Alpha Zander
Chapter 38

* Liverpool Beta Female Kyle Steward (Ashleigh and Brent’s Mother) *

The packhouse door slams shut, I hear footsteps making their way towards the living room, “I’m Home” Ashleigh called out, her voice strained. She sounded upset. s**t, what happened at that party.

I looked at the clock on the wall. It was only 11.20 pm.

We were expecting the kids home well after midnight.

“In the living room, huni,” I called back, pausing the TV show Robert and I was watching.

“How was the party?”I asked as she made her way toward us.

She looked a little shaken, paler than usual. I frowned at my daughter’s appearance. Something happened.

My mate gr0aned as I went to move off the lounge away from his comfort. I sent him an apologetic look. We had set up a date night for tonight so we could re-connect and not worry about the kids since they would be out for most of the night.

“What happened?” l asked. I was beginning to feel uneasy with the lack of words my daughter was giving me.

Usually, Ashleigh was the one who liked to debrief and chat my ear off for at least half an hour after an event like this.

Tonight though, nothing.

She shook her head as she moved closer toward us. I could see her eyes glassy. Her hair was in a bit of a mess, all windblown, and she was holding her heels in one hand. I looked down, frowning, and saw her feet dirty from dust. Did she walk home? Not that it was far, only a few blocks away, but she also knew she could have called one of us, or Oliver and her brother were also there to drive her if needed.

I half expected her to stay at Chloe’s tonight, considering Chloe’s parents were away.

“Ok, hun, why don’t you go up and shower, and I’ll bring you some hot cocoa and cheese toastie?” I bargained with her.

She sighed, nodded, and headed toward her bedroom.

“I wonder what that was about,” Robert mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck and frowning as he watched our daughter head to her bedroom.

“I’m not sure, but l’ll figure it out,” I said back, leaning in and planting a k!ss on his cheek, “I won’t be too long!”

It only took about 10 minutes to make a few things for Ashleigh. Right now, it looked like she just needed some love and no questions asked, so that’s what I’ll do.

I had a funny feeling. This was going to be about that boy of hers if my suspicions are correct, which I know they are.

She is Zander Blackwood’s mate, and I swear if that boy hurt my baby. I will quite happily knock some sense into him.

I hadn’t even told my mate or Alpha about this news. I felt if Ashleigh wanted to say to people, she will when she was ready. It wasn’t my place to say anything. I understand why she has kept it a secret, so l’ll help my daughter in any way I can.

I lightly tapped the door before opening it to let her know I was coming in. Opening the door, I saw her sitting on her couch in her pajamas next to her window, staring out at the night sky. “Here you go, huni,” I said before passing her the plate of food and hot chocolate.

She jumped, startled that I had entered her room. Ok, something was definitely wrong here. She is not usually so spaced out.

“Thanks, mummy” she whispered, taking the food and turning to look back outside.

She slowly sipped the hot chocolate closing her eyes in comfort as she took each sip, the plate balanced on hęr legs.

I sat next to her on the couch, leaning in and stroking her hair, comforting her, and letting her know I was here for her.

I looked curiously at her hairpiece, running my fingers around it each time I stroked her hair. It was exactly as I remembered it, so beautiful and elegant. I was proud that Ashleigh wore it. Proud she had a mate, that she accepted him.

“I told him | loved him after we mated the last night, and tonight, one of his exes announced she is pregnant with his baby” Ashleigh whispered so softly I nearly missed it. My heart clenched at the pain she was in. Lola whinnied in my mind, wanting to comfort our pup.

“I don’t know what to do, mum. I tried… I tried so hard, but another thing just comes up every time we are going well. Something always tears us apart. I don’t know how many more things’I can handle. Do I forgive everything because that’s what mates are supposed to do? Why should I forgive everything he did when he didn’t even consider the impact beforehand. Why should I continue to forgive when he didn’t even think about me before this. I have been the most forgiving with him, and I don’t know how much more l can handle,”

I tried to rack my brain to think of things to help her, with so many unanswered questions, and the most challenging thing was that I didn’t know. Before giving my daughter the answer she needed to hear, there were too many variables.

“I’m sorry, huni,” I said, k!ssing her on her forehead.

“Before anything, you should talk to him. I’m sure he is also freaked out and doesn’t know what to do either,”

” just left him standing there with her. I felt him wanting me to stay. I knew he wanted to follow me to talk, but too many people were around. I wanted to comfort him in a way, but at the same time, I just wanted to leave and process everything without anyone being around. It hurt so much, but now I feel numb.”

I could feel her slightly shake next to me. I frowned. I grabbed one of the blankets off her bed, lifted the plate of food, and placed the blanket over her legs. She grabbed the plate and started eating the food while sipping the hot chocolate again, Her shaking slowed down as she calmed.I see her wolf peek through her eyes as she sits, trying to calm herself. It made sense when I saw Kia, her wolf wants to kill the girl, and Ashleigh is trying to control Kia. I can feel her aura rolling off her in waves of frustration and anger. She considers the pregnant girl a threat to her mate, a threat to her and Ashleigh.

“Lola, can you speak with Kia, try to calm her down?

Even if Ashleigh is Zander’s mate, we don’t want to start a war with Kia trying to take control; I asked.

‘Sure, I’ll see what I can do.’ Lola went to the depts of my mind to reach out to Kia and see if she could help calm her down.

“Huni, you two have been through a lot already, and while you may think you forgave him if you are still hurting over all of this, he needs to redeem himself before anything further happens. You should try to talk to him and figure this out together”

Ashleigh nodded and silently sat there looking into the night sky, holding her mug. I gave her one more k!ss on the cheek before heading out. Her shaking had stopped, and Kia had settled down. I could see her natural color coming back.I was more comfortable leaving her in this state than when she arrived home.

“How did you know he was my mate?” she asked softly as she finished her drink.

I tilted my head, sitting back down, looking back at her moving one of her wet curls out of her eyes, “His mother and I were best friends. She was from a neighboring pack. Granny and Pa were a part of an old country pack back in the day until I found out I was mated to your father. They decided to move closer to the city because I was mated to the packs Beta and wanted to be around you kids. Molly found out she was mated to Zander’s father when she visited me one weekend. We promised to keep in touch no matter what, even though the boys still had bad b***d with what happened. I requested with your uncle that I could still see her because I knew her before I was mated to your father.”

She nodded understanding, taking in more information about her mate, “We found old photos in the cottage. Some were of you and his mum,”

I smiled sadly. I missed Molly. She was my best friend, like a sister I never had. I still miss her every day.

“I miss Molly every day. She was my best friend. You cried every night for two weeks when I told you that you couldn’t see Zander anymore. It was almost as though the bond was already working in a way.

She smiled softly, “I don’t remember the cottage or even visiting it when I was younger”

” We tried to go as often as possible, but with the more attacks that were happening around the time, it was getting harder to be safer, and when your brother was born, your father felt uncomfortable every time we left the pack land.!”

She stretched and yawned, her body relaxing after Kia stopped putting up a fight. I hoped she would understand and help process this with her. Ashleigh needed Kia now more than ever.

“Why don’t you head to bed, huni? Try to get some sleep. Maybe tomorrow you can try to speak to him,” I picked up the plate and mug off the couch and headed towards the door. Putting my hand on the door, I turned back to my daughter, “I understand why you didn’t tell anyone, and I’ll keep your secret for now, but until you decide, I just want you to know that you are my daughter, and your father and I love you very much, we only want you to be happy, everyone will understand you do not need to worry about you and Zander if that is what you choose.” I blow her a k!ss one more time before heading back downstairs to be with my mate, who is sitting patiently waiting for my return.