Chapter 74 - Lost II - The Royal Hybrid

Tatiana’s POV

Within a second, everything became chaos. Killian charged at Chad, making him lose his balance and tip over.

I shifted quickly, feeling the power rush through me from Amara and Rama, who had been tucked away ever since I took that potion.

‘Ready?’ I asked them both.

‘As ready as ever,’ Amara spoke.

‘Let’s show him what happens when you play with fire,’ Rama said, and just in time.

Killian’s right paw hit Chad straight across his face, leaving three bloody lines that soon colored his fur. While Chad was on the ground, Killian took his chance to run for me, but what he hadn’t expected was Chad’s will to stop his own father. He launched out, his claws getting hold of Killian’s left back leg and I heard him roar out before he very quickly turned and with another movement stroked him right across his snout.

I rushed ahead, not wanting to look at it for another second. I was no longer the little defenseless girl longing for Killian’s love and affection, no, I was going to be his worst nightmare. A nightmare he had made from all the evil he had spread throughout time.

I jumped on his side, which was still turned towards me, and bit down on his neck while my claws embedded themselves in his skin. I could feel how they tore through the first layer of skin and only when I could feel the blood starting to drip through, I latched myself to him, making my claws bend in a way that made it impossible for him to shake me off.

He growled as he tried to free himself, not just from me, but from Chad, who once again had gained the upper hand. He bit down on the leg he previously had scratched, and I heard the bone break as he did.

I noticed from the corner of my eye how it caught his Beta’s attention and when it did, Hayden and Gabriel took it as their chance to bring him down. His fierce growling turned into a loud whimper before everything went quiet.

I looked away and focused on the wolf in front of me instead and as I had him pinned down, while his pained cries echoed throughout the field, it caught the attention of those serving under him.

Only seconds after, we were surrounded. I had no idea where they all came from because as far as I knew, every single wolf was already in their own fight, and one of them I recognized as the one I had seen attack my mother earlier.

‘Tatiana, you need to fall back!’ Hayden yelled through the link. ‘We can’t get to you.’

I locked eyes with Chad, whom I really wish I would have been able to mind link with right now, but as he saw the look in my eyes he nodded and spit his father’s leg out of his mouth at the same time as I released myself from his back. We circled around each other, careful not to turn our backs on our enemies. We were indeed stuck and just as I thought we were running out of tricks, Chad shifted back to his human form and took a step forward with his arms in the air, not caring one bit that he was butt naked.

“You all need to stop this madness!” he yelled. “My father is your alpha, but I am the alpha to be! Do you even know what you are fighting for today? Has he ever told you that Tatiana was alive or how he plotted to kill her or that that is her actual name?”

Every wolf in front of us began looking at each other, their bodies relaxing a tad more.

“I am taking that as I no. Tatiana belongs here. This was where my father kidnapped her. Have you ever wondered why you had to pretend that I wasn’t his son? Did either of you ever question that? Did you even question this random act of war?” he asked, and I watched in silence as the confusion settled on their faces. “It is time for a new era and one where I will lead instead of him. All he wants is power and he is willing to make you all fall in the process of getting it. That is no Alpha.”

He turned to look at his father and added, “That is a coward and an abuser.”

I deeply hoped that everyone here would have some sort of common sense and back down. It was not too late to fix the bonds between our packs, but one more fallout could end up being what would forever tear apart our packs and in the end be everyone’s demise.

“Tatiana is not the enemy here! Neither is the royal moon pack,” he explained. “He is.”

He pointed to his father who was still on the ground trying to get up, but his legs wouldn’t support him.

With every word, he spoke more and more of them relaxed until, suddenly, they all stepped back to make room for Hayden and Gabriel, who had tried for the past few minutes to get to me.

“We don’t have to fight one another to have power. The greatest power comes within allies, not by being the only one standing,” Chad finished. “Now, I suggest we all go back home and when we get there we will, if we are welcome here-” he said and looked at me. “-Come back and have a feast to celebrate our new friends and our truce with one another. So go now, while I will stay back here and fix what my father has broken.”

They didn’t hesitate. One by one they all turned around and scattered across the field and one by one they were gone as if they had never even been there in the first place.

Our own warriors stood still, hovering around us as Zaya came out and handed Chad some clothing along with a bag for me. I went behind a tree to shift and get dressed and as I stepped out into the clearing, I was engulfed by a pair of slim arms. My mother’s scent reached my nose along with the warmth of her now-shaking body. I let my arms slip around her as she cried out.

“I don’t know whether to keep hugging you or punish you,” she sniffled as she let go of me and held me by arm's length. “You have no idea…” she trailed off, choking on the rest of her words.

“I am sorry,” I mumbled and felt a tear of my own fall down my cheek. “I am sorry to everyone who had to go through all of that just because of me.”

“You did what you thought was right,” my dad said, his voice filled with both sadness and pride. “If you hadn’t, then I don’t think we would have gotten out of this as easily as we did.”

He walked over to us and wrapped his arms around the two of us.

“We have you to thank for that,” my mother said after a moment of silence and looked at Chad who had just gotten back from changing.

“How did you know that they would listen?” Gabriel asked.

“Honestly I didn’t,” he said as he scratched the back of his head. “It was a gamble, but one I was willing to take. However, I already knew that most of the people in the Crescent pack had been suspicious of Killian. Especially after Tatiana’s disappearance. It was only the people in the inner circle who knew of his true intentions.”

“So his beta, Kathleen, and his Luna?”

“Actually,” he said and turned to me. “Cassandra, well, my mother was the one who helped me find that witch to get the potion in the first place.”

“I-It was?” I stuttered out. “But… Why?”

“She always saw you as her daughter. I know it hasn’t seemed like it, but whenever you got punished, she was punished double as hard. Whatever he had in store for you, she took most of it, and when she learned about his plans to actually kill you, she couldn’t take it anymore.”

“I didn’t know that,” I whispered. “Where is she now?”

“That traitor is where she belongs,” Killian spat out from the ground.

He had shifted and was now covered in nothing more than his own blood and a blanket.

“What did you do to her!” Chad screamed.

Killian’s grin was forced yet somehow more unnerving. More vicious. His laugh echoed out as Chad rushed to him and grabbed him by the throat.

“Kill me now boy, and you will never find her,” he sputtered out while clawing at Chad’s hand.

“Chad!” I exclaimed and ran to him. “Let him go! Don’t let him make you a killer. That is what he wants, to turn you into him! Don’t be like him,” I pleaded. “You have a pack to run, and you can’t do that the way you want to if you have to live with the guilt of killing your own father. We will find her together. I promise.”

“We will all give you a hand,” my mother said and laid her hand on his shoulder. “You brought my family together again, or saved it at least, and for that, I will forever be in your debt.”

He took one last hard look at his father before he threw him away.

“You can take him away now,” he huffed and looked at the warriors. ”I did what anyone would have done and the way you can thank me is to not let my pack suffer from my father’s mistakes.”

My mom squeezed his shoulder, looked at my dad, and bestowed us with one of her loving smiles.

“Consider it done.”

My mother’s smile disappeared and before we had a chance to ask her what was going on, she turned to the hill.

“Dani is home,” she muttered, surprised.

We all turned our heads to look and, sure enough, on top of the hill Dani and Cross came into view, followed by a lot of people, people I hadn’t seen before.

“Are we late for the party?” Dani asked, looking around at the now empty field as they came down the hill. “Damn, I really thought we could have a chance to be the heroes here.”

“My little mate has a dream of being superman,” Cross shrugged and earned himself a slap.

“So, this is where you have been all this time?” my mother asked and looked at them. “Gathering our friends?”

She went over to an older-looking man and gave him a hug.

“Nice to see you again Thomas.”

“I thought we had agreed not to meet under these circumstances,” he chuckled. “Not that there is much of a fight going on here after all.”

“A little bird told me that we might end up needing some backup once the fight began,” Dani smiled. “Hello sis,” she grinned and walked over to me with open arms.

“So, you knew she wasn’t dead?” Hayden asked.

“Of course, I did,” she snorted. “Do you honestly think I wouldn’t come home for my own little sister’s funeral?”

“How should I know,” he shrugged. “It’s not like we knew where you were, so the chance of you knowing about it in the first place was very slim.”

“The princess’s death was the talk all over the land,” Cross said. “And we did believe at first, that is until Chad here tracked us down and brought us to her. It is actually him who told us we needed to get help.”

“And all this time everyone thought you were the bad guy, huh?” Gabriel chuckled, patting him on the shoulder.

“I had a part I needed to play in order to keep my pack safe and I will admit that I sometimes went a bit overboard or maybe fell into my part a bit too much and for that, I am sorry and deeply ashamed.”

He looked at me and held out his hand.

“Do you forgive me?”

I slapped away his hand before I went in for a hug.

“You not only saved your own pack, but you also saved me and my pack as well, so as far as forgiveness goes, you already have it.”

He awkwardly wrapped his arms around me, almost as if he wasn’t used to getting hugged, and it was then I remembered that he had the same upbringing as I did. Maybe not completely the same, but the part without love was just like mine.

“What will happen to him?” he asked after a minute of silence. “We can’t keep him locked up forever and I know you are against killing him.”

“For now, him being locked up will have to do,” I shrugged.

I didn’t know what else to say. I had a few ideas of my own, but not any that I wanted to bring to light. Not yet at least, not without being sure if it could be done.

‘I think it can,’ Rama said. ‘After all, your mother did the very same thing.’

‘But my mother and I are completely different and have different ties to the moon goddess.’

‘Different yes, but ties nonetheless,’ Amara added.

I let the thought simmer for a while and as I did, a new one was brought to mind.

“You said Cassandra had been helping me, right? That she had been the one to guide you to that witch.” I questioned and he nodded. “It’s just… It made me wonder how she knew about her, but after what you told me, I’m guessing she knew of her because she was planning to leave him. What if Killian never hurt her? What if she escaped?”

“I find it hard to believe that she would just leave me behind,” he muttered.

“Maybe she didn’t leave at all?”

“What do you mean?”

“How long is it since you have been home?”

“You think she is there?”

“I think that you are right. She wouldn’t leave you behind, but if she had no choice but to leave, I am positive that she would find some sort of way to keep an eye out for you. Maybe she knows that Killian has been defeated?”

“That could be,” he sighed. “I guess I will go back and find out.”

“If you don’t find her, then send your scouts. We will figure something out and send a search team and, in the meantime, we will find out what to do with him as well,” my dad said and went to shake his hand. “And when all of this is finally over, we will have that feast.”

“I’ll look forward to that Alpha Shane,” he said and offered a smile. “Take care now and I expect to see you again soon.”

“I will look forward to that,” I chuckled.

He gave a small wave before he turned around, took a few steps, and shifted, and not long after he was, like the others, gone.

“I think he will become a good Alpha,” my dad said and wrapped his arm around my shoulder.

“So do I,” I smiled and took my mother’s hand as I looked around me.

My family, my mates… they were all here and, once again, I was finally where I belonged all along.

The Royal Moon pack, my home.