Chapter 35: The Seed of Truth

Krig was an alpha considered cold and tough, but he was a fair man. He felt that if he had been closer to his son when he became a young man, perhaps he could have helped him from the beginning in this story. It wasn't the council or his own pack that worried him, it was truly his luna's reaction. He had a great reputation and an exemplary history, his word carried a lot of weight and dozens of supporters. Would he have liked his son to have mated with the daughter of a powerful and respected alpha? Yes, it would have been easier to get through the crisis they had a few years ago.

But he never wanted it to be at the cost of his son's unhappiness. He wanted luck to smile on them and two young people of good lineage to fall in love, naturally. But if the goddess didn't want it that way, that was fine with him.

He thought long and hard about how to approach the subject with her and decided to cancel all his commitments and took Loren for a walk in the mountains. It had been a long time since they had done that.

They stopped the car and went to transform to go down to the dunes. The two wolves had fun chasing, hunting together and returned to the car. After they transformed back, they got dressed and sat down to talk.

"It's been a long time since we did this. We need to come here more. I miss being alone like this with you." — Loren confessed.

" I stopped trying, there was always something with Mateo for you to do." — The alpha said jealously.

" He was a scared boy because he was the Alpha's son, now he doesn't need me anymore."

" But, even when he grew up, you didn't come back to me."

"Well, I'm a bit controlling, you know that. But, I felt something, something wasn't right and I was there on standby."

"You were right. There was something wrong and we still have to fix some things, are you ready?"

"What do you mean? What do you know that I don't..."

"Well, I'll tell you if you promise me that after this little mess, you'll come back to me!"

" Come on, I've always been by your side. I'm dying for you to retire so we can go travel the world and have some fun. Just until the grandchildren arrive, of course!" — She laughed.

" Oh, yes! We still have a few years, I think. But of course you'll be the grandmother of the year when the time comes."

"Well, I hope so. If it's not too bad for them. Of course, Mat and Nat will have to let her. She's really good with kids, isn't she?"

" Yes, even though she didn't have a real childhood."

"What do you mean, Krig, tell me straight."

"Well, prepare your heart, Luna."

" It was a long conversation. Loren cried, got nervous, but understood. However, she wanted to get the story straight."

" What do you mean by that?"

" Let's go to Japan. We'll get to know a little bit of all this up close. They don't need to know. You can leave your beta and Mat in charge, we'll take a little trip and when we get back we'll know what to do."

"Loren, don't you trust your son's word?"

"I do, I do, but I want to feel, I want to see with my own eyes everything she went through, not just as a mother, I want to guarantee the safety of our pack and defend our future luna from whatever is necessary. Because I know, Krig, I know how people judge and are merciless with the misfortune of others."

And the alpha couple went back home and announced a little vacation trip. Mat didn't understand, he asked his father about the reason. And he didn't get a satisfactory answer. Only that they needed to think for a while away from there.

...

**Nat**

Clearly, something was wrong with Mateo's family and I was afraid that it was me, or rather, my past. Although Mat denied it, I know he had already talked to his father about everything and was waiting for him to talk to his mother.

I was feeling pressured and scared. Mat was getting busier and busier, and I called John to talk. He suggested we have dinner with Mat's cousins ​​in Denver, who were there watching the championship games. They hadn't stopped playing hockey. And the whole team would be there.

I brought the idea to Mateo and he liked it, after all, we could relax a little. We arranged to meet at a fancy restaurant and there would be some girls there too. So, I wouldn't be the only woman in the group.

It was a fun night. The dinner was wonderful, and I managed to make friends with James, Mat's cousin. Her name was Vitoria and she was very interesting. We went to the bathroom together and I told her I would wait for her outside, since the bathroom was full. Mat and Liam were getting drunk and laughing loudly, it was nice to feel their happiness.

Suddenly, one of the players who was in the group grabbed my arm. And said in my ear:

"I remember you, honey. You used to dance at the club, didn't you? I was lucky enough to be there. I remember your dress, gold, don't you think?"

I froze, fear took over me, I was shaking. I forced myself to breathe, blinked and when I opened my eyes, Mat was on top of the guy, punching him in the face.

"Mat, stop, please, please." — Nat said.

Liam jumped on the table, Robert and Noah appeared next. We left before the security guards kicked us out. James stayed to take care of the guy and pay the bill.

"Mat, are you okay?" — Calm down, his wolf was almost showing.

"I want to kill this guy. Who does he think he is? She's my wife, Liam, my partner..."

"Well, cousin, he doesn't know, does he?" We have humans on our team. We're all high on alcohol. He doesn't smell you, he didn't recognize the brand...

**Mateo**

"Damn! It's true."

"Apologize for me."

" I think I should go. "— Liam said.

" Yes. Tomorrow, everything will calm down."

Nat was silent. We walked to the car.

" I shouldn't have drunk so much with strangers in our group. I'm sorry, love. It won't happen again."

She looked at me with a sad face. I had to go kiss her.

"It's okay now. Let's go home, okay."

" I... I don't know, Mat, what if..." — She stopped talking.

" It's okay. Tomorrow no one will remember this anymore."

" He pulled me into his lap, kissed me and let me cry, hugging him."

"What did he say to you?"

" That he remembered me, from the dance club."

" And what else?"

"He grabbed my arm, that's all. You got here soon."

"Yes, I arrived and gave him what he deserved. Calm down, now?"

" Yes."

"I would love to drive with you on my lap, but I can't here in the city. We're going to get stopped by the police, so be a good girl and sit in your seat. Get some sleep, we'll be there soon and I'll take you to our bed."

**Nat**

I obeyed. I trusted this man. I would give my whole life to him.

…

**Mateo**

The next day, I was in a terrible state. Ruined by alcohol, tension, anxiety, I don't know. Nat was sleeping and I went to make coffee, I wanted to bring her coffee in bed. I know it must have been even harder for him to bear that humiliation and her being touched by him, it was eating me up. My wolf wanted to kill him.

Liam called me. He said everything was fine. The guy was so drunk he didn't even remember what he had done. He apologized for bothering him and saying he had been a jerk.

That's great, I told Liam I hoped I would never see the idiot again. And he understood me. He blew Nat a kiss and I said I would think about whether or not to talk to her about those kisses. I was a jealous husband. Liam laughed. I told him I had talked to my father. And that my father must be telling my mother on this trip.

I hung up when I realized Nat was listening to our conversation, standing in shock in the kitchen.

"Do you think your mother..."

"Don't think about it, honey. She's a good mother, but she's even better as a Luna, she must just be preparing for our conversation."

"How many more people do you think we'll have to talk to about this, Mat? It's so frustrating..."

" I know, honey, don't worry, it'll just be with my parents and the council, maybe you don't even have to go if you don't want to."

" I have nothing to hide, I've never done anything wrong, except survive the way I knew how."

"That's right. Now go back to bed, I was going to take your coffee there. Do you see the tray over there? Don't disappoint me, you surprise pooper." — She smiled.

I'm coming back, I just came to look for you.

...

A month passed and winter brought snow to the mountains. The view was beautiful. Nat and I went there every late afternoon to admire it. It was there that I received a mental call from my father. They were arriving at the pack's house. Tomorrow I was supposed to participate with Nat in a meeting with them.

I told my mate and noticed her nervousness. So, the big day for us had arrived. It was hard to fall asleep, but I told Nat that she and I would stay together no matter where it was. Whether we were alpha or not.

We woke up early, had a simple coffee, since we weren't in the mood to eat, and went to the pack house. We entered the alpha's office and he and Luna were already sitting there waiting for us.

"Good morning, son," my father said.

"Good morning, dad, mom."

"Good morning to you both" — my mother said, with a slight smile.

"Good morning, alpha and Luna," Nat replied.

"The mood wasn't encouraging, it was strange.

"I have good news," my father said.

"Your mother and I talked a lot and we did something that we didn't know about, or rather, we didn't know about it. Just like you didn't know about some things from us. I think we're even and we shouldn't do this in our family anymore. — He smiled.

“We went to Japan,” my mother said.

I could feel Natsuke's nervousness multiplying a thousandfold.

“I retraced every step of yours, Nat, as a caring mother and a responsible luna, we talked to neighbors, we went to your orphanage, I talked to your old teachers, some of your friends, at the University, at your old job at the bookstore, anyway. I confess that we searched your life, to be sure of the decision we were going to make. And I'm very happy to be able to say that there's nothing that discredits you, daughter, we want you in our family and in our pack. And we're going to put an end to your past forever.”

“I think you guys went a little too far! " . I was very angry.

“Mat, calm down, it's okay.”

“No, Nat, they didn't have that right.”

“But I don't mind.” If they discovered the truth and were certain that I am this simple and open-hearted person who is here asking for a chance to have a normal family and be happy.

" Oh, you will have it my dear, I apologize if we exaggerated, but know that we have already spoken to the council and everything is fine. They accepted our request and you are officially part of this pack and our future luna by right, without ever being questioned about it."

My parents came to hug us and Nat cried, but I could feel that now it was out of joy. Now we were going to talk about a new life for real. And I forgave my mother and father, but deep down I knew that they were doing their job as alpha and luna.

Nat and I celebrated in a very special way, running with our wolves all over our pack land and resting next to each other, as it would be now forever.

**The End - Book 1**