Chapter 43
Friday 20th January
Star POV
Liam stares at me from across the table, there is so much pain in his eyes, I feel my resolve slip for a second, the emotions I feel coming from him seem real,
“Saffy, are you able to link to his wolf? Can you see if you can sense anything from him?”
“His wolf is very close to the surface, Star. I sense anger but also deep pain. I don’t sense any darkness in his wolf, but he is very wary of me.”
Liam clears his throat. “I was never supposed to be the Alpha of my pack. My brother Angus was our Alpha. I was his Beta. My father had an allegiance with a pack in the Greek islands and I had been sent to go over the terms and hash out a new treaty for my brother.”
He looks at Ace. “the pack is called Fengári pou ourliázei, or the Howling Moon pack. You will find it on the northeast of Paxos Island. They will tell you I was there. The Alpha was called Hellios Papadakis. His son Leander is now the Alpha”
Ace nods at him to continue, “I had been there for a couple of days and I knew there was another pack at the top of the island, a small but revered pack, called Pnevmatikí Selíni, The Spirit Moon pack.”
“They spoke about the pack like they were straight from the gods. Alpha Hellios said that they were special, that its people possessed great power, he and his people protected the island for them.”
“On my third day there, I received a message from my pack in Scotland. They had been attacked by rogues from the highlands. My people had crushed them, but my brother had been killed. My father had stepped in as Alpha until I returned. As my brother had not produced an heir yet, the role of Alpha would become mine.”
His eyes fill with tears and the big guy at his side put his hand on his shoulder in support, “Campbell here became my Beta that day. I was devastated, my brother and I were very close, I loved him very deeply, but I was also filled with anger, I was never supposed to be Alpha, never wanted it, could never hope to be the Alpha that Angus already was.”
“Needing space, I snuck off, went for a walk. After walking for hours, I found myself at a cliff edge. I didn’t know where I was. I was a mess, angry and so sad. On the cliff edge, I screamed out my pain and hate.”Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
“From the corner of my eye I saw a movement, and when I turned I saw the most beautiful girl I had ever seen, crouching behind a bush, my wolf steel, screamed in my ear, ‘MATE’ I was so shocked that I stepped back, I felt the cliff edge crumble beneath my feet, then I was flying, I remember a pain in my head then darkness.”
The servers returned to clear our plates. The plate in front of me was empty, but I didn’t remember eating dinner. I feel my hand being squeezed and look up into Alexei’s eyes. I smile at him and grip his hand.
Ace clears his throat, “shall we continue this in the lounge? I will arrange coffee.” He rises from his chair and heads to the kitchen, Lex pulls me to my feet and guides me to the lounge, as we pass Alpha Andrew, he rubs my back and places a k**s on my head, I notice Liam look at us with longing in his eyes.
Alexei pulls me to one of the couches, and places me between him and Ash, Lex pulls me into him, his arm around my shoulders and Ash clasps my hand. When Ace returns, he winks at me and takes a seat by the door. Liam sits on the couch opposite me. His eyes follow every move I make, but I don’t feel uncomfortable.
Once everyone is comfortable, and coffee has been poured, I ask Liam to continue. He sighs and thinks, as if trying to remember where he had got to. The big guy he called his Beta spoke first, “Alpha still has a few problems with his memory from that time, his head injury was severe, and his recollections are patchy, I ask that you have patience if he seems confused with the timeline?”
I give them both a small smile and a nod. Liam clears his throat. “I suppose the next thing I remember is waking in an unfamiliar room. My head was pounding, and everything hurt. I smelled butterscotch and lilies. It calmed me and took away my fear.”
He smiles at the memory. “a young woman was asleep in the chair beside me. I must have made a sound because she jumped awake. Goddess, she was beautiful. Steal was scratching at my head, screaming for his mate, but she didn’t seem to feel the mate pull.”
“My grasp of the Greek language was not as good as it could be and the people around me spoke no English it took me a couple of days to piece together what had happened, the girl told me her name was Thalia and her father was Alpha Atlas.”
“I had been in a coma for two days, my injuries were serious, I had cracked my head open, broken my arm and shoulder, both of my legs had been broken and I had damaged my spine, Steal and the healers had done a great job of healing me but I was still very weak.”
“The Alpha had gotten hold of my men at the Howling Moon and they were on the way to get me, he was not happy about his eldest daughter being mated to an Alpha, they did not mate outside of their pack, if a mate was not found within their pack then a chosen mate would be taken.”
“Thalia was only seventeen, which is why she didn’t feel the pull, and we came to an agreement that I would leave and return for her birthday, if she felt the pull it would then be her decision to except or reject me.”
“Campbell and our men had arrived. We were set to return to Scotland the next morning. The Alarms went off in the middle of the night. We all jumped from our beds. Someone was hammering on our door, and when I answered, the Alpha was standing with Thalia. He pushed her at me and told me to take her, keep her safe.”
“He led us through a tunnel that opened on the beach below. Thalia was hysterical, refusing to leave her father. Alpha Atles grabbed my collar, he screamed that they had come for her, and that I had to keep her safe, then he ran back through the tunnel.”
“Thalia taught and kicked at me, in the end I had to throw her over my shoulder and carry her, we had got perhaps two miles along the beach when we heard the explosion, Thalia went ballistic, she jumped from my arms and ran back towards the pack, she hit an invisible barrier so hard that it knocked her out.”
He closed his eyes and put his head in his hands, the silence in the room was heavy, after a few minutes he lifted his head, “I think I need some fresh air would one of the young Alphas mind coming for a walk with me.”
Ace gets to his feet and the two men leave.