Chapter Seventy-Nine

Regan’s POV

The talk I had with Alpha Regan was one I did not realize we both needed.

Coming to Nighthowl pack had not been the mistake I had initially thought it would be.

Instead, it had helped me face wounds I had not even realized I still had and had helped me heal from them.

Needless to say, my relationship and encounters with the Alpha of Nighthowl pack improved greatly after our talk.

At first, we had both been embarrassed about crying but got over it soon.

He took pride in showing me around his pack and introducing me to his members as Rhain’s son.

Several of the older pack members even shared stories about my father from when he was young.

From how they spoke about him, it was clear to see that he had been considered a part of their pack.

They told me of his adventures and pranks with Alpha Regan’s daughter, Rhaia. How they had been thick as thieves and how much trouble the two had caused and gotten into in the pack.

It was refreshing to hear that there had been another side to my father that I had known nothing about.

It made me suddenly wish I had been old enough for him to share stories of his escapades with me.

In a way, I could picture him in the stories they told.

My father had been a strong Alpha, but he had also been a loving father and mate.

I remembered random moments ago hen he would get into trouble with me mother and run to hide with me.

I remembered his laughter, and watching Alpha Regan laugh reminded me so much about him.

How it was possible that my father would so resemble a man who had not been his real father was surprising.

It made me wonder about his actual father.

I hardly even remembered my father speaking of him. Merely that a few pack members had called him ruthless and powerful.

That was all I had known of him.

After showing me around his pack, Alpha Regan finally agreed to rest for a while after being scolded by his mate.

As he left us to rest, she turned to me with a smile.

“I have not seen him so full of life in a very long time”, she said, leading me out of the room we were standing in. “Thank you”, she said.

I glanced at her to see her eyes on me, the gratitude in then easy to see.

“There is no need for your thanks”, I told her. “In fact, it is I who should thank you”, I said. “I would have continued to live in a torment of my own making if you had not been kind enough to approach me”.

She smiled.

“All you young ones are the same”, she said, and I found that I took no offense to being addressed as young. “You see, Rhaia was very much like that as well”, she said.

“She had a temper that was simply not ladylike and was a terrible influence on your father”, she said with a smile.

“She sounds like a strong werewolf to me”, I told her.

“Oh she was”, she said, nodding her head in agreement.

“I would have loved to meet her”, I said, thinking aloud.

She came to an abrupt halt, causing me to stop in my tracks as well.

Slowly, she turned to look up at me, a smile on her face.

“You can”, she said, eyes twinkling.

Before I could voice out my confusion, she grabbed my hand and began to pull me along.

For a fragile looking lady, she had quite a strong grip and agile strides as she led me to an unknown place.

We walked some distance to the back of the pack house and into the woods behind it.

We walked for a while before coming upon a shroud of leaves.

It instantly reminded me of the secret path to Rage’s sanctuary back in my home.

Pushing aside the curtain of leaves, we entered into a clearing and she finally released my hand from her firm grip.

“Regan made them himself”, she said as she walked forward. “I suppose it was the only way he knew to cope with his grip”, she said.

At first I did not at all understand what she meant, until she moved another curtain of leaves to the side to reveal statues.

Two in fact.

Two statues of what looked to be a male and female.

Still, I did not understand what she was showing me until I took a closer look at the male statue.

It looked strangely like…my father.

My eyes widened in surprise and I froze in place.

“Is that…”, I started to ask before my voice trailed off.

But the statue was not of my father as I remembered him.

It was of him when he was young.

Both statues were of a young boy and a young girl.

As I inched closer, I caught sight of the Luna nodding her head from the corner of my eye.

But I could not stop the slow progression of my feet to the statue.

Its likeness to our feature was astounding. And the details in the sculpting could only be done by one filled with dedication and love.

The love of a father.

It was clear with each feature carved and sculpted perfectly to make the features even I could not deny was a good replica of the people themselves.

As I lifted a hand to trace the features on my father’s younger statue, she spoke.

“This was a special place he would bring us all to often”, she said. “He and Rhain had found it one day while looking for Rhaia”, she said.

A sudden thought occurred to me at her words.

“You keep calling my father Rhain”, I said. “But the only person who ever called him Rhain was my mother”, I said, turning to face her.

She smiled.

“And why do you think that was?” She asked.

I shrugged a shoulder, not knowing how to answer that.

“I do not know”, I said. “I only know that his name was Alpha Moran of the Midnight Wolves pack, and that only my mother called him Rhain”, I told her. “I had assumed it was a term of affection”, I said.

She shook her head, before moving closer to stand before the statue of a young Rhaia.

“Do you remember what I told you about how we found your father?” She asked.

I nodded.

“Do you remember that I told you his wound had made him loose his memory?” She asked.

I nodded again.

“That memory included his name”, she said before turning to face me. “We named him Rhain”, she told me. “It was what he was known as while he lived here with us”, she said.

I remembered Alpha Regan introducing me to his pack members as Rhain’s son earlier and it all finally made sense.

“It seemed he had told your mother about it as well”, she said.

I simply nodded, not knowing what else to say.

Had my father been sad when he had been forced to return to his pack?

Had he missed his life at Nighthowl pack?

Before I could ponder more on my father’s possible emotions, she spoke again.

“Come and meet your Aunt”, she said, motioning for me to come and stand before her.

When I did so, she held onto my arm and turned to the statue.

“Rhaia”, she said to it. “You would never believe who has come to visit”, she said, before continuing. “This is Regan”, she said. “Rhain’s son”, she said, glancing at me with a sad smile on her face.

“He wanted to meet you so I brought him here”, she said pulling on my Armand turning to look at me expectantly.

Realizing what she wanted from the look on her face, I hastened to do what was expected of me.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you”, I said. “I have heard a great deal about you”, I said. “I hope that you are now at rest”, I said.

After my words, I turned to see the Luna watching me with tearful eyes.

On meeting my eyes, she looked away, back to the statue of her daughter.

“You would be so proud of him”, she said, turning from her to my father’s statue not too far away. “He is strong and kind and of a good temperament, which is more than I can say for you”, she said looking back at her daughter’s statue. “He is very much like his father, and I feel very fortunate to have finally met him after all these years”, she said.

“I will come to speak to you a little more, later”, she said and turned to me. “Is there something else you wished to say?” She asked.

I looked to my father’s statue.

“I can give you time to speak with him now”, she said. “Or you can come by later tonight to do so”, she said. “Regan always comes here to speak to them just before the sun sets each day”, she told me.

I nodded at that new knowledge.

“I will visit later tonight then”, I told her.

She nodded, taking my arm before leading us out of the place.

As we left, a memory came to my mind.

Although I had forgotten it for a long time, but I suddenly remembered how I had found Rage’s sanctuary in the first place.

Only that I had not been the one to find it, my father had.

Realizing that I had found my special place with my father, just as he had found that place with his father, brought a smile to my lips.

We walked in silence for a while.

“Must you leave tomorrow?” She suddenly asked from beside me.

I turned to see the sad tilt of her head ad she looked to the ground.

Coming to a stop, I placed my had over her hand holding my arm and waited until her eyes came up to look at me.

She reminded me so much of Nana.

And Nana reminded me of home.

“I would love to stay longer”, I said truthfully. “But I fear I cannot bear to be away from my mate for much longer”, I told her. “It is taking quite a toll on me”, I added with a smile and watched a small smile tilt the corner of her lips.

“I would love to meet her”, she said.

“I would love for you to meet her”, I agreed. “I would love for you to come and visit me”, I said. “So that I can introduce you and Alpha Regan to all the people I love”.

Her smile widened.

“That sounds like quite a lot”, she said with a teasing smile.

My smile widened as well.

“It is”, she said. “There is my mate, Jasmine, who is so very beautiful and kind”, I said, pulling us to resume our walk as she listened attentively. “Then there is Nana who is very much like you, she raised us all and has been both parent and grandparent”, I said. “Then there is Lena who, now that I think about it, is like Aunt Rhaia in some ways”, I said and watched her eyes light up in happiness.

I knew it was due to hearing me call her daughter my Aunt. And if that was all it took to make her eyes shine like that, then I knew I would do it often.

“And there is Luke”, I went on. “Who is the brother I never had”, I said.

“Your Beta”, she said with a smile and I nodded, pleased that she was indeed listening.

“He is more like my twin”, I said sincerely.

“So, he is the Rhaia to your Rhain”, she said with a beautiful smile.

“Precisely”, I said, knowing I could not have put it better. “And of course, there is my little pup on the way”, I added.

Her eyes lit up once again.

“Tell me all about your home”, she said with a smile.

I nodded with a smile, knowing she did not have to ask me twice