TWENTY-FOUR. Lightning

POV – Dorian

After we discovered Aviary missing and the searches for her came up with nothing, I crumbled. I know I wasn’t the only one, though. Her leaving hit the pack hard.

Luna Hailey had given the appearance on the outside that she had the pack’s best intentions at heart. But when the pack found out Aviary had left and why… it hurt the pack.

One of the best things Brent did was to reveal the abuse Aviary had endured under Hailey’s care to the pack. He was honest. His pack were angry at him, angry that Aviary ran away, angry at Hailey. Although all the adults and teenagers knew about the power of the mate bond, chosen or not, they were still angry at Brent and his choices.

Brent worked hard to rebuild his pack. With my help, we set up counselling places for pack members and more social groups. A playgroup was started, a skateboarding group and book clubs. Alpha Brent demolished the pack house and rebuilt it, starting fresh. He listened to his members, especially the omegas, the glue of the pack. He watched, and he learned.

With his Luna gone, Alpha Brent became a better Alpha, a better man and father to Ashley, Hailey’s son.

The fallout also affected the Beta family, who hadn’t believed Danni when she tried to seek help for Aviary. Danni was adamant that she would come with me after she completed her stint at Alpha Training, threatening her parents that she wasn’t coming home at all.

However, she met her mate at Alpha Training, one of the Royal Delta’s rotating at the campus. Danni moved in with him and didn’t return to the pack until she was pregnant with her oldest son, Preston. Her relationship with her parents was strained for years afterwards. Danni didn’t trust them, even with her own children. But Preston and Callum eventually changed her attitude toward her parents, wanting to see them and spend time with them. They both brought her parents back into her life.

I visited every year at first, then every second year, till finally, five years had passed without contact. I almost felt envious of how Redwood Pack had moved on after Aviary’s disappearance. Over the past eighteen years, it grew in number, with a reputation as an equal-opportunity pack. Even some of my fairies joined the pack.

But I struggled. I’d lost my mate. I knew she wasn’t dead, but I’d lost her. I lost her because she was scared of those in charge who were meant to be her family and love and protect her.

//\\///\\\//\\

‘She’s here. My daughter is back.’ Those words run through my head as I run through the castle towards the garden gate. I’ve already linked Declan, the head guard of Worthington Mist Clan, to meet me at Spiral Grove with cars.

“Dorian, you can’t just leave without gear,” my best friend Alessio says, running after me. I shake my head.

“They found her; she’s back. My mate, they found her,” I tell him. Alessio nods.

“That’s good news, but you can’t run there with nothing. I’ll send a bag to Redwood pack with a guard if you like?” he asks.

“That’ll be great,” I say, lifting my hands as petals from four different flowers float toward me. I raise my hands, and the petals speed around me in a circle. I think of the Spiral Grove and push my hands down, palms facing the ground.

Opening my eyes, I smile when I see I’m in Spiral Grove. I quickly approach the second black car waiting for me out on the road.

“Celsitinem tuam,” Declan greets as I slide into the passenger seat.

“Declan. Thank you for picking me up. Please take me straight to Redwood Pack House,” I say. Declan doesn’t reply as he pulls onto the road, heading for Redwood Pack.

I sit there, my mind stewing with thoughts as we drive closer to Redwood Pack. Will she remember me? Will she recognise me? Will she still want me? I’m not angry at her for running away. I’m not. She had to protect herself. I’m just mad I wasn’t there when she needed me. I’m going to tell her that. I will tell her that I love her and want her if she’ll have me.

One look from the guard on duty and we get ushered through immediately. Declan heads for the main entrance, where Alpha Brent is waiting for us.

I get out of the car, and Alpha Brent looks at me, tears pooling in his eyes.

“She’s back,” he tells me. I take two steps forward and wrap my arms around him. Alpha Brent softly cries on my shoulder as I hug him.

“Where is she? Is she okay?” I finally ask. I feel him shake his head.

“She’s in the hospital,” he says softly. I turn and head straight in the direction of the hospital wing. I don’t know where she is and find my way to the first manned nurses’ station.

“Hello. Which room is Aviary Redclaw in?” I ask the nurse who is sitting there, doing paperwork. She looks at me and smiles.

“Major Greystone,” she acknowledges. The nurse doesn’t look familiar but must recognise me from my frequent visits to the pack over the last eighteen years.

“She has been moved into a private room, room one-eighteen,” the nurse tells me.

“Thank you,” I reply, turning to the elite guards following me. One nods and heads off toward Aviary’s room, and I follow, trying to breathe normally and calm my anxiety down.

Murry stands outside a door, opening it to let me in. My eyes focus on the woman on the bed. She looks older than I remember, with a white and brown headscarf adorning her head.

“Aviary?” I ask. Her brown eyes flick to mine, and I can’t help but smile. Without thinking, I walk over to her, wrapping her in my arms.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers.

“It’s okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t know what was happening to you. I would have been there with you if I had,” I reply, kissing her head.

“I should have told you,” Aviary whispers.

“It’s okay. You’re here now,” I say, holding her.

We sit there for what seems like hours, but probably minutes. A nurse comes in and checks Aviary’s vitals before leaving us alone.

“What is wrong with you?” I finally ask.

“I have cancer,” Aviary says, looking down at her lap. I’m surprised. It is rare for werewolves to get any human sickness, like cancer. Their wolves heal them before it progresses unless there is something wrong with their wolves…

“How long?” I ask. Aviary shrugs.

“I stopped going to the doctor because I couldn’t afford it,” she replies.

“What? Pack doctors should be free!” I cry.

“Not the pack I was in. Calla became weak, and life got tough…” she whimpers. Fuck. I can’t imagine what it would have been like for Aviary with a weakened wolf. Did her wolf become weak because of the abuse?

“I’m dying, Dorian. I’m sorry,” she mumbles.

“No. No, no, no. We can fix it. Fairy magic can heal you….” I begin, stopping when Aviary shakes her head in my arms.

“It’s too late,” she cries. I shake my head. No, it can’t be.

“How did Calla become weak?” I ask. Aviary shrugs.

“Hailey…” she begins, and I know the rest. Hailey’s beatings caused her wolf to become weak from constantly healing her. Being away from me, her mate, wouldn’t have helped. I feel sorrowful and frustrated that I couldn’t be there for her.

“Lie down,” I tell her. She looks up at me.

“Lie down,” I say again. Reluctantly Aviary lets go of me and lies on the bed, watching me. I close my eyes, letting my fairy out. Aviary gasps when I open my eyes again, as I know they’ve changed to purple. Slowly I scan her body with my eyes. Yes, she has cancer. I see it in her bones, weakening them and making them brittle. This is typical of werewolves I’ve seen with cancer, not that I’ve seen many. But if caught in the first few months, it is fixable with fay medicine. We have a cure and will give them to packs if asked.

I raise my hands and draw out all the newly compromised cells from her system, squishing and dissipating their damaged cells into the air. Avril sighs as the compromised cells are released from her body.

Even a witch could have helped make Avril more comfortable, but I can see the residue toxins of the human drugs in her system. This is why she is wearing a scarf around her head. She’s lost her hair.

“Thank you,” Aviary whispers when I finish.

“I wish I could have been there from the start. Can you call a nurse in for me?” I ask. She nods, pressing the buzzer next to her bed. We wait ten minutes, and a nurse pops her head in the door.

“Alpha? You need anything?” the nurse asks.

“Yes, can I please have blumodeflor made into a tea for Aviary? She’ll need to drink it at every meal,” I tell the nurse.

“Of course. Her meal will be here shortly. Will you be eating with her?” the nurse asks.

“No, he’ll be having lunch with someone else,” Aviary says, smiling at the nurse.

“Of course, Alpha, Major. Major Greystone, how many teaspoons per drink?” the nurse asks me.

“Uh, two,” I say. The nurse nods before saying goodbye.

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” I ask her. Aviary smiles and laughs. It’s good to see her like that.

“No. I want you to spend time with your daughter,” she says.

“My what?”

“Your daughter, Lillia. She’s the best thing that came out of that time. She was here when you walked into the room. Remember?” I shake my head. When I walked into the room, I only saw Aviary.

“Tell me about her,” I ask. Aviary smiles and starts telling me stories about Lillia. Aviary gets served lunch while she talks, but afterwards, she has nothing to say. I feel like she’s keeping something from me. Meanwhile, I tell her everything we did to look for her when Aviary stops me and looks at the door.

“Bubba, you just disappeared,” Aviary says. I turn and watch as a teenage girl walks into the room, heading for Aviary. She has long, wavey brown hair and my eyes. I can see myself in her facial features and smile at her.

“Bubba, I want you to meet your dad, Dorian. Dorian, this is Lillia,” Aviary introduces us.

“Hello,” Lillia shyly says.

“Hello, Lillia. It’s good to meet you,” I respond. And it is. I have a daughter! She looks like me, with her hair and eye colour. She has my nose and lips, but everything else is her mum. She’s beautiful.

We chatted for a bit, and I took her to the dining hall for lunch, disappointed at the staff for not allowing her to go in and eat when she wanted. We eat with Brent and his prodigy, Elijah, and a pack member who hangs off Elijah’s arm. I wonder if she knows he’s not interested. His slight facial expressions tell me he doesn’t like her. In fact, I have a feeling he has something for Lillia. Mates perhaps? I’ll have to look into him.

“Your what?” Brent shouts after Lillia mumbles. We’ve just talked about fairy names when Lillia admits to being a twin.

“Your twin?” I ask, sad.

“uh, um, mum lost my twin before I was born. Calla, Mum’s wolf, told me once. It’s why Calla was so weak. She spent a lot of her energy saving me,” Lillia whispers.

I feel anger. All my feelings when I saw Aviary’s room after she disappeared resurface. I can’t contain my rage, sending it out into the air. A loud crack of lightning booms outside, the clouds going dark as it channels my anger. The building shakes, and the dining hall goes dark. I can’t breathe. I can’t stay here with the Alpha who betrayed his own daughter and almost had her killed from his neglect.

Big drops of rain fall to the earth, and I can’t be here anymore, my pain visible through the weather outside.

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse me,” I say. I need to get out of here. I loosen my tie as I walk out of the dining hall.

“Tell the Alpha we need to meet and discuss what happened to Aviary after she left,” I tell Beta Liam as I pass him the hallway. He visibly gulps in fear, my anger shaking the building as lightning continues to zap the earth.

~

Edited with Grammarly