155 Start over

Caiden had no time to be sorry. Lisa was worried about him, but the alpha was preoccupied with distracting himself from the pain of realizing that his wife had deceived him. He still had thoughts and pleasant recollections of a life he had shared with Jessie, so it was obvious that it hurt. But he'd made up his mind not to feel bad. He prepared to leave for the Full Moon pack in order to see his kids, packing his little luggage. He had to go on because of the children.

Only a few hours had passed since Alpha Cornelius' departure, and Caiden was already tracing his steps back.

"Are you sure you'll be fine?" Lisa was concerned.

"Mom, I'm okay," he said, giving her a tender hug. "It's going to be a quick journey. I'll be back before morning."

He cast a sorrowful glance into her eyes. "I'm so sorry, Caiden," she said, kissing his cheek. "You're not supposed to feel bad."

He remarked, moving aside. "You were the only one who warned me that Jessie wasn't the best choice for me." He put on a fake smile and packed up his belongings to get out. Caiden felt a pang of guilt as he made his way to the car, where Matt was waiting. All of this could have been avoided if he had just once followed his heart. He choose to be with Jessie instead of Kamara, which sealed his terrible fate.

Matt was staring at him, clearly curious, and he was expecting an answer to all of his inquiries, but all he got was Caiden's silence. For a long time in the car, he stayed in that position, seemingly ruminating about the previous twenty-four hours. Caiden was lost in his own suffering.

"I can only imagine how you must be feeling now that you know your wife abducted your kids." Caiden returned to the present after Matt's words. "But trust me, as a detective, I've seen hundreds of cases just like this one. You wouldn't believe how prevalent it is."

"Are you saying that to make me feel better?" A smile appeared along with the question, relieving some of the pressure on his shoulders.

"I hope it helps, but that's not the objective." Matt said, happy to have relieved Caiden's discomfort. "Now tell me, Caiden. You mentioned that you needed to tell me something significant. I'm ready to hear you out" Caiden gave him a quick glance and considered it. In what way could he give Matt the truth without giving him the creeps? It was a nearly unachievable task. Matt would undoubtedly want to run the instant he opened his mouth, and there was nothing Caiden could do to stop him.

"Tell me one thing, Matt." As he accelerated the vehicle, he said. "Do you believe in the existence of werewolves?"

Matt glanced at him, attempting to gauge how serious the inquiry was. Is it possible for someone such as Caiden to take this seriously?

"Werewolves?" With a little smile, he simply thought about it carefully. "There are no evidence to support the existence of werewolves; they are myths."

"That was what I anticipated." There was a hint of disappointment in his statement. "Perhaps we should postpone this conversation till later."

Matt gave him a startled glance. "Was it the topic you were hoping to discuss with me?" Perplexed, he inquired.

"You should be aware of a few things regarding the location we are visiting." He started to divulge. "It's not a normal domain in the sense that people know it."

Matt felt a chill go down his spine. "Caiden, you're frightening me.' He looked at him with wide eyes. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"What I'm trying to say is that we're going to a place filled with werewolves." Matt shivered all over. Matt initially believed Caiden was making a joke to frighten him, but there was no indication from the look on his face that he was lying.

"You are not being serious, are you?" He was practically said as sweat ran down his cheeks. "Werewolves don't exist, Caiden." He turned to face Matt, startling him again.

"Matt, we'll have lots of time to talk about this." he said, aware that if he went on, Matt would grow even more afraid. "I'm just telling you these things, so you can prepare."

"Are we in any danger? Why would you send Nate to a werewolf-infested area?"

"I'm not in danger," he thought to himself. "Yes, you are. Furthermore, Nate is at the safest location I could ever keep him."

Matt shuddered when he said those last words. "Are you telling me that you and Nate are also werewolves?" Caiden remained silent. "To me, you both look as human as I do." He grinned at him and said,

"I know you need time to process everything. "If I were in your shoes, I would also have my doubts. A werewolf never tells a human who they are unless they want to change them into one of us."

Caiden laughed at the look of horror that was developing on Matt's face.

"I won't do it, though." But Matt could not relax. "You'll be safe with me. A host of an alpha pack member is never attacked."

Matt's mind could not process all of this information. He dared not question Caiden's claims. The car fell silent, with the exception of the sound of the car running. Upon reaching the domain of Full Moon, Matt started thinking about what Caiden had spoken about wolves prowling the area. He passed a cloak to him.

"Put this on." He met his eyes directly. "Your human scent will be covered up, and people won't notice you as much."

Wearing the wolf-skin coat as if his life depended on it, Matt pulled it on. "Is there a possibility of me being killed by a wolf?"

"There is no danger." Caiden answered. "I'm an alpha wolf; no one would attack you in my presence."

"How lucky I am." When they arrived, Alpha Cornelius was not there to welcome them. Matt and Caiden were told to go to the imperial wing, where Nate and Kamara were. Seeing the menacing looks aimed at him everywhere he went, Matt nearly passed out.

Caiden could breathe at last when his eyes met Kamara's. He rushed to her and gave her a hug while she was still on a stretcher. How much he needed that hug was only known by him. He looked directly into her eyes and replied, "I am already aware of the whole truth. I'm so sorry for bringing so much suffering into your life, Kamara."

She murmured, her eyes welling with tears, "This is not the time to mourn, Caiden. It's time to start over."