Chapter 28: Can it be?

Amina's POV

Christopher looked around and seemed to hesitate.

“Perhaps it would be best if we were to take this conversation somewhere else.” Christopher asked Benjamin fearing that there were too many ears around them.

Benjamin nodded his head in approval and held my hand as we walked towards the border’s camp. He took a chair and sat me down in the seat next to him. I watched as all the higher ranked wolves followed suit with the exception of Christopher Reese who remained standing in front of his seat.

“I was thinking we could go somewhere more private. Maybe, somewhere a little less out in the open?”

He was right, the camp amounted to a few log chairs surrounding a fire pit and some scattered tiny log cabins that I assumed were used by patrollers as rest areas.

“And have River Creek roaming around my territory? I don’t think so. Anything you have to tell me, you can say in front of my mate and my men, right here. I trust them. I can only hope that you trust yours, Beta.” Benjamin stated, denying his request.

Christopher chuckled at the sly insult thrown at them.

“So much wariness and so little faith, Alpha Benjamin. Why can’t we just turn over a new leaf? Let bygones be bygones?” He said as he gave in and sat down.

“Because your Alpha can’t be trusted.” Ryan growled back at the River Creek men sitting in front of us.

“No, that was his father.” Christopher whipped his head back to Ryan, raising an index finger to him. He was clearly irritated by the lack of respect shown for his pack.

“He’s different. He’s from a new generation.” Christopher turned his eyes back on Benjamin. “Just like us. And he wants you to know that he doesn’t see things the way his family does.”

“Is that the precious information you wanted to reveal? That William wants to be friends with me?” Benjamin laughed as he spoke. Though, I couldn’t tell if he was truly amused or just plain annoyed.

“Alpha William doesn’t need your friendship.” Christopher countered back. “But he would like a peace treaty, and hopefully our aid today will make you consider the offer.”

“What aid? So far you’ve only managed to anger us.” Anderson snarled at the Beta.

Christopher never spared a glance towards Anderson, instead kept his focus on Benjamin. I could tell that he was growing weary of all of this tit for tat.

“Maybe if you and your men allowed me to talk a little, we’d be getting somewhere, Alpha.”

“Very well, Christopher. What aid?” Benjamin nodded.

“Last month, we were attacked by a group of rogue wolves. They weren’t many and they proved to be easy kills. But some of them fled our territory and we chased after them. We lost their tracks in the unoccupied land between us and the Crescent Moon Pack. We were about to turn back when the rogue Alpha showed up. He had orchestrated the assault on us in order to lure us out. He wanted to speak with Alpha William and he had no other way to go about it.”

“What did he want with your Alpha?” Benjamin enquired.

“He introduced himself as Alpha Miller and he wanted to form an alliance. He explained that his father had been wronged by yours and that he was seeking out his revenge. His plans had been set in motion years ago and he was finally ready to strike. He asked us to join hands with him as he thought we shared the same cause. I guess he knew of the bad blood between our two packs and thought he could use it to his advantage.”

“So you refused?” Ryan asked the rival Beta.

“No, we accepted and he left with some of our best warriors.”

I was startled by all the heavy growls that emanated from Benjamin and his men. The air was already filled with tension and now, the atmosphere had shifted into one of pure animosity.

“You mean to tell me that your men are responsible for the most recent attack against us?” Benjamin’s face contorted with anger as he threatened Christopher’s life.

“Absolutely not! This is where you need to keep up with me, Alpha Benjamin. We instructed our warriors to never harm any of your pack members. We only asked them to keep us aware of all of Alpha Miller’s moves. So you see, we’ve managed to infiltrate his operation and keep an eye on things. We were simply trying to gather enough information until we could be of help. But Alpha William sent us here today to reveal the truth because we heard of your pack’s retaliation. Some of our men are with him and we can’t have them harmed.”

“Do you expect us to believe that your men are not killing us?” Anderson scoffed at Christopher.

“Yes, we do. They stay isolated and keep to themselves. They pretend to be at the rogue Alpha’s disposition until truly needed. You’ve seen the rogues today. You’ve fought them! Any of them seemed like trained River Creek warriors to you?” Paxton snapped back at his counterpart.

Benjamin looked over to his men who were all shaking their heads no.

“Okay. Say I believe you, is your pack ready and willing to fight with us?” Benjamin asked.

“That’s why we’re here.” Christopher answered in a very matter-of-fact way.

“I will need to speak with Alpha William.”

“He’s expecting your call. He would be here with us if Luna Shira wasn’t so close to her due date.”

“Very well. You and your men will stay at the pack house until we figure out our next move.” Benjamin stated. He, then, shifted his attention to Ryan. “Let my folks know they’re getting some visitors. And talk to your dad as well.”

Ryan nodded his head and his eyes turned to a greyish colour as he got up and walked towards his car. Many of the men gathered around us began to get up and stroll away as well. The meeting seemed to have come to an end and only I remained seated. Benjamin and Anderson were shaking hands with the River Creek men and talking about their stay in the pack. The tension in the air had lightened up a little but I could tell Benjamin still remained apprehensive. So was I.

I had this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that everything connected back to him, back to my abuser. I hadn’t seen Micheal in years until today. I hadn’t felt fear like this since he disappeared from my life. He was a wicked man. His crimes, against me, were despicable to say the least and it took me years to come to terms with them. I really had tried to forget him but no one could ever forget the person who robbed them of everything.

I thought I saw him here, today, in the woodland of the Blackwoods Pack. He had been gone for years only to resurface in Benjamin’s pack. It didn’t make sense. ‘*How could he have known that I was here?*’ I thought to myself. He couldn’t have unless he was already here. *‘Surely, all of this can't be a coincidence, can it?’* I tried to figure out silently. I knew the man and his sadistic ways very well. There was no doubt in my mind that Micheal was capable of Alpha Miller’s actions. They could very well be the same person.

As I stared at the newcomers, there was only one question burning on my tongue. I had to know if Micheal was this ruthless Alpha Miller. I had to try and make sense of all of this.

“What did he look like?” I asked aloud.

The men next to me all turned to look at me and my eyes stopped on Christopher’s face.

“What did Alpha Miller look like?” I asked again directly to the Beta.

He shot a quick glance in the direction of Benjamin before answering me.

“He’s tall. Dark hair kept short. A little on the pale side. I couldn’t tell you more, Mina, I’m sorry. It’s been a month since I saw him, I don’t remember.”

“Did he have any tattoos?” I asked, not letting go. I needed him to remember.

He took a few seconds before he spoke again.

“Come to think of it, yeah. Down both of his arms.”

“What about the hands? Any tattoos there in particular?” I insisted.

“What is going on, Mina?” Benjamin had jumped in, cutting off the man’s answer.

I shot a quick angry glance at Benjamin. I was upset that he had halted my inquisition. At that moment, there was nothing more important to me than Christopher’s next answer. I saw the surprise and the hurt in Benjamin’s eyes but I dismissed it. I looked back at the River Creek werewolf who had kept his eyes on me.

I had to know. I needed to know. Micheal had inked on his right hand a red freesia whose stem lengthened and coiled all the way to the inside of his index, writing in my name. It was unmissable and unmistakable. If it was there, he had to have seen it. He had to have noticed it.

“Well? Did he?” I said again, almost shouting.