Hannah POV
After one of the best sleep in my life, I woke up alone, with no signs of Rosie, Jason, and Mikkeli.
It later turned out that James had woken up, and my siblings were with him and Hayden in the infirmary. Mikkeli was gone because he, Tony, and some warriors left for at least a couple of days to deal with some pack businesses and help one of the allies deal with hunters leaving Hayden and the Gamma in charge of the pack.
But I am so pissed off that I almost scream at everyone who tries to talk with me. Maybe I exaggerate, but I feel like a one-night stand who wakes up in bed alone after a significant night. Everybody keeps asking why my mood is so low, but I feel no eagerness to share my feelings with anybody; only Kyle knows what happened. Thankfully he managed to leave the hospital very quickly; Becca is still on bed rest, Hayden's legs healed, and he can walk again.
After hearing about my "another touchy moment" with Mikkeli, Kyle actually asked me if I had ever considered being Luna of this pack. And that is a serious question. If we put aside my mixed feelings toward Mikkeli and obvious attraction towards him, accepting being his mate is not only accepting him in my life, it's also accepting me staying forever here in this pack.
As a Luna, I will have duties and be forever bonded with this place; the problem is that wasn't my plan. I planned to go to college, get my degree, see the world, and move to the big city. One thing is staying here to raise the kids, and one thing is staying here forever to rule alongside Mikkeli, possibly. Or maybe I shouldn't worry myself in advance; after all, in his behavior towards me, Mikkeli is moodier than the 6-year-old with picking sweets.
"Penny, for your thoughts," says Hayden sitting next to me.
I gently smile:" I was thinking about nothing in particular."
For a moment, we just sit in silence, looking at the kids who are playing with Rose in her wolf form in front of the house.
"Can I ask you a personal question?" I finally decide to speak; after he nods, I say: "Do you and Mikkeli have different mothers?"
"How did you figure that out?" he looks at me, but he seems tenser than a moment before.
"It's just that every time anybody here speaks about previous Luna; it's always Hayden's mother; not even once has anybody described her as Mikkeli's mother. And I know that she left, like left your father when you were a teenager"
"I once told you that I was never a son to my father, but his heir," he gives me a sad look" it was the same with my mother; she was Luna of this pack, not his wife. She was a good mother, and we had a good relationship, but she wasn't happy, and it was not only because my father was a shitty husband. It was also because he was a shitty Alpha. She did an excellent job for the pack in that department when he didn't undermine her. He liked diminishing her role and humiliated her many times. And about Mikkeli... I was four when my father brought a newborn baby home one night and kindly informed my mum and me that it was her other son now. They had a big argument that night, like really big. I think he hit her, and he had never done this before. After that, it was mostly an elephant-in-the-room situation; everybody knew but said nothing. My mother didn't treat us differently; Mikkeli was quite fond of her, probably because she was the only person in the pack treating him good, her and Tony's family."
"Why?"
"Because my father raised me to be the next Alpha. He loved to pump my self-esteem by diminishing Mikkeli. Everything I did was almost perfect; everything he did was always wrong. My father could be harsh; sometimes, he was almost abusive toward Mikkeli. Thanks, Goddess; he spent most of the time ignoring him, which I know Mikkeli didn't appreciate, but I think it was better for him than being constantly "noticed" by our father."
"Did he beat him?" I say in a small voice.
"Honestly, I don't know for sure. When my mum was here, I'm certain he didn't because she wouldn't have let him, like she never let him smack me when I was smaller. It was mostly yelling, names, and insults, but I'm not sure after she left. I was 16, and Mikkeli was 12, and we kind of drifted away at that time. It was after I lost Maddie we started becoming brothers again"
"And Mikkeli's mother?"
"I don't know; nobody ever mentioned her name. I think most don't know, and those who knew were forced into silence by the alpha's command made by my father. I think my mother knew, but she never told me, and Mikkeli doesn't talk about it; that topic is on his taboo list."
Hayden turns his sight away from me, and I feel slightly uncomfortable. I've always known that their father-son relationship wasn't good, but I feel sorry for Mikkeli; he didn't deserve any of it.
"Has Kyle told you about his mother?" I nod, and Hayden continues, "After Mikkeli killed three pack's warriors was the first time our father acknowledged him, started paying attention, started behaving like a father. It made me very wary because until that incident, Mikkeli was a prodigal son, and suddenly he became a rival; people in the pack started whispering that he could be Alpha one day. I was a spoiled child Hannah; I was still angry with my mum because she left, and I suddenly started noticing how strong Mikkeli was. And that was one of the reasons I rejected Maddie almost immediately because I knew that my father would have been disappointed. It would have diminished my chances of inheriting his title. I was an awful man, and I was a big coward."
He gently puts his hand on mine, and I squeeze it a little to give him some comfort; he looks so sad, so in pain, I can see tears in his eyes.
"But rejecting Maddie only made me weaker, made me unhappy. Seeing her every day made me go crazy, and in my sick twisted mind, I convinced myself that I had a right to have her. That my desire for her was the only thing that mattered. But after that night, it was only going downhill; I broke her beyond repair, and I'm so happy that your father managed to put her back together. Even though it wasn't delightful to feel them having sex".
"Mates feel that?" I'm beyond amazed.
"When your mate has sex with somebody else, you feel it. It was excruciating, but it got better within the years after the bond disappeared completely. But truth be told, I was in much more pain when I thought about what I had done to her. Harming my mate was what destroyed my wolf strength. I made both of us unhappy, but at least we found some comfort in our pups; honestly, that was the only thing keeping us alive. You know Hannah, I had a confrontation with your father too, not only with Maddie"
"What do you mean?"
"After I found Maddie, I went to see her. I wanted to ask for forgiveness, but she wasn't able to give me one. She begged me to let her go; kneeled in front of me literally. I knew that wouldn't work and that we would never be together no matter what I did. But I couldn't have just left her and my sons in the care of a human I didn't know anything about, so I went to confront your father too, maybe I was hoping I could scare him away, but I didn't manage to do that. He faced me and challenged me. He was ready to fight for them, to protect them with anything he had. So I gave up and just asked him to look after them."
"So that's why he wrote in his letter to Maddie that you can be trusted," Now, finally, everything is clear.
"Actually, he stayed in touch with me. He used to write twice a year, sending pictures of boys and some information about what they like, how their grades are, and so on."
"Do you still have them?" I tense a little bit. "How did he send them to you?"
"They are inside my desk; he was sending them to the post office in the nearest town twice every year on the same day; that's how I always knew when to pick them up. What are you worried about?"
I bite my lip slightly, and a feeling of uncertainty takes over me.
"I think that's how they found us, Hayden. Someone must have noticed that you are getting these letters regularly, maybe even saw our pictures, and that's how they tracked us down"
Hayden growls slightly, and I can see his eyes shifting; his wolf must be very pissed off.
"We can go to the post office and check; the only way they would be able to track your dad's letters was through the post office," and almost jumps up to go immediately.
"Hayden, sit down," I scream whisper to him "you can't just go; if it is someone from the pack, they will notice if you just run towards the town right now. I think it will be better if I go alone, but we need to find some excuse that we will present to everybody in the pack"
"Maybe the phone call to your lawyer," Hayden suggests. Seeing my questioning look, he smirks "when we brought you here, we kind of informed your lawyer that you are moving away to Maddie's family for a couple of weeks, and we kindly asked him to take care of the house payments and your things, through email, and we also hacked your Facebook profile to make sure that you posted information to all who can ask that you are moving away to the other side of the country for some time. Maybe you should call your lawyer and inform him that you are not coming back in the near future."
"You are beyond amazing," I must have a dumbfounded face right now.
"We are werewolves, Hannah; keeping a low profile is crucial, and the sudden disappearance of one family without any words isn't necessarily what low profile is. You can go tomorrow with some pack members who work there; nobody will be surprised that I asked you to use a public phone to contact your human acquaintance."
"Well, that sounds like a reasonable plan," I smile.
Hayden has no chance to reply to me because we both hear the howl. We look in the direction of the kids, and to my horror, I see that both twins are lying on the ground, shaking and squirming. We are next to them immediately; I take Rosie into my arms, who is crying and keeps asking what is happening to the boys.
Hayden gently touches both of their heads, and Rose, in wolf form, keeps nuzzling them with her nose. Hayden stands up, takes his clothes off, and immediately shifts into his black wolf; just like Rose, he keeps nuzzling boys and whimpers lowly. I can hear the movement of bones, and James shifts into his wolf form in a moment. He looks around, a little bit confused, before he tries to stand up very slowly, and that is why I finally understand what is happening now.
The time has come for both of them to finally shift, connect appropriately with their wolves, and finally embrace their other nature. Hayden, James, and Rose keep nuzzling and licking Jason, who seems to be in more pain and who seems to struggle more with his shift, probably because James was already guided through the process once with Mikkeli's help, I can see that my brother is in much pain, but I can't do anything, I can't help him.
I kneel beside him with Rosie, and we gently pat his hair. From the corner of my eyes, I can see other pack members standing without movement in one place, watching us, sniffing the air; some shifted. The pack is waiting to welcome its new members.
About half an hour later, it is over, and Jason manages to shift into the same black wolf as his brother. He stands very slowly and looks around, very confused. Rosie immediately puts her hands around his head, and he starts slowly licking her face.
Both wolves are so beautiful; their black fur shines in the sun. Hayden's wolf starts howling, and the boys immediately mimic his action, not only boys. All the pack members are howling together, and this sound is fantastic.
"They are singing; it's beautiful," I hear Rosie giggling
I gently touch her hair, and she reaches to grab my hand.
"Yes, they are singing, and it's gorgeous," I whisper, trying to hold back my tears.
I'm so touched it finally happened; I feel so proud and happy for them but also sad. Sad that my parents aren't here to see this, to participate in this beautiful moment.