Chapter 9 - Conan
“You will all be pleased to know that I have found my fated mate amongst the witches in the August Moon Circle,” I announce to the council in the newly built meeting chamber in Silver Stone territory.
Luna Sophie, who absentmindedly clutches her pregnant belly with fierce protectiveness, smiles warmly.
“This is delightful news, Conan.” She exchanges a glance with her mate, Alpha Damian. “So, Amos was right?”
“It appears so,” I offer with a half-hearted smile, internally breaking apart after that argument with Hannah. I want to join in their relief that I have finally found my mate.
But no one here knows how hard it’s been.
Apart from last night’s fight, Hannah and I are at loggerheads, and I don’t think I’m ready to reveal who she is.
After all, it was my grandfather who, eight years ago, brought the news that an omega wolf had crossed our territory bounds and escaped the pack. I was busy breaking up a fight between the soldiers, but when the news came, I instantly rushed to Hannah’s cottage.
Only to find the note she left behind and an empty cabin.
She was the omega who left the valley, escaping because she wasn’t prepared to become the pack’s luna.
I glance at my grandfather, seeing pure relief and elation on his face, knowing that Iron Breath’s powers will be restored, and the fate of the Bitterroot Valley packs will be sealed.
“We will perform the mating rites tonight, while the full moon still hangs in the sky,” Grandfather says, and I shake my head, raising my hand to show him my palm.
Though it’s been healed—quicker than expected, since my healing abilities are restored—the scar on my palm remains visible.
“That won’t be necessary, Grandfather. We’ve already completed the mating ritual according to the coven rites.”
“Wonderful!” He claps his hands together. “So, when will we meet your fated mate?”
I glance around the room before responding. “That is why I called for a meeting here, in Silver Stone. My fated mate is in no condition to be introduced to everyone yet. Last night, on our way back to the valley, we were attacked by a group of demons.”
Silence falls on the meeting chamber, and I glance at Simon before continuing.
“She fought them off, using the combined forces of air and fire magic. But the use of her powers to defeat the demons exhausted her. She will need some time to recover.”
Grandfather nods slowly. “Perhaps I should pay her a visit, then.”
My throat clutches. “No.” I shake my head, knowing that it’ll only make things worse if my grandfather visits her. She hardly wants to speak to me, and I can’t imagine what a disaster it will be if my grandfather shows up in her volatile state.
I don’t even wish to tell them that she’s an ex-member of the Iron Breath Pack. Not until I’ve made sure that things are good between us.
She seems convinced that the only reason I mated her was for the sake of the alliance and for the restoration of my powers.
I mean, I don’t blame her for thinking that. But if I want to get anywhere with Hannah and this mate bond, I’ll have to work harder. I’ll have to win her over. It’s what my inner wolf demands of me.
It’s not about my powers or the alliance. It’s about her. It’s about having her right where I need her, by my side, as my luna. Last night, when I watched her wield her powers to protect us, to protect her daughter, I was reminded of what I felt for her all those years ago.
Those feelings were reignited the moment I laid eyes on her again, even if she broke my heart.
“She will rest and decide when she’s ready to meet everyone,” I assure the others. “For now, we should focus on this new alliance and wait for word from Sister Amalia on their progress with interrogating Hale.”
Everyone nods in agreement, and I blow out a sigh of relief,
“Have you been able to establish if the area in Annika’s vision was in Helena Valley?” Heinrich asks.
“We may have a lead with the alpha of Blood Mill. William promised to keep an eye out for any signs of a portal. But for now, we don’t have anything, apart from my fated mate being an established witch.”
“Which means Annika’s vision was correct. We just have to be very careful now,” Damian warns.
I nod. “Whatever the demons have planned, we will be ready.”
“Agreed,” Annika says. “Sophie and I have been training as much as we can. We believe that, with the help of your mate, Conan, we can finally win this war.”
***
Rounding up the soldiers and implementing extra cautionary measures around Iron Breath territory, I’m simply trying to distract myself. Avoiding Hannah because I’m still reeling from her bitterness this morning.
As the sun begins to set on the valley, the pseudo-high I’d been riding all day seems to fade. I’d thrown myself so deeply into my duties that I hadn’t stopped for a moment to think about Hannah, except this morning at the meeting in Silver Stone.
Simon hangs back while the soldiers disperse to take their positions for the night patrol rotation, standing beside me as any good beta would. An overwhelming sense of regret overcomes me as I reflect on the past couple of months alone.
I’d been acting like a tyrant, an uncaring, barbaric kind of alpha who couldn’t care less about mate bonds and rituals.
When the research team first proposed the ritual for the alphas of the valley to find the fated mates that would restore our powers, I scoffed at the idea.
I thought it was foolish to tie oneself down to another, binding powers as if one were weak without someone else.
Codependency, I thought bitterly back then.
But now, with Hannah as my mate, I realize that a part of me had been missing all along.
I’d always missed her, even if the heartbreak kept me locked in a loop of indifference, where I refused to think about her at all. I really loved her.
That’s why I was against the fated mate bond, refusing to accept that someone else could ever get close to me.
But as fate would have it, the same woman who had the power to hurt me is also the woman responsible for the restoration of my powers.
They may not be fully restored yet, but in time, they will be, if she gives me the chance.
But what I’m feeling now, regret heavy on my shoulders, isn’t because I want my powers back.
I want to be a better man—for Hannah, and for Iron Breath and the others.
I’ve been a douchebag this whole time. To myself, and to the people around me. Like Damian, when he first performed the ritual, and then with Heinrich. I went as far as spewing cruel words to both of them, only for the fellow valley alphas and their mates to bring more safety to this place.
“I’m sorry,” I sigh to Simon when it’s just the two of us left on the ridge, watching the sun set behind the tallest mountain in Bitterroot.
“Sorry?” Simon frowns at me. “For what?”
I pat his shoulder and sigh again. “For being a dick.”
“Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?”
Chuckling nervously, I run a hand through my hair and turn back to the sunset. “I’m just realizing a lot of things lately.”
“Does this have to do with Hannah Young?”
I take a deep breath before replying, “Yes.”
Simon nods thoughtfully. “I remember how distraught you were when you found out she’d left the pack. It must be a relief that you found her now.”
“Yeah, and a child she had with someone else. You know, she won’t even tell me his name?”
“Does it matter?”
I shake my head slowly, shoving my hands into my pockets.
“No. I guess not,” I groan. “But it’s so frustrating.
She did me dirty, Simon. And now fate has given us another chance, and she’s acting like I’m the one who hurt her.
It’s like she hates me, and I can’t understand why. I didn’t even do anything wrong.”
“So maybe you need to speak to her. Ask her why. Have you tried that?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, she’s in your house. That’s a start.”
“I guess you’re right.” I pat Simon’s shoulder. “Have I told you that you’re a good beta?”
Simon grins. “Not nearly enough. But I’m trying to be a good friend, too.”
“Well, you’re the best.”
***
Simon’s pep talk seems to lift my spirits, and by the time I arrive home on my side of the mansion, I’m ready to have a proper heart-to-heart with Hannah.
We can’t leave things the way they are right now.
I’ll be damned if I have to spend the rest of my life with her while she hates me for no apparent reason.
I don’t understand why she’s so resentful of me.
Perhaps it’s because she felt like I forced the marriage on her.
But surely, she knows she’s my fated mate, and we’re destined to be together.
Unless I really meant nothing to her.
It’s hard to wrap my head around it when I felt her passion the night in her cabin. But eight years is a long time, and things have clearly changed.
“Hannah…?” I call out quietly when I enter the kitchen. The lingering aroma of butter hangs in the air, and I notice the dishes in the sink.
At least she made use of the kitchen, which means she hasn’t decided to uproot herself and her daughter from my house.
I’m just about to go off in search of her in the bedroom quarters when another scent catches my airways, and I’m stopped in my tracks, frozen on the spot, recognizing the scent as if my inner wolf is looking into a mirror.
My senses become alert, goosebumps erupting across my forearms as if the mate bond that gently hums beneath my flesh has burst through my pores.
My heartbeat slows down—slow enough for me to hear it, along with every other intricate beat in the house, and across the valley.
The birds chirping, the wind whispering, the river coursing steadily through its banks.
And then there’s another sound. Gentler. Familiar.
The sound of a pattering heart, thumping with life. My feet move of their own accord, carrying me toward that sound as each step I take follows the rhythm of that heartbeat. I’m too intoxicated by the familiar scent to make much sense of what I’m doing, where I’m going.
And all I can think about, all I can see, is Hannah.
I’m led up the stairs, following the breadcrumb trail of wolf scent and lavender with a hint of mint. The last note only reaches my airways when I’m outside Clarissa’s bedroom door, and I pause, my hand hovering at the gold metal knob.
Hannah must be tucking Clarissa in, and I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to go inside right now. We need privacy to speak, but the urge to go inside is too strong to resist. Too primal. It’s a force that I cannot fight, my heart pounding, chest aching, inner wolf desperate to be close.
But when I open the door, it isn’t Hannah I find.
The only one in the room, sound asleep on the bed, is Clarissa.
My daughter.