The fluorescent lights overhead buzzed harshly, the harsh light adding to the sterile atmosphere of the room. Dean sat stiffly at the bedside of Ethan, his gaze on the floor. Ryina stood in front of him, her chest pounding with excitement. She had rehearsed this argument a thousand times in her mind, but there was nothing in the world to ready her for the reality of it.
"Dean," she said, her voice trembling slightly, "I need to talk to you about something."
Dean's gaze met hers, his expression grim. "What is it, Ryina? Is it about the way Ethan's being treated?"
"It's about Ethan," Ryina continued, her voice softening. "But it's not about his condition. It's about. Lydia."
Dean's posture braced. "What about Lydia?
Ryina took a deep breath. "I learned something about Ethan's heritage. The DNA tests confirmed it—he's not your biological son."
For a second, Dean remained silent. His eyes widened slightly, and his jaw clenched. "What are you telling me?" he said softly.
"I'm telling you that Ethan is not yours," Ryina replied, her voice cracking. "The DNA isn't compatible. Lydia was aware of this the entire time and never told you."
Dean's face turned white. He leaped to his feet, sending his chair crashing to the floor. "You mean you're saying Lydia lied to me?" he bellowed, his voice rising.
"Yes," Ryina said, her heart breaking for him. "She's lied to you all these years. She led you to believe Ethan was your son when he's not.".
Dean's fists were clenched at his sides. "I have to see her," he announced, his anger quivering just below the surface.
"Dean, wait," Ryina caught at his arm. "She isn't going anywhere. Let's talk about this first."
But Dean had already turned in the direction of the door. Ryina kept pace beside him, her heels echoing down the vacant corridor. When they arrived outside Lydia's room, Dean did not knock. He flung the door wide, his anger evident.
Lydia lifted her head from her stool beside the window, her neatly manicured fingernails drumming against the phone in her hand. Her poise momentarily broke, and Ryina caught a glimmer of guilt in her eyes.
"Dean," Lydia said, laying down the phone. "What's the matter?"
Dean held up the folder Ryina had thrust into his hand. "Explain this," he asked, his voice low and threatening.
Lydia turned white as she read the folder's contents. She stood up slowly, her back rigid. "I can explain," she asserted, her voice not as confident as it normally was.
"Explain what?" Dean sneered. "How you lied to me all those years? How you let me raise a child who isn't even mine? How you stood there and let me love a son who never was mine?"
Tears welled up in Lydia's eyes but she blinked them back. "I did it for the pack," she answered, her voice breaking. "You needed an heir. The elders were pressuring you into taking another mate. I didn't have anything else to do."
"You had a choice," Dean bellowed, his voice building. "You could have been honest with me. Instead, you lied to me, you used me, you manipulated me into raising a child who's not mine. Do you know how that makes me feel?"
Lydia glanced over at Ryina, standing silently in the doorway, her heart pounding. "I'm sorry," Lydia whispered. "I'm so sorry."
Dean laughed, a bitter, unfunny sound. "Sorry? You think sorry makes this better? You think sorry wipes away years of deceit and betrayal?"
Ryina moved forward, her hand on Dean's arm. "Dean," she said gently, "we have to discuss this. Lydia made mistakes, but Ethan still needs us. He's ill, and we need to concentrate on making him well."
Dean stepped back from his contact. "I have to be alone," he said, his voice tense.
Dean departed the room, and Ryina felt a rush of helplessness. Lydia sank into her chair, shoulders hunched in defeat. "What have I done?" she whispered.
Ryina said nothing. She couldn't. Because at that moment, she realized that the truth, painful as it was, had finally come out. And now they all had to face the consequences.
Dean paced back and forth along the hospital corridor, his mind reeling. Lydia's deception was weighing him down like a physical force. How long had she maintained this falsehood? How long had she deceived him when she loved a child who was not even hers?
He caught himself, his feet pausing, coming in short gasps for air. Ethan's face, so pure, passed through his mind. The boy he had raised as his own. The boy he loved as his own. And now, everything he had believed was a lie.
Dean's fists clenched at his sides. He needed to get out of there. He needed space to process what had just happened. But as he turned to go, a voice stopped him.
"Dean!" Ryina's voice cut through his frustration. She rushed over to him, her face creased with concern. "Dean, wait."
Dean turned back to her, his expression cautious. "What is it you want, Ryina?"
I just… I wanted to make sure you're all right," she said, her voice soft. "This must be terribly difficult for you."
Dean laughed roughly. "Difficult? You don't have a clue. Everything I believed I knew about my family is a lie. How am I supposed to be all right with that?
Ryina experienced a twinge of sadness in her heart. She reached out, her hand tangling against his arm. "I'm so sorry, Dean. I know this isn't easy, but you don't have to go through it by yourself."
Dean stepped back, not wishing to be touched. "I have to be alone, Ryina. I need to try to get some notion of what to do next."
Ryina's eyes filled with tears. "I understand. But please, don't exclude me. I want to help you."
Dean's eyes softened slightly, but he shook his head. "Not now. I need time to think about this."
He turned on his heel and strode off and left Ryina standing alone in the hall. She watched him go, her heart heavy with the realisation that their lives had been forever changed by Lydia's deception.
In Lydia's room, there was a stifling silence. Lydia sat rigidly in her chair, her face pale and expressionless. Ryina stood at the door, unsure of what to say.
"Why did you tell him?" Lydia asked at last, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Because he had a right to know the truth," Ryina said, her voice firm though she was torn with conflicting feelings. "You weren't entitled to keep this from him.".
Lydia's eyes filled with tears. "I thought it was for the best. I thought it would keep the pack together."
"And look where it's gotten you," Ryina said, with a bitter edge. "Dean is hurt, Ethan is sick, and now everything is going to hell."
Lydia put her hands over her face. "I didn't want it to go like this.".
Ryina let out a deep breath. "I know. But lying never does anything. It just makes everything worse in the long run."
Lydia had glared up at her, red and puffy-eyed. "What am I going to do now?"
Ryina hesitated. "You tell Dean the truth. You face the consequences of what you've done. And you try to make it right."
Lydia nodded, though her expression was one of utter hopelessness. "I don't know if he'll ever forgive me."
"Perhaps not," replied Ryina softly. "But it's the first step towards healing."