The Hunted Wolf – Chapter 25

ADIRA The b***d in my head was pounding in my ears, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe as Reyland spoke to Mark. My back was pressed against the hallway upstairs next to the stairs as I listened to their conversation. I could barely focus on the words as I tried to control my breathing. I wanted to believe that Reyland regretted his decision to kick me out, but I had a hard time believing it. If he was truly sorry, he would have come to find me.

“As long as you understand that I will protect the people I care about at any cost. Don’t cross me. Don’t hurt my mate. Don’t hurt my pack. It’s as simple as that.” Mark’s voice was firm and unwavering as his alpha tone emerged.

“I completely understand. Say the word, and I’m gone,” Reyland responded.

Mark hesitated for a moment before speaking. “Fine. You’ll tell me what you have to offer first, and then I’ll bring the information to Adira. Then I’ll let her decide if she wants your help.”

“Fine. Are we going to discuss things here?” Reyland asked, the slightest hint of impatience in his voice.

I held my breath as I waited for Mark’s response. I wanted him to tell Reyland to go home. I hated the idea of that man coming into my home. Everything about Reyland’s voice told me he was here as an alpha, not a father. He was too formal and lacking emotion, just like the day he told me to leave.

“Right this way,” Mark said.

My stomach churned, and I couldn’t take it anymore. I ran to the bathroom, barely making it in time to puke my guts out. I felt completely sick and stayed in front of the toilet until the entire contents of my stomach was gone. I shifted my weight so I was sitting on my butt instead and leaned my head back against the bathroom wall. I still felt queasy and didn’t want to move. I didn’t want to leave the bathroom for fear of running into Reyland.

–

MARK Alpha Lyna sat across from me in the conference room. Neither of us had said anything since I let him into my pack house. I had thought about asking Darian or Scythe to be present for this meeting, but I decided it was best for me to talk to him in private first. He was too tied up in Adira’s history, and it wasn’t my place to share her past with others. If the alpha said something useful, I would decide what to do at that point.

“So why would you come here and offer us any kind of help?” I finally asked when he didn’t offer up the information.

“After you left, my wife informed me of the conversation you all had. She had never told me the full extent about what Adira was before, but it makes sense. When she turned sixteen, I could feel a change in her, and I knew she wasn’t mine,” Alpha Lyna explained. He sat tall in his chair with his fingers intertwined on the table.

“You didn’t ask any questions before you kicked your own daughter out?” I asked, scoffing at the audacity of this man. Before I made such an intense decision, I would want to know everything about the situation.

“I tried to ask her, but the only thing she would admit to me was that she had an affair and that Adira wasn’t mine. She refused to explain how, when, or who. Before you push me about that, I realize I should have found out more before taking it out on Adira, but I can’t change my actions from the past. I can only control my actions now,” he said, leaning forward. I could feel his alpha pheromone increase, but it didn’t intimidate me. In fact, it had the opposite effect. This man was so used to using his alpha status to get people to listen to him that he didn’t know how to have a real conversation.

“So what did Luna Freya tell you that made you change your mind about Adira now?” I asked. The more this man talked, the less I liked him.

“Nothing,” he admitted. “It was what Adira said. She was right. I used to be a father figure to her, and she was my daughter. I loved her like a daughter, and that never stopped. I was just filled with so much anger at the time that I wasn’t thinking straight, but seeing Adira and how she turned into a strong young lady made me realize how deeply I regretted losing her relationship.

“I made my wife tell me the truth, the whole truth, about who and what Adira was. Freya told me about this horrible prophecy about Adira and how you guys came to her for answers. I don’t know exactly what you are facing, but I want to lend you my help. I abandoned Adira once, but I don’t plan on doing it again.”

Everything Alpha Lyna was saying sounded too good to be true. If he was willing to offer help, then we could have backup for potential issues sooner rather than later. This could be exactly what we needed to face these challenges, but I didn’t know if we could trust him or if Adira would want to accept the help.

“Are you able to supply warriors to help us?” I asked. I needed to know the full extent of the help he could offer before going to Adira with this.

“I can provide as many warriors as you need within reason,” Alpha Lyna said. “I can even lend support for training your warriors. I understand that your pack is fairly new and still pretty small.”

I nodded. “Yes. We manage okay, but I fear we don’t have enough manpower to deal with outside threats. What do you know about sorcerers and the Council of Magic?”

Alpha Lyna knitted his eyebrows together at the question. He stroked his beard as he thought about it. “I don’t know much about them if I’m being honest. We might have some records with our historian about the war, but ever since the pact was made, our pack hasn’t had contact with sorcerers. Over the generations, knowledge has been lost about them.”

I nodded, understanding the dilemma. I knew sorcerers existed in their own territories, but that had been the extent of my knowledge before meeting Adira. We were never taught about the war as young pups. It had been labeled as unnecessary information by an elder long ago, which was ridiculous and naive. To hide history created the risk of repeating it the horrors it entailed.

“The Council of Magic wants to get rid of Adira for what she is, and we’ve been told they will come after her. The more information we have about them, the more prepared we can be for when they do come,” I explained.

Alpha Lyna’s face shifted back into its neutral form. “I understand. I will see what information we can dig up and provide it to you as soon as possible. I can have my patrols head here as early as tomorrow if you choose to accept my help.”

“Thank you. I will reach out as soon as we have come to a decision,” I said, standing up. I held out my hand to him. “I appreciate you coming here to offer your help, Alpha Lyna.”

He stood up and took my hand. His grip was firm and would have hurt most people’s grip. “Please call me Reyland. I hope to be working with you to protect my daugh-to protect Adira.”

I walked Reyland to the front of the pack house and escorted him out the door. Once he was gone, I took a moment to myself. His help was very appealing, and I wanted to take all the help I could get. No one would take Adira from me if I had anything to say about it. However, I didn’t know how Adira would feel about all of this. She broke down crying just from seeing the man, so I wasn’t sure how she would react to him being around the pack house to keep an eye on her.

I needed to talk to her sooner rather than later, though. I had no idea when any of the threats would attack, and the sooner we were prepared the better.

–

ADIRA I took a few deep breaths and willed myself to get off the bathroom floor. I didn’t want Mark to find me like this. He was already worried enough. I didn’t want him to know I was throwing up due to anxiety. I quickly brushed my teeth and washed my mouth out, feeling much better after freshening up.

As I exited the bathroom, Mark was entering our bedroom. His face was twisted, and I could tell he had some sort of internal struggle going on.

“Are you feeling better?” he asked when he saw me.

I nodded slowly and then walked over to the bed. My legs were a little shaky from sitting on the bathroom floor. I waited for Mark to say something, knowing he was going to tell me about Reyland showing up. He walked over to me and sat down next to me.

I watched his face shift as he went through several thoughts. I reached over and grabbed his hand.

“What did he want?” I asked, wanting to help Mark say what he needed to. I didn’t want to wait any longer, guessing what happened either.

Mark looked at me with wide eyes. “How did you-”

“I was going to grab some water, and I overheard some of the conversation,” I explained. I looked away from him. “I didn’t want to face him though.”

Mark squeezed my hand. “And you don’t ever have to face him if you don’t want to.”

I wished that was true, but I knew it wasn’t. “I can’t hide forever. I will have to face him one day. I just didn’t want that day to be today. So why did he come here?”

Mark shifted so he was looking directly. “He wants to offer us help. He says he’ll do research about the Council of Magic and will provide warriors to help protect our pack.”

I tightened my lips. “He offered help, just like that?” He was never the type of alpha to offer other packs help without some sort of deal that would strengthen our pack, which made me suspicious of his intentions.

“He says it’s to make up for what he did to you. I don’t know how genuine the offer is, but we could use the help. If you don’t feel comfortable with it, though, we don’t have to. We can reach out to other werewolf packs if you would prefer.” Mark was very quick to make sure that we didn’t have to do any of this.

I felt oddly still at the offer. I didn’t feel anxious or nervous. I wasn’t happy either. As much as this offer seemed weird for Reyland’s character, I had never known him to be the malicious type, and Mark was right. We could use the help. Getting help from Cain didn’t seem to be an option, and if I wanted to make sure my life stayed intact, we would need help from someone.

We needed some sort of break from the universe. It felt like one attack after another. Maybe this was the break I needed. Maybe for once, the universe was on my side to make sure I could find the happiness I wanted.

Finally, I said, “We should accept his help.”