Pursuing My Rejected Alpha
Chapter 28

It took longer for Kinnon Youngshaper to regain consciousness after he last spoke with Ronan. The ho By the time Kinnon finally opened his eyes, three days had already passed.

When he first opened his eyes, he fell into a daze. After being awake for an hour, he was able to piece He was fighting fiercely with Ronan Silverback. There was heavy rain. And then there was the mudslide He and Ronan were trapped underneath.

After everything that happened, he managed to make it out alive from the mudslide.

Turning to his Beta, the first thing he asked was: "Did he die?"

Bjorn shook his head.

Kinnon pursed his lips.

.....

Typical werewolf wars did not go that way. Packs liked to lurk around and make strategic moves again And yet the Werewolf Council decided to dump them all in a valley that had nothing but trees. They had no other choice but to battle it out on spot.

That was exactly what Kinnon wanted. He neither had the time nor wanted to entertain the Silent Wal "How is Ralphy?" The Alpha asked.

Bjorn took out his phone and made a video call.

The call was received and Ralph's nanny answered. "Yes, Beta?"

"The Alpha would like to see the heir. Is he there?"

"Yes, he just finished his breakfast. He is now watching some television. Let me take the phone to him

staff had purposefully given him a sleeping drug so that he could rest while his body worked to repair itself.

er his memories.

enemies. There should be plenty of chances of hiding in caves, behind huge walls, or even crossing bodies of water if need be.

ck any longer.

Bjorn handed the phone to Kinnon wordlessly. The screen shifted, and then a little boy appeared on teen.

"Daddy!" He called with a bright smile.

Kinnon's eyes softened when he saw that his son was alright.

"Ralphy, how are your injuries?"

Ralph lifted his bandaged arms and leg for Kinnon to see.

"Daddy, I am fine! It doesn't hurt anymore, look!"

Kinnon bit back the remark that it only did not hurt because the thick bandages act like a cushion. He instead smiled and replied, "Very good. Don't watch too much television. Get a lot of rest." The words were mainly directed at the nanny, who immediately spoke up.

"Yes, Alpha."

The line was cut and Kinnon returned the phone to Bjorn.

A werewolf pup was no different from a human child. They did not have their wolves yet, so they did not heal quickly.

It was good that nothing else happened to Ralph. If something did, Kinnon did not think that he could take it.

"What happened while I was unconscious?" was the next question that Kinnon asked.

Bjorn took out a small notebook from his pocket and dutifully reported, "After the landslide happened and both you and Ronan were found to be missing, I took the liberty to cease the war on your behalf. Lucien and I worked to take care of the bodies of the deceased, send the injured ones to St. Clarence, and also get the survivors back to their respective packs."

"What is the body count?"

"From our side, 10 deceased, 125 injured, and 196 survived with little to no injuries."

10 deceased.

Kinnon rubbed at his tired eyes.

"What about the opposite side?"

Bjorn flipped the page and continued to read, "From the Silent Walkers Pack's side, 15 deceased, 103 injured, 79 survived with little to no injuries."

15 deceased.

That was quite a number for a war that lasted less than three hours effectively. Then again, how many wars ended with a mudslide? They were all just extremely unlucky.

Thankfully, 25 were all the werewolves that they lost in the war. Those with heavy injuries might require some time to recover, but they will eventually recover. "Alpha, there is one more thing," Bjorn solemnly spoke.

"What is it?"

"Lucien Clearwater has requested to speak to you as soon as you wake up."

Kinnon's face darkened.

He was pretty sure that Lucien was not looking for him because he was worried about his injuries.

"Oh, really," the Alpha said with a chuckle. "Why don't you ask him to come then?"

Bjorn lifted his gaze and gave his Alpha an expressionless look.

"He is outside. He has been waiting for some time."

"Fine," Kinnon said. "Let him in."

Bjorn gave a curt nod. He put away his notebook and exited the ward to get Lucien.

A moment later, Lucien entered the ward. Bjorn was close at his heels.

"Hello, Lucien," Kinnon greeted.

"Hi, Kinnon," Lucien said in return, but his eyes were devoid of warmth.

He turned to look at Bjorn who was watching his every movement without blinking.

"I wish to have a private talk with the Alpha of the Night Prowler Pack," he pointed out.

Bjorn was still not moving.

"Bjorn, leave us," Kinnon said.

Bjorn furrowed his brows. "Alpha, I don't think that it..."

"Leave us. This is an order," Kinnon emphasized.

Bjorn stared at his Alpha in disbelief. Lucien clearly did not come with a basket of fruits here. Did the Alpha contract a death wish?

Nevertheless, Bjorn inhaled a deep breath and then left without a word of reply.

The door closed behind him, leaving Lucien and Kinnon alone in the ward.

"Well? What do I owe this honor to?"

Lucien shot Kinnon an icy look.

"I am here to end the war."

A smirk spread on the Alpha's face. He propped one of his legs up and used it to support an arm.

"And how do you want it to happen?"

"I only see two options," Lucien narrowed his eyes at the man on the bed.

"One, you surrender completely without any conditions."

A corner of Kinnon's mouth ticked up.

"And if I refuse?"

"You will die here and now," Lucien said without skipping a beat.

Kinnon pinned Lucien with a glare.

"What will it be, Alpha Kinnon?" Lucien asked.

Kinnon chuckled at Lucien's words.

"Did you forget? Wars are conducted in wolf forms."

Lucien had a quick solution for that tiny problem.

"To adhere to the war regulation, I don't mind transforming into my wolf form and slitting your throat with my claw," Lucien added mercilessly. Kinnon had never experienced this side of Lucien, so naturally, he was taken aback.

Since when did Lucien become so fierce?

Kinnon shot Lucien an indulgent smile.

"You are so impatient to kill me that you come here as soon as I woke up. Why the hurry?"

Lucien's lips were pulled into a thin line. He had a very good answer to that question.

.....

"I don't want to give you another opportunity to hurt Ronan."

So it was all about Ronan Silverback.

Kinnon clawed into his bedsheet furiously.

Ronan, Ronan. Ronan again!

Ronan kept coming between him and Lucien. And now Lucien was here on Ronan's behalf.

What was so good about Ronan anyway???

"You are choosing the wrong man," Kinnon spat out. "You don't even know what Ronan is capable of doing." "Are you referring to the recent attack on Ralphy?"

Kinnon pursed his lips.

So Lucien knew?

"Ronan told me," Lucien enlightened him. "Apparently, you assumed that Ronan orchestrated the attack." Kinnon scoffed.

"Assume? Don't look down on me."

"Do you have any proof then?"

"Oh, I do," Kinnon smiled. "Will a belt with the Silverback family's sigil do as proof?"

Lucien narrowed his eyes at Kinnon. "What exactly happened? How did you get your hand on the belt?"

Kinnon motioned toward a chair in front of him.

"Take a seat. I will tell you everything that I know. After that, we can decide how to end the war." Lucien exhaled and took a seat in front of Kinnon.

"Please speak, Alpha Kinnon."

"Let's invite Bjorn in to narrate the event then. I want you to hear it from someone other than me."

Lucien agreed.

Summoned through the Mind Link, Bjorn entered the ward again with a solemn expression.

"Yes, Alpha?"

"Tell Lucien what happened on the day of Ralph's attack," Kinnon gestured toward Lucien, who turned to face Bjorn.

"Very well."

The attack happened in the week of the war preparation. Kinnon was busy coordinating the sixteen other packs that he barely had time to spend with Ralph.

The little boy asked to be allowed to go to a brand new amusement park at East Temple City, and Kinnon immediately said no.

His reasoning was simple. It was a tense situation in the werewolf community.

They were going to have a war that involved 32 packs, counting the Silent Walkers Pack and the Night Prowler Pack together.

The timing could not be poorer.

Although Ralph was unhappy, he obeyed Kinnon and did not ask about the amusement park anymore. He instead asked to be allowed to watch the training.

Kinnon thought that it was a good idea to let Ralph see how war preparation went. After all, wars did not happen all too often, and one learned faster when one got to see how they happened.

Ralph thus spent a lot of time watching from the spectator seat while representatives from other packs poured into their residence and participated in the daily training.

On the last day before Kinnon and his group set out to Shadow Mist Creek, he invited the leaders from the sixteen other groups for a coordination meeting.

Bjorn was overseeing the other warriors. For some reason, his gaze drifted to the spectator seat and Ralph was not there. His nanny also had left.

Ralph had a habit of waving and shouting goodbye cheerfully to the warriors before he left to go back to the pack house for whatever reason, so Bjorn went to ask a lead warrior when Ralph left the training ground. The lead warrior did not even know that Ralph left. No one knew where he ran off to.

After rallying the servants and searching everywhere, Bjorn eventually found him.

The little boy was cowering on the ground with slash wounds on his arms and right leg. Next to him, his nanny lay dead after being maimed terribly by a werewolf. Said werewolf stood before Ralph, preparing to kill the boy.

In his aggression, Bjorn failed to control his strength and ended up killing the werewolf. After a careful investigation, it was found that he smuggled himself into the Night Prowler Pack House by pretending to be one of the warriors that came from supporting packs. He was even assigned a guest room that he shared with other warriors. His belongings were taken from the room and inspected thoroughly.

What they found in his bag was a belt with the Silverback family's sigil that was imprinted on a silver plate.

A sinful-looking wolf that was howling at the moon.

It was definitely something, because no werewolf family distributed items that bore their sigil freely. On the other side, ancient werewolf families believed in people who were "not bound by blood but by hearts". This typically referred to anyone that someone from said ancient family trusted with all their hearts and felt deeply connected to.

For example, when Lady Adele Fangblade gave Lucien the shawl with the Fangblade family sigil on it. By doing so, Lady Fangblade told Lucien that she considered Lucien as one of her family members. And that he approved of Lucien as her son's partner. And this was also why the belt was bad news.

It screamed something like "I am sent by the Silverback family to murder the only son of Kinnon Youngshaper, the future Alpha of the Night Prowler Pack."

Lucien would rather eat lead than believe that Ronan had anything to do with it. Unfortunately, he could not speak for the entire Silverback family. Whoever it was, Ronan was still head of the family. He was responsible for everyone who bore the surname Silverback in the Infinite Eclipse Pack.

Unless...

Lucien swallowed hard. There was one other possibility. The only other possibility that could clear the Silverback family's name.

"It could be a fake," Lucien suggested.

Everything could be faked these days. Lucien was pretty sure that he could falsify the Werewolf Council stempel if he wanted to.

He could just take the envelope with the wax seal to the workshop.

Which werewolf in the werewolf community did not know what the sigil of the Silverback family looked like? The Silverback family, along with the sigil, was featured in the Werewolf Council newsletter at least once a month. It was ridiculously easy to fabricate this belt.

To Lucien's greatest dismay, Both Bjorn and Kinnon shook their heads. A grim expression spread across both of their faces.

"Lucien, you might not know this, but all silver plates with the werewolf family sigils are forged by a special silversmith under the Werewolf Council," Bjorn explained. "They all carry the High Seer's special charm."

Lucien did not need to ask whether they checked the authenticity of the silver plate with the Werewolf Council or not.

Of course, they did.

That's why they were so sure of the Silverback family's involvement.

"Well? Do you still think that Ronan is innocent?" Kinnon asked.

.....

Lucien gave the man a firm nod. "I still do. Just because the belt originates from the Silverback family, it doesn't mean that Ronan is the perpetrator."

Kinnon scoffed. Even with a piece of clear evidence on the table, Lucien still stood by Ronan.

"He is not the head of the Silverback family for nothing. What do you think, Bjorn? Should I drag him before the Werewolf Council?"

Kinnon turned at Bjorn who remained impassive upon his Alpha's taunting words. He instead threw a glance at Lucien, curious about what the latter planned to do.

"Either way, Ronan has to take responsibility for the crime. The only good thing out of this whole thing is that Bjorn saved Ralph. You and Ronan should be thanking Bjorn on your knees. Otherwise, it is blood for blood." "Sure," Lucien said, "As you said, Ronan is the head of the Silverback family. Your son was hurt. Naturally, you have the right to blow this incident up. You can even drag the Silverback family through the mud if you want.

But think about it, Kinnon. Do you want to replace out who the real culprit is, or do you want to destroy Ronan, and with him the Silverback family, just to feed your hatred?"

A very good question. The answer was clear, but Kinnon was not willing to say it out loud. Of course he wished to replace the animal who dared lay his claws on his baby son. Might the Moon Goddess have mercy on him, because Kinnon would not be as nice. Although Kinnon hated Ronan to the bone because Lucien was hopelessly tied to him, the Alpha knew that Ronan was innocent. If he had wanted to hurt Ralph, he could have done it on many other occasions.

Doing it while they were preparing for war was just stupid and careless. On top of that, it was not done cleanly. The assassin could have used poison. Why even bother transforming into a wolf?

Also, why did he dally so much?

He already killed Ralph's nanny.

Killing Ralph would be a piece of cake.

So what was he waiting for?

A lot of things did not add up.

It was almost as if he was there to be found. He even purposefully carried the belt with him. Considering that the belt was a precious token that was given directly by a member of the Silverback family, anyone at the receiving end of the belt would have kept it safe, probably even locked it in a safe.

So why was he carrying the belt around?

No, to be exact, he carried it into the Night Prowler Pack's lair.

It was all extremely fishy. It sounded like someone, or some people, wanted to accuse the Silverback family of the crime. They must have expected kinnon to run berserk after his son was wounded.

Indeed, Kinnon foolishly fell for the trap and was thus determined to avenge his son and kill Ronan.

"What do you suggest if I choose to replace the true culprit?" Kinnon inquired. Anyway, this was his riddle to solve. Lucien was only there to end the war. He could not care less.

Against his expectation, Lucien wanted to be involved in the investigation. "I suggest that you surrender with no condition so we can end the war peacefully. After that, all three of us - you, me, and Ronan - will help each other to replace out the truth behind the attack."

Lucien was not done yet.

"Until the truth is revealed, I will not forgive you if you dare lay your hands on Ronan again," he added.

"I don't know what you are so worried about. Do you even know what kind of injuries he inflicted on me?" Kinnon grumbled.

Kinnon had only managed to stab into Ronan's back and tore at it, while Ronan bumped him against the cliffside numerous times and also gave him internal bleeding from endless head bumps.

The Alpha of the Infinite Eclipse Pack was not the toothless werewolf pup that Lucien made him out to be. He was more than able to defend himself.

"I don't care," Lucien snapped impatiently. "Touch Ronan again and I will kill you with my own hands."

Kinnon roared out of frustration. He turned to look at Bjorn and gloomily said, "Bjorn, give me a piece of paper and ink."

In the end, Kinnon agreed to surrender. The second war between the Silent Walkers Pack and the Night Prowler Pack thus ended with the Silent Walkers Pack's victory.

Lucien was almost moved to tears when he held the resignation paper that Kinnon personally wrote, complete with his signature and thumbprint.

"Satisfied?" he asked in a snarky tone.

"Yes."

Lucien looked up from the paper and smiled at Kinnon. "Thank you, Kinnon."

"If you really want to thank me, you better keep your promise," Kinnon pointed out. "I expect full cooperation from the Silverback family to unearth the child murderer that almost murdered my son." Lucien nodded. He folded the resignation letter carefully and tucked it into his pocket. When he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered something else.

"You know, Kinnon, Ronan was not lying when he told you that Ralph called me before the war started. Now that I think about it, could it not be Ralph after all?"

It was not that difficult to imitate Ralph. Any child could act spoiled, call him Mommy, and pretend to cry. The culprit's goal was clear. He was appealing to Lucien's tender heart, using Ralph to tether Kinnon to life.

How could Lucien bear to kill Kinnon, all the while knowing that the innocent little boy would then lose not only his mother but also his father? Not to mention that the child was very close to Lucien during the latter's stay in the Night Prowler Pack House. "I can assure you that it is not Ralph. Ralph does not even know how to use phones," Kinnon answered.

Well.

Of course.

Initially, Lucien also had his doubt. That was why he bombarded the fake Ralph with questions. But then when the fake Ralph started acting pitiful, Lucien imagined the boy on the other end of the line blubbering with sadness. Then, he dropped his guards completely.

That was what the perpetrator wanted.

Lucien clawed into the door frame full of resentment.

.....

"How is Ralph doing now?" he asked without raising his eyes to meet Kinnon's.

"I had a video call with him today. Through his second nanny," he added, just in case Lucien thought that his story was inconsistent. "He is doing fine, thanks for asking."

Lucien gave a slight nod and then excused himself. As he strolled along the corridor to cross the hospital from one wing to another, he kept wondering who the person behind the wicked schemes was.

The person was responsible for the attack on Ralph.

At the same time, the person also made sure to weaken Lucien's resolution in the war.

Actually, it was not only Lucien's but also Ronan's.

Lucien thought back about Ronan's bad mood the night before the war commenced. Even without him saying anything about it, Lucien knew that Ronan was disturbed by Ralph's call.

Could it be that Ronan was hurt that badly because he also hesitated to kill Kinnon? He too would not want to see Ralph ending up as an orphan.

Despite his harsh exterior, Ronan was kind and compassionate. Lucien knew that very well.

From the look of it, he was not the only one who knew that.

Lucien gritted his teeth.

Unforgivable.

Whoever it was, Lucien would track the person to hell and back.

When Lucien arrived at Ronan's ward, the latter was deeply asleep. The doctor gave him some sleeping drugs so that he stopped moving around and trying to free himself from the straps.

"The wound is going to close completely within a week," the doctor informed Lady Fangblade. "But if he keeps moving around restlessly like this, it is going to take longer. Plus there is a risk of infection." When head smacking and scolding no longer helped, Lady Fangblade and Lucien agreed to knock Ronan out for the time being.

The Alpha only woke up around an hour a day to mumble something about wanting to eat something, which he would gobble down the following day before he fell asleep again.

With no one else to talk to but Lady Fangblade, Lucien decided to ask her about the belt instead.

To his greatest relief, Lady Fangblade was not entirely allergic to the surname Silverback. The fact that her darling son bore the name did help a lot.

"The Silverback family does have a few items that are emblazoned with the sigil, but most of them were made a long time ago. They are usually family heirlooms," she explained to Lucien.

"How long is a long time ago?"

"Something like a hundred to two hundred years ago, I think?"

"

That was really a long time ago then.

"The practice of putting the sigil on every valuable item ceased along with the growing civilization. Besides, if I am not mistaken, the Werewolf Council no longer offers the silversmithing service for that." "Alright. So, is there a list of werewolves or human beings that had been fortunate enough to receive these special items as gifts?"

Lady Fangblade shook her head solemnly.

Lucien's face fell right away.

Lady Fangblade gave Lucien a sympathetic smile.

"No family keeps track of the gifts they distribute to others. Not to mention that every family member can do that as long as the items are within their possession."

"Lady Fangblade, just how big is the Silverback family?"

The elder woman puffed into the air as she slumped back to her seat and recounted the Silverback family members before Lucien.

"Let's see. Ronan's grandfather had two sons and a daughter altogether. Dane is the eldest, Kragen is the second, and Helene is the youngest.

Each of them got married and had families of their own. Dane has who knows how many children other than Ronan, Kragen has three of his own, and Helene has four."

"Before you ask further, the majority of family heirlooms fall into the lap of the new family head upon the demise of the previous one. Which means that they were Dane's, and now they belong to Ronan." "What about the rest?" Lucien continued to ask.

"The rest might be distributed when the previous head was still alive. Those items have been gifted away. Naturally, the current family head will not start asking for the items to be returned one by one." "Are there many belts that bore the family sigil?"

"Not many," Lady Fangblade answered, "But belts are very ordinary. No one from the Silverback family would remember such an item. Nowadays, the family heirlooms that Ronan kept are treasures like the first sword that the Silverback ancestor forged to slay his enemies or the twelve-jewel crown that the first Luna of the pack wore."

Indeed, a mere belt could not compare to a sword or a crown.

"Since it is not an item worth remembering, could it be that the belt was a stolen item?" Lucien asked hopefully.

"Maybe," Lady Fangblade drawled. She knitted her brows as she tried to recall something from the past. "There was indeed an incident from the past when the Silverback family's treasure vault was raided."

A raid?

The tiny fire of hope that was almost snuffed out by many cul-de-sacs suddenly flared up again. The belt might very well be a stolen good!

"When did this raid happen and where can I get more information about it?" Lucien asked enthusiastically.

Lady Fangblade had to suppress a smile when she looked at Lucien.

"For that, you need to ask Ronan yourself. The raid happened around a week after he became the Alpha. So to say a speck of dirt at the start of his reign. Until now he is still very unhappy when he has to talk about it."

"I don't care how uncomfortable he is, I will get him to talk," Lucien insisted.

It was necessary to solve the big riddle that was ahead of them. Their enemy was lurking in the darkness, pulling invisible strings and making one move after another against them.

Lucien needed to replace the person before he caused even more harm to the people that he cared about.

At that time, his phone started to ring. Lucien took his phone out of his pocket and saw that it was his mother.

.....

"Sorry, Lady Fangblade," Lucien quickly said. "I need to go."

Lucien rushed out of Ronan's ward and walked toward the stairs. He picked up the call as he ran down the flights of stairs.

"Mom? How is Anna?"

"The doctor just came," Alice informed him. "Are you coming? I think I can hear your footsteps."

At the end of the other line, Alice furrowed her brows and shifted her eyes toward the door.

Sure enough, Lucien appeared at the door seconds later, panting and sweating as he stumbled into the ward.

"Sorry," he apologized while pulling her mom into a hug. And then he scanned the ward for other people who were already there.

Kendra and Acatha were seated on the chairs. Kendra was more or less unscathed. She only had scratch and bite wounds that healed within a day. Acatha's arm was broken and put into a cast.

On the bed sat Annalynne with half her head covered in thick bandages. She also broke her right leg during the fight.

Lucien greeted Kendra and Acatha, and then he went to sit next to Annalynne.

"Hey, Anna," he took Annalynne's hand in his and gently squeezed at it. Annalynne turned her head to look at her brother, but her gaze was empty and she said nothing in return.

Ever since they returned from the war, Annalynne had not said even a word, let alone conversed with others.

The doctor said that it was caused by immense shock.

She was one of the werewolves who were trapped under the mudslide. When they first recovered her, she started screaming in horror until she passed out. After that, a complete radio silence.

The door was opened again and a nurse rolled Desmond's wheelchair into the ward.

"Am I late?" He asked, looking around at the people inside the ward.

"No, you are just in time," Alice said with a smile. "Come in, Desmond."

"How are you doing, Desmond?" Lucien inquired.

Desmond shrugged.

"Eh. I was hit hard and some of my bones were dislocated. I think I am more or less fixed, but the doctor insists on keeping me around for observation."

"That's because you need to practice walking again," Kendra reminded him. "The doctor told you that he will not let you go until you can leave the hospital on both feet."

Desmond groaned.

"That will take months! I want to go back to my wife and kids!"

Kendra and Acatha exchanged smiles.

While Alice entertained the visitors, Lucien wrapped an arm around Annalynne's shoulder and gave his sister a kiss on the forehead.

"Anna, you will be fine," he whispered. "The war has officially ended. No one is going to hurt you anymore."

The red-headed woman said nothing, but she leaned her head on Lucien's shoulder.

"Good girl," Lucien praised as he rubbed his sister's upper arm.

The next time the door opened, Gordon Clearwater entered.

Kendra, Acatha, and Desmond were mildly surprised.

"Mr. Clearwater!!!" They shouted in unison.

"Hello, everyone," Gordon nodded at the three members of his pack. He then approached the bed and took both of his children into his arms.

"Lulu, Anna, you two have worked very hard," he said, his voice trembling from emotion. "I am sorry that I could not be there for you."

Lucien hugged his father as well.

"It's alright, Dad," he mumbled against the man's shoulder.

Anna still said nothing, but she kept looking at Gordon with a pair of sad eyes.

"How is my little princess doing?" Gordon raked his fingers through Anna's curly hair.

No answer as always.

"The doctor is coming soon," Gordon informed them.

"I don't know about this," Alice said, rubbing her hands together nervously. "What if Anna is getting worse?"

"Mom, don't say that," Lucien said while covering Annalynne's ears. "Anna will be fine. She is just..."

She was just traumatized, that's all.

The word "just" sounded like an impartial diminution of what happened to every single werewolf who took part in the war.

How could she not be traumatized? It was traumatizing for all of them.

It was not Annalynne's fault at all. She was one of the victims.

The doctor came in accompaniment of two nurses.

"Ready?" He asked everyone in the room.

Some remained silent while most nodded stiffly. Annalynne was moved to the edge of the bed and the doctor held a pair of scissors up.

Once Annalynne caught sight of the pair of scissors, her eyes turned round and she jumped off the bed.

"Anna...!!!"

Panicked, Annalynne pushed everyone who was in her way as she stumbled with one foot toward the door.

"Anna!!!"

Lucien threw himself at Annalynne and grabbed her from behind.

"Anna, please," he begged. "We will always be with you. No matter what happens, we are still one family."

Tears started forming in Annalynne's eyes. She opened her mouth and a sorrowful cry came out. "Waaaahhhhhhhh... Ahhhhhhh...!!!"