Years later

Ezekiel's POV

FIVE YEARS LATER

The door gently creaked open as Jeremy walked into my office with a smile on his lips. He handed me an envelope, and I quickly unwrapped it to check what was inside.

Reading through the text, I saw that our neighboring packs had agreed to the scheduled meeting. A wave of relief washed over me as I dropped the letter on my table and raised my head to address Jeremy.

"Make sure the meeting room is cleaned up. I'm referring to the basic room upstairs. The meeting will commence in a few hours," I said to Jeremy, who lowered his head and left.

It had been a hell of a ride. Ruling the pack was never easy. From attending meetings at different locations to going out on mission fields to checking in on the wolves with assigned duties...and many other responsibilities that I barely had time for myself.

Five years ago, I chose Jeremy to be the second-in-command of the pack's affairs, while Daniel and Fred took positions in the other offices. Funnily enough, we were still together, but we barely had time to party like we did five years ago.

After the meeting today, I would have to travel down the pack grounds to reach my father's private apartment and check up on him. He had been terribly sick, and the wolf doctors had not been able to help. I also knew I’d have to face an inevitable question when I got there again today.

He would ask for a grandchild, which I had not been able to give him.

Last week, Kira showed up at my office all of a sudden and handed me a small note, just like Jeremy had. I read through it and saw that she claimed to be pregnant with my child.

And I laughed.

I knew she didn’t expect that kind of reaction, but I couldn’t hide it either. We hadn’t had sex for two months, and she suddenly showed up with pregnancy news? Who was she trying to trick?

I tried hard to stop Father from forcing her to be the Luna of the pack, but he won. Kira Reid had been in the pack for five years now, and this was the first time she claimed to be pregnant with my child...when, in truth, she was only lying.

I saw my name on the wolf tree remain the same. If she were telling the truth, wouldn’t it have at least sprouted a tiny branch?

I didn’t want Father to learn about it, but she had her way, and he found out. Ever since then, he had been keen on instructing me to keep her dear and make sure the child was safely born and raised, just so he could feel, touch, and see his grandchild before joining Mother in death.

And that was just one of the many things that could frustrate a leader of the pack. With Jeremy by my side, the stress did ease up, and I was grateful for their eternal company.

"The invited guests have arrived. They are all waiting for you in the upper room," someone said through the peephole in the door of my office, and I let out a small sigh.

That had to be Fred talking. He wouldn’t want to walk into my office. Come on, we’d been friends for a long time. Feel free and talk to me. Our ranks were different, yeah, but that didn’t change our status as friends.

He walked away as quickly as he came, and after another sigh, I went to my room to get dressed in a very short while.

It was finally time to step into the upper room. Jeremy stood at the doorstep, waiting for me to enter before he did. He nodded at my outfit, and we both smiled.

"There are seven leaders in attendance. Five Alphas came on their own accord, and the other two Alphas sent their Betas to represent them," Jeremy outlined before I could even step into the room.

As soon as my shoes clicked on the floor, the leaders rose to their feet to give me a warm welcome. My pack had been beneficial to most of the packs around me, and it was right to give me such due respect.

Jeremy sat next to me as I scanned the faces of everyone seated in the room. I cleared my throat and was about to start speaking when my eyes caught sight of a pretty woman seated at the far end of the chairs.

There was an adorable baby girl standing right there with her, and her eyes were warm and receptive. She looked at me as soon as I did, but she was the first to turn her gaze away.

I looked at her again, trying to be sure if my eyesight was still sharp, but it felt like I was delaying the meeting already.

To clear my doubts anyway, I decided to do this.

"What are the names?"

"They have been written here," Jeremy said, almost ruining my game. I wanted to hear that woman say her name herself to clear my mind.

I checked through the list, and my heart skipped many beats when I saw that name among the present attendees.

Violet Stary.

She was sitting right there with a beautiful girl by her side as her gaze trailed over me. My eyes widened as I stared at her with obsessive intensity. I was beginning to get carried away when Jeremy nudged me.

I gulped as I opened the meeting. "I'm sorry for the delay. My name is Ezekiel, and I'm glad you're all here today."

My heart thumped fast. What in the world was going on?

How could Violet be here in this room with me?

The same Violet whose name my father erased from the wolf tree and banished without even letting me know?

This couldn’t be possible. Or was it?

"We were talking about the damage of crops..." I continued, but Jeremy nudged me again and leaned in to whisper in my ear.

"We want to talk about cooperating with each other concerning weapon support, food, and teamwork, and then the contracts to sign among ourselves. What the hell is the damage of crops?" he quickly whispered.

"My bad. I want all of us to sign a contract promising that you’ll never wage war against any of the packs represented here. If you are interested in signing that contract, raise a finger above your head, and then I’ll share the form with you," I said, as I kept glancing in Violet’s direction.

My heart was melting. My mind was troubled. I could hear the fast beating of my heart. This couldn’t be possible.

"Is that all we have to say in this meeting?" One of the Alphas furiously asked.

"I called everyone here to sign the contract in person. Shall we?" I asked, trying to hurry things up, but he kept trying to hold me down with questions.

"Can you share the contents of the contract with us, and we’ll show up again with the signed copies...or rather send them through messengers? That would be much better," the same Alpha said, and I didn’t even think twice before I agreed.

They all rose as I bid them goodbye. Violet stood as well and tried to walk away quickly, but I got up instantly.

My goodness. This was truly Violet. How had she become a Beta to an Alpha?

Jeremy wanted to talk to me, but I snapped at him and rushed after Violet. She was already walking fast toward the border when I stopped her.

I hadn’t realized earlier that she came with a muscular bodyguard. She had to have. I shouldn’t even be surprised.

"Violet? Is this you?" I asked as my eyes filled with tears. It felt like a dream as I longed to hold her in my hands.

It was so sad that I couldn’t even smell her wolf anymore. The scent had already died in my nostrils.

"Why is he stopping us? Get me moving, Jack," Violet said to her bodyguard, but I reached out to touch her shoulders when Jack swatted my hand away with a sneer.

"She doesn’t want to talk to you. Are you trying to harass her?" Jack asked angrily.

And then every single memory came crashing back. The glances we exchanged at the canteen, the moment I talked to her for the first time, the time we had sex and she was kicked out of my room.

Damn. I wanted to do something about it, but I couldn’t. I wasn’t enough for her. I couldn’t save her from her fate.

"I want to have a word with you real quick, please," I said as I walked quickly behind them.

All of a sudden, the pack booed, and even Violet turned to the wolves now facing our direction.

They recognized that face. They remembered the Violet who had been banished five years ago, cruelly, and sent to go rogue. They were happy to see her again and rushed to meet her, while her bodyguard tried to move her quickly out of my sight.

"Who are you?" Violet finally turned to me when I didn’t stop following. Gosh, she gave off every vibe of someone wealthy and powerful, and her daughter looked very much like her.

"I'm sorry, Violet. I know you’re still mad at me for what I did. But please, just a minute with you is all I ask. I’ll make it up to you in any way possible...even impossible," I pleaded as my eyes filled with tears.

I had lost a gem, and somehow, she had been returned to me.

"I'm running late. I have to be back at work," Violet said in a hurry and walked out on me without looking back.

My eyes burned with disgrace as the wolves kept watching me. They thought I’d be able to talk to her and even convince her to say hi to the wolves cheering for her.

What had just happened today? Was the goddess trying to tell me there was light at the end of the tunnel...or was she trying to make me feel the pain of never being able to have her by my side again?