Chapter 19 - Conan
“So, Marcus Hale is confirmed to be a pawn in this whole thing, not the mastermind behind the operations…” Amos observes thoughtfully.
I nod, standing over a map of the southern ruins. “Yes. And he’s working for someone. A demon…or something much worse.”
“We did not get a name,” Amalia confirms, staring at the map through narrowed eyes that move to Amos.
“But we do have information about the southern ruins in the Bitterroot Valley. The demons are not just after the powers of the werewolves, but there seems to be something beneath the surface of the old Ashclaw territory.”
“Is this why they’re after our children?” Damian speculates. “First, they drained our powers, then they were siphoning the Ashclaw magic that remains in the ruins. Now, our children. Is it tied to what’s hidden beneath the surface?”
Amos takes a deep breath, rubbing his chin.
“Perhaps there is something under the Ashclaw territory that the demons want. But up until now, we didn’t even know of its existence.
Whatever lies there could be the thing that trained the packs in their power in the first place.
” He turns to his assistant. “Prepare the team. We are going to the southern ruins while there is sunlight.”
Amos’s assistant nods, then leaves Damian’s office.
“I will prepare a team of witches to accompany you, Amos. We will cast new spells and place new wards around the southern ruins. Perhaps we are no longer keeping demons out, but rather, keeping something locked away.” Amalia turns to me. “How are the children? How is Hannah doing?”
“The children are fine. We have Dorothy and Milly watching them in Iron Breath territory. Alpha Orlando has settled with his troops in campsites along the boundary lines,” I tell her. “And Hannah is recovering well.”
Amalia nods, worry still fresh on her quivering brows. “You should return to her, Alpha Conan. Make sure that she is well rested. We will handle the rest.”
“Amalia is right, Conan,” Heinrich agrees. “Damian, you need to be with Sophie. Annika and I will handle what we can on behalf of the Bitterroot Valley packs.”
Damian nods and proceeds to give his instructions to the soldiers waiting outside before him, and I leave for the Iron Breath side of the valley. He’s under immense stress. We both are. That’s why we barely speak as we head to the west side of the valley.
On one hand, my mate collapsed after the ritual to extract information from Marcus Hale. Though she woke up a day later and gave us all the information she found, the demons are still at large and remain a threat to our children and us.
We’ve moved back to Iron Breath territory, not lingering in one place so the demons won’t know where to find the children, using the masking potion to keep them hidden.
The same will happen to Damian and Sophie’s child when the hybrid pup is born—Sophie will have to consume the potion and breastfeed her child.
Tension hangs over our shoulders like a dark cloud.
“I’m gonna go check on Sophie,” Damian tells me when we reach Iron Breath territory and my house comes into view. “We’ll catch up later.”
I nod and wait for him to disappear behind the garden on the left, where a path leads to the guesthouse behind me. That’s where Damian and Sophie are staying while Dorothy looks after her, and Orlando, Nico, Milly, and some of the other witches occupy the log cabins out there.
Letting out an agitated breath, I shove my hands into my pockets and turn toward the porch. It may not be much, but I’m rather grateful for the small moment of respite while the others take care of things down in the south.
Hannah has done enough for the alliance, draining herself for the sake of the ritual that Amalia claims only she was meant to perform. It’s been two days, and while she’s been resting back at home, all I’ve been thinking about is that night when she fell into my arms and passed out.
I could have lost her.
That’s what Dorothy said when she checked up on Hannah that first night.
She could have been pulled so far into that vision that she could have been lost in it forever. It was by sheer willpower that she walked out of it in one piece, but I can’t stop worrying about her.
I can’t stop worrying about both my mate and our daughter.
Needing to check up on them, I make my way inside, only to stop short when I hear voices in the living room.
“I had no idea who you were to my grandson. If I had known, perhaps things would be different.”
I frown when I hear my grandfather’s voice, and tread carefully inside. Hannah stands in a corner, holding Clarissa’s shoulders as our daughter stands in front of her, both of them staring at my grandfather with wide eyes.
“What’s going on here?” I ask, immediately becoming protective of my mate and daughter when I sense their tension. I make my way toward them in the corner, eyes pinned to my grandfather on the sofa.
“Conan, I didn’t know you were done with the meeting,” Grandfather says, and clears his throat, looking uncomfortable.
I slide my arm over Hannah’s shoulders and place one hand over hers, where she holds Clarissa.
“I am done. Is everything alright?”
“Yes.” Grandfather’s eyes flicker between Hannah and me, then flit to Clarissa. “But there is something I must discuss with you both.”
I nod, turning to Hannah. She reads my expression and immediately understands when she leans down and whispers to Clarissa to go to her bedroom for a little while.
“What is going on here, Grandfather?” I ask when Clarissa has left. “I have noticed that there is some animosity between you and my mate. And I have not had the time to address it. So, what is it you wish to speak to us about?”
Grandfather clears his throat. “I want to explain what happened eight years ago. From what I gathered from Hannah today, you are both still very much in the dark about what happened.”
I frown. “What are you talking about?”
“If you knew by now, you would have come to me.” He chuckles nervously. “But since you haven’t, then it means you don’t know. And ever since I learned that I have a granddaughter, the guilt has been eating me up. She’s just like you, Conan. Just like you when you were that age.”
“I’m not under—”
“Let me finish, please,” Grandfather interjects as he raises a hand before he sighs.
“Eight years ago, some pack members—peers of yours, Conan—came to me with some very shocking news. They said they saw you with an omega. And the thought alone”—he gulps, looking down—”I couldn’t bear it.
I couldn’t stand by and see you make a mistake.
That’s why I intervened. But I see now that I was the one in the wrong. ”
“Quentin, Kayla, and Callum…?” I whisper, and Hannah and I exchange confused glances.
That’s when my grandfather continues, “Yes. They told me how you defended the omega, and then the two of you went into her cabin. They reported Dorothy’s missing gem, and—”
“They were framing her, Grandfather. Those three were bullying her, and they framed her for the missing gem. It was in her cabin because I found it on them.”
“I see…” Grandfather says. “But at the time, I didn’t know that. It didn’t even matter that the gem was missing. All I cared about was preserving your image, and that’s why I banished the omega from the pack. I banished Hannah from Iron Breath.”
My breath catches in my throat, and I turn to Hannah slowly, eyes widening with horror and realization.
She wasn’t lying to Dorothy when she said she’d been banished from the pack. When she said she didn’t run away.
My fist curls at my side.
As I turn back to Grandfather, he continues speaking.
“And after finding out that you and she were…close,” he gulps, his aging eyes flickering between us, “I ensured that you two would have no contact. So, I planted a note from you to her on her fridge, and left one for you on her kitchen table after she’d been banished.
That way, she would think you didn’t want her, and you think that she ran away. ”
My jaw drops, my heart hammering as anger burns through my veins.
“You did all of that to keep us away from each other?!” I roar, taking a step forward and towering over my grandfather. The only thing that stops me from lunging at him is when Hannah places a hand on my shoulder.
I glance at her and see her eyes brimming with tears, but she shakes her head slowly.
“I am sorry, Conan. Truly sorry. If I had known she was your fated mate, I—”
“It doesn’t matter if you knew that or not!
” I snap at my grandfather, glaring at him with all the fury I feel.
“I didn’t even know at the time! But I loved her, and I was going to make her my luna the moment I became alpha.
You stripped me of that, Grandfather! You made me lose my mate, my fated mate.
And you made me lose all this time with my d-daughter!
” My voice cracks with the pain I’m feeling.
The hurt. The betrayal. It’s a wound that rips my heart to shreds.
The man I’m glaring at is the one who was supposed to take care of me while I grew up. He was supposed to look out for my best interests. And all he’s ever cared about is my image.
Not my heart.
Not what I really wanted in my life.
It’s like he never knew me at all.
And I’ve spent so much of my time trying to appease him, trying to win his validation as if it meant anything.
This whole time, he was the one who betrayed me. He’s the one who manipulated the situation according to what he thought was best. Turns out, it wasn’t.
Perhaps it’s that shame that makes him hang his head and slip to the floor on his knees.
“I know I have made many mistakes, Conan. And I have wronged you both. The alpha and luna of this pack. Please forgive me,” he cries, tears falling onto his lap. “I will accept any form of punishment you choose. You can even banish me from this pack.”
I turn to Hannah, eyes wild with anger, my chest heaving with uncontrollable breaths. She shakes her head again, brows furrowed, and then she whispers, “Forgive him, Conan. He is your grandfather, your blood. And he is old.”
Shocked by her soft spirit despite all he has done to hurt us, I nod once and turn back to him.
“You should be grateful to your luna for the grace she shows you today. The ones who hurt her will be banished from the pack. And you will be the one who removes them from Iron Breath.”
Grandfather looks up, eyes sparkling with tears, and he says to Hannah, “Thank you, Luna Hannah. I am indebted to you.”
“Do not make the same mistakes twice, Elder Bernard. Your great-granddaughter is rather fond of you. I want you to be a part of her life.”
Grandfather nods and takes his leave, even though I can hardly look him in the eye. As soon as the door closes behind him, I turn to Hannah and hang my head, humbling myself before her.
“If there’s anyone you should forgive, it’s me.”
Hannah cups my face with both hands and lifts my head to meet her eyes. “We were both wrong, Conan. For so long, I thought you’d left that note on my fridge, and I…” she chokes, and that’s when I pull her into my arms.
“Whatever was in that note, it wasn’t true.
I meant what I said that night we spent together in your cabin.
The only reason I left before you woke up was that a fight broke out in the training arena.
And when I came back, I found your note on the table.
It broke me to find that; it broke me to think you left because you could never stand by my side. ”
Hannah lifts her gaze, her cheeks filled with rolling tears, and she shakes her head.
“I thought you abandoned me, Conan. That’s why I didn’t come to you for help when your grandfather came to see me that morning.
I wouldn’t have accepted the claims made against me if I thought there was a chance…
” she sniffles. “I spent the last eight years hating you, believing that you rejected me.”
I cradle her delicate face with both hands, wiping her tears with the pads of my thumbs.
“I would have never rejected you, Hannah. Those words would have never left my lips. I was ready to make you my luna back then. I meant every word I said that night. You have always been the most important person in my life. And now, you and Clarissa are the most important people in my life.”
Hannah nods gently, and a long moment of silence stretches between us as we stare into each other’s eyes. The years of pain and suffering we both faced dissolve, the mate bond burning through all our inhibitions and making us see that there is a future for us.
“I’m sorry that I ever doubted you,” she whispers, and I shake my head.
“I’m sorry that I didn’t find you sooner.”
Hannah lets out a shaky breath before saying, “I think it’s time we spoke to Clarissa. She must have figured it out just now when your grandfather came in to speak to me, but she deserves to hear it from us.”
“You’re right.” I slide my hand into Hannah’s and lift it to my lips to press a kiss to her knuckles. “It’s time we told her. And it’s time we put the past behind us and looked toward the future. She needs both of us.”
Hannah nods, smiling feebly. “She does. And so do the others. They need the alpha and luna of Iron Breath stronger than ever. Which is why we need to train our combined powers. Prepare for whatever comes our way.”
I smirk proudly. “There’s a reason you are my fated mate, Hannah. I need you by my side.”
“And that’s exactly where I’m gonna be.”