Chapter 98
LUNA CLAIR.
‘Princess?’ Jake’s voice rang in my head.
‘Jake?’ I answered him right away.
‘They’re in the territory. They’ll be here soon. Are you ready?’
‘I think I am. Just let me get my head together and prepare myself a bit more.’ I excused myself from Janna and Alia and went into the bathroom.
‘I love you. No matter what happens today, you will let your father explain. No running away.’
‘I promise.’
‘Or I will chain you up around my body.’
‘That doesn’t sound bad. I might just reconsider running away then...’ I bit my lower lip as I rested my hands on the bathroom counter.
‘I love you, you know that? And I will just be here for you.’
‘I love you too. And thank you.’
‘We’re a team, princess. I will always have your back.’
I smiled as the mindlink closed while I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Alia and Janna were outside doing a final touch on Janna’s curls. I excused myself so I could gather myself before facing Nadia.
A week ago, Jake came to me and confessed what Alpha Riley told him. He said he didn’t want to leave me unaware or catch me off guard, so he laid out everything the Alpha told him about Nadia.
Nadia’s mother was Veronica Morrison. She belonged to the Dark Forest Pack, which was ruled by my grandfather, the late Alpha Carlos Montrell, before it was taken over by another Alpha.
My grandparents died that day, and the only living survivors in the lineage were my father and his brother, Uncle Theodore.
They were both away that day when the pack was attacked, and they were not able to come back.
They were both banished but accepted by another pack.
My Uncle Theodore was planning to take the pack that rightfully belonged to him.
He was the firstborn Alpha. My father was the second son.
But my uncle met his mate, Laura, a human.
Since my father had moved on with my mother, Camilla, to the Black Shadow Pack territory, he decided to just give up and live among the humans.
I heard nothing about their will to take back their pack as we grew up. Maybe my uncle and my father had given up and were satisfied with the life they had.
I shouldn’t be this bothered about Nadia’s mother, because Nadia could be anyone’s daughter.
But Jake showed a picture of Veronica that Alpha Riley’s men found in the house where Veronica lived together with her fated mate.
The house was abandoned, but there were still things inside, and they found something important—a photo of Veronica with my father.
Veronica’s mate was an ordinary wolf, of no rank, and Alpha Riley insisted that Nadia’s wolf was emitting an Alpha aura, not strong but enough to be felt.
Something that could only be produced by a firstborn Alpha Female.
You can not sense their Alpha aura in human form, but very evident in their wolf forms.
Because Nadia was a few months older than Aaron, it was possible that Veronica became pregnant before Mom.
If Nadia turned out to be my half-sibling, I would be, of course, happy to have a sister.
I always wanted one. Janna and Alia were like my sisters, but one of the same blood would be something else.
But the thought of my father cheating or spending a night with someone after he met my mother was something I couldn’t take. They were always so perfect. It made me believe that no one could break the mate bond. And that was what was eating my heart.
“Luna?” A soft knock on the bathroom door snapped me out of my thoughts. “Alpha Riley and his Luna have arrived. Gavin just sent me a mindlink.”
I opened the door and nodded at Alia, flashing her a grin as my eyes darted to Janna, who had her forehead creased as she looked at her reflection in the vanity mirror. “She’s still not satisfied with her curls?”
Alia giggled softly. “She thinks Aaron would like it better if she has bigger curls.”
“Janna, Aaron likes your hair, whatever condition it is in. Trust me.” I walked up to her, my hands resting on her shoulders.
“I know. But sometimes I think pregnancy made me ugly. Especially after Austin came out.”
“Says who?” I asked her, a teasing smile on my lips. “You should hear how Aaron brags about you and how pretty and sexy you are. It is cringy already!”
“Now you two, get up now. We should go down. It’s not appropriate to make an Alpha and his Luna wait. And it’s not nice for the Luna to be late too.” Alia pulled Janna and me out of the room as we giggled our way down the stairs to the entrance of the packhouse.
With these two females around me, sometimes I felt like we were just friends hanging out and not running a pack. So having Alia snap senses at us every now and then was always a big help.
I had prepared myself for meeting Nadia, but I didn’t expect to feel the way I did when I finally saw her. There was a bond between us, something I couldn’t deny.
And as much as I wanted the conversation to go further, especially with my brother, Aaron, feeling the same connection, I wanted to wait until my father met Nadia before I jumped to conclusions.
“Veronica?” My father’s voice ruled over everyone else’s, and all heads turned in his direction. He was near the place where Nadia was sitting. His eyes were fixated on her. His face looked shocked before his lips slowly tugged into a smile.
“I’m sorry. I thought, for a second, I saw an old friend. My apologies for the rude entrance.” His gaze shifted to my Alpha as he tilted his head in submission to him.
Jake nodded his head before Nadia stood up from her chair and extended a hand to my father.
“Veronica is my mother. My name is Nadia. Do you… happen to… know her?” She stammered at the last part, and I could see the excitement in her eyes.
“Nice to meet you, Nadia.” My father shook her hand but didn’t let her go. Instead, he pulled her gently for a hug. “Now I know why you felt familiar, like I knew you. How’s Veronica?”
My heart clenched at the soft way my father mentioned her mother’s name.
“She’s dead,” Nadia told him as they continued to hug each other.
“Dead? I’m sorry to hear that, sweetheart.”
No. Something was off. If Dad and Veronica had something before, wouldn’t he be more affected by her death?
“I never met her.” Nadia pulled away from him before she continued. “You said she was a friend. Do you know if she had a boyfriend before she met her fated…”
Nadia’s question hung in the air because her attention was already drawn to someone behind Dad.
NADIA.
My heart jumped out of my chest when I saw the man who called my mother’s name. He felt familiar and warm, and I was a hundred percent sure he knew my mother. Maybe he had an idea of who my mother had a relationship with before she met her fated mate.
“You said she was a friend. Do you know if she had a boyfriend before she met her fated…?” I was not able to finish my question because my attention was drawn to the female who entered the dining hall.
“Laura?” I looked at David and smiled at him before I moved to meet Laura. “What are you doing here?”
“You knew each other?” It was Luna Clair who asked. I looked back at her and saw that she stood up and hugged David.
“Yes! I met Nadia in Atlanta. And Nadia, Clair, is the niece that I was telling you about.”
“Oh, small world! I have no idea!” I giggled. “So, is David your mate?” My forehead creased in confusion because I remembered her telling me her mate’s name was Theodore.
“No! No! David is Theodore’s brother. My mate is just parking the car, and you can meet him soon. And this man must be Alpha Riley?” Riley was already standing beside me.
He smiled at Laura, and they shook hands. “Nice to finally meet you, Laura. Nadia has told me things about you.”
“And you are as handsome as Nadia and Zahra told me. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
I didn’t hear the rest of the conversation as another man walked up inside the dining hall, and this time, my world stopped.
He looked almost the same as David, but for some unknown reason, my heart started beating loudly as I took in all of him, while my eyes began to water. There was something about him that I couldn’t explain, but it felt like I was longing for him.
He stopped in his tracks as his gaze fell on me and his jaw tightened.
“Theo! Look who’s here? Veronica’s daughter! Nadia, this is my brother, Theo. We grew…”
I didn’t hear the rest of David’s statement because everything after became a blur. Theodore suddenly appeared in front of me. His hands flew to my arms, holding me tightly as his eyes watered. “Nadia? Did you say your name is Nadia?”
I nodded my head, but I couldn’t find the words to say anything as I stared at the hazel brown eyes in front of me. His eyes reflected my own.
“How old are you, Nadia?”
“I just turned 22 a few weeks ago,” I answered as I finally let the tears from my eyes fall. I could hear his heartbeat, and it was in sync with the loud beatings of my heart.
I knew right then and there that he was the man I had been looking for all my life.
His arms wrapped around me as he pulled my head into his chest. “Nadia…” He was mumbling my name as if it were a precious thing. “Do you know who your father is?”
I shook my head. “Mom died while giving birth to me. I was raised by her fated mate until I was five years old.”
He let go of hugging me and cupped my cheeks. His tears were streaming down his face. “I didn’t know. I swear I didn’t know. Do you feel it?” He took my hand and placed it in his heart, and I kept nodding my head as my tears continued to pour out of my eyes, my sobs almost choking me.
“Yes. I feel it. Where were you when I needed you?” I asked him the question I’d been wanting to ask him all these years. I was finally letting all my emotions out as the man in front of me wrapped his arms around me once again, pulling me into his chest.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t know. Let me explain. Let me explain... if I only knew, I would have done everything in my power to take you. Now I know why the Goddess didn’t bless me with another pup because I abandoned you. I’m sorry, Nadia.”
He cupped my face again, tilting my head up to look me in the eyes. Our faces were wet with our tears. “I have no idea...”