She's alive

Grady P.O.V.

Ring ring 

“Hello, Alpha Grady speaking.” 

“Alpha, this is Leona Matters, lawyer of the late Hannah Rose Dalton of the Dalton estate.” The woman on the other end greets. I sit up straighter. Leona informed me a couple of days ago she was going to make contact with Hazel Dalton, who we have not seen or heard from since that awful night almost 5 years ago. All my efforts have been in vain. I have tried and tried again to find her, but every lead her parents have provided me with has turned out to be a bust. In the end I stopped asking, and they seemed very satisfied with that. Josie still tries her hardest to get me to consider her as my Luna, but that will never happen. Hazel is my mate, and I am never going to take a chosen mate or make some wannabe my Luna! If Hazel ends up rejecting me in the end, I will either rule alone or resign and hand over the reins to Adrian when he finds his mate. Adrian is my Beta, and one of my best friends. We have been through a lot together, and he and River, my Gamma, are the main reason why I have not lost all hope yet to find my mate and get her back. 

“Did you succeed?” I ask bluntly, looking at the framed picture on my desk. It’s of Hazel on her 18th birthday. Adrian took it in the morning without her knowing. She is coming out of the woods with a brilliant smile on her gorgeous face, her dark brown hair framing her round face perfectly. Her amber eyes are lit up with carefree happiness for once, and the sun is rising behind her. She had no idea Adrian was out that early, and he took the picture knowing my giant crush on her. After everything happened that night and the aftermath of her running away, I had the picture printed out and framed, so I would always have my gorgeous Luna with me when I work. Fuck I miss her! My heart aches at the thought of her and all the time we have been apart. I don’t blame her one second for running, nor am I angry with her. I just want to make sure she is okay, and have a chance to win her back. 

“I did, Alpha. Miss Dalton will be coming back to the pack for the funeral with her friend and her daughter.” The lawyer says in her usual stiff business tone. Everything freezes in me. Hazel has a daughter? She mated with someone else? How can that be possible when I have not felt her with anyone? 

‘Could she and her wolf have been too far away? We might feel the matebond be damaged when they come back.’ Onyx, my wolf, whimpers in my mind. My Alpha fucking wolf is whimpering like a little puppy. What the actual fuck. 

‘We’ll have to wait and see. We have to give her the chance to explain that she never gave us Onyx.’ He nods, placing his large head between his paws. I can’t even fault her for not letting me explain - she saw me with her naked sister in the middle of the night by the old oak tree where I had asked her to meet me, and Josie was desperately trying to undress me and I was fighting her to get her off me. To people outside it must have looked like we were in a hurry to do naughty things. Yuck! 

“Where are they going to stay? I can have rooms prepared on the Alpha floor for them?” I ask, trying to calm my beating heart. She is coming back. My mate that I have not seen in almost 5 years is coming back finally. “And how did you find her? I haven’t been able to.” I must admit, when Leona first approached me with her journey I was very hesitant to believe her, but she seemed confident in knowing something I didn’t, so I approved of her using the pack private jet to go. 

“They are going to be staying in the Dalton family home, and I found her through her grandmother, Alpha. I believe those horrible people to her parents deliberately have tried to stall you and mislead you on purpose, as Hannah told me you had been looking for the young Miss through them for quite some time after she disappeared. But I could, of course, be wrong.” She takes a deep breath. “I have booked them on a flight tomorrow early morning in first class, as I know of the situation between you and the young Miss, and I would like to borrow a pack car and driver to pick them up, if you don’t mind, Alpha.” I raise an eyebrow as Adrian and River walk through my office door. They see I am on the phone and sit down quietly. I press a button and put down the receiver, so they can hear the conversation. I do not have secrets from my ranked members.

“Gamma River can drive the car. When is the plane landing?” There’s silence for a few seconds before she answer hesitantly. 

“You don’t think that is too much, Alpha?” 

“Your future Luna is finally returning, so no I don’t.” I grumble and I can hear her swallow hard. 

“My apologies, Alpha. It’s an honor to have Gamma River drive. The plane will be landing at 10am, and I want to be inside to greet them.” 

“Be at the packhouse at 8am tomorrow morning, Leona. I will see you there. Thank you for the update. Goodbye.” 

“Your welcome, Alpha. Goodbye.” The line goes dead, and I put the receiver back on the phone. Then I lean back in my chair and rub my face. The guys are quiet, but I can feel their eyes burning into my faces, trying to look for answers.

“Dude, did she seriously find Hazel Dalton?” Adrian asks, breaking the silence. I open my eyes and look at her picture. Her smile, her eyes, her face, her body. I have been in love with this woman since middle school, even though I was a few years ahead of her, she always stood out to me. I fought a quiet battle with Adrian and River by my side to have people leave her alone as long as we were in school together. I heard how the bullying escalated as soon as we graduated and weren’t there to silently protect her. My two best friends were the only ones who knew my crush on her, and they never gave me grief about it or teased me. 

Adrian would catch me staring out over the packgrounds every day at the same time, because that was the time she would walk home. Always with a hoodie on, or her nose in a book and earplugs in, trying to ignore the world perhaps. She fascinated me, captivated me and would make excuses to be wherever she would be. 

Her grandmother let it slip at a pack party just how badly she was treated at home, which was the time my parents started distancing themselves from her family - not her grandmother, but her parents and siblings. I didn’t mind as I didn’t like any of them to begin with. Not long after I saw my beautiful girl with a black eye. I made inquiries about how she obtained it, but no one was telling, so I asked her grandmother. 

“Her parents blame her for the recent misfortune in pack standings and believe she is humiliating them on purpose. My deadbeat of a son beat her and her brother gave her the eye.” I was livid and beat Joel to a pulp in training the next day. 

“Hello! Earth to Grady. Dude are you there?” River says, snapping his fingers at me. I growl at me and I smirks. “There he is. Welcome back grumpy.” He says, leaning back. 

“Where did you go?” Adrian asks, his eyes showing concern. I sigh. 

“A time far away.” I replied. “Yes, she seriously found Hazel and she is coming home for the funeral. She’s bringing her friend and her daughter.” 

“Why is the friend bringing her daughter, couldn’t she get a sitter or the dad to look after her?” I shake my head at River, watching as his eyes widened.

“Hazel is bringing her daughter.” I clarify, once again feeling the heartache over the fact that she chose someone else. I may not ever get that second chance I so desperately crave. 

“Wow, that’s crazy. Her own?” Adrian asks, and I just glare at him for a second before rolling my eyes. 

“Who else's daughter would she bring as her own? You think she is doing it to hurt me?” Adrian shrugs. “It just doesn’t sound like the Hazel I remember. We will see tomorrow.” 

After dismissing the guys, I decide to take a walk in the forest, stopping and sitting under the old oak tree. I often come here to think and reminisce. I want to change the past if I could. I know I can, but if she would have just let me explain at least. She was gone the second I reached her house, her parents swearing they hadn’t seen her. I had a feeling they were lying, but I could never actually prove it, and making them admit to it under an Alpha command would just create rumors and dissatisfaction amongst the pack.

“Are you brooding again, gorgeous?” A female voice purrs from the side. I know exactly who it is, and I do not have the energy for her right now, so instead of answering and engaging in the illusion, I swiftly shift, shredding my clothes and running far far away.