Phoenix kept moving; straight toward the Alpha office. I was so worn down I couldn't bring myself to care about anything anymore. My eyes burned with unshed tears and my throat felt like sandpaper. Exhausted didn't come close to describing it. Every part of me ached (my body, my heart, my mind) and I had nothing left. My wolf, my mate, my room — it was all just too much at once.
He didn't bother announcing himself; he simply moved the guards aside without a word. Somehow he kept me held against one arm while his free hand pushed the door open. I felt like a child being carried around. Probably looked like one too, with my arms crossed and my expression sour.
"Alpha Steven. Damien." Phoenix's voice cut through the room as the door thudded shut behind us.
"Nova! Oh thank goodness, you're okay! What on earth were you—"
Phoenix's growl silenced Damien instantly.
He still had me in his arms and I felt foolish just lying there like that. He must have sensed how uncomfortable I was because he lowered me carefully into a cushioned chair and unfolded a blanket from the armrest, tucking it around me. The warmth and those soft, tingling sparks disappeared the second he pulled away; the exhaustion hit me all at once. If I could just close my eyes for a moment...
And so I did. The blanket was soft and the chair was warm and sleep pulled at me like a tide.
"I am taking her with me." His voice cut through the dark.
He what.
"Wha—!" Damien choked.
"She is not safe in this pack." Flat. Final.
"What do you mean, not safe! I have raised Nova myself; I have—"
"Shut it, old man."
The room swam around me but those words jolted me back; I surfaced with a grumble. Phoenix's dark eyes found mine and his brow drew together. That was my Alpha he was speaking to like that (a man who had looked out for me, who had taken me in). It stung somewhere deep.
"You owe this pack nothing, Nova." He said it directly to me before turning back to the two Alphas; to Steven, mostly. "Did you know the state she was in when she shifted back? The scarring, the bruising? Have you looked at her face today? Her weight?"
I glanced over to find Steven seated; his mouth pressed into a hard line, his expression uncomfortably clear. He almost looked guilty.
"The only reason I came to this pack at all is that my Beta returned home with concerns; secrets that needed looking into." He growled low. "And this morning, when I first encountered her, I couldn't work out why I couldn't smell it. Why she didn't smell pure. Why she was unclaimed and yet carried the scent of a male."
"Now that I've seen her injuries, I understand; she'd had a blood infusion to heal. That's what masked it. Which means you knew she was hurt. And it also means you've done nothing, because she's still being hurt. You've known for some time, Steven (your face right now is all the confirmation I need) and still she gets harassed. Yes?"
He looked back at me; I kept my eyes on the floor.
"And then we come back from the woods to find her room torn apart and she doesn't even look surprised?"
I shut my eyes and held everything in. I needed my parents. I really, badly needed my parents right now.
"So I am telling you (and I want to be perfectly clear): she is coming home with me, to her rightful place at my side as her Alpha." He crossed his arms and let the words sit.
I looked up at him. Something about the way he said it (so certain, so unbothered by what anyone else thought) made something warm move through my chest. He had spoken more just now than in all the hours I'd known him. He was cold and unreadable as stone; and yet he had stood up for me. For me, of all people. Someone he had met only hours ago. Nobody had ever done that (not even Steven).
"She's—" Steven started, his voice strained.
"I want her papers ready in two hours."
"But that isn't nearly enough time—"
"One hour, then."
Both Alphas dipped their heads; Phoenix must have used his Alpha tone. I hadn't felt it myself (I put that down to sheer exhaustion).
Without another word, I was lifted from the chair and carried away from my Alpha.
"Take whatever you need. Clothes and toiletries will be waiting for you when we arrive." Phoenix set me down and looked around the room briefly before his eyes settled on me.
I looked around at the small, battered space. "Okay."
"I'll be back in an hour; I need to see to my own arrangements and my pack members. Say your goodbyes." And then he was gone before I could say anything back.
I had to leave. I was actually leaving; with him. My mate.
It'll be okay, my wolf murmured softly. He'll take care of you.
But my parents...
I got up and gathered what I could salvage (what mattered most to me). A handful of drawings that had survived, including the one I loved most; the black wolf in the trees. The pencil stubs, snapped in half. The photograph of my parents from the nightstand. I had no bag to speak of, so I put it all into a small plastic carrier.
Staring at it, I felt the sadness settle in my chest. This was everything I owned; a carrier bag's worth. That was the life of an Omega (no space for luxuries, no room for much of anything). But things were different now; I had a mate, and custom was clear on what that meant. I had to go with him, to his pack. Steven could have argued (females were valuable to a pack's numbers) but Phoenix held a King's Alpha title, which meant the decision wasn't Steven's to make. The truth was, the only reason Katie, Julie, and I had been kept here at all was so the pack could claim they had females. As though I was ever something worth showing off.
Before heading to my parents, I remembered I was still wearing only the oversized t-shirt. I slipped into the bathroom, washed my face and hands, and pulled on the hoodie and joggers I'd had on the day before.
Walking down the hall, the tears came back. I didn't even get to reach my parents' door; it flew open and Dad pulled me in before I could knock.
"We were so worried." His voice cracked. "Alpha told us you'd shifted without warning and sent us to our room."
"I'm o-okay." The hiccup came out before I could stop it.
"What happened?" Mum appeared beside him, and the moment she saw my face she guided me inside and onto the bed. I curled into her side and let it out.
"Ember." Dad's voice was gentle; his hand moved through the mess of my hair. "You have to talk to us. We can't do anything if we don't know what's going on." A pause. "Also, you smell like a lake."
A small laugh escaped me and I sat up straighter. "Thanks."
"So..."
"So I shifted." I lifted a shoulder. "It was h-horrible."
"Sweetheart, if we had known you were showing signs we would've—"
"I know, Mum. It's okay; it happened on the training grounds, people were there."
"But what triggered it so suddenly..." Dad's gaze drifted, thinking.
"Well, shifting can happen when you..." Mum went very still. "Nova; did you..."
I knew exactly where she was going. I nodded.
She grabbed my arms. "You found your mate!"
Dad straightened up immediately. "Your mate? Who is it?"
My lip trembled and I looked down at my hands.
"Is he in our pack, Nova?"
"Lulu, she would've shifted long before now if he was."
"A visitor, then?" The sarcasm in Mum's voice was sharp.
They started going back and forth and I had to cut through it. "Yes. A visitor."
My voice came out louder than I meant it to; they both went quiet. I stood up and faced them properly, pushing past the fear crawling up my throat. "My m-mate is Alpha Titan."
Everything slowed. Mum's eyes went wide with alarm; Dad's eyebrows shot so far up his face they nearly disappeared.
"M-my room got trashed because of what happened this m-morning (the coffee incident)." The words came out broken. "And he found out I was b-being bullied; and he... he's t-taking me back w-with him."
Dad was the first to move; a low growl rumbled out of him. "If he has laid a single hand on you, Ember, Alpha or not, I swear I will—"
"Dad, no. He... he seems okay. He came to find me in the woods; he helped me." I shrugged weakly. "I just don't w-want to leave you."
"Oh, my love." Mum exhaled slowly. "He's your future. He hasn't rejected you; he wants you close. That's more than most get. And his Alpha wolf will— oh." She stopped. Her hands flew to her mouth. "Nova. You got an Alpha mate. That makes you a Luna!"
That pulled a quiet laugh out of me. "Y-yeah, I don't... Oh; and my wolf. She's bl-black."
"Black?" Dad repeated.
"Pure black." I nodded.
The look they exchanged said they'd already reached the same conclusion I had.
"Your birth parents..." Dad said quietly. "Black fur only belongs to the higher wolves, Nova."
"You are my parents." Simple as that.
Mum's smile was soft and a little watery. "If we find anything out, we'll tell you everything; I promise. When do you leave?"
I checked the clock on the wall: 7:13 pm. "Half an hour, maybe."
"Can we meet her?" Dad asked; something hopeful in his voice. "My wolf wants to know her."
It was a common thing among wolves; a newly shifted wolf meeting the others so they could register her as one of their own. Tired as I was, I didn't want to miss it. And I was quietly, deeply glad that Dad's wolf wanted to meet mine; given that I wasn't his by blood. A lot of wolves wouldn't even entertain the idea.