3. Forty- seven

When I came to my senses, I immediately knew that Harper wasn't in the bed with me. I had lost consciousness when I was engulfed in his body heat, with his arms wrapped around me. The loss of his presence was so pronounced that I didn't want to open my eyes. It felt like he was the only reason I wasn't emotionally breaking down right now. A very big part of me wanted to be near him right now and the fact that he wasn't here with me disappointed me a lot. Even in my dreams, I had expected him to be here with me, helping me get over my loss. I wanted to never open my eyes and I was glad the room was shrouded in darkness. My neck prickled in awareness and I became aware of someone sitting in the room and even though, the threat of the rogues was over, I suddenly felt unsafe. 

"I know you are awake, Zara." I recognized that voice and the fear immediately abated. I opened my eyes and got up in a seating position. I leaned against the headboard and regarded the figure of the soft figure of the girl who had helped me a lot in the last few days. 

"Addison," she jerked in her seat as if she didn't expect me to talk to her or call her by her name. She somehow seemed weary and tired and I realized that it must be too hard for her to bear her losses too. After all, her brothers had died in the battle. It would have been emotionally devastating for her to grieve two brothers. Although she did gain a half-brother in Harper the moment, she decided to help me get away from the rogues. 

"You have been sleeping for a day now." 

"A day?" I gasped in astonishment. I had slept the whole day away?! I cringed in embarrassment at the thought. I had planned to go meet my parents as soon as I got back but here, I was, grieving the death of Ethan while being in Harper's bed. "How are you here?"

"I was given a special pardon by the alpha because I was quite instrumental in getting you to safety. Also, I found my mate in the pack. So, the alpha gave me a choice, get accepted in the pack and accept the mate or never show my face here again. It was an easy choice." She shrugged casually as if her whole life hadn't been altered in the last few hours. I had known Ethan for a couple of months and he had a considerable impact on my life. I had grown attached to him, he was my confidante and sometimes so much more than a friend. As my brain processed Ethan's death, I was aware of a gaping hole in my chest, this vast emptiness and it feels like it's growing with every breath I take. I couldn't imagine how it must be for Addison. She had lost her twin and elder brother; someone she had known all her life. They had grown up together and faced hardships and good times together. If I had been in her place, I would have been drowning in grief. 

It was too dark in the room to take in her features, to know if her eyes were red or swollen from crying and if her posture was hunched because of the immense weight of grief on her shoulders. I didn't know what to say. I knew that her brothers had done some crazy and deplorable acts but still, they were her brothers. 

"Why did you help me get away?" I asked her and regarded her closely. I had been wanting to know this the moment she had told me she was going to help me get back to the pack. I had wondered about her motives and I couldn't fathom her reasons. 

Her countenance didn't change when she answered me with a single sentence," We wolves do everything for our mates." I opened my mouth to ask her what she meant by that when she started speaking again. "My brothers didn't tell me why they were keeping you tied down even though I asked them several times. They just said that you were a brilliant strategic host and an even better hostage that we could leverage over the white alpha. I was so intrigued by you and you're potential that I decided to meet you myself. I tried so many times to pry out some information from you but you were so tight-lipped and secretive. It was during the hostage exchange that I came to know that the alpha and the luna of the pack weren't true mates and that was when I put two and two together. You were the true mate of the white alpha and that was why my brothers wanted to keep you captive. You were indeed important leverage over the pack."

"What did you mean you came to know that the Harper and Natalie weren't true mates during the hostage exchange?" I had no idea that a hostage exchange had taken place or what its exact rules were but what Addison was saying was making little sense. The fact that Harper and Natalie weren't true mates was kept a secret by the pack members and I wanted to know how did she found out the truth without knowing who I was. 

"I knew that Harper and Natalie weren't true mates because Natalie is my mate." She continued speaking as if she hadn't disclosed something phenomenal or substantial while my mind was reeling with everything she was saying. "The moment I arrived at the hostage exchange, my wolf could smell the sweet scent of our mate and I was immediately nervous because it meant that a pack member was my mate. I knew it would be an immensely difficult situation, considering we were fighting on opposite sides. Even then I was too excited to care about the future and was just curious about who my mate was. Imagine my surprise when my wolf howled in victory the moment I and Natalie shared eye contact. To her credit, she didn't show any emotions, and so many thoughts were racing through my head that I didn't know what to do. We were there to make sure Aaron was safe and all I wanted to do was shift into my wolf and claim Natalie and run away from her at the same time. I did the only thing capable of doing at the money, I helped my brother and drove away as fast as I could."

Natalie and Addison were mates, this thought was kept flashing in my head and I watched as Addison gracefully changed her position on the couch. "While I was driving the car, I understood why my brothers were so keen to keep you as their hostage. You were the alpha's true mat and he would do anything and everything to make sure you were safe. I confronted my brothers with this fact and they didn't deny it. But they did ask me how I had finally come to this conclusion after these many days and so, I told them everything. I told them that the luna of the pack was my mate and I urged them to sign some sort of peace treaty because if this war would continue, I would probably never get a chance to be with my mate. I thought that they would be sympathetic towards my situation because a werewolf understands how precious a mate is to their wolves, but they didn't. They told me that my finding my mate meant nothing, it didn't change their plans and we would continue our plans like before and focus on destroying everything our father held dear."

Their father, of course, Sebastian, who had been a father to them and just as soon abandoned them when Eva became pregnant. I didn't want to think about how hurtful it must have been to the three siblings to be abandoned and discarded like this. It was no fault of their own that they had been born in a situation like this and they sought out to right this wrong the only way they knew how. 

"That was when I made my decision of helping you get away. I thought maybe after having his mate by his side, he would be more receptive to peace talks and negotiations. So, when my brothers had gone away for hunting, I made a split-second decision to help you so that you could help you. I know now how severely misinformed I was about my brother's actions. I hadn't known about my brother's attack on the young alpha, neither did I know about the children that were massacred under my brother's orders. As far as I knew, no permanent damage had been done to the pack, so the alpha would be open to our peaceful surrender." Addison gave out a mirthless laugh as if she couldn't believe she had been so naive and childish. 

"You know that rogues aren't able to mind link because this power is only accessible to the wolves who are a part of a pack but we three shared a special bond. We three could communicate via mind link because our wolves were so tightly linked to each other that we could access this link and Damon was the alpha of our three-wolf pack. When I helping you run away from them, while you were sitting on my back and I was racing towards the pack boundaries, I was constantly trying to convince my brothers to strike a peace bargain with the alpha. To show how serious I was about the peace treaty, I was ready to give up their important hostage back. At least, that way they would know how serious I was about keeping peace and being with my mate." 

"If only I'd know that I was making them straight into their deaths," At this point, she whimpered and I longed to move towards her and envelope her in my arms. The thought that her brothers were responsible for Ethan's death halted me and I watched as she tried to regain her composure again. 

"So, what do you plan to do now?" My words came out soft and unsure because I was still reeling from all the information Addison had given me. 

"I have no idea what I'm going to do. I know that Natalie has a baby with Harper and I'm not entirely comfortable with my mate having a baby with my half-brother. It more than complicates things." I knew exactly how she felt. This insecurity and the fact that the betrayal had come from someone so close to me had what made me pack my stuff and leave for months. 

"It's not their fault," I whispered, shocked that I was saying these words. "Where are they now?"

"They are looking over the final rites of the pack warriors who died during their battle. It will be their last act as alpha and Luna."

"What do you mean it's their last act together?"

"Well, Natalie told me that now she's found her mate and you've come back, there's no need for her to be the Luna." I nodded because I understood. I guess it is time for me and Harper to work out things too. It was already long overdue.