CHAPTER 18: FLASHBACKS
CHAPTER 18: FLASHBACKS
Axel's POV
“You’re not to blame,” Tyler whispered, having caught me deep in thought.
“But I am,” I turned slowly to him and said. “Look how she turned out to be. If I hadn’t taken her away from her pack, she might have still had her parents. She probably wouldn't have lost her wolf, and she wouldn’t be an omega.”
“You didn't give the order, Axel. We couldn’t have left her alone. The entire pack was ruined and you know it. Her parents were nowhere in sight. They could have been dead for all we knew” Tyler interjected. “And she’s not an omega anymore. She’s with you now, and she’s happy.”
I looked over to Alana. She stood with her friend, Lexi, laughing at a joke she made. She did look happy.
But would she be happy if she knew what actually happened ten years ago?
“Even still,” I shook my head.
Flashback.
“Dad, I don’t understand why we have to go to Derek’s pack for this meeting. He’s a pompous little fuck who’s never up to any good,” I complained to my dad for the thousandth time that day.
Tyler gripped the wheel with his dad in the front seat, while my dad and I occupied the back seats.
“Axel, you know that it is tradition for the most powerful packs to meet once every while. We have to be here,” Dad said as we crossed the border to MoonDay pack. “You’re going to take over as Alpha now that you’re eighteen. As Alpha, you must learn to do things that you’re not comfortable with.”
“Fine,” I heaved. “But I still don’t think coming here is a good idea.”
And boy was I right.
We had barely settled down with the rest of the Alphas of the 5 packs present for the meeting when they struck.
That was the first time I saw Alistair Stonecold. He came with his army of rogues and they wreaked havoc on MoonDay pack.
“Dad, don’t go anywhere!” I barked at my father who tried to join the fight. “I will not lose my father to a fight that is not ours.”
Luckily for Derek and his pack, Alistair and his rogues were rounded up and bound.
“Who sent you?”
“Who gave you the intel?”
Alistair and his rogues were bombarded with questions.
A wicked lopsided grin stretched his lips as he pointed to where Dad, Tyler, his dad, and I sat. “They did.”
I knew this was a bad idea.
“What the fuck do you mean we did?” I growled.
“This is a setup.” My dad spoke next.
“Then how else did they know that we were all meeting here today for them to attack?” Derek questioned. “Besides, you were very reluctant to help when you knew an attack was ongoing. Why
should we believe that you had nothing to do with it.”
“Because we don’t.” Tyler’s dad barked.
It was never a good idea to have more than one Alpha cooped up in the same spot. Now we had five angry Alphas and one cunning rogue who was spreading false accusations. It couldn’t end well. And it didn’t.
Growls turned to blows and soon, the bound rouges were loose and a second round of fighting broke out. Not a fight, but a battle. This time, it was all of us against each other.
We left for Crescent Moon pack that day with a loitering 8 year old pup found at the edge of the border, and MoonDay pack up in flames.
Flashback ends.
The least I could have done was to make sure that Alana was well taken care of when she was brought to Crescent Moon pack. But in my desperation to forget all about that day, I left the pup we found in the care of the pack warriors, not caring about who looked after her.
That pup, Alana, was turned into an omega. Maltreated, starved, and broken. And that pup turned out to be my mate.
If she knew all of this, would she forgive me? She was just getting to know me, and she was beginning to trust me. If she found out about what happened, all of that would be washed down the drain.
“Axel,” Alana’s singsong voice called out. I had zoned out completely, I only caught sight of her when she was close by.
“Yes, dearest,”
“It went better than I had expected. Don’t you think?”
“Yes. It did.”
“So what next?”
“What next?”
“Yes. Now that the pack has acknowledged me as Luna, what do we do next?” Her eyes were fixed on me as she spoke.
“Let’s leave that for tomorrow. You’ve had a long day. You should get some rest.”
“You’re right,” she took a small step back. “I think I’ve had enough of the party to last me a lifetime. When can we leave?”
I cleared my dry throat. “Coral will take you up. I have to stay back a bit longer. I will see you later.” I forced a tight smile and kissed her on the cheek.
She returned the smile and instead of my stomach somersaulting like it always did when she smiled at me, an invisible hand punched me hard in the gut.
“Alana,” I started.
“Yes? She turned back to face me, her eyes boring into mine as if trying to dig out the truth.
“What do you remember about your pack? Your real pack.”
She seemed taken aback for a moment and I instantly regretted asking her at all.
“Not much.” She answered. “I remember that there was an attack. My mom and dad were running away with me but there was an explosion.” She blinked back the tears that threatened to drop. “I
don’t remember what happened after that.” This content provided by N(o)velDrama].[Org.
“I’m sorry for asking.” Relief? Guilt? Sadness? I couldn’t place what I felt at that moment.
“Its fine,” she waved me away. “Why do you ask though?”
I shook my head. “Nothing, Alana. I’ll see you later.”
“Okay.”
I watched her retreat into the house with Coral before I slowly turned my attention to Tyler.
“The meeting with the Alphas who have been getting attacked recently, how is it coming along?”
“We have already received word of those who will be attending.”
“Good. Alistair is back and he doesn’t mean well. We have to get to the bottom of this and end it as soon as possible.”