**Aife


    pov**


    The more time passed, the more I feared what could be her answer.


    K was a beautiful and smart woman. I knew she was kind and caring too, even though she would probably deny that or try to downy the fact. I didn''t want to give her the chance to do so, but I also feareding at her too hard. This was her decision - something that would impact her entire life and all I could do was to listen and ept the decision she had made.


    "I don''t want to be a part of this pack or Beta anything," she suddenly blurted out, pulling her hand away and jumping to her feet.


    My gaze didn''t leave her as K started backing away and shook her head as if I had tried to attack her.


    While I hadn''t seen many panic attacks happening to others, I knew one when I saw it and K was experiencing just that.


    Before she could have a chance to run away, I approached her and grabbed her face in my hands. Once our eyes met, I whispered, "breathe, K, don''t forget to breathe. You''re having a panic attack, you need to focus on my voice, not run away."


    I tried my best to sound convincing even though deep inside, I was starting to panic too. No one had told me how to calm someone who was struggling before, so I wasn''t sure if I was doing the right thing.


    K started sucking in deep breaths and exhaling very slowly after every one she took. We stood facing each other for a couple of minutes until I realized her hands weren''t shaking anymore and her body had rxed a little.


    I pulled my hands away from her face and grabbed her hand again, leading her back to the bench to sit down and try to talk again.


    "I came too strong, I see that now. It was my fault and I apologize for being so inconsiderate," I started with the easiest part.


    K just shook her head and muttered, "no need to apologize, I was overreacting again, not your fault."


    Everything within me screamed I should p some sense in her. It was so painful to watch K me herself for everything that was happening in her life - it was some twisted insanity.


    Maybe we didn''t know each other too good, but Zion clearly cared for her a lot so I instantly did too. Whoever he loved, I loved them too. And Zion loved K so she automatically became one of my favorite people.


    "I wasn''t implying that you are under the obligation to join or be someone, okay? I need you to know that it wasn''t my intention to force anything onto you. What I was trying to do was to tell you that the pack and people would open you with their arms open, like a real family would." I exined.


    "Yeah, it looks like I really did overreact here, right?" K chuckled.


    Words didn''t seem to work on her and it was far too soon to start proving her something with actions. K wasn''t ready for the crazy that coulde into her life with epting Zion just yet.


    "He''s a good guy, you know. I''m not saying that only because he''s my friend or the Beta of this pack. I''m being as truthful as I can with you now. Zion is truly an amazing and caring man. I know it might be hard to believe this, but he would do anything for you if only you would allow him to."


    K started nodding in agreement even before I could finish up with everything I wanted to tell her.


    Funny how she already knew how great of a catch Zion was, how amazing it would be for anyone to have him as their mate, yet she kept stalling.


    What was it exactly that held her back? Whatever it was, it had to be something huge for her to have a reaction as sharp as she had right now. "K?" I whispered her name to grab her attention.


    "Yes?" She tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.


    "May I ask you a deeply personal question? One that might be triggering, I understand the risks, but I really need an answer."


    I held my breath and waited. From my perspective, it looked like K was battling a million thoughts every second, unable to grasp even one or take any decision.


    However, to my utter surprise, she shed me a smile and nodded. "I already told you too much anyway so what''s the harm in telling youpletely everything, right?"


    The words she chose sounded bitter, in a way, but her voice was soft andforting, so I wasn''t sure how to feel about her response.


    "Only if you arefortable with it, okay?" I tried my best toe across as supportive and understanding, knowing damn well I wouldn''t be able to sleep if she decided not to answer my questions at thest moment. "I''mfortable with you around." K muttered and averted her gaze, focusing on something far in the distance.


    Letting out a heavy breath, I gave her a moment to think. It would be too selfish of me to demand anything from her and misuse the power I had in this pack. She thought she was talking to Luna of the pack, not the Alpha''s girlfriend, so that had to force some pressure onto her.


    "Why do you hate us so much?" I finally spat out the question, unable to keep quiet for any longer.


    Her head shot in my direction, eyes wide. "What? I-I didn''t say I hate you." She stammered, clearly taken aback.


    "No, you didn''t," I shook my head for emphasis. "But you did mention your hatred for the entire species plenty of times too, so I was wondering if you would like to share the answer or reason for that hate at all."


    Trying to make myself sound like this was yet another casual conversation with literally anyone proved to be harder than expected. I wasn''t sure if I sounded like I didn''t care or if in K''s eyes, I was some dying seel, barely choking out the words because of the amount of stress I was under.


    "Can I keep it a secret?" K finally muttered. "Admitting something like that might be a little embarrassing for me," she added.


    "Why embarrassing? Also, I don''t want to force you to answer my questions, but I really would love to get an answer from you. I know I won''t be able to sleep for a long time. I''m too curious for my own good."


    K sucked in a deep breath and held it. The action was enough for me to realize that she wasn''t nning on answering me.


    That is, until after a couple of minutes of silenceter, I stood up and spun on my heel, ready to leave her behind, but K had different ns.


    "I might despise my mother, she might have hated me throughout my entire life, but she still didn''t deserve to die. First, it was my dad and then her. The wolves took their lives. They took the only family I had, as dysfunctional as it was, it still was my family. And now, I''m thest remaining living person in our bloodline. Maybe you can decide for me... What should I do? Will I really give up the entire bloodline and mix it with someone, whose species are responsible for the demise of mine?"