Luther’s gaze burned through me as the warrior escorted me past him back to the manor. “You snuck out,” he let out in a harsh tone, anger obvious in his voice but I was too shaken to properly string words together and form a sensible response.
The sight of Vaughn’s body was going to remain with me for a very long time. Who could have done this and how had they snuck into the dungeon without the warriors knowing? Or had one of the warriors been paid to do it?
I glanced at the warrior by my side, who could I trust?
“Do you not understand the danger you are in? Something could have happened to you and I would have foolishly stood guard outside your room with thoughts that you were asleep inside.”
I looked up at him and saw beyond the anger was genuine fear. If anything had really happened to me, Luther would have been blamed seeing as he was meant to protect me. “I’m sorry…” I whispered, my voice shaky. “I wasn't thinking.”
He watched me for a lingering few seconds before he let out a slow exhale. “Please remain in the manor.”
With that, he walked away.
I made my way into the house to find Isla, Grace, and an injured Amelia seated. Amelia and Grace were seated next to each other and Grace was saying something in a soft voice to Amelia whose eyes were red-rimmed, her appearance disheveled. Immediately, I felt pity for her.
It must be horrible to have lost your last living parent in a pack that you barely had any other ally. I wished Amelia would open up for healthier relationships. She likely had one with Grace from the way the two were seated, having grown up together, I wasn't surprised they’d formed such a relationship.
“Amelia, I—”
But Isla’s eyes cut me off. “Come, Sophia,” Isla said and I went to her. “How are you? Genuinely.”
The scene I had just witnessed replayed in my brain and I had no doubt it was permanently ingrained in it.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “A little shaken but I'll be fine.” I glanced at Amelia. “How is she handling all of these?”
I had never experienced death but I could only imagine what was going through her head, I could imagine how lost and empty she felt and it made my heart ache a little more for her.
How hard was it to have suffered so much loss - pain like this could only be healed by time, there were no words of comfort I could offer her that would be enough to soften the blow in the slightest and Isla was right, I was certainly the last person Amelia would want to offer her solace.
Isla swallowed thickly, “She’ll be fine, she is a strong woman.”
And once more, I glanced at her, and this time our eyes met. Hers was devoid of any emotion whatsoever as she watched me and their emptiness chilled me.
One of the warriors stationed outside stepped inside the room grabbing all of our attention.
He bowed.
“Rise,” Isla commanded.
“There are travelers from the Mystic Hollow Pack outside,” he announced.
I shot up from my seat, my heart flailing wildly in my chest at his utterance.
“What?”
“There are—”
Isla cut him off. “Bring them in.”
I stood frozen in place, my breath caught in my throat as I waited for whoever it was from my pack that was going to walk in through the door.
Different guesses swam through my thoughts in passing rivulets giving rise to the next guess and although it must have taken very short minutes, it felt like a long hellish hour until finally, the warrior returned with two beautiful young women walking behind him.
My sisters —
Sephora.
Natalie.
How I recognized them instantly when the last time I’d seen them was fifteen years ago completely surpassed me but I did and I felt tears burn at the back of my eyes.
My hands trembled and I felt goosebumps appear on my arms.
This couldn't be real - something had definitely gone wrong somewhere.
But when Sephora looked at me, her brown eyes shone with something akin to tears, and her soft voice, although a whisper reached me where I stood, I knew for certain that this was real.
“Sophia,” she called.
And all at once, the tall walls that constrained my emotions all these years came crashing down and I flew into my older sister's arms and they were wide open waiting for me. She wrapped her around me and I buried my face in her chest, releasing the tears I didn't know I’d had deep buried in me.
This was surreal, completely out of the lengths my wildest imaginations would have reached.
Two of my sisters were here, in the flesh, here they stood and they were hugging me.
Natalie cupped my cheeks, her black orbs flickering as they searched mine. “Look how you've grown,” she said before her lips stretched into a wide grin that made her even more beautiful than she already was.
Natalie had grown just as I had imagined she would - into the stunning, bold woman that stood before me. Her thick blonde hair had been cut into a bob style that suited her face perfectly, accentuating the sharpness of her jaw.
“You too, your hair…”
She ran a finger through it. “Sephora hates it.” And she turned to snicker at our older sister who rolled her eyes at her before turning to me.
“How are you? How have you been?”
She was so soft-spoken, it amazed me.
“How… How did you get here?” I asked and as soon as I did, fear hit me.
Were they delivering bad news? Was our father dead? Or mother?
Sephora must have realized the panic in my eyes because she settled her palm on my shoulder and gave me another of her striking smile. “Don't worry about anything. We are here because of Alpha Callan.”
“Callan?” I repeated.
“Yes,” Isla affirmed, coming to meet us. “I told Callan about you dreaming about your sisters and I guessed he wanted to do this to surprise you. Is there a better gift than having your sisters with you at your ceremony to ascend as Luna?”
I was too overwhelmed to speak, tears pooling in my eyes. He had done this for me.
Callan had brought my sisters to attend my mating ceremony. If I thought I loved him before, now those emotions surged into one I couldn't define.
I had no words to describe what I felt for him at this moment - I doubted the word for what I felt for him existed.
Natalie glanced around, her sharp eyes seemingly taking in her environment. “Where is Silviu?”
Silviu.
“Yeah, he is here, isn’t he?” Sephora asked.
“I… I haven't seen him.”
And it was then I realized since after the fight last night, I hadn't set my eyes on my uncle. No, that wasn't right, Silviu had left even before the fight had ended.
I turned to Isla with terror in my expression. “Have you seen him?”
I didn't think my uncle was capable of anything as horrendous as my wolf was insisting but he had wanted to stop my mating ceremony as much as he could.
Was it coincidental that he wasn't currently in the pack? Just like Callan.