks, her voice sharp, but I glare at her.
“You know damn well why I’m here. He deserves to know the truth if he doesn’t already,” I say firmly.
Jasper frowns, looking between us, his confusion clear. “Know what?” he asks, leaning casually against the doorframe.
When we all stay silent, he pushes off the frame, taking a step toward me, his eyes zeroing in on my bruised cheek and busted lip. I can see the concern flicker across his face, followed by a wince.
“God, Wren. Lil said it was bad, but Arlo is going to lose his mind when he sees you. Are you alright?”
“I'm fine,” I say, offering him a faint smile.
A big grin suddenly spreads across his lips. “But you fucked them up, right?” he teases.
I smile back, matching his, momentarily lost in the moment of our playful, sibling-like banter, forgetting why I’m here in the first place.
“I—”
My mom suddenly clears her throat, pulling me back into the situation we're in. The atmosphere thickens again, and my smile quickly fades.
“We all need to talk,” I tell Jasper, peering into his blue eyes with seriousness.
His expression shifts as well, the playfulness slipping, and he straightens up, looking between my mom and Vivienne.
“Follow me,” he says, gesturing with a tilt of his head toward another room.
As we walk, my mind races, bracing for whatever truths are about to be revealed. When we enter a dining room, we all stand around in a circle and I shove the adoption papers toward Vivenne.
“What’s that?” Jasper asks.
As she takes them gently, I turn to look at Jasper.
“Arlo’s adoption papers.”
His head jerks back, baffled. “What?”
We all look at Vivienne as she stares down at the papers, clutching them tightly before she lets out a heavy sigh, her eyes lifting to Jasper, almost pleading.
“I was going to tell you, very soon, but I was just trying to find a way.”
“Tell me what, Mom?” He questions, taking the papers from her hands and looking down at them.
“Arlo is your twin.” She confesses and my head snaps around to look at her, my eyes wide.
“What?”we all gasp at the same time.
Vivienne gives a nod, her eyes brimming with tears as she struggles to speak. “Charles made me separate you two at birth,” she chokes out.
My heart pounds in disbelief. Twins? Arlo and Jasper? How did I not see it? They look so much alike, but their ages… it doesn’t make sense.
I shake my head, trying to wrap my mind around this. “But there’s like two or three years between them,” I point out, my tone lined with confusion.
Vivienne shakes her head slowly, her lips trembling. “No. Jasper is Arlo’s age. Almost thirty.”
Jasper lets out a frustrated growl, throwing his head back before turning around and gripping his hair tightly, his body vibrating with anger. “Why, Mom? Why would you do this?”
“I had no choice,” Vivienne whispers, her tears finally spilling over.
“You always have a choice!” Jasper barks, loud with fury.
