“Is risse the alpha of the pack?” Arabe asked Thalia.
She set aside her almost empty cup of coffee before ncing at Thalia. While she could guess that risse held a leadership role in the pack, she couldn’t tell if she was the overall head.
“She’s the female alpha,” Thalia replied.
“That’s amazing,” Arabe mumbled, wondering how a middle-aged woman could gather everyone together to lead them. She had seen many males in the pack, but Arabe knew that being an alpha had little to do with mere strength.
Besides, there was something about her she couldn’t quite ce her fingers on. It felt as though she was a different werewolf. The aura that radiated off her was different from that of the others. Even far different from what she could feel around Thalia.
Or maybe she was the one thinking too much.
Letting her mind wander back to ze, Arabe stared at her phone briefly, sighing when she saw no message as she had hoped. She then nced up as risse returned, holding a baby close to her hip, patting his back as he cried.
Approaching them, risse muttered, “I’m sorry for this. The mother died recently, and ever since, we’ve been unable tofort him.”
“It’s fine,” Arabe murmured. She didn’t have any experience taking care of kids, so she didn’t know how to pacify them.
“Would you like to hold him?” risse asked. Arabe started shaking, but Thalia intervened.
“I’ll hold him,” she said, taking the baby from risse. Thalia stared at him while rubbing his back, and the baby looked at her with uncertainty.
“Well, who do we have here?” She cooed. The baby sniffled, then burst into a fresh sob, even louder than the first.
“Okay, I’m the monster here,” Thalia winced, shoving him back towards risse.
“I’ll take him,” said Arabe, taking the wailing baby from risse. Cautiously, she patted his back, shing him a small smile that was immediately reciprocated.
“He s-smiled at me,” Arabe stuttered, her eyes wide.
“He sure did,” Thalia scowled. “Both of you must be rted.”
Arabe’s heart warmed as the baby wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, resting his head on her chest. She had never felt this nice feeling before. Perhaps she had with ze, but this was even more profound. It felt as though she could rte to the pain the child was feeling as if they were kindred spirits.
“You’re a kindred spirit,” risse said, settling into the couch. “It’s good to see that your presence makes him feel a lot better.”
“What do you mean by ‘we are kindred spirits’? I’m certain I’m only seeing him for the first time,” Arabe said, taking a seat.
She had expected the baby to protest when she wanted to sit, but instead, he remained silent. Arabe gazed down at him and saw that he was already fast asleep.
“Aside from the fact that your ancestors are rted, your presence to him is calming. He needed that calm,” risse exined.
“His parents are Phoenix?” I asked her.
“His father is a Phoenix, and his mother is a werewolf,” risse rified.
“Where is his father?” Arabe asked, remembering that risse hadn’t mentioned him before.
“I’m sorry if I’m asking too many questions. I’m just curious,” she added.
“It’s fine,” risse assured her, closing her eyes briefly and then reopening them. “Thest attack took his father. So, we don’t know if he’s alive or not.”
“I’m sorry,” Arabe murmured.
“Don’t be,” risse said. “He’s not dead yet. At least, as far as we know.”
“Can we get back to what we were discussing?” Thalia interjected.
“Yeah, just a minute,” risse said, then extended her hand toward Arabe. “I’ll take him to his cot.”
“Oh, right,” Arabe murmured, handing him over. risse left the room only to return a whileter. But she wasn’t alone.
Arabe jumped to her feet, her eyes wide with fear as she stared at the person before her.
“Sandro,” she snarled, her eyes narrowed on risse.
“What did you do?” Arabe red at the woman, who didn’t appear the least bit disturbed by what was going on.
“How could you?!” Thalia hissed. She had trusted her. She had believed they were going to be safe in the pack house. Now, she should have known better that she was going to betray them.
“You were trying to stall us so you could reach out to him, weren’t you? Now I’m wondering if everything you said was the truth,” Thalia used.
“It needed to be done,” risse said calmly. “I’m sorry, Arabe, Thalia. But this needs to be done.”
“Damn, whatever ‘needs to be done,’ risse,” Arabe yelled. Her eyes darted to Sandro, who was watching her. She held out her hand, shaking her head as he started walking towards her. “Do note closer.”
“Why not, Cara? Didn’t you miss me?” Sandro smirked as he continued towards her.
“I’ll never have such feelings towards you. I hate you with every fiber of my being, Sandro, and right now, I wish you could drop dead,” Arabe said.
“And you’ll be carrying a bastard,” he said.
“I never said I was carrying your baby!” she retorted.
“Can both of you please keep calm?” Thalia threw in. She had been watching the back-and-forth argument between them. What she wanted to know was why risse had done what she did.
“You don’t tell me what to do,” Sandro’s eyes narrowed at Thalia.
“I can and I will. I am not at the Vi where you can control my every move,” Thalia said.
“I still have control over you,” Sandro smirked at her.
“He promised to help with Jude’s father. The baby’s father. And aside from that, he needed to reunite with Arabe because they are both suffering from the sins of their fathers, and only when they make peace with each other can they be liberated,” risse exined.
“You never said anything about my father’s sins,” Sandro said, feeling as though he had been lied to.
“I couldn’t mention it over the phone. I needed you toe here for it,” risse said.
“Wow, you’re so maniptive,” Thalia snorted as soon as risse was done speaking. “I can’t believe you would trade another soul just for your own benefit!”
“Stay out of it, Thalia. This is between Arabe and Sandro and how the bnce of the world needs to be restored with their help,” risse said.
Thalia, offended, started towards risse, her hands balled by her sides, but Arabe gripped her hand, halting her movement.
“Whatever sick thought you have in mind, risse, I don’t think I want to hear it. You’ve said enough, and I am with ze. I can never be with Sandro, no matter what you say.”
“It’s your disobedience that is punishing him. If you had let him go, he would not be suffering,” risse imed.
“I’ve heard enough of that in my lifetime,” Arabe said, rolling her eyes.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org.
“ze is a different kind of werewolf, and as much as your presence is calming to people around, it is very much chaotic to ze and could eventually lead to his downfall,” risse exined.
“And who are you to say that? What do you know about my brother?” Thalia asked risse.
“Because I am risse the fifth. The only surviving she-wolf of her n. I am the alpha, and I am not just an alpha alone; I am the seer. Fate brought you here. You never came by yourself.”
Nothing was making sense.-all the things risse had said. What Arabe could understand was the fact that she was the alpha, but all the additional ims left her doubtful.
However, Arabe could sense some truth in risse’s words. She had perceived that risse had a unique gift and was different from the other werewolves, which was why she had asked Thalia.
But even with this, it didn’t exin the fact that risse had betrayed them.
“You can choose to sit, you can choose to stand, but I’m going on with the story,” risse dered, her tone suddenly mysterious.
Arabe took a seat, and Thalia followed suit. Only Sandro remained on his feet, his eyes fixed on Arabe, never wavering.
He couldn’t help but think she had be even more beautiful than thest time he saw her. There was an ethereal glow to her skin that made her look as though she wasn’t entirely of this world.
“The werewolves and the Phoenix have always been…”
Sandro’s attention snapped to risse as she began. Even though he was only in the pack for Arabe, he needed to know what was going on.