Chapter 121: Unreject Me

Pete’s pov

Until I returned to the wolf’s territory, I didn’t realise how much I missed it. I had once vowed myself that I would never return, no matter what, but after meeting my niece and her mate, I decided against it.

It felt so good to be back. Especially when I knew that I wouldn’t have to face anyone that would disrupt my peace. I shifted to my wolf as soon as I crossed the border. Getting to spread his legs on the rich soil of the forest pleased my beast. Being on our true territory was far better than running in the woodland near the human city. The breeze felt cool and soothing on my wolf’s hot body. The calming sounds of the woods and the serenity of nature gave me immense joy. It was almost like travelling to another realm.

I stopped by a small creek that ran through the forest. Oh, how I missed the breathtaking beauty of the woods. For a moment, I admired the crystal clear water before taking a drink from it. I almost moaned when the cool water trickled down my throat. It was so sweet and brought a sense of tranquility to my heart, unlike the bottled garbage I drank in the human world.

“Fuck Benedict. He is the reason we had to leave,” my wolf, Jace, muttered.

I scoffed. “He is gone now. Fin and his men did a good job.”

“Fin is gone too. If he were alive, he would run after you, demanding the two million dollars you owe him,” Jace said.

A smile curled on my lips. “Yup. He got tired of chasing me around in the human world. I was glad when he gave up trying to track me down. That gave me time and peace to accumulate enough to pay him.”

“Well, in a way, he didn’t do a very good job. Kaya managed to escape, and Opal Moon survived. He doesn’t deserve that two million,” Jace said.

“Yeah,” I said, snickering under my breath. Jace was right. William and Helen’s survival was a little hard to digest. However, after learning that the attack killed her unborn pup and made her barren, I asked Fin to leave them alone. The damage was enough to hurt them for a lifetime.

The only problem was money. I would have paid Fin if I had enough back then. I asked him for time because I needed time to gather two million, but he didn’t stop pestering me. So I did what I had to. I travelled around the world and got busy with work. By the time I finally had enough money, a lot of time had passed. Work kept me busy, and I kept procrastinating.

“Well, it’s all in the past now. There are no witnesses, and I don’t have to give anyone anything. I don’t care about her escape anymore. She and her family can live, and so can I.”

“Just enjoy life, huh?” Jace said.

He cut the conversation short and ran toward the pack we once used to live. Although I didn’t expect to see much, I was intrigued about returning to the place I once lived. It wasn’t a long run. As expected, nature had taken over the reminder of the ruins left behind after the massacre. Jace strolled through the place, which once was a prestigious and well-developed pack. Most of the buildings were almost completely destroyed. Jace halted in front of the place where our pack house once stood. The entire place was burnt down, and yet I could still identify some of the intricate designs on whatever remained of its walls.

I shifted back to my human form and stared at it. The whole pack who mocked me was gone forever. I had vowed that I would make them pay for the humiliation I had to face that day, and I succeeded. They were gone, and I was still alive. However, it felt strange. I didn’t feel fulfilled despite getting my revenge. Destroying everything didn’t bring peace to me.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I reminisced on what happened when I lost that fight. I was forced to leave. Since I was too egotistical to bow down to another Alpha, I left the territory and settled down among the humans. Although I managed to exist, it aroused a lot of fury in my heart. I let the resentment build up, and when I could no longer hold it back, I contacted Fin. I wanted them to feel pain, and he was the only one who wouldn’t hesitate to do something about it, but for a fee. I agreed, not expecting him to succeed.

I carefully inspected the remains of the pack house trying to imagine what it was like for them. I bet they were scared to death when the Silver Claw invaded the pack. When the enemies emerged from the secret tunnels, they would have been taken aback. I wished I could have seen their faces. My lips quivered. Fin wouldn’t have been able to infiltrate the security if I hadn’t told them about the secret tunnels leading into the pack. So yeah, I had betrayed them. But they should have known better than exiling a wolf who knew every little secret of the pack.

“Were you scared?” I whispered as I caressed one of the broken stone walls. “You shouldn’t have banished me from my home. I was loyal to the pack.”

Returning to the pack gave me a strange feeling. I spent several minutes thinking about what I had done. Twenty years ago, I was too angry to care, but after seeing the destruction, I was unsure. Yes, I won the battle, but perhaps in the process I lost the war. Now, nothing of them was left. Every little memory attached to the pack was reduced to mere ashes.

It wasn’t my fault. They brought it upon themselves.

That was what I believed. I walked away from the ruins, my pace gradually increasing until it broke into a sprint. I shifted to my wolf and continued the run. Returning to the ruins wasn’t a good idea. The ghosts of the past were haunting me, or guilt was weighing me down. No one except Kaya survived. Not even the little pups who did nothing to me or the innocent commoner who had no power over what happened to me.

“It is all on them,” Jace mumbled.

I nodded my head in agreement. None of what happened was my fault. They should have known better.

***

I was held at the border for a short while, but soon enough, they allowed me to enter. I tread down the path in my wolf form. Being in a pack that I wasn’t part of was hard. Wherever I went, residents and security stopped me and asked a lot of questions, but it was best that I didn’t belong to a pack where William and Helena lived.

Helena and William…

A smirk curled on my lips. They failed to produce an heir. I bet that was why they requested Theo and Kaya to take over the pack.

As I walked towards the pack house, I wondered if I would ever run into them. Was it even healthy to run into them? Maybe it wasn’t. They were the only ones who knew who I was. William and I used to be pretty close until he started to comment on my personal choices. I didn’t say anything about his life. I really wished he said nothing about how I led mine. We could have been best friends, but it didn’t work the way I hoped it would. Especially when Helena ended up being his mate, and they accepted each other right in front of me. I was already pissed about Kate and my brother, on top of my dad scolding me on my birthday. Helena had broken the engagement off, and despite being in the middle of my birthday celebration, I was having the worst time of my life. So yeah, him taking her away struck added insult to injury.

That night I lost the girl I wanted, my dignity, and the pack. My father was so furious that he announced my brother as the next Alpha. In the public announcement, he said since my brother had found his mate and he wanted to make him the Alpha, but we knew the real reason behind his announcement.

Losing it all was a hard blow. I grew bitter towards my brother and his mate. The connection between us was sour, and it only worsened after our parents died. As the years passed by, I learnt to stop caring about being the Alpha. However, I couldn’t stop thinking about Kate. I wanted her to be mine. She was the only female who didn’t give me a second glance, and that intrigued me.

But nothing worked, and I ended up losing any remaining honour I had and became cast away as a rogue. Although Helena no longer lived in Golden Crescent, I was sure that she knew everything that happened because those two had been best friends for a long time.

I didn’t want her to talk to Kaya about me. Several years had passed since we last saw each other, but I doubt she had any good words to say about me. As I strolled towards the pack house, I kept thinking about ways to avoid Helena and William, but as soon as I reached the pack house, I realised that they were already on the premises. I recognised Helena’s scent lingering in the air. Despite the time passed since we last crossed paths, her scent still awoke certain feelings in my chest—feelings that I never felt towards my human wife.

Instead of shifting back to my human form, I ran into the bushes and hid in them, making sure I had a good view of the entrance. Even though I didn’t want them to see me, I was eager to glimpse her.

I didn’t have to wait for a long time. Kaya and Theo escorted them out of the pack house and walked them towards their car. My heart skipped a beat when I saw her. She gracefully strolled down the stairs. Her skirt danced with the soft breeze. I couldn’t take my eyes off her flawless skin and perfect figure. She aged like fine wine—something my human wife could never be. When William placed a hand on her lower back, I grimaced. She could have been mine, but I made a grave mistake and pursued Kate.

I just couldn’t help it. They were both so fine.

My jealousy reached its peak when I saw her laugh at something William said. It seemed to me that even after all my efforts to destroy their lives, they found a reason to stay together and be happy with each other.

Helena hugged Kaya and kissed her forehead. My grimace deepened. They seemed pretty close.

“Dude, what if Helena told Kaya the truth? Even if she didn’t have proof, that would hurt your reputation,” Jace said.

My lips parted. He was right, and since they had already built a rapport, my lies wouldn’t be of any use. Maybe I should have let Fin launch a second attack on Opal Moon when they were at their weakest.

“What do I do now?” I asked my wolf, as he was the only one I could trust.