Chapter 131

Chapter 131
Dante’s POV

The study room was quiet. The fireplace had burned low, and only the sound of wood cracking filled the silence. My brothers sat with me, and for once, none of us spoke for a while. It was strange to see all of us quiet because normally we always had something to argue about, but this time we didn’t. We were all thinking about the same thing. We actually gathered to make a discussion about the pack and also her but we haven't said anything yet. 

I looked at their faces. Adonis was leaning back in the chair, staring at the ceiling like he was tired of his own thoughts. Knox was running his hand over his jaw slowly, like he was deep in regret. And I sat there, wondering when things got this bad, when the girl who used to smile so freely was now a stranger to us.

“We can’t keep going like this,” I finally said. My voice broke the silence. They all turned their eyes to me.

“What do you mean?” Knox asked quietly.

I sighed and rubbed my face. “I mean Autumn. Look at her. She doesn’t trust us. She doesn't want to talk to us and she only wants to rely on George. I've tried everything to be shameless and get her attention but it hardly works. And we did that to her. All of us.”

The words stung me as I said them. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had to. We had destroyed something in her, and no matter how much we tried to act like it wasn’t that serious, it was.

Adonis leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So what do you want us to do? She won’t listen. Every time we try, she looks at us like we’re liars.”

“She has every right to look at us like that,” I cut him off. “Because we lied before. We let her down before. Words won’t fix it anymore. We need to do something else. Something exciting.”

Knox frowned. “Exciting? Like what?”

I thought about it for a while before answering. “Give up our Alpha pride. That’s what. If she thinks we’re hiding behind our titles, then we stop acting like Alphas for her sake. We show her that her happiness matters more than our pride.”

They both looked at me like I had said something impossible. Alphas were not supposed to let go of their pride. It was our life, our identity. But right now, none of that mattered to me. If letting go of pride was what it took to bring Autumn back, then I would throw it all away.

Adonis shook his head at first, but then I saw his eyes soften. He knew I was right. Knox was the same. He leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes, breathing out like he was tired of fighting against what was already true.

“So what exactly do you suggest we do?” Knox finally asked.

I leaned forward. “We should help her find her family. That’s the one thing we haven't done since we've known her. These days I could see in her eyes that she's hoping to find her own family, or maybe at least that's what she might want. She thinks we only care about keeping her here because of our guilt, but if we prove to her that her happiness matters more than us, maybe she’ll believe us this time. Maybe she’ll see we love her.”

“Actually, she already tasked me with this to help her and you're mentioning it now.” Adonis replied. 

“What?” Knox and I exclaimed in shock. 

“She already told you to help her find her family and you didn't tell us anything about it?” Knox questioned him. 

“It doesn't matter if he told us or not, it only matters now that we all know and we can use our resources to help her. If she's happy with her family, maybe she'll consider the fact that we help her find her family and forgive us.” 

Adonis nodded slowly. “Then we’ll start investigating. We’ll use our people, our sources. Whatever it takes to reunite her with her family.”

Knox finally opened his eyes. “If this fails, then what? She has been adopted all her life and we don't even know where she came from exactly. Even with our resources it's not easy to find her family just like that.”

“Then at least we’ll know we tried everything,” I said firmly. “But I don’t plan to fail. How do we know her family has not been looking for her for years if we don't try? If she has a family out there, they'll probably want to find her. Most families don't give up on their loved ones if they get lost.”

The next day, we started. We sent word to some trusted trackers, people who owed us favors, people who wouldn’t betray secrets. We also started searching ourselves. Adonis checked through old records of our brother who brought her back home. Knox looked through the archives. And I… I decided I would watch Autumn more closely because I wanted to understand her better.

At night, as I was walking through the hallways to get something from the study, I saw her. She was walking slowly, barefoot, with her arms wrapped around herself. Her hair was loose, falling down her back. She looked tired. Her eyes were heavy like she hadn’t slept for days.

I followed her quietly. She didn’t notice me at first because I masked my scent. She went into the kitchen and opened the cabinet like she only wanted a snack. She pulled out a jar of cookies and poured some milk into a cup. She sat down and ate in silence.

I stepped inside slowly. “You’re awake.”

She turned and looked at me, but her face was calm. She didn’t snap at me or ask why I was following her. She just looked tired. “I couldn’t sleep,” she said softly.

“Did you wake up because you were hungry?” 

“I can't sleep. So I just wanted to eat something before sleeping.” She replied to me in the same soft tone. 

Something in her voice made my heart race. She sounded drained, like sleep had become a battle she couldn’t win. I moved closer and opened the fridge. 

“Cookies won’t fill you up. Let me make you something warm.”

She didn’t argue. That surprised me. Normally Autumn would say she didn’t need my help, but this time she just sat there, watching me quietly. Maybe she was too tired to fight me.

I made her a small dish, something light but warm enough to relax her. When I placed it in front of her, she picked at it slowly. For the first time in a long time, there was no anger between us. There was just a lot of silence but it was so much better than seeing her angry. 

“You should try to sleep after this,” I said quietly.

She gave a small shrug. “It’s not that easy. But thank you for making this.”

I looked at her. Her eyes had shadows under them. She wasn’t lying. She really hadn’t been sleeping. What could have happened to her that made her unable to sleep? Could she be having nightmares? Then again, she went through all that only to end up dying. It would be a surprise if she doesn't have any trauma from it. I thought for a moment, then stood up.

“Come with me. I want to show you something.”

She gave me a tired look, but she followed. We walked down the hallway until we reached the large door that led to the showroom. I opened it and guided her inside.

The room was dark at first. I pressed the switch and the projector came alive. The ceiling lit up with stars. Thousands of tiny lights filled the room like the night sky, brighter and clearer than what we could ever see outside.

She stopped. Her lips parted just a little, and I saw her eyes widen. For the first time in so long, she looked amazed.

“They’re beautiful,” she whispered. “I never knew there was a room like this in this place.”

I nodded, but I wasn’t looking at the stars. I was looking at her. The way her face softened, the way her eyes lit up, the corners of her lips pulled into the smallest smile. That smile… It hit me hard. I had almost forgotten what it felt like to see her smile.

We sat down on the floor, side by side, watching the stars above us. She leaned back against the wall and let out a slow breath. 

“I used to love watching the stars when I was younger. Back then, they were my only escape. I grew to love it but at one time I never had any opportunity to look at the stars anymore. I actually became one of them.”

She spoke like she was talking to herself. I just listened. But I understood what she was talking about. Dying once made her one of the stars. She was dead for a while and we were the ones who even got reborn before her. How excited must she have been when she found out she was back?

“I wonder sometimes,” she continued, “if my parents ever looked at the same stars and thought about me. It would have been great if I found my family on time.”

Her words cut through me. That’s when I knew that this wasn't the only reason she couldn’t sleep. The nightmares weren’t only from what we did. They were also from the emptiness of not knowing where she came from, of not knowing if anyone ever wanted her in the first place.

I clenched my hands. It was our fault. If we hadn’t broken her heart, maybe she would have leaned on us instead of carrying this pain alone.

“I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. I'll do everything I can to help you overcome this.” I said, but it was deep in my heart. 

After a while, her eyes grew heavy. Her head tilted slightly to the side until it rested against my shoulder. I froze for a second, but then I let her stay there. I listened to her breathing slow down. She had finally fallen asleep.

I looked at her face in the beautiful glow of the stars. She looked peaceful for once. And I knew then that I wanted to see her like this every night.

I slid my arms under her and carried her carefully. She was light, too light, like she hasn’t been eating enough. I carried her back to her room and laid her down gently on her bed.

I stood there for a long time, watching her sleep. My heart raced faster as I whispered to myself, “I’ll deal with this problem you have. I’ll cure your insomnia. I’ll take away your nightmares. I’ll make sure you never have to go through the same thing again. At worst, we could die to pay for our sins.”

I turned to leave, but before I reached the door, she shifted in her sleep and whispered something faintly. My heart stopped. She whispered my name. She's dreaming of me? My lips twitched in a wide smile.