The Wrong Alpha - A Twist Of Fate?
The Wrong Alpha – A Twist Of Fate? Chapter 54

I walked through the hallways of the pack house, it seemed quiet today, though most people would be in their family homes with it being weekend.

I was relieved Gabe had forgiven me, I honestly didn’t think I deserved his forgiveness so easily. But hearing the things he said about how Lilah was struggling had unsettled me even further, I needed a coffee then planned to go find Dan and Indie.

DUDE NOT SURE WHAT YOU’RE DOING, THOUGH I DON’T WANT TO KNOW I sent through mindlink to him BUT COULD DO WITH HAVING A CHAT TO YOU AND INDIE ASAP PLEASE. JUST GRABBING A COFFE THEN COME FIND ME.

HEADED DOWN FOR BREAKFAST OURSELVES MAN he surprised me by linking straight back SO WE’RE SAT IN THE KITCHEN SO SEE YOU HERE.

Well that was nice and easy then ….

I saw Jake heading my direction “coffee time?” He joked.

“Too right, I feel like a zombie not a werewolf” I replied.

He responded by doing a weird zombie walk with his arms out in front of him making a weird groaning noise, pulling an ugly a*s face, I couldn’t help but laugh at him, even more so as he nearly walked into the door frame of the kitchen door….

“What the f**k?!” Dan laughed, he was sat at one of the stools surrounding the long dark oak table style breakfast bar sat inside the centre of the large kitchen, his arm hooked around Indie who was sat by his side.

Jake straightened himself up, rubbing his arm where he’d hit it on the heavy wooden frame of the door, what a douche.

I smiled “just Jake being a zombie, hey Indie, hope Danny boy is making you feel welcome at your new pack” I smiled directly at her, hoping to make her feel at ease. I instantly noticed the mate mark on the crevice of her lower neck where her neck met her collar bone, she was wearing what looked to be one of Dan’s oversize T-shirts which on her small frame was more like a dress. Her long multi coloured hair was now tied up in a messy bun on top of her head revealing multiple piercings in both of her ears.

She smiled back at me “hey Alpha Knox, yeah he’s not done too bad” she grinned at Dan as her cheeks blushed.

Jeez I don’t even want to know what was going through her mind!

Jake put a large mug of steaming black coffee on the table in front of me, and another next to it for himself, I pulled out a stool and he did the same.

“You wanted to speak to us Alpha Knox?” Indie looked at me nervously, obviously Dan had explained to her I’d mentioned speaking to them.

“Yeah is a couple of things really….” I pondered how best to approach this, we needed to address her joining the pack first I knew that and that’s what Dan would be wanting to sort as soon as possible but also I wanted to ask her about Lilah as soon as we could.

I noticed her looking at me with her eyebrows raised in expectation so I continued “obviously you guys are mates, Dan is my Gamma so I’d like to ask if you would like to come join our pack Indie, though I have a feeling Dan has probably already done that but I wanted to say as Alpha too it would be an honour to have you as Gamma’s mate” I smiled at her.

She looked at me shyly before smiling at Dan, he tightened his grip around her shoulder before kissing the top of her head. The look of adoration clear in his eyes, the mating connection evidently strong between the two of them “thank you Alpha Knox” she said looking back to me.

“Look it’s Knox when it’s just us around, how’s that? Dan is one of my closest friends, he doesn’t have to call me Alpha unless formally so only seems right his mates doesn’t either” I reached for her hand to give it a reassuring squeeze, preparing myself for what I wanted to speak to her about next.

“There is no rush to move here officially but guessing with you completing the mating process I nodded toward their matching mating marks, as I’d since noticed Dan’s in the stages of healing on his neck too, that you will want to be together soon, you can set up in Dan’s Gamma suite in the pack house or we can have a house arranged for you, just have a talk and let me know”

“ Thanks Knox” Dan seemed happy with what I’d said, and he looked to be ready to take Indie back to his room, assuming I’d finished saying what I’d needed to, which I could understand that assumption.

“Indie, can I ask you something’s?” I said quickly, her eyes shot to mine, and Dan’s head spun round so he was looking at me, his brows furrowed in a frown, obviously unsure about what I wanted with his mate.

“O..okaaay” Indie whisperers clearly now on edge which is not what I wanted.

WHAT THE f**k IS GOING ON KNOX? Dan interrupted through mindlink clearly annoyed at this sudden changed to what he had expected from our conversation. WHY YOU INTERROGATING MY MATE?!

DAN CALM IT I link back I’M NOT, WE’RE WORRIED ABOUT LILAH AND JUST WANT TO ASK HER IF SHE CAN HELP US IS ALL.

Dan seems to back down and his body language eased a little at that explanation.

“I’m not sure how best to explain this Indie, but first please don’t think you’re in trouble” I glance at Dan ” last night a few times it was mentioned you’d took Indie out to cheer her up, Lexi joked about her running away, she seemed a little quiet, then when Gabe took her home…..”

“is she ok?!” Indie interrupted “did he do something?!”

“No Gabe wouldn’t do that” I said, fully aware of Jake’s eyes burning into the side of my head .

YOU CHANGED YOUR TUNE he linked GUESSING YOU SORTED THINGS?

I just looked to him with a frown not even willing to acknowledge him right now.

“Gabe took her home, I got him to make sure she was safe, he wasn’t happy her staying at your house on her own with it being so far out on its own in the pack land” I explain.

I saw her look a bit nervous and glance at Dan who looked a bit puzzled, obviously not something he was aware of yet either then that she lived in a house in the middle of nowhere on her own despite being only 19.

“they sat chatting and when he spoke about you and Dan she got really upset, said she didn’t know how she’d cope without you, that you were the only thing keeping her sane, that without you she wasn’t sure she would be here” I saw Indie drop her head to her hands, sobbing, Dan instantly was by her side holding her close

SERIOUSLY DUDE, WHAT THE f**k? Bounced through the link, Dan understandably concerned for his upset mate.

“Sorry Indie I didn’t meant to upset you” I said “I’m just worried what Lilah meant by that, see not many people outside of our close circle know this, but you’re going to be part of that circle now right?……”

She looked up at me, with a small nod, I could see she was still fighting tears but wanted to know what I had to say “I had a sister three years younger than me, Cleo, she drove me crazy growing up…..”

I saw Jake rest his head on his hands and Dan’s face dropped too, I know this would be hard for them too as Cleo had been like family to them too….

“she had the prettiest chocolate brown eyes, always fluttering her eyelashes at my Dad to get her own way” I heard Jake chuckle at that memory.

“she had long blond hair….. a lot like Lilah’s weirdly….she was really shy and awkward, but her smile would brighten the room, she did so well in school, but when she was about a month or so before shifting she had stayed late at school finishing some coursework, we didn’t find out til months later she’d been attacked and raped by one of the older guys in school, because she didn’t have her wolf she didn’t have the same strength or her wolf to fight back. She changed that day but we didn’t know why…..” I paused.

I was hating reliving this but needing Indie to hear this so she knows why I want to help Lilah.

“she was too ashamed to tell us, she blamed herself. And hid it for months. Her school work suffered and she struggled to graduate. Only one night when she’d been drinking with friends did she drunkenly expose to her friend that she had been attacked. Her friend came to my Dad, the filth that attacked her tried to deny it but he was kicked out of the pack, and we did all we could to support Cleo. She studied hard, she seemed to be doing well….”

I wiped a stray tear from my eye and felt Jake’s hand on my back in support “she smiled and carried on like everything was fine, I could still see the pain in her eyes but we thought she was managing, she told us it was hard but that she would be ok, we must have missed the signs because a matter of weeks later” I had to stop to steady my breathing.

I could see Indie staring at me, clearly distraught, Dan had his arms wrapped round her and I could see the tears in his eyes too.

I continue “Sorry, this isn’t easy, a matter of weeks later Cleo was missing……”

Jake stood and walked to the window of the kitchen, running his hands through his brown hair as he walked. He was clearly struggling as much as me with what I was explaining, seeing as he was there with me when we found her.

“we searched everywhere for her, day upon day, with no luck, near a week later, Jake and I were still looking when we came across her body in a tree toward the edge of our borders..” I sniffed trying to stop myself crying “she’d hung herself….. leaving a note in her pocket to say goodbye……”

I dropped my head to my hands as I spoke “saying sorry to us all, saying she couldn’t cope with the shame, the weakness, that she had struggled so hard with the pain and couldn’t carry on like that, that no mate would want her like that…… that the pain was too much to carry, the pain was taking her……”

“oh Knox I’m so sorry!” Indie said “all of you, I’m so sorry! That must have been so difficult!”

I looked up to her “I see that same pain in Lilah’s eyes Indie, Gabe said the same….” I tell her.

Indie’s hand flew to her mouth and she sobbed, deep, souls wrenching sobs, as she was shaking her head “no, not again……”