Mated To The Cold Hearted Alpha
Chapter 142

“Are we done here?” I asked, impatient to get back to Hycinth.

“Wait. There is another thing..” Ever hesitated.

“What now?” A muscle in my jaw twitched.

Asher came to stand beside him.

Ever’s voice deepened, “It’s the…pack. I get why you didn’t tell them the reasons Hycinth left, but she’s back now, and they still don’t know what’s going on. Anxiety…is running high.”

I turned on them, a growl ripping from my throat, “No, I didn’t share all the intimate details of my personal devastation with the pack. I’m their f*****g Alpha. I don’t owe them sorid details. All they needed to know was that Hycinth was gone and now she’s back.” It hadn’t occurred to me that I might get pushback from the pack. Maybe I should have.

But worse, I never anticipated Ever and Asher to stand against me the way they were now. “If either of you have shit to say about the matter of Hycinth returning, don’t f*****g hide it. Let’s get this out right here and now.”

Pain washed over Ever’s expression. His voice was thick with emotion, “I’ve always had your back, Leander. You’re my best friend. I’m gonna tell you what I think and how I feel, but when the decision is made, when you decide your course, I’m gonna ride next to you all the way or I’m gonna die tryin’. You’ve decided Hycinth will stay which means she is one hundred percent my Luna, and I will treat her as such. There’s no gap in my loyalty, either to your or her.”

His response hit me like a brick to my chest. My gaze left him to fall on Asher who wore a similar fierce expression. I swallowed before I could speak, “I am blessed to have such honorable wolves as you both.” Their unconditional support meant everything to me. “Tell me what I need to do to ease the anxieties of the pack.”

“You don’t have to tell them the details, but they need to see you. The full moon is coming tomorrow night.”

“I know,” my voice dropped to a pained whisper. He didn’t have to say more. When the full moon rose tomorrow night, we would release the four wolves who had given their all, into the afterlife. I needed to be there, not only for the living who needed my comfort, but also the dead. I owed them that much. I just didn’t know how I was going to. My breath caught in my throat, “I don’t know if I can…leave her.”

“We understand,” Asher murmured. “I don’t know what I would do if Willow were in the same situation. We have another day to figure it out. We anticipated it would be hard for you, that’s why we wanted to talk. Just think about it for now.”

I nodded silently.

Apparently satisfied with my response, Ever and Asher walked back to where they had been standing by my father and the biker. At the same time, Luca stepped forward. He looked down and twisted his hands together. “There’s something…you need to know.”

F**k. I wasn’t sure I could take much more.

I waited silently.

Clearing his throat, he began, “Oracle Memoree came to visit us. She told us that Hycinth was having a girl.”

I had wondered how Hycinth had known the s*x of our pup. But why had an Oracle visited them in the first place? Getting involved with an Oracle could be dangerous business and did not always bode well. “What else did she say?” I asked tightly.

Luca glanced over to my father before continuing, “She said that the pup in Hycinth’s stomach is the second-chance baby…because the first-chance child was…tragically lost.

My eyebrows mashed together. What in the world was he talking about?

My father stepped forward. From his expression, he was equally confused, but he was smart enough to realize whatever Luca was trying to explain had something to do with his child, my long-lost sister, as well. “Explain,” Cyril demanded.

“Alpha,” Luca acknowledged him with a deep nod. “I didn’t understand everything she said at the time because neither Hycinth nor I knew about the child Luna Isabelle carried. But it makes sense now. The Oracle said that the child has great destiny. She’s come to replace the one who had been lost. The only explanation I can think of is that first baby was yours, Alpha.” Luca glanced up at Cyril.

The irises of my father’s Wolf burned brightly as he stared back. “Why do you think that?”

Luca continued softly, “Oracle Memoree said that her sister, Mimi, had manipulated the ceremony. I don’t know how, but somehow she used a small portion of the lost baby’s ashes as part of the preparation mist for Leander and Hycinth’s mating ceremony.”

“Mimi did what?” I snarled. This was all news to me. And where had she even obtained ashes from my dead sibling?

Luca startled at my abrupt outburst but controlled himself. Holding my gaze, he replied, “She said that Hycinth became pregnant in that moment, even before the two of you…um, came together,” he ended awkwardly.

I stood in astonished disbelief. It all sounded too incredible. I turned to my father. “Is this even possible?”

The lines of his face were drawn together as he struggled to his own painful memories. “Maybe. We’d been told Isabelle’s baby was special. We even felt it. But then she…died.” He swallowed before continuing, “I thought that was the end of it. But after your ceremony, a newness could be felt in the pack, a tangible sense of possibility. I just assumed it was because all ten mated pairs had conceived, but maybe there is more to it.”

The dull thudding I’d felt in my head over the last two days increased. I ran a hand through my hair. One thing was sure, Mimi had some explaining to do. But now was not the time. My father seemed to agree because he didn’t ask any further questions.

“Can I see her now?” Luca asked softly, pain swirling in his eyes.

He’d waited two days.

I took a minute to check my Wolf’s defensiveness, and was surprised to replace the beast was unusually quiet, which meant he was okay with Luca visiting now.

“Yes,” I answered Luca, and then looked toward Ever. “Are we done for now?”

Ever nodded.

“Okay. Luca, come with me.”