When life gets crazy, we get crazier.
When life gets shitty, we get shittier.
But when life gets pretty,
Only some get prettier.
Rest would still be ugly in heart like they always had been. They would still be shitter and crazier to that sweet life, that the Goddess was giving to them.
Everything would go well. But they would take it for granted.
Misty had finally entered our lives and our hearts.
The family felt completed. After years.
After her unintentional efforts of melting everyone.
And then, we wronged her. So bad, that even the sins of Alpha Ronyn and his brothers would balance with ours.
The difference was that they brought the evil to this pack. While we sent Misty to the pack of evils.
We. Right. I was involved in it because I couldn't save her. I failed miserably like a loser.
I couldn't choose between her and Natalie, ended up getting both of them stuck in the rules of the shitty packs of this Werewolf world.
On top of it, I wasn't allowed to show anger. Why? Because if I did it, Pete and Nirvan had the authority to throw me out of their pack. They did that to Misty, they could definitely do it with me.
If I wished, I didn't care much about them. I would die breaking their bones.
But Mom made me swore on her life. Alyssa threatened to not have sex before the suicidal war with my best friend and my brother. Aunt Kate asked me to see the face of her fourth born before doing that anyways.
On a serious note, they made me swore that I wouldn't do it for the sake of whatever harmony was left.
He was just trying to keep Mother's heartbeats calm. He was just trying to help Pete in planning it more, so he wouldn't feel the guilt of being the reason Misty was on the other side of the border. He was thinking of it so Natalie could participate and Mom eventually would forgive her. He was giving Ivan a chance to make those memories of his planning again with Keira, not Eva.
Father was trying hard to keep the family together that was on the verge of breaking apart or already had been.
Thus, the goal to follow his order as his son was my priority. Even after getting those whiplashes?
Well, I was the only one left whom he could trust and expect more without returning any kind of love only.
Our equation was different.
He had trained me like he had trained Pete. But the eldest one was his dearest. The youngest one too. I couldn't blame him. Eva had always tried to achieve his praises and attention. And he gave her. While Misty was a different case.
So, if I exclude her, I was the underrated pup that he didn't need to give praises to get me to respect or love him.
In this time of need, I couldn't be a frustrated douche.
I sighed heavily.
Because now, he had sent me to deliver these charts of the maps to the so-called new little Beta's house.
My toes were itching and teeth were gritting hard. It wouldn't take a minute to vandalize all of this house. But I respected Beta Iago and loved Taria. Plus, Keira would be embarrassed and hurt too. So, I would let the idea go.
For some reason, the thought of Nirvan spending time here with Ivan was making me crazy. It meant that they had started to plan it all out. The so-called Escape plan.
I scoffed mentally.
These jerks would do the impossible? They would bring her back? I wondered how all of a sudden, father brought this idea of the fact that bringing someone back from there was possible.
When growing up, all we had seen the females being sent there and never coming back. Never even showing up.
My. . . My. . . How my ass would burn at the mere thought of these pigs hurting my sisters! One of the pig had taken Natalie to his house.
I wondered if she was having proper food and bath there. Or was he just trying to please her with his dumbass pick up lines? Though, the glimpses of his stone expressions would catch my attention again. How the hell he had managed to drive the truck at a speed good enough to bring us back before I could wake up?
Moron! A Loyal Moron.
He had my respect. But I won't tell him that ever. Even if Natalie would fall head over heels for him.
The door opened gently, the other moron of my life was rubbing his sleepy eyes.
"What the fuck are you doing here so early?" Nirvan said while looking around the dark blue sky of the early dawn.
My eyes straightened on my own. He wasn't worthy of my expressions anymore. Not even the anger. I would love to poison him quietly rather than punch him to death, now that he had started playing games at Pete's orders.
"I had to pee," I said, clenching my jaws. "And your stupid face came to my mind."
His lips quirked into a knowing smile. "Come inside," he said while I hummed in disagreement. "By the way, the face is only my mate's territory."
"Poor her future pups, for having those unsymmetrical features. Take the box."
Instead, he opened the door wide. That was my orange T-shirt he was wearing. Those were Ivan's shorts. The idiot never cared about buying his own clothes.
"Won't you meet your sister?" He asked, making me conflicted.
But it had been three days since I last saw her. The heat was gone. But she still wanted to stay with her mate. I wondered what the reason was. Or simply, was it her love? Though, she was quite traumatized by the news of Misty. She couldn't stop crying and regretting for not being there for her.
Taking the box inside, I looked around the house. Ivan and Pete almost had same taste. Except Pete liked light colors.
The dark blue curtains were flowing by the faint wind. The hall was big and decorated with the interiors. I wondered if Keira liked it all. She was always bored of materialistic things. Eva didn't care as long as she had a punching bag in the house. Misty would only adore the art. But Natalie was crazy about them.
"Why are you staying here?" I asked, putting the box on the dining table, looking at that douche of my best friend.
He scratched his hair, walking to the kitchen and warming up two glasses of water. We had this habit since the day we started getting trained. When we were just twelve.
"Ivan called me. We need to think together before we tell your father about we are going to do."
I sighed, feeling the soft air through the windows caressing my bare shoulders from the vest. "So, what did you think?"
"I would tell if you try to understand why I did what I did." He taunted, switching off the gas and pouring the water in the two mugs. Drinking the water from one glass, he walked towards me, giving me the other one.
"There is no explanation needed for what you did," I said, my blood boiling, taking the mug calmly. I gulped down the warm water and blinked slowly. "Your eyes show it all. The shamelessness."
Nirvan flared his nostrils and drank the water quietly, not saying anything.
The door to a room opened and Keira walked out in Ivan's shirt. My eyes raised back up to her eyes before I could notice his boxers too on her.
The cringe filled me at the thought.
But it all went away when her scent smelled of her only. I sighed in comfort as she smiled and reached out to hug me.
"Monkey," she mumbled while I smiled slowly and pat her back.
Pulling away, I stepped back. She sat on the couch and gestured for me to sit too. I did not want to create a scene in front of her by denying it.
Nirvan too sat down on the other couch.
"How's everyone?" She whispered with a small smile.
"Celebrating. After all the females with sharp edgy voices and tantrums are gone. It's like yoga. The peace is undeniable-"
She threw a cushion right at my face.
I controlled a smile while she chuckled lightly. "How is mother doing? I am thinking about coming home today."
I widened my eyes in fake horror. "So soon!" Another cushion came and I caught this one.
"Tell me, Thomas." She insisted while Nirvan only passed her an amused smile.
I sighed heavily. "She is good. But Fred and Jiro are being tough. Okay? Fred sneaked up on me and Alyssa doing it roughly. She let out a loud scream in the middle of the night in extreme embarrassment. On top of it, he announced it all at the table during the breakfast. That she was kneeling in front of me, making noises. So, you know, we both are surviving on this invisible ventilation to breathe through that awkwardness. Mom threatened to throw us out to the jungles if we don't take care of the pups' around. . ."
She let out a loud laughter while Nirvan was already having a red face, controlling his snickers. Deep inside, I knew his virgin ass was dying in wait for his days to come.
"I am afraid Alyssa would claw him like an angry kitten some day. She wears her black lipstick just to piss him off more and knowingly goes to check on him in the night with hair down. Fred calls her fatty. She doesn't mind though," I told, controlling a chuckle as I remembered her cute angry face. "Their rivalry is adorable."
"I can't imagine mother's face at hearing him saying all of that," said Keira while bursting out in a series of chuckles. "But he gotta change nickname for her. Why didn't you slap him?"
I only slap butt cheeks.
Alyssa would always bring out the hidden pervert in me.
Well, I too had brought out the hidden saint in her. She had been the one to put oil on the still healing whiplash gashes.
Though, she was keeping grudge about it with Natalie as it happened because of her plan. My sister wasn't at fault. The whole family ignored her opinions as much as she was pampered with materialistic gifts. Her wishes were fulfilled but no had ever told her that it was okay to be scared. It was okay to be think about your own life before the pack.
That lack of efforts from us made her plan something to save herself. When the guilt turned too much for knowing a secret that could be the turning point of Misty's life, she shared her sorrows with me at last. Being her twin, I could never let her down. I just had to help her, understand her point of view.
What if she was late in helping Misty get out of the unknown trap? She tried. It was worse than staying quiet and not admitting mistakes.
But if she was late, it was whole family's fault for always expecting her to follow each order and reach up to her elders' achievements.
No one realized that she was yet to find herself. She was yet to shift.
But still, Misty was gone like the blowing wind, taken through us by some strong tornado. We were all scattered away.
If only I had been more careful less than emotional. If only I had not been scared that the Lunas could hurt Natalie, until they would find out the truth about Misty being the actual target.
Natalie and I were scared that with no one still claiming to be her mate, the Lycans could target her too. We were confused between Misty and her, even when Natalie knew the possiblity of Misty being the one.
I had to take both of my sisters away. I couldn't take the risk of any of them getting hurt.
Until a shell named Axel dropped and went bang. That was when, Natalie and I were confirmed, it was going to be Misty.
If only Axel had been the jerk he was that night, we might have gotten successful in taking Misty away from the Lycan's range of smell.
But of all nights, Axel had to choose that one to become a loyal saint.
At last, no one could be blamed solely for what happened. Except for the Goon Modde. . . Moon Goddess.
This one time, Stephen had joked how Moon Goddess was more of a goon that our mother for letting a gang of Lycans to be the superior ones in our werewolf world. Since then, I would always fumble with the title.
Forgive me, though. I couldn't afford doing any sins and their paybacks.
I would have to sort out this grudge topic with Alyssa sooner or an argument would soon break between her and Natalie.
The tiled floor shined because of the lamps these guys had switched on for the sun was yet to rise.
"She went hysterical." I told her.
Keira gasped while laughing hard. It felt good to see her happy again.
But at the back of my mind, I could only compare our lives with Misty.
She won't be happy.
What must she be doing? Crying, begging or dying?
My heart would squeeze at the thought.
It was a sin to even imagine that.
The wolf in me just wanted to do something. To mend things.
But it seemed like far-fetched dream for now.
Misty was fragile yet so strong in mind. I wished for her to not get scared and survive until some miracle would take place.
Shaking my head, I tilted it while saying, "You must come. I am fed up of dealing with four adults, three pups including the unborn one and my mate. Please, Keira. . . I really want Eva to be there too."
Keira smiled sadly, her eyes turning glossy immediately. "Yeah! Her one growl would have awakened everyone to mind their business and calm down. Fred always listened to her more than anyone."
I nodded slightly. "The house feels empty. Even though, Alyssa tries to cheer everyone up. Her and mother are getting along very well, surprisingly."
"I bet her mother calls everyday," said Nirvan, giving me the squinted sharp eyes.
I gave him the look back. "Yeah, she asks about the jealous virgin Beta-"
Nirvan growled lowly.
I blinked calmly, infuriating him more. "You have thrown my sister to that land of devils. You better not mention my family again," I warned, flaring my nostrils. "Even if it's about my not-so-likable mother-in-law."
The door opened while Nirvan still didn't move his angry eyes off me.
"What a view early morning," said Ivan while wiping his wet hair with the towel.
"Nirvan, please. Thomas?" Keira requested while I breathed calmly.
"I did what I had to, bastard." Nirvan said while clenching his jaws and glared at me.
"Right. You did it anyway, bastard." I repeated, making him furious.
Before I could say anything, Keira gasped, "Guys, please."
"Pete and I are the heirs. If you both don't look away from each other now, you both are the bastards," said Ivan, making both of us look away immediately.
Keira sighed in relief.
I breathed angrily while he sipped on his hot water and grunted.
"The maps?" Ivan asked while looking at the box on the dining table. "Did Alpha send that?"
"Yeah," I muttered while observing Keira's eyes on her mate as he sincerely pulled the box closer and checked the maps.
Ivan nodded in satisfaction. "They will do. But Pete said that we will have to do this through our borders only. Luna Anne would never allow even the discussion of us entering that territory and returning back through their border with the Lycans. Nor will Luna Elsie."
"I don't care what Pete said," I told him, flaring his nostrils. "She is never coming back. He is just tackling his guilt."
I was about to get up when Keira called out my name, "Thomas. Please. Listen to him, first."
I clenched my jaws and glanced at Ivan. He was wiping his wet forehead with the towel and put it around his neck. I sat down properly and sighed.
"Fine."
Ivan glanced at me while spreading the map on the table. "Look at this, the border between Eastern and the Lycans. The river helped Chelsea get to send the clues. Means enough noise that no one could hear her. Moreover, she might have kept herself wet in the river water to keep hiding the track of her smell."
I nodded while Nirvan finished his water and wiped his mouth.
Keira leaned on Ivan's right shoulder and stared at the map attentively.
"If we enter through here, things might get easy. Entry and Exit. But no car can go from there. There are rocks and the slope is sharp. Okay? Only our border is flat. It won't be easy to bring Misty on foot. We can get injured."
"I don't understand how Misty could be chosen for a Lycan," said Keira, gulping hard. Her eyes turned glossy and she blinked calmly. "It is unbelievable."
Yeah, it was. Anything could happen.
Who knew a plain goody two shoes like me would be chosen for Luna Anne's fancy bad girl? I was charmed.
The ten percent of my heart said that maybe, Misty would get charmed too.
I wished so, at least.
For her to be happy until Pete would actually manage to do something.
But ninety percent of my heart knew where she was thrown. In the middle of barbaric savages. It was hard not to imagine brutal things and feel like a loser of a brother for not being able to pull her back from there.
Wiping my eyes, I shrugged my shoulders. "We can be faster than the cars," I told him.
Ivan shook his head. "If we get injured, no. We can't let this chance go in vain. One scratch from a Lycan is poisonous enough to kill us. It's dangerous because we have never been in contact with them much. Had we been, we could have known what herb could heal the injury. Thus, the minor scratch would be dangerous for us."
Right. It wasn't about sacrificing a life to save Misty. We were wolves. We would be ready to get sacrificed from the moment we would cross the territory. But who would bring her back if all got killed. That would be stupidity. Each member mattered for his or her own role in the pack and Moon Goddess' plans.
"We can't do all the rescue on a car. Right? One or two will have to go on foot to reach Misty. They would smell us." I said, making Keira's eyebrows raised.
"You leave that on me. I will take care of the scents. I will make the scent for you guys to lure them. Only if I get Chelsea's old clothes or even Savina's," she said confidently.
"What if they all are dead and we enter there smelling like them?" Nirvan asked immediately.
"Then, their ghosts are roaming. Not some outsiders who have come to rescue Misty," said Ivan surely, making me uncomfortable.
They were thinking that it was easy.
It was impossible.
"The mere problem would be to even start the conversation with Declan or Luna Anne. They have sent she-wolves. They would never agree to the thought of bringing Misty back." Ivan said thoughtfully. "Especially after what happened with Leo."
"Father can make a talk," I said and added, "Eva, the great is there too. Don't forget."
Keira and Ivan exchanged a glance. "Or maybe Alyssa can do something," said Keira, making me roll my eyes in helplessness.
Ah! I didn't how I would even talk about this to her.
For me, she might even agree to request her parents. But I didn't want to use her love for me like that.
Ah! Just the thought of her would fasten my heartbeats.
"What if they still don't listen?" Nirvan asked as if he too was discussing this with them for the first time.
Ivan shrugged his shoulders. "Then, we will have to use our borders directly. It's long enough to confuse them and for us to make an exit from the different side of the border."
"How will we find Misty?" I asked in confusion. "You guys are planning to walk on a naked sword. That even dipped in wolfsbane. We all will die and so will her. If she ended up there only with us intruding the land, they would hurt her."
Keira gulped hard with her eyes staring far at the scene happening. She shuddered slightly. "No, that won't happen. She is coming back. That's it," she said, flaring her nostrils.
"Not all of us are going," said Ivan, glancing at me and his brother. "Uncle Ryan had signed actions to Misty. If she understands it and execute the plan. She might reach to us, making it easier for us."
"Which is not gonna happen? She must be traumatized," I said, thoughtfully. "Even the mere glance on our face would creep her out. Who knows if she is killed already? Mother stays mournful all the time. She says, Misty pushed her away in the dreams."
"She is not killed," said Keira angrily while looking at me. "She might be a human but she is smart. She might be broken from the trauma but I know, there is a fighter hidden in her."
"What if she didn't get Uncle Ryan's message?" I asked while raising my eyebrows.
Ivan nodded. "I know. But if she gets it, we will have to be prepare."
Nirvan curled his lip in blankness. "We can do one thing."
I scoffed mentally.
"Throw another girl?" I taunted, making him clench his jaws.
"Thomas," Ivan warned possessively.
My eyebrows raised at him and I smirked humorlessly. "Of course. You reminded me the question I had to ask you before dying," I said while giving him the blank look. "Would you have thrown her too if you had been in his place?"
Ivan stiffened, his nostrils flaring in anger at me. Keira stared at him in curiosity while Nirvan was hoping for a reaction in his favour.
Ivan blinked and looked utterly disturbed by the question. He clenched his jaws and nodded slowly. "I would have followed my Alpha's orders. Pack comes first-"
"Pete called her a member of the pack!" I cut him off.
Ivan gave me the dead eye. "If Pete hadn't done what he did, the wrath of Goddess would have vanished our pack. We all know what we believe in. And we believe in her. She is pleased when the mates meet. For Misty, unfair has happened. Thus, we will bring her back to end her misery, before the time goes out. Rest will be her decision if she wants to stay back or go back to the Lycan's territory for her mate."
He gulped slowly and let out a long breathe. "Even if she comes out safe and goes back to her Gran, the rest of the packs won't let her live in peace. She will be in their eyes. She will be targeted until she ends up back in the Lycans territory. We won't be able to protect her from them."
Keira's lips parted in confliction. Nirvan blinked in relief.
"Maybe, I wasn't destined to become the Beta so I didn't get to do such horror to her. She would have been more hurt if it had been me," he said, lowering his eyes, showing helplessness.
Silence settled for a moment. All of us digested his words.
I didn't know what to make out from it. It didn't matter when it wasn't him who threw her across the border.
Nirvan looked at Ivan and Keira, taking us back to the discussion. "Pete said that he felt the Luna's presence the night he attacked Leo. He said that he was roaming near the trees before the party started. He felt the vibe that she was around."
"What do you mean?" Keira said, narrowing her eyes in concentration.
"We won't tell that we are doing it for Misty. We will just tell that it's Alpha's mate we are trying to see. His health deteriorates and he wants to see her. Lune Elsie might melt at remembering how Willis died. She might help us as she has that vision for you know, the present that we don't see happening, literally. She knows things. She might hear what Alpha Pete cannot. . ." He said while my eyes straightened in surprise.
". . . So, we make them stand at the borders and call his mate." Ivan mumbled in thought.
"And what will that do?" I asked, looking grumpily at the looser of a Beta.
Nirvan gave me a confident look.
"You three weren't there. I was, on the front line. The Alpha of Lycans said that Pete's mate was hurt from getting near to the border in search for him. This meant that she loves him. She really does if she actually wanted to see him or smell his scent," he said, looking at us one by one, in assurance.
Ivan nodded while squinting his eyes in concentration. "Possible."
"We can ask her to help Misty," said Nirvan while giving us a wide smile. "Luna Elsie can talk like that. To influence. Even if other Lycans hear back from it too, we can at least try."
I chuckled humorlessly.
"As if Pete would control himself from not crossing the border again. Well, it's a good idea. I hope, he crosses the border and gets killed by them Lycans." I said in the mild anger. "If he doesn't, he will kill the ones who stop him. Luna Elsie, dead. You," I pointed at the best friend. "Dead. Misty's fate avenged!"
Nirvan realized the loophole in his plan and shut his mouth.
Ivan too turned quiet.
But Keira was chewing on her lip in thought. She blinked and said it out loud.
"We can chain him."
I chuckled mentally.
They were trying to test his strength. His patience. His fire.
What they didn't know that the patience would vanish the moment he would smell his mate's scent again. I had seen him that night. What he had done to Leo. What he could have done to himself. He was uncontrollable.
Her very presence would pull him to her like a hypnotic chant.
He won't be able to resist.
The chains would melt by his fury at their poor fates. The wolves surrounding him for his own safety would get hurt just like Leo.
Pete might hurt himself too.
But for Misty, we could try this. Couldn't we? Only one person knew the answer.
I smirked humorlessly while glancing at the three of them.
"Let's ask your great Uncle Stephen who is more important. Pete or Misty."
_____
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