Twisted Fate

Chapter 67

Astrid

"Sweetheart, are you feeling alright?" My mother is concerned and probably questioning my sanity right now.

I can't really blame her, though. Afterall I am the one who called her asking odd questions about my birth. Like, where was I really born? How old am I? Are you really my mother? That last one threw her for a surprise.

"I'm fine. I just want to know... Am I adopted? You can tell me the truth."

"I spent 16 hours in labor pushing your gigantic head out of my vagina and you have the nerve to ask if you're adopted?!" she sounds slightly offended. "Astrid, what is the deal with these questions? Are you feeling stressed?"

I feel a little bad making my mom worry about me, but ever since my visit to the Railridge hospital, I've been driving myself crazy with these questions. I have no doubt my mother would never lie to me, but Sarah's side of the story was disturbing.

"I'm sorry, mom. I think I'm just a little homesick." I decide to play it off because telling her the truth would only send her down the same downward spiral.

Blair is holding a thick folder and walking in the room when I hang up the phone. She opens the folder and throws it on the spot next to me on the bed.

"Wipe the worry lines from your face. Jonah and Grace are your parents, so stop harassing them with your questions."

"What's this?" I ask, taking out the first piece of paper.

"Hospital records from your birth and all the River Ash females."

Just thinking about it makes my stomach churn and I don't really have the desire to look at them, but curiosity gets the best of me. I skim through the first few pages, the first one dated back to my birthdate. I exhale a deep breath when I see it. In big bold letters are my parents' names and signatures, and although I didn't doubt them, it always feels good to be reassured.

"You didn't see it." Blair crosses her arms and stares at me. She opens up the folder again and points. "Look."

"Yes, I know the records show my parents-"

"No," Blair shakes her head, annoyed. "Look at the difference here." This time, she points at exactly what she wants me to see.

Before my mother's, is the name of the doctor who delivered me- Susan B. I know that doctor is a friend of my mom's because they went to the same college and received their degrees together. She's the same doctor that delivered my siblings as well.

I take the first few pages and compare them to my birth record. Every doctor that has ever delivered the River Ash pups carries the surname of Smith, except mine. I look between Blair and the records spread in my lap, trying to make sense of this file. And then it all hits me.

Thomas Smith's family line was most likely sucked into the bullshit of Jackson's cult, and the lunas of my pack were never supposed to miscarry their daughters. The doctors were purposely killing them at birth.

I scan the records once more to see if I've missed any important details. Something disturbing catches my eye and sends the hairs on the back of my neck to attention. Each female was born 4 days late on the same day- January 13th at 3am.

I was also born 4 days late on January 13th at 3am.

What. The. Fuck?

Sensing my mood change, Blair sits at the edge of the bed when I fall eerily silent. "Your mother wasn't lying, Astrid. But neither was Sarah."