Rosetta, the woman who decided to forgive Opaline for her mistake of misunderstanding the situation, apologized for interrupting the ceremony. Her wolves finally shifted into men and women, dressing behind trees before coming out to greet us. We learned that she was Luna of the Nightstar Pack who had a territory farther north than I did. In between our packs was a vast land that had no claim to it and the rogues hardly passed through. Opaline repeatedly apologized for her mistake, even though Rosetta forgave her.
Before we parted ways, I asked her, "Who killed Maybelle? And what is her sister's name?"
She looked down at her feet and said, "I did by accident. It was the night before and I thought it was her sister. I had shot her, and only realized afterwards that I was wrong. She forgave me, saying it was her fault for being alone in the woods. I promised I'd find her sister and kill her. I'd find Melanie and end this once and for all."
Opaline wrapped her arms around me, leaning her head on my chest. I said, "Do you want to keep the child or kill it?"
Tears streamed down Rosetta's face as she looked up at us. "If at all possible, Barric would have wanted me to keep it, to protect it from Melanie's darkness. He may not have wanted the exchange with her, but he'd never despise the child when it is not it's fault."
"How did you find out?" Opaline whispered.
"Vuk told me, since Barric couldn't bring himself to. He told me what happened and why Barric was keeping his distance."
"Does he know you killed Maybelle?"
She shook her head. "No one knows."
"You need to come clean!" I growl.
"They'll kill me!" she hissed.
"Aryn will kill my mate if you don't!"
Rosetta glanced at Opaline, regret in her eyes as well as guilt. She finally nodded. "I'll confess."
"Are you free to meet us tomorrow evening?" I asked.
"Why?"
"I'm going to schedule a dinner with Alpha Aryn and Beta Vuk. You can confess then. In the meantime, I'll make sure Melanie is secured and the baby is out of harm's way."
Rosetta's eyes widened in surprise. "You'd do that?"
"As long as you tell the truth and promise me that she is who you say she is."
"Just look for the scar. Let Vuk help you."
I shake my head. "I am not letting Vuk help me. I have men of my own who can do that." I kiss my mate's head and wrap my arms around her. "Besides, Vuk and I aren't on very good terms right now."
Rosetta's eyes flickered between me and Opaline for a moment before nodding. "I'll meet you at your pack house around five."
"Good, now get off my land and stay away until then." She backed up, crossing the invisible line and her pack followed. Shifting into a Himalayan, she howled and took off into the trees.
Opaline sighed and behind us, my father said, "I'm getting way too old for this."
I turned and looked them up and down, glad they weren't hurt. "Are you two alright?"
"We're fine," my mother said with a small smile. "A little shaken up but healthy and alive."
"Lykaon, are you going to introduce us?" my father said, looking at my now trembling mate.
"Mom, dad, I'd like you to meet Opaline, recently appointed Luna of the pack, as well as my mate." I looked down and kissed her. "Opaline, this is my mother and father. Previous Alpha Ariston and Luna Lyall."
"Come here, child," my father said soothingly. Opaline widened her eyes and shook her head. "I'm not going to hurt my son's mate. I may be cruel to some people, but not to family."
Her eyes widened even more and I was afraid her eyes would pop out. I unwrap her arms and pulled her in front of me, her back against my front with my hands clasped on her stomach. "My father's all bark and no bite, baby. He won't hurt you."
My parents chuckled and this seemed to reassure my mate because she took a hesitant step forward. I let her go and watched her slowly step into my father's arms, letting him wrap his arms around her in a gentle embrace. She relaxed and hugged back, then switched to my mother. I watched in silence as my father took her good hand and looked her over as if she were his own daughter. "You're beautiful, Luna Opaline. I'm sure Lykaon and the pack are delighted to have you."
Opaline blushed and looked down. My father let her go and she came back to hold me close again. I sigh, "We should get back. Klyn is probably getting a search party ready for us."
My mother shook her head, smiling. "I can't believe you made him Beta."
"Why wouldn't I?"
"I would've thought you'd choose someone like Kurt."
I stiffened. "We have a lot to talk about when we get the chance." My parents looked at me but said nothing as we walked home.
As soon as we passed the tree line, Nadine and Klyn ran up to us. "Lykaon, thank the Goddess you're still alive!" Nadine panted.
"What's wrong?"
Klyn ran a hand through his hair. "She's not where Bertolf put her and um…"
Opaline narrowed her eyes. "What do you mean, she's not where Bertolf put her? Where is she?"
Klyn looked momentarily surprised at my mate's angry voice, but looked away immediately. "We're not sure. Bertolf is in the pack hospital and won't be able to talk for a while."
"Is he hurt?" I ask.
"I don't know. Nadine…well, Nadine—"
"I can't feel the bond between us!" she cried. Opaline went over and hugged her. "There's nothing like it was somehow broken."
My anger turned into rage. "Opaline, I want you to take Nadine to the house and go upstairs to the office. Lock yourselves inside and don't come out," I order. She locks her celeste eyes on mine and seems to want to protest until I say, "Nadine needs you right now, okay?"
She nods. "Will you tell me?"
"I'll tell you. I'll come see you in a few." She gives me a small nod and hurries Nadine away. When I can't see her anymore, I turn to Klyn and my parents. "Klyn, where is the baby?"
He hesitates, then says nothing but walks away, gesturing us to follow. We go all the way to the playground where kids usually are the most and get to one of the jungle gyms to see the baby inside an air tight box, looking at us with wide amber eyes. "One of the children found it in there, said they couldn't find how it got inside. Nadine and I kept the children away but we need to hurry before it loses oxygen."
My wolf takes control without shifting and his claws extend, before slashing the box in half effortlessly. The baby whimpers softly, but when I return to normal, it smiles and starts giggling. I pick it up and tell the others to follow. A scream sounds from near my house and I stiffen. All of a sudden, I hear, "LYKAON!"
Fear takes hold, and I almost forget I have a child in my arms as I run towards my mate. My heart is going hundred miles a second and I'm not sure what to expect. Klyn follows me, keeping pace on my heels as we arrive just outside my house. I look around but see nothing. "Opaline!"
"Lykaon, up there!" Klyn hisses. I look up to the upstairs windows and see blood stained windows.
"Lykaon!"
I hand the baby to Klyn and rush inside and upstairs to where Nadine and Opaline are staring down the hallway to the bedroom door where Luna Gwenna's body was hung. I curse under my breath and grab Nadine's and Opaline's arms, pulling them down the stairs. "Come on!" I growl at them. They snap out of their trance and run down, bumping into Klyn. "Get them outside and get everyone to the pack house, now!"
"What the hell happened?" He hissed, pulling the girls.
"Just go, damn it!"
He obeys and I go back upstairs to walk into my office and see Michael's body on my desk, blood splattered everywhere. I take another step in and hear a click, then the door slams behind me and a whoosh is heard. All four walls light on fire, including Michael. I look around, finding the only way out is the window. The room slowly starts to fill with smoke and I begin to cough, my eyes and nose stinging. I put my face in my shirt and go over to my desk, finding papers turned to ash and cinders. I curse and hear shouting outside the door.
"Lykaon! Get out of there!" Klyn bellows over the roaring flames.
My eyes dart around in a panic. I didn't want to jump out the window for several reasons, but it looked like that was my only choice. Backing towards the opposite end of the room, I brace myself for the pain, and run. I close my eyes and slam into the window, breaking it into a million pieces, and flying into the cool night air. For a moment, I feel nothing but air all around me, suspended, then I drop.
Pain shoots throughout my body as I hit the ground hard, groaning. I'm unable to move for a moment, feeling like I broke every bone in my body. My eyes are still shut tight, not wanting to see my surroundings, unable to take what I might see. There are glass shards cutting into me all over and another sharp pain in my shoulder that I landed on. "Damn it!" I hiss.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I hear Klyn hiss, then feel his hands start to drag me across the ground. "Why the hell did you go in there? You could've died!"
"Michael!" I groan and gasp as he pulls harder. "Klyn! Stop!"
He stops and carefully lies me back down. "Don't tell me you're dying!" he snarls.
I shake my head. "My shoulder…I landed on it!" I hiss through gritted teeth.
"Hold still," he sighs and pops it back into place. I let out a cry of pain before gasping for air. "Come on, everyone is worried about you."
I carefully stand up and lean on him as we walk to the pack house. Behind me, I hear a crash and turn to see the rest of my house aflame, the roof collapsed. My eyes teared up, not with smoke this time, but with despair.
When we made it to the doors of the pack house, Klyn knocked five times and my father let us in quickly. People started asking questions and murmuring, but my beta pushed them out of the way. We went upstairs where my bedroom was and he set me down, Truent walking through the door a moment later with his gear. "Where's Opaline?" I ask Klyn.
"Last I saw her, she was in the kitchen with Nadine and Zy. Zy didn't look so good, but he's alive."
Truent pulled out glass shards and I hissed. "Gwenna is dead. His mate is dead, that's why."
"I know. Opaline told me." He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Lykaon, why didn't you follow us? Why did you go into the office?"
I shook my head, because I had no idea why I went in there. I just knew that something else was wrong and had to see what. "It doesn't matter."
Truent checked my face, arms, legs, chest and back before sighing. "You should heal up quick. I got as much as I could out, so you're good to go."
I nod and dismiss him. Klyn crossed his arms and stared at me and I knew what he wanted. "The gold haired bitch is Melanie, the unknown twin sister of Maybelle. She was raping mated men and the baby is because of that. Rosetta, the person who sent the note, has been trying to find her. When Opaline found Melanie and killed those wolves, she killed Rosetta's mate unknowingly. So, now my parents are back and it turns out that Vuk isn't a criminal after all, just trying to help. And we need to get Melanie as soon as possible."
"What about Aryn? Who killed—"
"Klyn," I say and look up at him, barely able to hold my head up. "Opaline or my parents can explain, I can't right now."
He nods and softens his eyes. "Are you sure you're okay?"
I shake my head. "No, I'm not. Two people died in my house that is now up in flames, and my mate saw the horror. Not only that, but she blames herself for all of this happening and now she must meet with Aryn and Vuk tomorrow night for dinner so we can clear up this mess. I am not alright. How can I be alright when her ceremony was messed up? How can I be alright when my mate is the target of everything that happens? How the hell can I be alright with any of this, Klyn?"
He doesn't say anything but he doesn't have to. He knows there's nothing he can say that will change my mind about the facts and my opinions about them. So, he quietly leaves me alone, closing the door with a soft click and I lay back and close my eyes, seeing everything that just happened flash through my mind. Before I can even get comfortable, I'm asleep.