The Lost Children

MAX

The day Estella walked into the clinic, determined to find Stelios and Elli’s children and reunite the family, I knew she was on her way back. Not to me, but to the strong woman I knew she could be. That was something. Maybe everything.

Seeing that spark in her eyes, that resolve, I felt a sense of relief. I hadn’t managed to break her spirit after all.

When I assured her I’d do everything I could to help, her radiant smile was the best reward I could have asked for.

We didn’t argue at all that week.

In fact, I think I even caught her looking at me with a softness in her eyes a couple of times. Maybe it was just wishful thinking, but I had a feeling she was starting to warm up to me again. Hopefully, it would last.

“How did they end up so scattered?” she wondered aloud.

“It’s what happens, sweetheart. When a pack is torn apart, everyone has to find a new path,” I explained.

“This wasn’t a takeover where one pack merges with another. Each sibling had to carve out their own destiny.”

“Yes, but they’re practically all over the country, Max.”

I had given her a list of the existing packs, including the names of alphas, lunas, and betas, as well as their origins. That’s how she was able to track down Stelios and Elli’s children.

We knew the family’s last name and the name of their former pack, so it wasn’t too difficult. Five children, but only four of them were still alive.

Stelios and Elli’s third child, their youngest son, Konstantinos, had died protecting his alpha about ten years ago.

But Maria, Loukas, Markos, and Iphigeneia were alive, according to the records.

The women had become lunas to powerful alphas.

Loukas had been chosen as the alpha of the pack that had taken him in after the original alpha was killed in a battle and was mateless at the time of his death.

Markos was the beta of his new pack, serving the second alpha in line.

“Look…” She flipped through the pages, pointing at their names.

“They’re not as far as you think. It’s easy to locate them,” I told her. “Why are you suddenly so pessimistic about it?”

“I don’t know… It’s the thought that they never went back that gets to me. Stelios and Elli are all alone. They haven’t seen their children since they left, and they’ve never met their grandchildren.

“And they’re old. They’ll die without…”

I took her hand in mine. Lately, she hadn’t been pulling away.

“They won’t die without seeing them,” I assured her with a smile.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I know you, and you won’t stop until you drag those four by their ears all the way back to Greece.”

She laughed and nodded.

“True. Who should we start with?”

She was cheerful again. I had made her cheerful. It felt good.

“I’d say the nearest one.” I shrugged.

“Markos?”

“Yes. If he’s agreeable, it will give us a boost to continue. Plus, I’m not sure if a long trip will be good for you right now.”

“I’m not as weak as I was.”

“Definitely not,” I agreed. “But I’d rather not take any risks.”

“Are you speaking as a doctor?”

“If I say yes, will you believe me?”

“No matter what you say, I won’t believe you.”

She gently pulled her hand away and went back to the records.

ESTELLA

Having a purpose makes you feel alive.

I don’t care about my white hair anymore. It reminds me of Elli, and she reminds me of the plan I’ve set in motion with Max’s help. So, it’s not a negative thing anymore.

Neither the hair nor Max’s help.

I don’t know if he’s helping me because it means something to him or to get on my good side, as they say, but his assistance is welcome.

If anyone can get us into those packs, it’s Max.

Well, Patrick too. Of course, he mostly does it for his own gain, but that suits me just fine. I want access to talk to “the lost kids,” as I call Stelios and Elli’s children, and he can provide it.

We left a week after I was able to locate them. Patrick wanted to secure everything before he left.

As I learned, after Erol’s betrayal, he had become even more cautious about the safety of the pack.

I would call it borderline obsessed, but I can’t really blame him. He had been one breath away from losing everyone he loved, including his own life.

It was natural for him to become overprotective. More than he was by nature, anyway.

The alpha of Markos’s pack had accepted us and was waiting to welcome us himself. At his side, apart from his luna, stood his beta.

After the initial introductions, I turned my attention to Markos. He reminded me of both of his parents at once, having taken after them equally.

But he lacked the gentleness that Stelios and Elli had. He was much more rigid.

Regardless, I approached him while Max stayed with Patrick as I had asked him to.

“Can we talk?” I asked.

Not the best approach, I know, but I couldn’t think of anything better.

He scowled at me. “Go back to your mate, little human,” he ordered.

“My name is Estella.”

“Whatever.”

“What would your parents say if they knew you had become so rude?” I questioned.

“What would yours say if they knew you talked to strangers?” he shot back.

“My parents died when I was six, so I can’t really answer that. But Uncle Julian would totally freak out.”

No response.

“However, your parents aren’t dead,” I tried again.

“You don’t know that.”

“No, you don’t know that. I spoke with Elli two days ago. She and Stelios are waiting for me and Max to visit in the summer.”

His face was a picture of shock, his jaw dropping slightly.

“Ready to talk now?” I asked, a smirk playing on my lips.

He spun around and started walking. I trailed behind him as he led us to a quaint garden.

“So they’re alive…” he murmured.

“Yep.”

“And how did you cross paths with them?”

“Ran into them on a summer vacation a few years ago.” I shrugged.

“And… how do they look?”

“Old.”

“They must have done it then,” he muttered.

“If by ‘it’ you mean becoming human, then yes. They did. And they’re pretty old in human years.”

“I can imagine.” He shrugged.

“Don’t you miss them?”

“Why do you care?”

“I could say I’m just curious, but it’s more than that,” I admitted. “I know they miss all of you. I also know that you cut all ties after you left them behind.”

“They wanted to be left behind,” he retorted.

“I know that. But I can understand how your father, as the alpha of his pack, felt having to do that.”

“And how do you think I felt? I was supposed to take over from him, and because of his decision, I ended up as someone else’s beta.”

“If he hadn’t made that decision, there wouldn’t be a pack for you to lead,” I pointed out.

“I might sound bitter, but leaving wasn’t my choice.” He sighed, sinking onto a bench. “Do you know what it’s like when someone else makes your choices?”

“My hair turned white at twenty-four because someone else made my choices.” I gave him a sad smile.

MAX

Estella had been chatting with Markos for a while. The longer they talked, the less defensive he seemed.

I kept an eye on them from a distance, not wanting to intrude.

Later that evening, I asked her how it went.

“Not as bad as I thought it would be.” She sighed. “But he’s still not ready to go back and see them.”

“Did you think he’d be convinced after just one conversation?”

“No, but at least he wasn’t hostile. Just a bit sad… He’s lost touch with his siblings too, you know.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, frowning.

“They haven’t spoken since Konstantinos died,” she explained.

“Really?”

“Yes. He told me when I suggested he talk to the others before we went to see them. He doesn’t even know if his brother and sisters are alive or dead.”

“Damn! That’s rough.”

“Yeah… Markos chose to focus on the family he made after finding his mate and left everything and everyone else behind.”

“Didn’t he ever wonder about his parents?”

“He didn’t say so, claiming that it was Stelios who asked them to leave and never look back.”

“That’s a weak excuse,” I scoffed.

“I know. I told him as much, but he’s pretty stubborn.”

She came and sat next to me on the bed. We were sharing a room here because we didn’t want to have to explain our situation to anyone.

She didn’t object, which was a relief, and she didn’t ask me to sleep on the couch, which was even better. But I didn’t dare slide over to her side of the bed. That would be pushing it.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“That depends on how long we stay.”

We stayed two more days, but nothing changed. Markos wasn’t unfriendly, but he didn’t change his mind. We met his wife and son before we left, and that was that.

Next was Maria, but like her older brother, she had completely left her old life behind. She wasn’t mean, but she was distant.

Honestly, I hadn’t expected it to be this hard. I thought they just needed a little push. Some reason to go home. But it wasn’t that simple.

Still, Estella wasn’t discouraged.

“We still have two more,” she kept saying, her voice full of optimism.

“And what if they feel the same way as Markos and Maria?”

“Don’t say that…” she murmured.

“I don’t want to upset you, sweetheart,” I said, stroking her hair. “But it’s a possibility. You know that.”

“It’s a possibility I’d rather not think about,” she replied, her voice flat. “Besides, I have a good feeling about Iphigeneia and Loukas.”

She was right. The second daughter was easier to approach.

She was a lot like Elli, both in looks and personality, and she was loved by her pack. Out of the three siblings we’d met so far, she was the most like Elli.

Like before, Estella chose to talk to her alone. I wanted to be part of her efforts, but I knew it was important for her to do this on her own.

Despite the initial hurdles, I was confident she would make it happen.

ESTELLA

It was eerie.

Iphigeneia looked just like the Elli I had painted. It was like seeing a younger version of Elli. Well, younger-ish, because Iphigeneia already had teenage kids.

“Has she cooked for you?” she asked, a warm smile on her face.

“Yes.” I laughed.

“She still makes a ton of food, doesn’t she?”

“Definitely.”

“She’s always done that, and it wasn’t because there were so many of us. Ned says I do the same thing.”

Ned was Iphigeneia’s alpha husband.

She stood up and walked over to the window.

“You know, I think it’s a sign that you showed up now.”

“Really? Why?”

“My parents have been on my mind a lot lately. More than usual, I guess. My kids are growing up so fast, and it’s got me thinking about what it would be like if they were out of my reach.”

“Markos mentioned that it was your parents who asked you not to look back.”

“That’s true. But I know it wasn’t a decision they made lightly, and there’s this thought that keeps bothering me… that they might die alone, without ever knowing about us or my brother’s death.

“I wanted to pick up the phone and call them, but I just couldn’t do it…”

I just looked at her, not saying a word. There was a depth of sadness in her that I’d never seen in anyone else. Even her siblings had more walls up.

“You found the records, didn’t you?” she asked after a while.

“Yeah. They’ve been really helpful.”

“Sure. But there are things they don’t tell you… Did you know that Konstantinos found his mate the day he died protecting his alpha?”

“No,” I managed to say, taken aback. “I had no idea.”

“He was starting to lose hope, you know. He was the last one of us. He thought he’d never find her. But then he did. He didn’t get to give Alexis more than a kiss.

“He didn’t mate with her or mark her. He just left her with a promise he couldn’t keep because his duty to his alpha came first.”

Her voice broke at the end, and so did my heart.

“How do you know all this?” I asked quietly.

“His alpha told us the story, heartbroken when he had to tell us about Konstantinos’s death.”

“What happened to her? Your brother’s mate?”

“She waited for him, even after the alpha found her and told her that Konstantinos was gone. She just couldn’t believe it, that she’d lost him before she even really knew him.”

“Where is she now?”

“Here.” She smiled. “I took her in.”

“Doesn’t she have a family?”

“No. She’s an orphan. All she had to look forward to was her mate. When I told her I was his sister, she came with me without a second thought. It took her a long time to heal and accept that she had to move on.”

“And she did?”

“Yes, she did. Ned’s brother lost his mate around the same time my brother died, and he was left to raise a little boy on his own. They became each other’s second chance.”

“That’s kind of sweet,” I said.

“And sad. But it would be even sadder if they’d stayed alone for the rest of their lives. They’ve grown to love each other deeply, and they even have three kids together.”

“It would be a shame if neither of them got a second chance,” I added.

“Do you really think so?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at me.

“Yeah.”

“Then why doesn’t the poor doctor get his?”

I was taken aback, but I quickly regained my composure.

“Max has made a lot of mistakes. He’s not as innocent as your brother’s mate. And besides, I’m not even sure he wants me anymore, and I won’t be with someone who pities me.”

“Pity? Is that what you think you see in his eyes?”

“What else?” I retorted.

“Sure, there’s guilt and regret, but I didn’t see any pity, Estella. What I did see was admiration and affection. That man is proud of you. He loves you.”

“He’s the reason for everything that’s happened to me these past few years, Iphigeneia. I love him, but how can I forget? How can I forgive?”

“I can’t tell you how because only you know your heart. But I will ask you this: haven’t you made mistakes too?”