Hazel P.O.V.
“Eeeee!” Lily’s happy shriek makes some of the other passengers laugh. She is clapping her hands as the plane descends into the airport nearest my old home. We were pleasantly surprised when we got to the airport and looked at our tickets. First class? None of us had ever tried that before.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now landing in Arctos city. The weather is very nice, with the sun shining from the cloud free sky and temperatures roaming around the middle 80’ts. Thank you all for flying with us today, and we hope you have a very good day.” The captain turns off the speaker, and Lily giggles while pointing to the various buildings she can see from the window.
“Mama, lookee!” She says, her wide eyes roaming the big city. Blue cove is a decent sized town, and we have an airport just on the opposite side of town from our apartment, but Arctos city is something else entirely. The city is big, enormous by the standard Lily is used to, and has so many different sightseeing places.” She’s pointing to the ferris wheel by the docks. I laugh.
“I see that, Lilybug. Maybe we can go with aunty Kaia and see the ferris wheel?” I ask her, and she claps her hands again, laughing gleefully. Kaia just smiles and shakes her head at my utter lack of ability to say no to my child.
We make out to the welcome hall with our luggage, and Leona is waiting for us as she stated she would. The person beside her makes me halt in my steps. Kaia immediately puts an arm around my shoulder.
“What’s going on?” She asks, eyeing the tall ruggedly handsome wolf besides Leona. His black hair is longer than I remember, but his brown eyes are just as serious. He has more muscles, and a deeper tan. I take Lily’s hand, moving towards them with my head held high. He might be ranked, but I am not afraid of him. Never was, never going to be. The scowl he always bore when we were teenagers has not disappeared, although it’s more like a deeply serious expression today.
“Miss Leona, Gamma River.” I bow my head to the Gamma, while Kaia does the same in respect to his rank. Lily’s eyes are wide with confusion and she moves to indicate she wants to be held. I hoist her up into my arms, asking her to say hi to Miss Leona and Gamma River.
“Hii.” She says shyly with a small smile and little wave. River’s eyes take Lily in and they soften ever so slightly.
“L.. Miss Dalton, I’m very pleased to see you again. Are you alright? How was the flight?” He asks, grabbing the cart with our luggage.
“The flight was quite alright, Gamma. Thank you for asking. May I ask what you are doing here?” I reply as politely as I can. River moves swiftly through the crowd, leading the way out of the welcome hall and over to the parking house.
“Alpha Grady wanted to be here himself, but he was not sure you would be okay with that arrangement. He sends his regards though. I am here to escort you, Miss. Callum and young Miss. Dalton to the packgrounds.” I try to keep my anxiety at bay, and Kaia moves in closer, wrapping her arm around me and keeping me close. I lean on her, taking a few deep breaths, thankful to have a best friend who knows me so well.
“Why would the Alpha come and escort us to the packgrounds? We are just here for the funeral.” Kaia asks as we all get in the car. They even got a seat for Lily so she can ride safely. Kaia of course knows everything about my past, as I would assume I know everything or everything she deems important about hers. So she knows Grady was my mate and about my sister in the forest. River looks back at us in the rearview mirror.
“He would have liked to pick up his mate by himself, but as I stated before, he was not sure the l.. Miss Dalton was ready for that.”
“I’m not sure his Luna would appreciate that either.” I mumble to myself, to which River just shoots me a confused look.
“Uhm.. Why would you not be okay with him picking you up? You are the one cheating on the matebond and coming back with a kid, not him.” River asks in a defensive tone, immediately coming to Alpha Grady’s defense. The fucking audacity in that statement makes tears immediately flood my eyes and everything I have worked on since I ran away is down the drain. Kaia sees me, and comes to my rescue.
“Listen up asshat, do not come here with the macho bullshit and turn this around. Hazel was not the one almost fucking someone on the night his mate turned 18, and you have no idea who she came to have Lily. So shut the fuck up before I help you.”
“Mama, auti said a bad word.” Lily's small angelic voice rings out in the car. I laugh a little, looking gratefully at Kaia.
“Aunty said many bad words, but she did it to help, so it’s okay this time.” I answer, finding her favourite Blue’s Clues book and opening it.
The rest of the drive is silent with a lot of tension from Kaia and River.
An hour later we cross into Starfall packlands, and I feel my packbond coming back to life after being dormant for so long. Ebony stirs in my mind, feeling the ties strengthening as well.
River drives us to my grandmother’s house, which is a mini mansion to be honest. A welcoming committee is waiting out front; my parents, my siblings, Alpha Grady and Beta Adrian. Fucking great - right from the fire and into the fryingpan.
‘You can do this, babe! Keep your head held high and don’t take crap from no one.’ Kaia mindlinks me. We did a bloodbond oath with each other almost immediately after we became friends, so we could mindlink despite not being from the same pack.
‘This is going suck so hard. Look how Josie is already fucking smirking while standing besides Grady. Not mated my fucking ass.’ I link her back, making her snort in derision.
As the car is parked River comes around and opens the door for me, while Kaia lets herself out on the other side. I’m bringing Lily out when I hear commotion and someone growling. Kaia yelps, and I immediately straighten with Lily in my arms. Kaia is trapped against the car by Beta Adrian, who is looking at her like she is the sun and moon in his life.
“Mate!” He says, but Kaia shoves past him and walks to me on the other side of the car. Beta Adrian’s face falls and he follows her with his eyes all the way around.
“Uhm, babe?” I ask her with a small chuckle, but Kaia just ignores me and crosses her arms. The Beta walks around the car to her, but she stops him with hand motion.
“Correct me if I am wrong but you are the Beta in this pack?” He nods, confusion clouding his eyes. Uh oh.
‘Kaia please don’t.’ I link her with a plading tone, but she just ignores me.
“Then we have nothing further to talk about. My name is Kaia Callum and you are free to reject me, but I am not going to accept a mate from the pack that treated my best friend like shit and where her mate played hookup time with a slut the night she got her wolf.” She grabs my hand, glaring at the people gaping at her. “And if any of y’all have anything to say, you can say it later. My niece is tired from the trip and so are we. Excuse us.” She brushes past them all with me and Lily in tow, not sparring Beta Adrian a second glance.
Inside she turns around with a smile, which soon turns into a scowl as someone speaks from behind us.
“Hazel, I would like a private word please.” I roll my eyes, knowing without looking the speaker is Alpha Grady. I hand over Lily as a maid comes into the hall to show us to our rooms.
“It’s fine. Take her please, I'll be right there.” I tell Kaia, who opens her mouth, properly to tell the Alpha to ‘fuck off’.
Kaia P.O.V. “This place is so peaceful.” I murmur, leaning against Adrian's shoulder. We’re sitting at the edge of the pond, the waterfall creating a mist of water as it hits the pond's edge. The sound of the water hitting from the waterfall into the pond is soothing and calming, making me sigh in comfort. Adrian wraps his arm around me, pulling me closer into him. He has not made a move to do anything other than just be here with him, and I appreciate the sentiment. “I’ve always loved coming here as a boy and teenager. It was my quiet place. A place where I could contemplate life, duty and or go when life was just too much and I felt like screaming my lungs off.” He says, his voice quiet. The memories he’s describing playing in my mind and I smile. What I would have given to have had a place like this in my childhood. “Are we still within the pack borders?” I ask, wanting to know if we potentially could be surprised by rogues or other nasties out here. “Yes, this pond is just wit
Hazel P.O.V.“You really believe those two lying brats over me, brother?” Rebecca whisper-screams at River. The crowd have disbursed as River told them this matter is between the mother of the boy, Rebecca and me now. They left reluctantly, especially the other pups and the teenage girls, who I just now realised were edging the little ones on in the efforts to bully my daughter. Becky took Lily with her back to the stroller to get the sand out of her face and look after her as we try to resolve this matter. Grady has been by my side every step of the way, but he has been quiet, which kind of annoys me. Mate or not, he is the Alpha and he saw what happened. Even if he was the one to call for backup, he has not supported me verbally since. “I believe you are in trouble, sister. And just because I’m your brother, you can’t just behave as you please.” River answers smoothly. He turns his attention to the mother and boy, who are trying their best to be as invisible as possible. “Ma’am, I
Hazel P.O.V. Being with Grady alone is nicer than I thought it would be, and I feel myself relax in his presence. We talk and laugh, keeping an eye on Lily as she plays in the sandbox by herself. She is smiling from ear to ear. She always loved the playground, and would always just play by herself, immersed in her own world of imagination. She used to draw all kinds of colorful pictures later when we came home of whatever she had played during our time out. Both Kaia and I would take her out as much as we could, trying to keep the days as normal as possible. Especially after Hope died. Lily regressed into herself after Hope died, and we tried therapy for her, but ended up with therapy for us. The woman suggested we try to keep as normal a day for Lily as possible, and be there for her when she needed us close. It ended in us alternating days of work, so one of us was always home with Lily, and she knew she had us. It slowly progressed, and she started smiling a little more, drawing w
Grady P.O.V. “Adrian took Kaia for a walk to the pond with the waterfall. I was thinking you might want to look around the pack. Get reacquainted?” I ask as Hazel and Lily come back out from the bathroom in the Alpha suit. I’m in the living room area, sitting on the light grey couch, and she sits down with her girl opposite me. “I don’t know. It depends on Lils to be honest. She has good days and not so good days with socializing. She seems to like all of you though, which is a nice surprise.” I frown a little at that. What does that even mean? Looking at Lily she seems fine, but I don’t know her very well and Hazel is her mother, so I will listen and learn. “Is she alright?” I ask, hoping she doesn’t mind the question. I’m hoping to have them all for myself today, and I will do whatever she and Lily want to do. I had thought of a walk through the packgrounds, lunch either in the mansion or here, a trip to the playground for Lily and dinner. “She is. She is a very special little g
Adrian P.O.V.Hearing the story of my mate broke my heart. I had always wanted my fated mate. Just like Grady, and even the ever grumpy River, we’ve always been told stories and shown how great the fated matebond is by our parents and grandparents. Grady was so deliriously happy when he found out Hazel was his mate. I snapped a photo of her on the morning of her birthday, sending it to him because he was obsessed with her, and he decided to explore himself after that. He doesn’t think I know, but I do. He followed her when she went from her home to school. When he came back he was floating. That’s when I knew for sure he had found his mate. The look in his eyes, the skip in his step. He asked River of all the people in the pack to deliver her a note. I was a little bummed it wasn’t me he asked, but I shrugged it off. When he came back that night I was waiting in the living room to congratulate them both, but he came alone absolutely crushed. He didn’t want to talk right then, so I wa
Kaia P.O.V. “Growing up as the Beta’s daughter was tough. But growing up as the Beta’s daughter who is expected to know and do everything her big brother can, was even worse.” I swallow a lump in my throat. I never thought I would have to revisit these dreaded memories again, but I guess here we are. Hazel deserves me to do my best, and I deserve a clean break. “Maybe we should do this with everyone present? It would help if the Gamma and Joel knew too.” Grady’s eyes cloud over, and he says they’ll be here in a second. I just stare at the table until the door opens, Hazel’s hand on my back, rubbing soothing circles. I can feel Adrian over the matebond, and what I feel is slight frustration, which confuses me. ‘I’m not frustrated with you, Kaia. I’m frustrated with the situation and I want to be the one to calm you down, but right now I’m not that person. I’m sorry if that sounds selfish, but you are my mate and it’s hard to see anyone else, even my future Luna, be your comfort pers