3. Forty- four

I had no idea what to say. It all seemed unreal. How had Addison out of all people helped me get out of the clutches of the rogues? Of course, I had known that I would soon get away from the rogues and come back home safely, but I had imagined Harper and Ethan rescuing me. Why did she help me in the first place?

I turned to look at Addison to know the answer to the very question when the doors of the pack house opened and I looked at Natalie and Samantha standing on the threshold, their eyes slowly taking me in, making sure that I was unharmed and safe. Then their eyes landed on Addison beside me and I noticed the slight stiffening of Samantha's shoulders. Aaron, who happened to be Addison's brother was the reason why Aiden had been fighting for his life, and best to my knowledge, he was still in the hospital regaining his strength. It must have gutted him to stay away from the battle between the pack warriors and the rogues. 

Natalie had adopted a blank mask over her face and I knew that she did it whenever she didn't want the people around her to know what she was thinking at the moment.  She climbed down the steps slowly and stood in front of Addison. "I, Natalie, the Luna of the Red Lakes pack, thank you for delivering Zara to us safely. The pack is forever indebted to you and welcomes you with open arms." Addison nodded and I watched as Samantha motioned me to come inside the pack house and I followed her, leaving Natalie to handle Addison. 

As soon as I entered the pack house, I was engulfed in Samantha's arms and I found myself hugging her back. "Oh, thank god, you're back." She released me and looked at me again from head to toe. 

"I'm fine. Unharmed." I said and did a twirl in front of her so she could see that it was true. Being welcome like this felt so good and I felt so glad that even though me and Samantha were going through a rough patch, she cared about me enough to let go of other things and hug me. Before I could say anything more, she hugged me again and I found myself hugging her back. Samantha had done nothing to me, so it seemed trivial to continue this strange rift between us. It seemed easier to just let go and accept her back. Being kidnapped by rogues who wanted to do you real harm and kill you kind of put all of the things in perspective. 

"I missed you," I whispered in her hair and found her holding me tightly. She knew I wasn't just talking about the time that I had been dangled by the rogues as some hostage. I was talking about the time I hadn't been in contact with her all those months when I was living with my sister. Samantha didn't deserve to be ignored because she was innocent in whatever happened between me, Harper, and Natalie and I understood that. Just like Samantha understood that going away like that and not being in touch with everyone from home was important for me to think and heal. That's the thing about best friends, we understand each other, even though it may take us some time to do so. 

"I want to show you something," Samantha whispered and led me upstairs to a portion of the house I had never seen before. 

"Is this the beta suite of the pack house?" I asked and looked around the place. It wasn't as exquisite as the alpha holding in the pack house but these too looked very comfortable and extravagant. I could notice the personal touch Samantha had added after moving in, despite coming here for the very first time. 

"Do you like it?" She asked me and I nodded at her. 

"What did you want to show me?" 

"Come through here," she motioned me to follow her. She led me up the stairs and into a bedroom. She opened the door and gestured for me to go inside. 

If she wanted me to show me something in her bedroom, then Aiden must have come home and a sudden weight seemed to lift off my chest. I felt so happy that Aiden was fine. I hesitantly entered the room, mindful of the way Aiden had treated me when I had come back with Ethan. I had no idea how he was going to treat me now. I had no plans of being deterred if he did treat me badly.

I entered the spacious room modeled in light gray. Samantha must not have been able to redecorate this room yet. I found Aiden sitting in one of the armchairs beside the fireplace, casually reading a book. He looked good, his skin looked healthier and he has regained much of his weight. As soon as he heard the door open, he turned around and I watched as he put the book down and focused all his attention on us. Samantha walked ahead of me, kissed Aiden on the lips, and sat beside him. I closed the door softly behind me. 

My heart thundered in my chest and I knew that they could hear how nervous I was. Samantha had been my friend as long as I could remember but Aiden was different. We had been getting close when I up and disappeared and cut off all connections. The fact that I returned with another man and all but rejected Harper, Aiden's best friend and alpha, didn't exactly help matters. 

I walked towards the small assembly of chairs thoughtfully spread-out couches around the fireplace. I didn't look at Aiden till I sat down. "I'm glad you're well," I said and watched as Aiden carefully moved his eyes over me. 

"I'm glad you're safe," Aiden said and smiled which put me so much at ease that I found my tense muscles relaxing at once. "I had hoped you wouldn't be involved in these rogue matters."

"Well, it was rather sooner than later," I pointed out and Aiden looked surprised at my admission. Samantha watched our exchange with a smile and let me take hold of the conversation and I told them all about the rogues and how I got rescued by one of the rogues. I told them about my time with the rogues and how Addison was the one who helped me with everything. 

"Oh, Eva wanted to meet you as soon as you got back," Samantha stood up and planted a kiss on Aiden's lips. I took my cue and said goodbye to Aiden and he expressed how happy he was to see me as well. It was like a burden off my shoulder, that all was well with Samantha and Aiden. I was crossing bridges and I couldn't be happier with the results. 

Samantha exited the beta suite and led me towards the elderly quarters of the pack house. I had never been this way before and I found my eyes wandering all over the place. "Harper's parents shifted here from the alpha's quarters after the alpha ceremony but couldn't exactly stay because of the attack on Sebastian." I nodded and followed her into the alpha suite in the quarters. 

"Here it is. I have to go back and Eva assured me that she will be here soon to receive you," Samantha explained and hugged me before leaving. It felt so awkward, to come back home and meet with the wolves. Everyone was either injured or at odds with me. The fact that I hadn't yet met with my parents seemed disconcerting to me. I had been kidnapped for a few days now and I wondered what had Harper told my parents about where I had gone. It didn't matter that they would not believe him, he had his ways to make sure that they did, I thought wryly. 

My gut clenched as I thought about Harper, who was right now fighting against the rogues. I didn't want to think about the kind of destruction the battle was going to cause, how many people would die, and how many pack members would lose people that were important to them. I didn't believe any harm would come to Harper. I had faith in his abilities and knew that he could defeat anyone in a fair fight. But not everyone could afford this carefree attitude, I admitted. 

I settled on a stool beside the kitchen island and heard someone descend the staircase. By the soft footfalls, I reckoned that it must be Eva. Sebastian would still be healing after losing his wolf and would be unfit to walk right now.

I had thought Eva would look jubilant because her husband was finally well and sleeping beside her in bed. Her daughter was healthy and though Harper was fighting a battle with rogues right now, surely, she believed in him and hoped that he would come back unharmed. She saw me and her hunched shoulders lifted in relief when she realized that I was safe and unharmed.

She looked like she was carrying a hundred burdens with her. I was surprised when she didn't hug me out of excitement like she usually did. She passed me a smile and settled herself beside me. "I'm so happy that you are safe and back home, Zara."

"I am happy to be back too," I whispered. She looked so frail that I feared she would shatter if I spoke too loudly. "Are you well, Eva? You look troubled. Surely you aren't worried about Harper while he battles with the rogues."

My speech jarred something within Eva and she frowned when she looked at me. "I don't suppose you know about the rogues who have been troubling this pack of ours, have you, Zara?" I opened my mouth to explain to her whatever I knew about the rogues but she went on speaking. "The rogues didn't attack this pack randomly. The rogues who I believe are called Damon, Aaron, and Addison are siblings and targeted this pack because of a personal grudge. As you know, a white wolf experiences some trouble in procreating with his mate, so it was many years later that I got pregnant with Harper. What I didn't know and what Sebastian hid from me for many years is that before Harper, he had created a small family of his own with another she-wolf. He named the eldest son Damon and the twins Aaron and Addison and lived with this family for many years. He only left them when he came to know I was with child. These children were transferred to another pack after their mother died when her mate rejected her and they couldn't help but feel abandoned, which is exactly what happened. So, they have taken up a vow to destroy everything my husband holds dear to get even with him. They want to avenge their mother's death and their childhood by robbing Sebastian of his future."

I stood there and gaped at Eva. What the hell? Damon, Aaron, and Addison were Sebastian's children? This was a stunning revelation. No wonder Eva seemed like she seemed so mentally and emotionally exhausted. I think she must have come to know about all this stuff recently. I watched her hunched figure and my eyes landed on her hands, who were clasping a tiny locket.

"Many years ago, before I became pregnant with Harper, I met Parker, a wolf in our pack who had lost his mate. When me and Sebastian couldn't get pregnant, we started sleeping with mate-less wolves to get over the disappointment. Parker and I met during that time and we established a sort of camaraderie between ourselves. I can go so far as to believe that if I had been able to choose my mate, he would have been the one. I got pregnant several times with him and I had to abort our child every time. The cycle was so depressing that he came up to me one day and told me that he was leaving the pack because he loved me too much to stay here. He couldn't go on like this and watch every one of his children gets aborted because I was mated to the alpha. When he told me he was leaving, I knew that a part of me loved him too. How could I not, he was a wonderful man. Before leaving, he handed me this locket and his number which he had engraved inside it. He told me he would never change it and if things ever changed on my end, he asked me to give him a call." She ended her speech in a short whisper and finally looked at me. "It has been nearly twenty years and maybe I am a fool but not only my soul begs me to call this number, my wolf wants me to call this number. Never have I ever known a wolf persuade its human side to pursue someone who was not their mate. So, despite everything that I know, despite the newborn baby sleeping in a crib beside his father, I am going to give this man a call because I don't think I will ever be able to look at Sebastian without feeling the sting of betrayal all over again."

I opened my mouth to say something to this surprisingly long and emotionally wrenching speech but I couldn't find the words to comfort her. She smiled at me and stood up from the table. "I'm very happy that you are back Zara. Me and Sebastian did my part. We have looked after the pack all these years. There's no reason for us to be together anymore." She nodded at me sadly and patted my hand before I heard her move out of my line of sight and climb up the steps.