Chapter 26 Weight of legacy.
Zayne's POV
It's been several days since the incident of the rogue issue and instead of getting results, it felt like we were moving further away from the truth. It didn't help that they haven't come again.
“What if it's not what we're thinking?" Tristan said, and I raised my brows at him to explain what he was talking about. “I mean, it feels like we're chasing after the wind…what if we're looking at it wrongly?”
“Wrongly?" I asked, “what are you talking about?" My voice was calm, which was the opposite of how I felt.
I was struggling to keep Kael from coming to the surface before Tristan made his point. And his dramatic pause was driving me to the edge.
While I do agree that all the clues we had led us nowhere, relenting in the search was the last thing on my mind. I already made that mistake once and it wasn't going to repeat itself again.
“I'm just saying what if their plan is to keep us distracted while they carry out their actual plans."
I ran a hand through my hair as his words sank in. I couldn't believe I overlooked that. Xavier was looking at me and it was obvious he had the same thought.
“He has a point, Alpha." He said, “we'll just change our focus for the meantime."
I shook my head, thinking about it now, if someone was actually helping them inside, we need to fish them out before they figured out that we were onto their tricks. So pouring our attention on only the inside was the easiest way of giving it away.
“Have some warriors continue the search, the three of us will deal with those inside." I told them and they nodded. They were the only ones I trusted enough to deal with important matters like this.
My mind drifted to Red for a moment, if the rogues really have people inside, I needed to get them fast seeing how she walks around unprotected. Having someone following her around the Pack would defeat the purpose of keeping her in the dark about the whole thing.
“Maybe it's time she knows," Kael said, “she's bound to find out sooner or later."
"I'll prefer later, she was already worried about meeting my mom in two days, the last thing I wanted to do was add to that.”
At first, I actually thought that it was probably someone from her former pack, seeing how the whole thing started when she came here. But after she told me how she was treated back there, they wouldn't come looking for her and if they even dared, they wouldn't live to tell their stories.
Just thinking about it now made my chest tighten. My hands curled into fists before I could stop them, nails digging into my palms as the images flooded back, everything she’d been through. The thought of anyone daring to hurt her, to make her feel small again, burned through me like wildfire.
“Alpha–” Xavier called, jolting me back to the present, "are you okay?” He asked, and only then did I realise I was bleeding.
"Fuck!” I muttered quietly, pushing myself out of my seat. My wound was going to heal itself, but the uneasiness of having no idea what was going to happen next was driving me insane.
So I did the only thing I knew could make me feel better and that was having Red in my arms, inhaling her scent while making sure she was okay. But I had barely taken a step when the door creaked open, and a frown appeared on my face when I saw who it was.
“Mom?" I called.
The guys wore the same look but nevertheless stood up to greet her. She wasn't supposed to be here…at least, not yet. “What are you doing here?" I asked her, hugging her.
She rolled her eyes after pulling away, “I can't come back to my pack again?"
“That's not what I mean," I replied. “You're not supposed to be here for another two days."
She sat on the couch the same time the guys murmured something about having a clue to follow before excusing themselves…a wise decision.
“I changed my mind, is there a problem?"
I shook my head, taking the couch opposite her. She looked around my office as if she was searching for something before her gaze landed on me again. “You've taken down her picture." She said, and my eyes went to the now empty wall where Nyra's picture used to be.
Taking it down was the first thing I did after Red came along. “I have Red…Alyssa now and I didn't want her to feel like she needed to fill in her shoes or something.”
“And you think an Omega would live up to Nyra's name?” she finished, her tone laced with disbelief.
My jaw clenched. “She’s not supposed to,” I said quietly, though the weight behind my words filled the room. “Alyssa doesn’t have to be Nyra. She doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone.”
She remained expressionless, crossing her hand in front of her. “An Omega…and a rogue, can you go any lower?” she asked and my frown deepened. I should have known she would have found out about that somehow.
“I don’t care what she is, she's mine and that's all that matters.”
Her jaw clenched, “you're not serious, I spent all my life making sure that we remain the best without competition and you're just going to throw it all away?”
“I’m not throwing anything away, mom.” I told her, angry that she'd even say something like that about Red. “She's going to be my Luna.”
My mom laughed…a full blown laughter like I just said the funniest thing. “i don't care if you keep her around, but if you think I'm going to let that happen then maybe you're not ready for this position.”
“The Pack needs a strong she-wolf and we're going to give them exactly that.”
I stood up, “Red is the only one I want and not even you can change that.”
“I don't know what she did to you, but now that I'm here, things will return to how they should be. To how nyra would have wanted it to be and not what you're turning it to be…an omega!”
“Mom…”
"Mate!” Kael called, but I ignored him.
It was no secret to everyone in the Pack that my mom loved Nyra but that didn't mean that Alyssa had to suffer for something she had no hand in.
“You're going to change your mind when you see her.”
She scoffed, “I don't care about her, I've told you what is going to happen.”
I opened my mouth to argue again, but the familiar smell of lavender reached my nostrils. “Red!" I murmured, already moving towards the door.
“We are not done here!” My mom called, but I was already out of the office.
I'll deal with her soon enough.