Fresh Starts

Fresh Starts
RYDER

I was selected to be a part of the Nocturnal Council along with Alpha Wilson and a few other Alphas who'd declared themselves our allies until the impersonators began attacking everyone and sending death threats to everyone who refused to accept their ridiculous terms. 

Aria, of course, is the only Nocturn in the council. Things were arranged this way because Alpha Wilson trusts her not to use her Alpha Command over everyone in the council. We've always fought for what's right, but the same can't be said for other Nocturns. 

Naturally, I would trust anyone from Anne's group with my life, but the other Alphas don't know that. 

Who knows? Maybe a few years down the line, things will change. 

What matters now is that we've come to an agreement and this pointless war has come to an end. I can't help but feel terrible and even guilty about all the lives that were lost. 

I guess, deep down, I'll always feel guilty about what happened. 

But I can't change the past—I can only make sure that something like this never happens again. 

Aria and I leave the council hall hand in hand. I can feel her nervousness through the bond even though we've reached a favorable conclusion to all this and I have no idea why she doesn't feel as relieved as I do. 

I keep my questions for when we're in the car. Finn and Mell are standing right next to it. They were the ones who drove us here, and I'm sure they're awaiting news eagerly. Everyone wants to know what the council agreed upon. 

I wasn't expecting to see Zach standing close by, too. He told me he'd leave earlier in the day. His eyes meet mine and he nods. I nod back. We've already come to an agreement. He explained that he was only acting like he was on Yarina's side to extract more information from her. In the end, he helped out and ended up saving Aria's life. 

Aria believes him, so that's enough for me. 

"Good news," I tell them as we approach. They immediately start celebrating before I even tell them the details. Mell approaches Aria and places her hand over her belly. They exchange a few words I don't catch, but Aria smiles at her and nods. 

It's safe to say that it's time to go home. 

Ironclaw is in shambles and it'll take a lot of effort to fix it up and make it a home again. The war damaged many parts of it, but maybe that was necessary. Some walls need to be torn down so that better ones can replace them. It was a pack hiding terrible, awful secrets with a corrupt leadership that has no place in this new world we're trying to build. 

It takes us months to get everything in order. Moon Rose contributes a lot to the reparations because Alpha Wilson feels guilty about how things went down. Ray's rogue pack that was hiding deep in the woods is slowly being picked off one by one by the other packs. 

They're the only ones who still haven't understood that the world is slowly changing and open hatred toward Nocturns isn't allowed anymore. I won't even mention how they still want to avenge Ray's death even after all this time. 

Aria and I both agreed that Zach would be the best choice for Beta. Even back then, he'd been my first choice. Things only changed because he had the same mentality everyone else had, but that's behind us now.  

I know Zach would do anything to protect this pack and everyone who's a part of it. 

After a long day of overseeing the reconstruction of the packhouse, I go home. I feel so fucking lucky as I walk all the way there. The pack is flourishing and everything has gone back to normal. The university is up and running and most of the students, the surviving ones, that is, have returned to complete their courses. 

I plan on doing the same after we get everything done, that is. Once I have the free time, I'll definitely go back. As for Aria, she hasn't really talked about it. For the past few months, all she's been focusing on is the pregnancy. 

Watching her belly swell with life is otherworldly. I guess we both still have an unspoken fear of fucking up. I don't know what to expect here parenthood is concerned. I know for a fact that I would die for our son even though we haven't met him yet, but the last thing I want is to transform into my father. 

Cold. Distant. 

Focused only on his goals. 

Aria shares the same fear, mostly because she doesn't have the first clue of how to be a mother, since she was raised by her uncle her whole life. I keep telling her that she's wrong in that regard.

Her uncle played the role of both parents her whole life. He raised an incredible woman and it sucks that I didn't pay attention to the kind of man he was when he was alive. 

In my eyes, he was just the balls-busting coach who always hounded us to do better.

Now, I have a completely different opinion, and sometimes, when I hear Aria crying in the middle of the night, I hold her and allow her pain to wash over me. We share it through the bond. I wish he were here, plain and simple. 

We lost a lot of good people. Anne's death will always hit me hard, harder than my own father's death even though I knew her for such a short amount of time. 

All we can do is take the lessons they all taught us and make something with them. 

I open the door and find her close to the window. Aria turns to me with a smile. "I saw you coming up."

I smile back at her and close the distance between us. I pull her close and ask her, "How was your day? I'm sorry I didn't stop by as much as I wanted to."

"I'm fine. I told you that." Her eyes drop to her swollen belly and I do the same. I place my hand right over the bump while pulling her closer with my free hand. "Are you okay? You seemed a little...I don't know. Distracted."

"I'm better now that I'm here," I murmur before pressing my lips against hers. We hold each other for a few minutes, not saying anything. We let our bodies and our souls do the talking for us. 

I love being home. 

There's nothing quite like it. 

"There's a council meeting next week," she claims. "Alpha Wilson called."

"Yeah?"

We had one last week, so I can't begin to imagine what's going on. 

"It seems a few Nocturns are trapped in the Sable Fur pack," she explains. "We'll have to figure out how to save them. That Alpha was never as cooperative as he seemed. It was all over the Howlr today. I thought you'd notice it."

"I didn't," I reply, clicking my tongue against my teeth. 

Dammit. 

"It'll be alright," she murmurs against my skin while caressing my cheek. "We'll get to them on time. Do we have space here for them?"

"Of course. What matters is getting them here safely."

A knock at the door interrupts us. Aria tenses up and I can tell by the look in her eyes that something's wrong. I open the door and Finn peers back at me with wide eyes. 

"What?" I ask urgently. 

"It's Lizzie."

Fuck. What now?