Alkira's pov-
The next thing I know, I am engulfed in his arms. I whimpered a bit due to the pain in my shoulder, and he instantly released me but kept me close by holding my arms.
His eyes swept all over me like he was searching for something. Something to believe that I was real and not a figment of his imagination. When his search was over, he again took me in his arms, this time quite carefully.
"I can't believe you are alive, sunshine."
My eyes watered a bit. He still remembered my nickname. He was the Beta of our pack. I used to call his father Uncle Gems because he always brought candies and gems for me. I have a sweet tooth. Even when I grew up, he still got me my favorite goodies. Despite that, I had perfect white teeth. The types they showed in TV commercials.
James used to say that whenever I smiled, his day became brighter and more cheerful, so he named me his Sunshine, and I called him Jamie. We were very close, best friends, to be exact. This was also the reason some girls were jealous of me at my college. But that did not bother me. We carried on with our friendship, not giving a thought to those ridiculous people.
We broke apart. Tears were running down his cheeks. I lifted my hands and wiped them away. We both smiled a bit for each other's sake.
"How did you escape and find this place?"
"I did not find this place, James. During the fight, I got separated from everyone. I was in the denser part of the forest, surrounded by two of them, those rogues. Somehow, I survived and reached the river. I wanted to wash the remnants of the day, and while doing that a silver knife stabbed me. I lost my balance along with consciousness and fell into the river. The current carried me here. Helen found me washed up on the shore. She took me to the hospital and looked after me when I was in a coma for six months. After I woke up, they offered me to stay there. I had nowhere to go with the pack destroyed, so I accepted and became a part of this pack. But now you are here! Alive! Tell me, who else escaped? Who else survived?" I pleaded.
His hold on me loosened, and he looked away. I was afraid of the answer. But still, I wanted to know.
"No one, I only know that your mate is alive. He is now Beta of your Uncle Richard's Silver Shine pack. They told me that, apart from him, I only survived the attack. I did not believe them, so after recovering, I went out and searched high and low for weeks but could not find anyone. I learned that the attack was planned. So I started doing odd jobs, like hunting, to get any information that could lead me towards the people who destroyed my pack who killed my parents and let me watch as they tore them to pieces." I broke down crying and sobbing.
"Your mate helped me a bit by providing some leads, and I am grateful. He will be happy to hear that you are alive." He gave me a watery smile, but when he saw that I was not returning it, he wavered and asked what was wrong.
"It was him and Uncle Richard who attacked us."
His eyes widened in disbelief. He opened his mouth to speak, but I raised my hand, indicating to shut the hell up.
"Uncle Rick wanted to take what was rightfully his and attacked our pack. My mate also helped him as he wanted to get rid of me- a wolf-less girl who was not up to his standards. He was pretending all along only to get the status and popularity of being my mate and nothing else. It was all an act to keep his image nice and shiny. I was turning eighteen soon, and he was not left with any option but to mark me. He did not want to do that and link him to me for life. This came as a superb opportunity, an opportunity he could not miss. So he grabbed the offer with both hands and told the uncle to get rid of me as his payment for helping them along with a position in his pack."
"Oh, Sunshine, he is a fool for doing that. He lost you, a rare gem, because of his greed. I will make sure he pays for his mistakes."
"Not you but WE. But tell me, why did you attack my Alpha? He is a nice man. He treats me like his own kin." I inquired, dying to know the reason behind this.
"I got the information that the Alpha was torturing a she-wolf and keeping her here against her will."
"What? No! That is not true! These people can never do that. Trust me. It is against their morals." I said with so much force in my voice that even I was surprised. I was defending them. My wolf and I had accepted them, and we would not tolerate anyone speaking ill of them.
"Relax. No need to get hyper. I now know. And that is the reason why I came back, to correct my mistake. By Goddess grace, I also found you. Let's go. We will go somewhere else. I will take care of you." He said while getting up and offering me his hand.
I took his hand and replied that I would not, my voice barely above a decibel.
"Why?"
"I have found a new family here, in this place. Helen and Samuel treated me as their daughter. Ana and Daimen take care of me as their sister, and people have accepted me. I haven't told them anything except that I have nobody left to call as a family. I haven't even shifted in front of them, but still, they treat me as their equal. They love me as their own. How can I leave them?" I told him with tear-filled eyes.
"Moreover, I need to train myself to take my revenge for killing my family and our pack. My life is no longer mine. Now, I live for these people and my revenge."
"Okay, Sunshine. I understand, but now the truth is finally out to tell me what I should do. I want to help you with this plan. I, too, want to avenge the death of my parents."
"I do need your help. You have to go back to Silver Shine. You have to get their trust. So that you can get information about what is happening there. I need to find out their reason for attacking our pack; there is more to this story."
"I will collect all the necessary information and keep you updated. Just take care of yourself. We have each other. You are no longer alone." With that, he said and left.
"I have not been there for a while now," I murmured to his retreating form, thinking about the people of this pack whom I have come to care for.
I sneaked inside my room and got comfortable in my bed. After a few minutes, the door was opened, and they barged into the room. It was like déjà vu.
"Where were you?"
"Are you alright?"
"Don't you dare to pull a stunt like that again?"
"Who was he?"
I answered their questions and, eventually, all of them relaxed except Ana. She was observing me like I was some sort of mystery to solve. I avoided her question because I could not lie to her.
"I wanted to thank you all. And needed to tell you about how I got here and what happened to my family."
"Oh, dear, no need to rush. We have all the time in the world. You can tell us some other time." Helen said softly while stroking my hair.
I took comfort from her motherly gesture and leaned into her. "No. You deserve to know."
So I told them everything except that my mate was also involved. I just told them he was some power-hungry leech who plotted with my uncle. I could not bring myself to say to them about our relationship. It still pained me to think that a person would do this to his mate.
*Flashback ends*
I was drawn out of my past when my nose picked up the familiar scent of James.
'We are here.' My wolf said happily.
"Sunshine."
"Jamie."
"I have great news. Finally, your mate has come back from his trip with his flavor of the month. So what is your plan?"
"Come back here tomorrow around noon. I will introduce you to my pack. Don't come without this envelope. Now go. Otherwise, you will be a dead piece of meat within seconds." I said, giving him the letter.
"Okay, sunshine. I will meet you tomorrow. Good night." With a last hug, we departed.
Tomorrow is when we will tell them about our plan.