Chapter 7: Saying Goodbye
Roman
While Samantha, or whatever my mate’s real name is, goes to get packed to leave, I send a mind link to my Gamma
‘We’re leaving‘
‘What? Already? he asks. I left my Beta to watch the pack while I was gone. As the strongest Alpha with the largest pack,
there’s always a risk that someone will take advantage of the times when I’m away. So, I brought my Gamma with me and left
my Beta to keep the pack safe.
“Yes. Already. As soon as my mate is done packing her things.”
“She agreed to come with you?’ he asks, shocked. I’m not surprised. Every Alpha on the continent was in the room when my mate told me she rejected me. I’d had a terrible moment, thinking that she was really going to reject me in front of everyone in that room. I smile thinking of her pathetic effort. But it makes me very curious about her true identity. What Alpha female needs to hide her identity?
“One who ran away from her home?‘ Pierce asks
“Why run away though?”
Maybe she was mistreated?’ he says, making me growl.
“No, I don’t think that’s it,” I say, thinking it through. ‘She was a pup when she arrived here, too young to have been mistreated
and not have any physical signs of it So what other reason could there be for a pup to leave her home?”
“Alpha?‘ my Gamma says, interrupting my conversation with my wolf
“What?‘ I ask.
“Your mate agreed to come with you?”
Technically, yes. But she’s not happy about it. Order up the cars, get our bags and find a hotel on the way home. It’s already late. I’m not going to drive through the night, especially since it’s due to snow.”
“Yes, Alpha,‘ he says and I resume my conversation with Pierce
‘She said her parents were dead. A war maybe? Or her father was overthrown by someone in the pack, and she ran to get away from them?”
‘Both she and Alpha William said she was young when she arrived here. Maybe one of her parents helped her escape and then they both died. Either way, she was young and would have died without Alpha William’s assistance.”
‘Do
you
think he knows who she is?” Pierce asks me
There’s no way he doesn’t know she’s an Alpha. He’s protected her all these years, so if I had to guess, I’d say yes. He knows who she really is. Which means I need to get her to trust me so that she’ll tell me who she really is. No matter who may want her dead, I’ll protect her from them.”
‘She seemed to be doing a pretty good job of hiding until you called her out. And let’s be honest, threatening to kill her surrogate father and her pack probably didn’t instill her heart with trust for you,‘ he says sarcastically
It was necessary. I’m not leaving her here. She’s mine, and no matter how long it takes, I’ll earn her
er trust,” I say.
Pierce snorts in my head. “You aren’t doing a very good job of earning that trust so far. If I were you, I’d sleep with one eye
open for a while.”
That’s why I have you, my wolf Your intuition and instincts are unparalleled, bar none,‘ I say proudly
+ BONUS
Instead of preening, Pierce sighs Theodore and Raye had stronger intuition and instincts than I have, my wolf says sadly. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t miss our old friend. Even nine years later, it still hurts to know that he was attacked, and his family and pack were killed
“He’s not here, my friend. And as much as I’d willingly give up our top standing to have him back, that’s never going to happen
1
I know. But I miss my friend. It makes me wonder if our mate has a friend that she misses too,‘ he says.
“Hmmm, something to think about. If we can gain her trust, have her tell us who she really is, then maybe reconnect with her old pack and any friends that she’s missing.‘
we can help her
“Let’s strive for that. If someone could bring Theodore and Raye back into our lives, I’d do just about anything to have them back.‘
“Me too, buddy,‘ I say as I see Samantha coming down the hallway
Ts that really all she has? Did her Alpha give her nothing? Pierce asks, feeling angry for our mate.
Easy. He was helping her hide, remember?”
The pack must have heard that we were leaving. I’ve stepped out of the ballroom where the party has resumed, but Alpha William’s pack is gathering to say goodbye to someone that they obviously love. If I hadn’t realized that she was an Alpha before, I definitely would have now. Only an Alpha can draw this kind of love and adoration from an entire pack
I stand aside, listening as pack members tell her through their tears that they’ll miss her. I listen as she gives each of them words of encouragement, but not the same words. It’s as if she knows each person individually and she gives them the specific encouragement that they need to say goodbye to her.
“A true Luna,” Pierce says proudly.
“A true Alpha,‘ I say, wondering just how strong she is. The pack doesn’t seem to realize that they respond to her like they do with their Alpha. If she had been so inclined, she could have taken over the pack from Alpha William
I watch as she makes her way through the people and finally gets to Alpha William.
“Remember what I said,” he murmurs quietly to her. I watch my mate nod her head against his chest as they hug. I wonder what he said to her and what she needs to remember. I have no doubt that she’ll refuse to tell me if I ask her. She’s as protective of him as he is of her.
She steps away from Alpha William, smiling up at him before she turns to me. When she does, she pushes her shoulders back and lifts her chin, the smile dropping off her face. She is no longer pretending to be anything but the strong Alpha female that she is and I have to grit my teeth and fight the smile that threatens to spread across my face.
She’s magnificent.
“Ready, my mate,” I say, reaching out to take her bag as she steps up to me. She pulls away, trying to keep me from helping her, but I refuse to let this woman act as though she’s not my mate. She may not like me yet, but I’m going to show her that being mated to me isn’t a bad thing
So, I reach out and grab her bag off her shoulder
I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own bag,” she growls.
“I’m sure you are. But there is no need. Thank you for your hospitality, Alpha precede me in entering the car.
William,” I say, gesturing for Samantha to
“I expect to hear that you are doing well very soon, Samantha, Alpha William says, addressing her and ignoring me. It’s a clear threat Hurt her, cut her off from him, and he’ll attack me. It’s daring. He’d have lost the battle here on his own lands.
But on my lands, there is no battle. He would never win.
“And yet, he’s willing to send his entire pack to their death for her, Pierce says, watching our mate intently
“Yes, yes he is,” I say, once again intrigued by who our mate could possibly be
Cooper
Roman has his work cut out for him….
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