The Alpha & Beta's Regret
The Alpha & Beta’s Regret – Chapter 36

Addison POV

Addison watched as Luci finally started to relax; it wasn’t until both Alpha Rafe and Beta Jack had left her here to settle in. She could see that being around the two of them was causing her daughter to feel all of her old feelings again. She could tell that she was having trouble dealing with their sudden appearance back in her life.

The boys she knew were happy enough, already sitting on the lounge watching the TV, she’d offered to make them a snack, but they had both shaken their heads up at her and stated they weren’t hungry. Addison didn’t know how they weren’t starving hungry. She thought that they should be.

They had eaten a big bowl of fruit salad after coming back to the packhouse, but that was it, nothing else. They had drunk water and now weren’t hungry. She wondered about that, they should be ravenous. But perhaps what they had eaten was more than they would normally eat.

Or perhaps because they were just six, her definition of enough food was not the same as for them. She was used to newly shifted wolves eating massive amounts of food, but then they also had bigger bodies, were all adults and the twins were just six.

Nadia turned up at the cottage not long after Rafe and Jack left. She’d sat at the table with her and Luci, heard Luci ask for fruits and vegetables, didn’t ask for any snack foods of any kind, not for herself and not for the boys. Requested fish and eggs only. This had made Nadia frown, she was the pack’s head chef.

Luci had explained to Nadia “That is what we are used to eating.”

“Hm.” The woman had looked her right over, then just nodded “Alright, we can start introducing other things back into yours and the boy’s diet, till all of you can eat anything you like.”

She’d seen Luci just nod her head in acceptance.

“This will include sweets and snack foods. We could start with yoghurt and flavoured milk, maybe a little bit of chocolate, the small individually wrapped ones.”

“I don’t know.” Luci had sighed “I gave them chocolate cake once. It didn’t go down so well, they got sick.”

“Sick?” both she and Nadia had asked. Wolves don’t generally get sick.

“Mm, it went right through them. They liked it, but suffered for it a few hours later.”

“Alright,” Nadia nodded, “definitely start small then. I think they’re just not used to sugars and fats is all. What about meat Luci, Chicken, Beef, pork?”

“They can eat those, but only get it occasionally. I didn’t have the capacity to keep it cold or from turning bad.”

“Alright, I’ll sit down tonight and make up a menu a few meals that are healthy and we’ll add in one or two things a week, to get them used to it. Are there any snacks they can already eat?”

“They like air popped popcorn, rice crackers, the cheese-flavoured ones and I make pancakes sometimes. Strawberry ones.”

“That’s a good start. Is there anything they can’t eat?”

“I don’t think so.” Luci shook her head.

“Okay then, most wolves don’t have food allergies, so I’ll go with that. Now, if the boys have a severe reaction to anything, you’ll let me know right away yes.” At Luci’s nod she went on “I’ll drop it from the list and provide something else.”

Addison smiled at Nadia. She had come into this cottage with a friendly smile for not just herself but for Luci too. Addison saw her out and she stated she’d be back within the hour to stock the pantry and the fridge. True to her word she had been. Brought two omega’s that worked in the kitchen with her. They had both also greeted her and Luci in a warm, friendly manner.

No one seemed to be judging Luci at all about the twins, they all also knew Luci, greeted her by name, smiled and welcomed her back to the pack. Luci had started to relax after that. It was good, it seemed that the other pack members understood why Luci had left or not said anything about the twins. Either that or Rafe had warned them all to behave. She didn’t really care which it was. But was hoping for the first.

She’d encourage Luci to go and have a bath, that she would stay and watch the boys, they were easy to look after. Right now, were in their new home, happily enjoying having a TV of their own for the first time in their lives, sitting watching it. She’d found them something appropriate for their age to watch.

They’d told her they got to watch TV at school sometimes and had gone to the movies with their mamma a few times. She loved how they were just open to talking to her about whatever came to their minds, just like Luci had been when she was that age.

She stood by, leaning on the wall and smiled at them. Loved them as did Fallon, nothing and no one was going to keep her apart from her grandbabies. Though as she watched them she wondered what they did in their home after dark, she’d seen there was no electricity where they had lived.

Orien had mind-linked to her to request she come to his suite and discuss what exactly was going on. Addison had told him flatly ‘I will come when Luci and the boys are settled and not before.’

He had seemed more than annoyed with her response, but she hadn’t cut the mind-link from him, waited on him, knew that he would only establish another one when he was ready to talk to her. He’d stated, ‘Come to my suite then, when you are ready.’

‘Why?’ she’d asked right back, they’d been separated for a week now, and if he thought she was just going to forgive him for all he’d done, roll over and crawl into his bed, he was dead wrong.

Told her ‘Because it’s where you belong.’ And then stated, ‘doesn’t Fallon miss Rali at all?’

She’d sighed, of course she did. But Fallon was also mad at her Mate for allowing his human to put that silver cuff on them. It wasn’t right. It should never have been allowed ‘Yes.’ She answered honestly ‘but neither of you have even bothered to apologise for all you did to us. Stopping us from coming here, putting us under house arrest, binding us with silver, of all things. Now you insult my daughter the moment you see her. You’re the one to blame for us not wanting to come to you.’ she’d stated and cut that mind-link to him without waiting for a response.

He needed to come and apologise. She’d already apologised to the warrior’s families for what she and Fallon had done, though they were sad. She’d found their mother’s understood her need to get to her daughter. Couldn’t actually understand their own Alpha’s refusal to let her go to her daughter, when she’d explained to them what had really happened out there that day. Which she had. He’d not been happy about that either. Now his own pack knew he’d refused his Luna to go to her daughter who’d been missing for six and a half years.

Her own Gamma right this minute was even keeping his distance, but she knew he wasn’t far away. She also had a feeling he knew she wasn’t just a wolf anymore, was a little more than on the weary side. She thought it was very unlikely that he was going to try and contain her again, not even if Orien ordered it.

He would do his job if it was needed by her, but she was happy and calm now that she had found Luci, and to have two precious grandbabies just filled her with joy. Her Gamma would know that. He was not needed by her at all right now.

She put Luci’s clothes in her bedroom when Rafe, Jack, Allen, and Ian brought some boxes over. It wasn’t all that much, but they were hers and the boy’s things. Addison could online shop from here and have lots of stuff delivered for her daughter and her grandsons. Though she would do it with Luci and the boys right there as well. So, she knew what to get them.

Rafe and Jack had left them be as they said they would, and were giving her time to settle in. Seems the two of them weren’t at all mad, which was a good thing. They really had no right to be, considering just how inconsiderate of her daughter’s feelings they had been at the time she’d left.

Perhaps she could be okay here, taking her back to Nightfall? Addison didn’t know about that. Victor was currently still allied to them, and he could just walk into the pack and try to take her all over again. At least here he couldn’t do that at all. He would have to get past Rafe and Jack, plus hundreds of their warriors.

No, it was better and safer for Luci here inside the Black Forest Pack, as uncomfortable as it was, and even if she was upset about being here. It was for now the safest place for her. She was going to have to talk to Orien about Victor, as well. She didn’t think that was going to go down so well.

She was also going to have to tell him about who Luci’s real father was, he’d seen Alari on the surface, felt the raw power of her Alpha Siren and he was going to have many questions she could well imagine. Seeing as she’d never once spoken of Lucian to him, kept Luci’s linage a secret from everyone.

She stood with Luci in the kitchen and helped her make dinner. It was a hearty vegetable soup with bread rolls and some chicken breast meat diced up and put in it. She watched Luci just go about cooking. It was such a natural thing for her to do. Smiled to herself, not many Alpha wolves knew how to cook, let alone did cook. Most of them had omegas to do that for them.

She sat and ate with them. Told Luci she would spend the night here as well. But she did want to go and get some of her clothes. Luci had just nodded. They had all chatted about things, mostly the boys who were excited to finally be here in the pack. Not having been here before, they wanted to see everything.

They’d run in the woods now, had a meal in the packhouse dining room, got to live in a real house now, a bedroom each. But she knew they were going to be amazed by a real tour of the Black Forest packhouse, the pack itself as well. They were going to want for nothing ever again.

Jack and Rafe didn’t even work in the city, they ran all of their businesses from right here in the pack. If she recalled correctly, they owned an entire apartment building in the city and most of the employees that worked in the city, lived in that one building, a tiny part of their pack out in the city. They always had help close by.

She was certain that was where the previous generations also lived on the top floor of the apartment building in the city, never really saw Rafe and Jack or Allen and Ian’s parents walking about here inside the pack. So, they must be off in the city. She knew Orien’s father was dead, that’s how he’d inherited the pack. His mother had left years ago, gone back to her home pack, to be closer to her family is what she’d heard. They’d both not been there when she’d met Orien.

He was older than her by 8 years and had been in charge for four years before, he’d scented her out and convinced her to let him claim her. Sighed to herself, perhaps she should have just returned to her lake after that war was over and raised Luci all by herself. Then sighed, if she did that, she wouldn’t have Thatcher or her two grandchildren right now.

Might just have to take a trip out to Lucian’s home and talk to him, missed that lake of his, of hers. Technically, she supposed she was still the Luna of it. Just hadn’t been there since he told her to run and not look back, not to come back no matter what she felt. To leave and protect their daughter. Which she had done.

“Mum, are you okay?”

“Yes, Luci. Just thinking about the past is all.”

“Sad?”

“Yes, I guess you could say that. Miss my home.”

“Nightfall?”

Addison shook her head. “No, the lake I met Lucian at. His and my home.”

“Oh, where was that?” Saw Luci’s interest was piqued, right away.

Addison smiled a little sadly. “To be honest, I’m not a hundred percent sure exactly where it was, I have a basic idea, know what state. But…” she sighed “I came across it when I was a rogue she-wolf, running away from anyone and everyone. And I had to flee from it myself when I was pregnant with you. It wasn’t very big, was somewhere in the Glacier National Park in Montana, up north. Was very pretty.”

“You were a rogue she-wolf?”

“Mm,” she nodded “We can discuss that another time. Long story.”

“I’d like to hear it at some point.”

“I’ll tell you some day. Not today though, I think you, the boys, Kali and Alari have all had a long day. So, for another time when things settle down a bit more.”

Luci hadn’t pushed the subject, but Addison could tell that her daughter was interested in her true linage, she would get around to telling her about it, but had other things that were more pressing right this minute and not just for her but for Luci as well. This all needed to be sorted out before they could go delving into her history.