Apex Mystery

Kiarra

“They haven’t been doing anything out of the norm. Surprisingly enough, they have been very agreeable, and they had no problem with the longer wait time.”

I was sitting on the couch in Aidan’s office and watched as Isaac gave Aidan his report on the Apex couple.

I frowned slightly as he spoke and couldn’t help but wonder about them. My entire being was adamantly against them, but everything so far seemed to be so easy. Why were they that agreeable? Were my instincts that wrong?

“Good. Did they mention anything about their demands?” Aidan asked.

I didn’t speak up but listened to their conversation with a growing feeling of unease.

“Nothing so far. Just that they wanted to meet with you and their daughter.”

I saw Isaac’s quick glance in my direction, but I couldn’t decipher it. That man was as hard to read as a freaking rock. There was seldom an emotion shining through that cold exterior, and I had no clue what he was thinking.

And not just him, but everyone. What was everyone thinking after last night?

I had come into the pack as a human, then turned into a werewolf, and now into an Alpha’s daughter.

I couldn’t blame them for being confused. I wasn’t even sure of who I was myself, so how could they?

“Hmm.” Aidan leaned back in his chair and looked at me for a bit before looking back to Isaac. “Did you hear anything back from your contacts?”

Isaac shook his head. “Nothing we didn’t already know. Their successor didn’t follow them here, and they didn’t bring any backup.

“I had a few wolves scout out the areas surrounding Lunar Valley, and they came up with nothing, so I don’t think they came for trouble. Not the fighting kind, anyway.”

Once again Isaac glanced my way as he spoke, and I wanted to sink deeper into the couch as he continued.

“As I said earlier, they probably want to use our pack’s power for their own gain, but we won’t know anything until you meet with them.”

Aidan nodded and looked over some papers that were spread out in front of him but didn’t say anything.

The conversation seemed to be at an end for the moment, so I figured I could speak up without interrupting.

“Isaac, you said their successor. What do you mean by that?”

Aidan eyed me out of the corner of his eye, but he let Isaac answer.

“I meant their child. The one who will take over their pack.”

I looked between the two men for a second.

“Wait, so I ~do~ have a sibling?”

I had no clue why that came as such a big surprise to me. I had already discussed it with Aidan the night before.

It made complete sense when you thought about the fact that they valued their pack’s power and position before everything else. They would have needed another child after they abandoned me.

A child who didn’t turn out to be a weak human. A child who could continue their legacy.

However, it still came as a surprise, and my already conflicted feelings were getting tougher to decipher.

“Yes. We don’t know anything other than they had a child about six years after they had you, though.”

Isaac looked at me as he spoke, and I couldn’t help but frown once again. I wonder what that kid’s life had been like. Were they happy? Or were they a product of those two people?

I had a sibling out there. Did we look alike? It shouldn’t impact my life at all, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but wonder.

“Isaac, when the newbies are finished at our place, they should join the perimeter guards for now,” Aidan interjected, looking up from his papers.

“I doubt Apex will do anything stupid, but I don’t want us to be caught by surprise.”

Isaac nodded and turned his attention back to Aidan. Even though I couldn’t get a read on the guy, I kind of felt like he had something he wanted to say but stopped himself.

“I have already doubled the current warriors on the borders. More hands wouldn’t hurt, I guess, so I’ll have them do the perimeter run.”

“Good. I don’t want anyone to cross that border without permission.”

Isaac nodded once again, and without another word, he turned around and left the office.

A moment of silence followed his departure. Aidan flipped through a stack of papers, slightly frowning as he did, but that was the only sound.

I slowly got up from the couch and walked over to the chair in front of his desk and sat down, waiting for what I had no clue, but Aidan had said we had a lot to do.

A few minutes went by before Aidan finally leaned back in his chair with a sigh and looked at me.

“We need to start figuring out what to do, Kitten.”

I nodded slowly, not really liking it at all, but admittedly I couldn’t keep running from it.

“So, first I need to know what Ares told you. Everything, Kiarra, not a single thing left out.”

I scrunched up my nose slightly, not liking the idea of having to repeat that nightmare in my mind again, but nodded anyway. I knew it was unavoidable, so might as well.

It took some time to explain everything. I told him everything Ares had said.

I told him about the betrothal that had been in place since before I was born, about the meaning of my locket and how Ares had told me that I had had no signs of being a werewolf.

How it was expected of my parents to kill me and that was what they had told everyone, but also about Ares’s suspicions that my mother hadn’t had it in her and she had given me away instead.

Aidan listened without interrupting. He nodded along and made some disgruntled noises every now and then, but he let me keep going.

I knew he hated hearing about Ares just as much as I hated mentioning the man, but I guess we both had to get it out of the way sooner rather than later.

Once I finished my story, Aidan looked deep in thought for a moment.

I didn’t know what he was gathering from what I told him, but it looked like he was trying to get the puzzle to add up.

He sighed and looked at me again.

“I’m not sure what we should do here, Kitten. There are things we have to do, like the Luna celebrations are nonnegotiable.

“I doubt we will be able to sever ties with the Apex Pack just going off this. According to our laws, there is nothing as important as an Alpha couple’s mating.

“Unless there is concrete evidence, we can’t just ignore it and throw them out.”

“Why not? Why is it so important?” I frowned again. With how much I had been frowning lately, I was going to have a permanent scowl on my face.

“Wars have been fought over issues like this before. You know how we love our mates, and the love of one’s pups is no different.

“Imagine two Alphas that hate each other. One of them mates with the other’s daughter and tries to take her away. Unless they come to an agreement, it can end in bloodshed.”

I scrunched up my nose in distaste and shook my head.

“You sound like a man from the seventeenth century, trading your daughters like fucking property.”

Aidan sighed.

“I know. It’s difficult to explain and the rules are definitely outdated. I don’t think they have ever had to be upheld like this before, so it’s never really been a problem.”

He leaned back and rubbed his hands over his face in exhaustion.

“We can look into trying to change them, but that won’t happen overnight, and it definitely won’t happen in time for it to matter to us.”

“Doesn’t fucking matter. It’s outdated and fucking sexist.” I mumbled, completely dissatisfied with his answer, and leaned back in my seat with my arms crossed.

They might not have that much contact with the outside world, but how could they be so backward? I didn’t care if it couldn’t be changed in time to help us. That rule had to go.

Aidan steered the conversation back on track.

“I think we need to meet with the Kendricks and see what exactly they want, Kitten. We can’t come up with a more definite plan before we know if they are after money or power or if they really just want to get to know you.”

“‘Get to know me,’ my ass.”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes and had a feeling I was looking like a child, with my arms crossed and a sour expression on my face, so I straightened back up in my seat.

“I know you don’t think so, but it could be a possibility, Kiarra. It might be motivated by the fact that you are here, but what if that really is all they’re asking for?”

“~I~ don’t want to get to know ~them~, Aidan. I don’t want them in my life. I have lived my entire life without them and got by just fine without parents. I don’t need them now. Especially not ~them~.”

I looked out the window, not wanting to meet his eyes.

If this had happened a few months ago, I might have felt differently.

I had always had that little hope that they would one day come back for me and love me. It had always been at the back of my mind no matter where I was.

But after finding out that they had willingly left me because I wasn’t what they expected, because I couldn’t live up to their standards at the age of fucking two, I wasn’t interested anymore.

They wanted me out of their lives, so now they could stay the hell out of mine.

I could see the exhaustion on Aidan’s face from a mile away, so to preserve at least some of his sanity I sighed and continued.

“What is the bare minimum we have to do? For everything to be over quickly so we can just get them out of here?”

“First of all, meet with them. Humor them for a little bit and see what their intentions are. After the Luna ceremony, I think we can keep contact to a minimum.”

Aidan nodded and flipped through some of his papers.

“Like we talked about yesterday, it would take us about a month to prepare for it, and then the celebration lasts two weeks.

“After the final ceremony, they will leave, and depending on what our treaty is like, you won’t be forced to see them again.”

“Okay. I’ll do it, but I still don’t like it, Aidan. Something just feels wrong.”

No matter how I looked at it, it seemed as if we were about to sign a deal with the devil.

Something in me was screaming at me to run away, but as I looked at my mate, I knew I had no choice.

The man was so tired he could topple over at any minute, but he kept going. He kept trying to find the easiest way for me, and I loved him for it. It was my turn to sacrifice a little as well.

We could get this whole thing over with within the next month and a half and then return to our normal lives, and that was going to be my focus.

“I know, Kitten, but we ~will~ keep an eye on them. Trust me, we got this.”

He gave me a little smirk, and I smiled back at him softly. We got this. A month and a half and then we could get back to just being us again. What could possibly go wrong?

I nodded slowly and got up from the chair, walked around his desk, and stood in front of Aidan.

He moved the chair around a little, probably picking up on what I wanted. I sat down on his lap, facing him, and put my arms around his neck.

“I trust you. Everything is just a mess, and I’m sorry for creating a bigger one by keeping everything a secret.”

Aidan gave me a small smile and put his arms around my waist.

“We need to get better at talking, Kitten. About small and big stuff. Otherwise, shit like this will happen again.”

I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I know.”

Aidan was silent for a second before speaking up again.

“So, in the spirit of talking about stuff. When do you think you can meet with them? We can’t really do anything until you do.”

I pursed my lips in disapproval as I thought it over. After a moment, I sighed and put my head in the crook of Aidan’s neck, snuggling closer to him, almost as if I was trying to hide from the world.

“Tomorrow. I’ll meet them tomorrow,” I mumbled reluctantly back to him, and I felt his hand slowly caress my back in a comforting motion.

“Good. I’ll get everything set up then. Until then, I think you should go back home and rest. I’ll tell Angela to go with you.”

Aidan made no effort to move though, and I straightened up a little again, looking at him.

He seemed to be content with staying like this for now, but I could also see how hard he was trying to look like he was anything but exhausted, probably to try and give me some reassurance.

It didn’t really work for him, but I could appreciate the gesture.

“No. I have a condition for agreeing to do this.”

I gave him a stern look and he raised his eyebrow at me.

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah. If I agree to do this, which I really do not want to do, then you are going back home with me.”

I didn’t avert my eyes at all as we looked at each other, and I could see Aidan was about to decline, so I continued before he had the chance.

“You need to sleep. Isaac and Jack can hold down the fort for the rest of the day, and if they need you, they can mind-link you. You do also have a home office, so you don’t technically have to be here right now, Aidan.”

He frowned as he looked back at me, never breaking eye contact, and we stared at each other for a good minute or so before he let out a deep sigh.

“Fine. I give up. Let’s go home.”