Avenging The Triplet Alphas
Chapter 31

Ethan's

POV

My gaze found Klaus as we stared in silence for a few months.

"And how many do you know that was sent out rather unceremoniously?"

I gritted my teeth. "Just one."

The news had spread like wildfire for the first few days before it went cold all of a sudden. This wasn't what I wanted, I had hoped to get rid of every trace of the past holding Arielle back, and now this? I was going to lose my mind at this rate. Was this the result of the ominous feeling gnawing at me for a while now? Was Arielle going to be in danger?

"Is this going to be a problem, Klaus?" I began. "I want to know if this is something that can be controlled without me having to involve Arielle in any of this mess."

"For the past few months, we've heard nothing about Arielle. It seemed like her past was a thing of distant memory. A blur in our imagination. I doubt if many would remember how she came into the pack in the first place. And suddenly, as reports have shown, there have been over ten inquiries from two different sources about her whereabouts, and given how popular she had become within a short time, I'm sure she's been located already.

"Two different sources?" My eyebrows curled up in surprise. I could now understand why Arielle had been so scared before she gave birth. Although I tried to wave it off, blaming her reason for acting hysterical and scared was because of her pregnancy hormones. But now, I was starting to realize that she might have just been right. She was right to have been scared of the Van Tyson's, they were never going to go away.

"Yes, two," Klaus confirmed his earlier statement. "Two highly rated investigators were hired by the same pack. The first one had been rather discreet in his dealings but the second had left a few loopholes that worked in our favor. That was how our spies got wind of the inquiries concerning Arielle."

"If she's suddenly being sought out, it's either they're just realizing they made a mistake sending her away in the first place, or maybe, they want her back now that she has given birth to a son. An heir to carry on their legacy." I began, slowly mapping out the entire picture.

"You make a valid point." Klaus agreed with me.

"Either way, this doesn't pose any significant threat," I said, my voice filled with conviction. "Arielle is safe and happy with us here. She has never expressed the desire to return to her former home before and considering that, I don't think we ought to be bothered by whomever is out there seeking her."

I dismissed the notion of being wary. I wasn't going to let her go, no matter what it would cost me.

"I don't think we have the luxury of doing that," Klaus advised me.

He wasn't sounding confident. If I didn't know any better, I would say he was rather wary or scared.

"Is there something you're not telling me yet, Klaus?"

"As I'm sure you've figured out by now, the Van Tyson pack has been championing the inquiries across the North. If she's that insignificant to them right now as you believe her to be, she wouldn't have one of the most prominent packs in the country seeking her." I was oddly familiar with tales about the Van Tyson pack and its Alphas, past and present. It was one of the powerhouse wolf packs in the entire country and they commanded a lot of power and a great deal of respect and rightly so, their Alphas descended from a line of purebred wolves and it hasn't changed till now.

Very few lineages had such rarity and they were all revered and feared.

Klaus was right, it would be a fool's move to disregard the threat the Van Tyson's posed. They were ruthless and relentless, history hadn't been too kind to those who stood up against them and if I was hoping to make it out of this debacle with everything I wanted intact, I had to cover all possible angles.

Arielle's warning rang loudly in my head,

A Van Tyson always comes back for one of its own.

"I can't let Nia go at any cost," I stated. It wasn't going to happen under my watch.

"It's only a matter of time before they find out where she is. From the report I got, she was code red. Finding her was their priority and they would stop at nothing."

Klaus was trying to be reasonable but I wasn't having any of it. I was in too deep to let go at the first sight of confrontation.

"They wouldn't dare come into my pack without me having granted an invitation and judging from the situation at hand, I would not be allowing them in here.

"That would mean you would rather choose hostility over diplomatic relations, there was only one way that would end and are we going down that route without sitting down to discuss things?"

"You're scared of them, Klaus." I tried to explain things to him. "You're not easily fazed but the Van Tyson's has you teetering on the edge."

"It's not-"

He tried to argue but I held a hand to silence him.

"You don't need to defend yourself. Any sane person would be scared of the Van Tyson's, their name precedes them and I understand that."

"What I'm trying to say is that whatever decision you decide to go with, I'll be here to support you but we have to be prepared just in case anything goes awry. I would hate to be caught off guard." Klaus answered after I gave him the liberty to speak.

"A battle is brewing. If not this, it's going to happen soon. I just can't shake off the feeling of impending doom no matter how hard I try."

I thought I was bothered because of Arielle's restrictions towards me but now, I have a sense of clarity. The nightmares of Arielle leaving me were fueled by the Van Tyson's.

"Is there something you're not telling me yet, Klaus?"

In my nightmares, there was a powerful force pulling her away from my grasp and no matter how hard I tried to fight it, I always lost. Every time I pulled her back to me, she ended up moving even further away.

"It feels weird to say this out loud," Klaus began, jolting me out of my reverie as I blinked severally and managed to catch him laughing rather dryly. "Considering how emotionally unavailable you were before she stumbled into our territory, it seems rather unbelievable."

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to figure out what was going on.

"We're on the brink of discussing going to war for the sake of Arielle. A wolf disgraced by her previous mates and her pack, who was supposed to be dead or imprisoned by now but by some stroke of luck, you took her in and nurtured her back to full health and she's gone from being a stranger amongst us to begin the darling in everyone's eyes and she's now your fiancée. I still can't believe you're getting married after everything you've been through. It's amazing how past narratives can change within the blink of an eye." "You now understand why it's a sensitive topic for me to deal with and why I'm wary of having any sort of communication with the Van Tysons?" I took a deep breath, dragging my gaze back to the window. "I don't trust them enough not to leave when she turns them down."

"I don't mean to pry, Ethan. But are you certain that your worries about Arielle's refusal to fully let go of the past won't come back to haunt you?"

My left eye twitched. "She agreed to marry me, Klaus. That has to count for something, doesn't it? She needs more time and I understand that. I was way worse when I was getting over Mara, I understand how frustrating it can be and I'm willing to wait it out. I can't let her go, not after everything. I love that woman and her child regardless of whatever anyone might say. When we say our vows, I'm going to claim her as my mate and bond with her and it's going to remain that way for the rest of our lives." I finished with a note of finality.

"What's your plan, Ethan? We need to come up with one."

"You have to rally the troops and inform them to prepare for war, keep the information only amongst a trusted few. I don't need a pandemonium happening under my roof. Besides, Arielle is quite busy with the wedding preparations and her son and I'd like to keep it that way." I ordered.

"What about you?" Klaus asked. "What would you do in the meantime?"

I squared his shoulders and let out a long sigh. "I need to speak to Arielle as soon as I get back. It's been long overdue and I need to tell her this in person before she finds out."