Chapter 48

DAKOTA’S POV

The days flew past and found me on a plane to Russia with Akela sitting next to me with my hand in his. He had made it very clear that it was either we both went to Russia, or no one was going. I knew I was going to need all the support I could get so, here we were. I kept thinking of why Orion wanted me to come to Russia so badly. I mean, my mother was dead, right?

I placed my hand on my chest and rubbed it in circular motions. For some reason, I didn’t believe that she was dead. That was a scary thought for me, and one I didn’t want to dwell on. Imagine holding on to something simply because I was in denial.

But something somewhere inside of me was telling me that my mother wasn’t dead. My wolf seemed to agree with me because she wasn’t grieving. We wolves would mourn and grieve for a long time if we lost someone we loved or had ties to. I sighed again. Half of me was hoping that Odin was merely trying to get under my nerves, and when I get to Russia, I would see my mother. Hale and hearty. The other half of me knew Odin and knew that there was a large possibility that he wasn’t lying.

I wondered how Odin knew where my mother stayed and what had killed her. And if she was dead, how come Odin knew before Orion? And how come he was the one coming to deliver the message to me instead of sending a messenger? What if he was the one who killed my mother, and he was just trying to gloat by coming to the house? The game was getting out of hand.

I wondered if I should tell Akela of my suspicions. As though he could hear me think about him, he squeezed my hand. I looked at him and smiled.

“Hey. What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing…”

“We both know that was a lie.”

I sighed.

“I…I was thinking of my mother…and so many other things about this situation. All of it just seems…”

“Off? Too much?”

I nodded.

“It’s going to be okay. I’m here for you.”

I smiled at him and went back to staring out the window, at the clear skies.

When we finally touched down, Alpha Orion wasn’t the one waiting for us this time. It was Katie. She spread her arms and took turns hugging us.

“It’s so good to see you again!”

“Same here.”

“I just really hate the circumstances for your visit.”

“Trust me, Katie. Us too.”

“Get in.”

We got into the vehicle, and I couldn’t even bring myself to enjoy the trip like the last time. And the closer we got to Katie’s house, the more the feeling of dread settled in my gut. I sighed as Katie pulled up in front of the house.

“Come on, guys. Let’s get you settled.” Akela tugged our bags behind us as Katie led the way to the same room that we had stayed in the last time that we were there.

“You guys should rest and freshen up. It must have been a very long trip for you guys. Dinner is at 7:00 PM, and then we get to business in the morning.”

I wanted to argue that we could get to that business right now, but I could feel the fatigue in my body and knew that it was only a matter of time before I fall asleep. I smiled at her and nodded, heading straight for the bathroom as she closed the door behind her. The rest of the day went by in a flash, and by the time we both got back to our room, we were out like a light the second our heads hit the pillows.

The next morning, we were woken up by a knock on our door. Akela answered the door, and I heard Katie’s voice. I still lay on the bed, pretending to be asleep, up until Akela came to lay beside me.

“What did she say?”

“That we needed to get up and be ready to meet Alpha Orion.”

“Can’t it wait?”

“No. It seems that he is taking us somewhere.”

“Did she tell you where?”

Akela shook his head. I sighed and got up, went through my morning routine, preparing for the day. I got dressed in a cute sundress that came down to my knees and had straps at the back, with a V-neck. I wrapped my hair up in a bun and applied some clear lip gloss. I looked at my reflection in the mirror and sighed.

The business I was going for might be messy, but that didn’t mean my outfit should be. The sundress and the weather were in direct contrast to my mood. But at least they were reminders that I was still alive, and it was yet another day to be a fighter.

I sat on the bed and put on a pair of flat strappy sandals while waiting for Akela to get ready. He came back into the room some minutes later, all dressed up in a blue tee-shirt and black jeans.

“You look so beautiful.”

I blushed to my toes.

“Um…thanks. You look pretty decent yourself.”

“I like to clean up nice every once in a while.”

I laughed. He walked over to me and held his hand out to me. I took it and stood up.

“Are you ready?” I took a deep breath and nodded. He continued holding my hand and walked us out of our room. Waiting in the sitting room were Alpha Orion and Katie. Katie smiled when she saw us.

“Hey. Are you guys ready?”

I nodded and smiled.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, dearest. I’m hoping you slept well?”

“Oh, I did. Thank you very much.”

“I see you guys are dressed.” Alpha Orion stood up and picked up his cap from the coffee table. “I say we should get going.”

“Sure.” He kissed Katie goodbye, and we left the house and began the walk to wherever it was that we were headed.

People stopped and looked at us weirdly as we passed, but I ignored it. We stopped in front of a building that was a few stories tall.

“This is the pack house.” Akela and I looked at each other and back at the building.

“It’s…it’s nice…”

Orion nodded.

“We put a lot into the building.” I could hear the pride in his voice.

“Um…so, what are we doing here?” He looked back at us and didn’t reply. Instead, he walked into the building and waved at us to follow him. Deep down, I wondered if we would see my mother’s body. If that was what we were going to do, he should just say that.

My heart began to pound in my chest as we walked down hallways, taking left and right turns. And then we stopped at a door that read ‘Infirmary.’ I looked at Akela, and he squeezed my hand. I took deep breaths.

“What’s in here?”

“Your mother.”