Twisting Her Fate
Chapter 163

Adrian looks at the woman in front of him. The smell of vanilla and strawberries drifts into his nose. She is the single most beautiful woman he has ever seen in his entire life. Tears form in his eyes. He thought at his age he had no chance of a second chance at all. He thought that that part of his life was done.

Adrian looks from the little girl in his arms to the beautiful woman in front of him, his mate. There is definitely the family resemblance with the white blonde hair, which is so incredibly rare.

Astrid is still in shock. This is the last thing she expected. She felt no difference after what happened with Simon and wasn't even sure whether the connection had truly been broken or not. There was no massive pivotal moment. There was no feeling the connection snap. There was really nothing and she was sure that the very risky task of trying to break a bond between people that are already mated and marked had not worked for her.

But standing in front of her now is proof that it did work. Standing in front of her now is her second chance, her true second chance. As one might guess, she is happy but she is slightly hesitant. She had Harris, who was her once in a lifetime sort of love, and then she went to Simon, who was so detrimental that he ruined every aspect of her life.

There is a fear that lingers for herself and her love life. She was content with just being with her family. She had never even given it a second of thought that this might be on the horizon for her. Adrian closes the distance between the two.

He's slightly nervous. He is a slow and gentle man, liking to take his time on certain things. But after learning his lesson from his first mate, all he wants to do is mark this woman right now. But he will not allow his insecurities about his past relationship to hinder what can blossom in a new one.

"Is this your granddaughter?"

Astrid, looks like you have some younger looking man. Somewhat nervous that there is too much distance between them. Adrian is actually only two years younger than Astrid. She met her mate and had kids really young whereas he was older. So the fact that she has grandchildren and he is still raising teenagers is not that much of a shock.

"She is"

Adrian looks at Astrid, unable to read her and her thoughts about the whole thing. Astrid grabs Elena from Adrian and lifts a single finger, stopping all the words that are about to fall out of his mouth.

"Before you say a single thing, I want you to know that I am damaged goods, incredibly damaged, but I am working hard to fix all the pieces, but it means I am still fragile. My family is my life. I have a son and a daughter and I have two beautiful grandchildren. I come as a package with them, so if you are not willing to accept all of that and if you have intentions to hurt me, if you are not willing to take me exactly how I am, we can go our separate ways and save us both the trouble, save the unnecessary heartache because I have had enough heartache to last three lifetimes"

Adrian listens carefully, so glad that Astrid laid it all out. At their age, it is impossible for someone to come with zero baggage.

"I am willing to accept all of that. I have two biological sons and one adopted son"

Astrid smiles and nods.

"Well, my name is Astrid. I look forward to getting to know you"

Astrid extends her hand and Adrian clasps her small hand in his large hand, a sparkle of joy lighting up his eyes as the sparks run up his arm. A feeling that he never thought he would have again.

"My name is Adrian and I am so very glad to meet you"

***

Cars keep arriving thick and fast and the stormy pack is buzzing with activity. It has been a party atmosphere the whole time. Torturing Simon has become somewhat of a party trick, just adding to the man's humiliation. The man that was in such a higher place has become a party entertainment, become nothing more than a clown.

A large majority of the people have congregated inside the large all-purpose room. It is decorated immaculately, set up for a large banquet that will be held later in the night. The bar is fully stocked and the whole atmosphere is exuberant.

Connor clears his throat to get everyone's attention as he smiles out at the crowd. He truly never thought he would be in this position now, seeing the smiling faces of all his pack and have the love of his life standing by his side on one side and his two little children on the other. He's so very thankful.

"Thank you for all coming to celebrate this momentous occasion in the stormy pack. I am beyond proud to be able to introduce my incredible fated mate, my Luna, Leilani. She is going to be the perfect addition to our already strong pack. I know that you will all love her just as much as I do and I know that she is going to be perfect for the role"

Connor smiles, pulling Leilani close to him as a cheer erupts through the crowd. Leilani holds a natural poise and authority about her, looking like she was always meant to be up there beside him.

Connor looks at her side face which is lit up with a bright smile. Her stormy blue eyes are alive with light and joy.

He bends slightly and kisses her temple. His lips running down to her ear.

"This is so surreal for me, but it couldn't be any more perfect if I could imagine a perfect moment before. It never would have even come close to this"

Leilani turns her head to touch his lips with hers. It is nothing short of perfect. While she has always been appreciated for her job, not many people actually know her and she is not held in such high regard. So to see all these faces looking up at her, like they depend on her, like they trust her straight away to be the leader. It fills her with pride to be standing next to the man that has been and always will be a fantastic leader. The man she loves is so respected and well liked it fills her with a sense of accomplishment like never before. Connor turns back to the front, looking at the crowd once more as he indicates to the two small children on the other side of him. The two toddlers are playful most of the time, but with their blood and their training they know when to be sensible. Ace stands still with a small smile on his handsome little face, clasping his father's hand in one hand and his sisters in the other, his small chest puffed up like he knows the importance of this moment. "These are the two future alphas of the stormy pack. Ace Storm and Elena Storm"

Connor isn't about to make his daughter miss out on the title just because of her gender. If Elena wants to be Alpha one day, then Connor will make that happen.

The crowd goes wild as the two children smile and wave at them.

In the back corner of the room, Adrian stands beside Astrid as they watch the proceedings. The relationship has already grown as they let out all their baggage before getting to the good points.

Adrian wouldn't let any of the things that happened to Astrid before affect their relationship now. He is just in awe that she can go through so much and still be standing at the end. He is so excited for the future.

Astrid's phone chimes and she looks down at it reading the text.

"I have to meet someone. Would you like to come or would you like to stay with Ryan?"

Adrian looks at Ryan who is busy chatting to Jameson and Gabriel. He isn't about to miss a single second with his mate.

"I will come with you"

Astrid nodded, grabbing his hand and leading him to Terrance and Levi. Astrid looks at Terrance.

"In the spirit of moving forward, I have someone that I would like you to see"

Terrance looks at Levi briefly before they both follow Astrid. Terrance has actually been feeling a lot lighter, being in the stormy pack again has just made everything perfect.

The grass around Simon is nearly empty, just the four guards standing around him. There is just one middle aged woman standing staring at the man but Simon has never even returned a look. Terrance raises his eyebrows as he walks forward. "Mum?"

Martha finally turns to look at the approaching figures. When she heard from Astrid out of the blue after so many years she was beyond shocked, but after Astrid explained everything she understood that so many people were affected by the man, she let her hate for the man sour her relationship with her best friend, she focused her hate for Simon on his seed.

For two days, Martha has put herself in solitary and reflected on everything, on the role she played in the whole thing and how much she hurt her only child for things that were never his fault.

"I am sorry Terrance, I was wrong. I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness, but just so you know, Astrid told me how much of an amazing young man you are. I want you to know that I am proud of what you have been able to do by yourself, to pull through such adversity and do such amazing things and live such a good life, that you managed to change the pattern, to love and be loved..."

Martha steps forward in the direction of Terrance, who is frozen in place with a look of disbelief on his face, hearing words out of his mother's mouth that he thought were impossible. "...I am proud of you"