Chapter 188

“Susan!” She walked up to me and grabbed my arm. I smiled and tried to hold back the tears when I saw him. For some reason her gaze was so warm that I couldn't handle it.

"Hello." I hugged him and soon saw Lori and Maika appearing at the end of the corridor next.

“My God, you should be lying down. It's too weak. He woke up earlier than I expected.” She approached.

"What happened?" When will Connor wake up?” I looked at Peter and he helped me walk to the living room. And when I arrived, my eyes immediately stopped on the figure in the corner.

The wolf looked at me and smiled slightly. Kendall Turner was also in the room. Along with Kai, Dominic, Alaric, Collin with his son on his lap and Bernard. The last one was sitting next to his Alpha.

“Kendall...” I said.

“Hello, Sophie.” I didn’t have time to open my eyes, as the information wasn’t processed very well.” How are you feeling?" The best choice was to respond and ignore the fact that he knew my real name. I looked at the others and they smiled at me. Eyes running over my body looking for injuries or worse. I felt grateful.

“I have a hole in my stomach. And almost dying from a headache.

“I brought some dumplings.” Lori took my hand as Peter led me to the nearest armchair.

“This would be perfect alongside a cup of latte.” I could smell it.

The light outside said it was morning. A whole day had passed by then.

“I’ll get it for you.” Lori went into the kitchen and I looked at the baby in Collin's arms. He was asleep and his rosy cheeks were prominent.

“Connor appears to have been seriously injured. What happened?" I asked worriedly and looked at Kai. The second in command was standing near the balcony door.

“We went to Christopher's territory and fought. They had hunters there.” I swallowed hard and felt my stomach drop. I thought they wouldn’t obey Chris after he killed their boss.” They shot him in the stomach when he was going to attack Christopher.” My heart almost stopped.

“Was anyone else hurt?” The room fell silent.

“Not seriously.” I looked at Peter who spoke next to me. He was looking at Maika now.” Cain died saving you.

"What?" I frowned.

“He obeyed Connor’s orders to knock the gun out of Christopher’s hand before all the chaos began.” That was...

I looked at Maika and saw nothing on her face. She was a little tired and had dark circles under her eyes, but she was there. She didn't appear to have cried.

"I'm very sorry." I told her and her blue eyes landed on mine.

“It was the least he could do for you. He paid the price for everything he chose.” She glanced at Peter and then at the floor. A silence fell in the room again and I took my eyes to the snow outside. The fireplace was lit and the warmth in there was very welcome to me. I could still remember the chill in my bones.

Lori returned and handed me a plate full of muffins along with a hot cup of latte.

“Thank you…” I smiled and took a sip. The steaming, sweet liquid could have been heaven if I hadn't swallowed the dumpling right away. It was perfection. I went back to look at everyone in the room.” Chris is dead so...” My eyes were drawn back to Kendall who didn't take her eyes off mine. He nodded.” I wish I had killed that bastard myself...” I felt my blood boil as I remembered him blowing up George's head in front of me and threatening me with that gun right after.

“You were completely wiped out. What have they done to you all this time?” Peter brushed my hair off my shoulder.

“They locked me in a cell when they kidnapped me.” I squeezed the cup and brought it to my mouth.” Then they were going to take me to another place and I attacked one of them when I recovered enough from the dizziness. We fought a bit, I managed to kill one of them I think.” I furrowed my eyebrows trying to remember.” It was quick when they decided to dope me again.” Peter growled and carefully placed his hand on my eyelid. I was finding it strange to be so careful. And he seemed to notice when he moved his hand away again.” When will Connor wake up?” I looked at Lori and ate more cupcakes.

"I don't know. Maybe later in the day or tomorrow. He lost a lot of blood and perhaps his body asks for more rest.” I nodded hopefully. He was no longer in danger at least.” He fought like no one else to get you back.” I looked at her and smiled. The last time I saw her, she was on the couch with Jasper in her arms. It was a relief to know it was spotless again. And happy.

“Connor was crazy. He didn't even seem to feel anything. He made Christopher chew out his own eye after almost ripping his guts out with his teeth.” Dominic grunted, staring at the carpet and the chill that took over my body was instantaneous. Nobody spoke after that. As if they were seeing the scene again in their heads. And even the dumplings in my belly had become strangely heavy.

“Susan... You need to know something.” I looked at Peter when I noticed something in his voice. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

“Speak quickly. Did anyone else die?” He looked at me with a frown.

"No. It’s about us.” He shifted his weight on his leg and looked anxious.

"Us?" I left the empty cup on the table.” What’s wrong?” Are you leaving?” My eyes widened.” Look, if you are…” I pointed my finger at him.

“No, heavens… let me finish talking.” I waited and saw the effort he made to swallow his saliva.” We learned what Christopher did to his mother.

“Is this about it?” It’s the past, it doesn’t matter.” I didn't want to talk about it now.

“For God’s sake, let me finish.” I looked into his light brown eyes. He blinked visibly irritated, took a deep breath, and I felt the tug of worry.” She was also my mother, Susan.” I looked at him and his mouth closed before opening again.” We are brothers." I found the air in the room abruptly gone when I tried to breathe and couldn't. My hands shook and the plate fell from my lap.

I slowly looked at Kendall and felt my heart racing. Was the wolf sitting across the room my father?” Was that why he knew my real name?” Did everyone here already know this before I woke up?”

“I knew it when I smelled it.” The Alpha responded as if reading my thoughts.” It was the same as Susana’s.” Susana... Was that her name?”

I needed so many answers...

“Did she run away from you?” Why?" It was the first question that came out of my mouth. His lips thinned. His eyes darted to the others in the room and it looked like he didn't want to talk about it here. We could go to Connor's office to talk more.

I stood up and Peter hurried to support my elbow.

“Let’s talk in the office.” I tried to smile and wondered if the others would wait at home until Connor woke up. I turned and walked down the hall to the office. I turned the doorknob and noticed the two wolves following me as I entered.” Then?" I sat down near the table and watched Kendall look around before sitting down on the small couch. Peter remained standing near the door with a rigid posture. And it seemed like he avoided looking at his father.

For our father. Holy crap...

“I wasn't yet Alpha when I met your mother. I fell in love with her, the two of us got together and she ended up getting pregnant with Peter.” She crossed her arms.” My older brother led the pack at the time. We were flesh and blood.

“We were?” I raised an eyebrow and then he continued.

“Peter was born and my brother became a drooling uncle.” The smile he showed tightened my chest. Something told me that this wouldn’t have a good ending.” He and I helped Susana mutually. She loved Peter with all her might, but I noticed that she had become different as he grew up.

"Like this?" Peter growled lowly.

“It had nothing to do with you.” She sighed before continuing. Within a day, I noticed that her smell had changed. I realized she was pregnant again and she quickly confirmed it with a smile on her face. Nothing could make me happier.

"Where do you want to get?" I shook my hands and felt the needle bother my skin. I didn't need that anymore. I ripped it off and set it aside.

“I trusted my brother desperately, but I noticed the way she looked at him. The desire, whenever he held Peter in his arms. And the way he looked back.

Shit...

“They were companions…” Peter spoke in my place.

“Yes, they were.” Her tone became heavy.” The three of us argued badly. And at that point I was no longer sure if you were my daughter Sophie.” I almost asked him not to call me by that name, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.” My brother swore he hadn't been with her, but I didn't believe him one bit. They were companions and the fact that she wasn't intertwined with me made complete sense at that time. She should be waiting for my brother. The relationship I had with your mother would go nowhere with me in their midst.” Peter and I remain tight-lipped.” This made my brother move further away. Susana didn’t want to destroy this bond we had, she commented on it and was deeply sad.” Kendall put his hand on his forehead as if reliving the moment in his head.” The day Sophie was born, my brother and I were taking care of other urgent matters. We weren’t home and we only managed to get back the next day.” My foot was restless while listening to Kendall.” And when we came back, we smelled her. We felt everything, but she was no longer there. Heavens... there was so much blood on the floor...” He lowered his head and put his hands on his face as if he couldn't bear to talk about it again. An extremely injured male...” She had given birth to you alone. I can’t even imagine what Susana felt…” his voice trailed off.” She could have called someone in the pack. Anyone. They would come quickly to help her, but she seemed determined to escape without anyone knowing. We discovered a note she had left. It said she would be fine and that she would come back after a few months for Peter's sake. She wanted us to have this time to reconcile. My brother had a panic attack when he saw the photo she left on her cell phone. You were on your lap, all rocked and Susana was smiling from ear to ear. It was a way of saying that I was fine, that everything had worked out...” My throat closed and I wished I wouldn’t hear anymore.” Nothing could go right... We were dealing with every danger outside our territory...

“Christopher.” I whispered.

“Yes, he was an enemy. I never understood your irrational hatred for my family, for my territory. I should have suspected the damn thing, Sophie, I should have suspected the damn thing.” Kendall stood up and punched the wall hard enough to break the plaster. Peter looked at him closely.” But there were too many loners. The butchers tried everything to invade and take over. My brother and I spent days looking for you two. We saw the trail of blood. We saw his blanket, but soon lost the smell.” Kendall stood with his back to both of us, hands resting on the wall, breathing quickly.” Weeks passed and my brother refused to rest. Susana was his partner, I had no right to say anything. And he was the Alpha until then. But I lost my brother the day I lost Susana and you.” He took his hands off the wall and turned towards us, one of his fists bleeding from the punch he had thrown. My brother felt it. He must have felt that we had lost Susana. Well, the next day he disappeared. He was careful. He left no trace. It was as if it had simply never existed.” The Alpha's eyes turned to Peter. He had left the pack the same way.” I never saw him again after that day. I ended up taking his place as Alpha.