Page 99 of Awakening the Beast
My mom shifts, locking eyes with Vivienne as if they’ve been holding onto some ancient grudge. “She’s my step-cousin,” my mom says flatly.
Jasper gasps audibly, but I just shake my head, feeling like I'm caught in some kind of nightmare I can't wake up from. It just gets worse.
“When we were younger, my grandfather—” Vivienne begins.
“My grandfather,” my mom cuts in with a glare that could cut glass.
Vivienne rolls her eyes in frustration but quickly composes herself. “Ours,” she emphasizes before her focus snaps back to me. “When he died, I was supposed to take the title of Ghost.”
The confession hits me like a sledgehammer, and I glance at my mom, but she doesn’t flinch, she just stares at me.
“But I made mistakes,” Vivienne continues. “I exposed myself too much in the wrong kind of crime and because of that, the title was handed to the next in line.” She gestures towards my mom with a reluctant wave of her hand. “Hazel.”
Mom’s eyes move to Vivienne, cold and steady. “And for good reason,” she adds with a scowl, daring Vivienne to continue.
Vivienne straightens her posture, but there’s a weariness now. “Hazel and I never really got along. She told me I wasn’t fit to be involved with the family or any part of the high Elite. So I left California. Moved to New York and fell into the lower, but darker side of the Elite world under a new name... because I couldn’t escape the pull of crime. It’s naturally in my blood. It's what I was born into.”
My mom’s expression hardens further. “And why did I tell you that you couldn’t be part of the family, Cleo? Why did I forbid you from becoming an official Elite?”
Vivienne’s shoulders sag, the defeat clear in her posture. “I had faults,” she murmurs. “I was young, naive.”
“Mistakes?” my mom barks, her eyes narrowing dangerously. “You almost exposed the entire family—our heritage and power—to the world. You were reckless, arrogant, and careless. You were never fit to be Ghost.”
I stand there, my head lowered, trying to piece everything together. Everytime they say something, it stings, because I know deep down that every word they've said is the cold, hard truth. This is beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
Jasper now uncomfortable breaks the silence that followed, “So... now what happens?”
I sigh heavily, lifting my eyes to meet his. “Arlo. That’s what happens,” I reply in defeat. “He’s coming home, and I am not lying to him any longer.”
I glance around the room, making sure everyone understands.
“Be ready for his wrath. He’s not going to be happy about this. Not any of it.”
After everything is said and done, and we’ve pieced together a plan to tell Arlo everything and deal with Carmella, I find myself back at my mom’s house, packing up my things to return home. The load of the day is still intense on my shoulders, but there’s something else eating away at me—something unfinished.
As I circle around the bed, my eyes land on the laptop. It’s still open, the download now complete. I hesitate for a moment as if it senses what’s coming. Gently, I lower myself onto the edge of the mattress, feeling it dip beneath me. My fingers hover over the pad before I swipe, finding the video file waiting for me.
I press play.
The screen flickers to life, and as the footage unfolds, I find myself holding my breath the entire time. At first, I’m not sure what I’m seeing, but soon, the reality crashes down around me. Each second feels like a punch to the gut, each movement more unbearable than the last. Tears well up in my eyes, and before I even realize it, they fall down my cheeks. My hand shoots up to cover my mouth, muffling the sobs that threaten to escape.
My heart clenches, the pain so sharp it feels like it might tear me apart. When the video finally comes to an end, I’m left in a state of complete shock, frozen in place. The emptiness that follows is harrowing, but inside my mind, everything is spiralling—too fast, too much to process.
With trembling fingers, I close the laptop, but the images, they’re seared into my mind. I sit there, staring into space, going over it and with every passing second, I fall deeper into sadness and anger both at the same time.
This… this is going to change everything.
It’s the evening, and I’m pacing the living room, my nerves on edge as me and Jasper wait for Arlo to arrive. Everything we’ve found out makes me feel sick to my stomach and my mind reels with endless questions: How will he react? How will this change everything? Can he come back from all this? Jasper sits on the edge of the couch, his head lowered in his hands, clearing feeling how I am.
The sound of the front door creaking open freezes me in place and my gaze locks onto the threshold, my pulse racing in my ears.
“Wren?” Arlo’s voice echoes from the entrance, and instantly, my heart clenches.
When he rounds the corner, our eyes meet, and something inside me shatters. A sob rips from my chest, uncontrollable,and before I know it, I’m running toward him. As soon as I’m close, I throw myself into his arms, wrapping myself around him. He dips slightly, catching me, his strong arms cloaking around me.
He holds me tight, but I can feel his confusion, the way his muscles tense as he inhales deeply, his nose buried in my hair.
“What’s wrong?”
