Chapter 89
Thorne’s POV
Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose and stare at the paper one of my gammas just gave me.
“It was posted on a tree at the East border, Alpha,” Gamma Rhodes says. I nod and reread the message.
“What does it say?” Jace asks. I look up at my Beta, smiling for the first time since I left Aurora in bed an hour ago.
“Glad to see you feeling better,” I tell him, and he waves me off.
“You knew I was fine,” he mutters. “Just needed a bit of time to heal.”
Nodding, I pass the note to him and listen as he reads it aloud, “I, Alpha Roman Enders, challenge Alpha Thorne Blackwood to a fight for land and title. If Blackwood loses, Enders will collect his land and title, and if Blackwood wins, vice versa.”
They think I’m weak, and Enders has decided to challenge me instead of continuing our peaceful talks like I’d hoped.
Taking out my phone, I dial the number on the bottom of the note.
It rings twice before the line connects.
“Alpha Enders, I accept your challenge.”
Alpha Enders enters the neutral territory, nods in greeting, and moves to stand in front of me.
“You can still back out of this,” I say, glancing at the warriors who circle us as our audience.
“Not on your life, Blackwood. If you think I’m afraid of you, think again,” he says, circling me. “Choosing to humiliate me by offering to meet and then never showing up was a mistake.”
I study the man in front of me. He’s younger than me by at least four years, making him one of the youngest Alphas at age twenty-three. It also means he’s impulsive. I can tell by the way he curls his hands into fists that he’ll make the first strike.
And I’m right, because not even thirty seconds later, he lunges. I step to the side, throwing my arm out and grabbing the boy by the neck. He gasps, frozen for a minute, before he plants his feet in my stomach and pushes off me.
“You’re going to have to work harder than that,” I mutter, kicking him as he spins to punch me. He flies back, and I follow, pinning him to the ground in a quick and easy move. “Sorry, kid. I don’t mean to make light of your challenge, but you’re not ready to take me on yet.”
Standing, I lift him off the ground and set him back on his feet.
“I admire your bravery, though,” I tell him, glancing at the warriors he brought with him. “I apologize for missing our meeting a few days ago, but there was an emergency with my mate. She was attacked and I had to go to her.”
“Is she okay?”
I nod, “She’s fine, but I should have reached out before now to clarify what happened. As an apology, I don’t plan to take your land or your title today.”
Alpha Enders’s head whips up, his eyes wide, “You don’t? Any other Alpha would.”
“I’m not in the business of taking advantage of others, and while I can’t discuss your request for land right now, I would like to reschedule our negotiations,” I say, running a hand through my hair.
I remember receiving the news last year that the young Alpha’s parents died and he took over the pack. Being an Alpha at twenty-two with no one to guide you, couldn’t be easy.
“I’d like that. Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be waiting for your call.” He bows, and I watch as he and his men turn to leave. They retreat into the forest, and I take a deep breath, wondering what else will happen that I don’t expect.
Luna Ashford’s POV
I tap my pen on the desk, staring at the phone.
“You may want to invite your brother to join us,” Madame Maura suggests, her voice crackling from the speaker. Throughout this entire process, she’s never asked to see my brother. It sets off a series of emotions that all come down to a bit of wariness mixed with excitement.
“Alright,” I agree. “I’ll invite him, but I’m not sure if he will come. When will you be here?”
“Within the hour.”
That should be plenty of time to get Grayson here. I quickly send Grayson a message, telling him there’s an emergency and that he needs to meet me.
Not even thirty minutes later, I feel when he crosses the border between our packs and enters my land. It sends a familiar ripple through me, and I head to the door to greet him. I spot his silver wolf from a mile away, smiling as he barks at me.
He may be known as the Lycan King, but he’s still my big brother. When he’s nearly at the front steps, Grayson shifts mid-run and engulfs me in a hug.
“Is everything alright? What’s the emergency?”
He pulls back and looks me over, turning me this way and that until he’s satisfied that I’m unharmed.
“Leah, what is it?”
My stomach jumbles with nerves as he stares at me, and I’m suddenly unsure what to tell him. I didn’t want to tell him much at first, so I kept him mostly out of the loop. He knows I am looking for his lost daughter, but he doesn’t know much more than that the fact that I’ve been talking with a human girl.
“I found a girl who might be your daughter.”
Grayson freezes, his hands squeezing my shoulders just lightly enough not to hurt.
“I’m not completely sure, but Madame Maura has been testing this girl’s blood and has something to tell us.”
“Us?”
I nod, “She said it might be good for you to be here, so I’m optimistic.”
Grayson rakes a hand through his bright silver hair and blows out a long breath. He’s spent twenty years thinking his daughter was gone for good, so I can only hope that whatever Madame Maura tells us today is good news.
“I have something to show you before Madame Maura gets here,” I tell him, pulling my phone out of my pocket. “I took a picture of the girl because she resembles the family, and I’m sorry I didn’t show you earlier, but I wanted to be more sure.”
My brother’s brows pull together until I flip the phone around and show him the picture I took of Aurora. I’ll admit, I was drawn in by her hair, but the more I talked to her and the more I looked at her, I found myself picking out characteristics I see in Grayson.
His eyes fall to the image of the smiling silver haired young woman, and he freezes.
“She resembles the family more than you let on,” Grayson whispers, taking the phone from my hands. I admit that I see him in Aurora, but I also see his late wife in her as well. Those big, curious eyes… those came directly from her mother.
And Grayson sees it too.
“She does,” I murmur, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. “And today, we’ll find out if she’s part of our family.”
