Chapter 7
Love is love
Princess’ POV
I’m exhausted after chasing troublemakers in the Northwall Pack all night. I hide my tiredness behind a cheery face because it is The Little Ones birthday today and I don’t want to ruin it by falling asleep.
Mother banned everyone from calling the triplets The Little Ones, but she can’t stop me from thinking about them like that inside my mind. Only I have access to my own mind and ever better now since I took over the Ninjan Pack from Alpha Bear six years ago.
The last fourteen years have been difficult. Vincent’s support has meant everything to me. None of us can even look at Mary without seeing Kate in her and Mary herself has taken an antisocial behaviour and locks herself in with her anger. I lost a sister too, but I can’t act like her. I just conquered another Pack when Kate went missing and I was only seventeen years old.
It has been anything but easy to tame the Northwall Pack. The wolves there are very hostile and selfish. It’s hard to earn their trust and it still feels like I haven’t fully won them over. I made life easier for them and they are managing better now. That’s all that matters.
It’s horrifying to think how Vincent’s father had let the pack fall apart like that. It took four years to get the economies right so most of the pack members had a job to go to in the morning. They were mostly trained to attack and scare other packs away. The children weren’t educated enough and Vincie and I spent a lot of time to get the school up to standards.
Vincent is a headmaster of a school there and teaches the students his favourite subject; Werewolf Studies. Sadly this means that we live mostly with the Northwall Pack and I had to hold back a lot of my own wishes to become a teacher in the Ninjan Pack.
I am planning to give up my Alpha position in the Northwall Pack soon. I already have a successor and he’s almost ready to take over. James is a good man with a tough heart, but he’s fair.
Vincent and I have waited a long time to create a family of our own and it is very tiring to run two packs. Adam is leading the Ninjan Pack with Alpha Bear’s assistance. The old man is still alive and he still takes turn around the houses to claim a spot at their dinner tables. I can’t think of a day when we won’t have him around anymore. He teaches us hospitality and he never loses his sense of humour.
My own family is a shell of what it used to be. Kate’s bed and her toys are still on the shelf like she left it. Mother wants to feel that she still has a home to come home to. She mostly had to take care of Mary and Tom by her own since father uses all his time to search for Kate. Sometimes he takes another mission to bring in some money.
We are eating dinner and I can’t thank the Wolf Spirits enough for giving Tom a wonderful mate like Leanne. He’s so happy to have a car. I know he want to take his mate out for dates without everyone luring on them. I’m quite glad for meeting my mate so far away from my family even though he did give me a hard time in the beginning by not accepting me.
I give Vincent a loving smile and my heart still skips a beat when I meet his brown eyes. I can’t believe how he tricked me into wearing a dress by seducing me before we went here. Our sex is always fantastic and leaves me dazed afterwards so I didn’t complain when he handed me the green dress. I threw it on quickly because we were already running late.
I have no idea what everyone is talking about until Kaitlyn says that she dreamt about the ocean again. I’m too scared to be hopeful after all these years but the hope blooms inside my heart anyways.
“I told the Wolf Spirits to give back my sister,” Mary finally says bitterly. “Otherwise I would hate them forever.”
Her eyes turn black with anger. We love the Wolf Spirits in this Pack so it is really uncomfortable for us to hear anyone talk ill about them. They give us our strength so we cherish them deeply.
Well everyone besides Mary. She’s so weak and I wonder if it is because she refuses to let the spirits into her life. It seems so harsh so I’m starting to believe that something else is wrong with her. I asked her to go see a doctor but she refuses to let them go near her.
I wonder how much Kate’s spirit is affecting her. I know they share a special bond and usually felt each other’s feelings. That’s how we know that she’s still alive. I just wish we knew where she was taken. It must be somewhere good since we haven’t been able to find her yet despite all the resources that have been put into finding her.
The phone in the house I grew up in blasts through the silence and Mother quickly gets onto her feet and into the house to answer it. She doesn’t like being disturbed during our family dinner and blocks out our hearing from the call to not disturb us. She can’t block her Alpha out so I listen in on the conversation without feeling bad for it.
“You have reached the Ray household,” Mother answers in a cool tone.
“Starley, this is Gretel,” I hear the other woman on the line answer.
Gretel has been through quite a transformation since I got to know her. She never forgave herself for not looking after the girls correctly and moved to the Ninjan Pack for a few years to learn how to fight and be a better citizen in the Werewolf Community.
The innocent part of her died and I can miss the carefree and happy woman sometimes when I see her. Her whole family was also affected a lot after the Northwall attack. Her husband, Alpha Denwood, never dared to go against her so he supported her decision to start training for a life in the WSF.
“Good day, Gretel,” Mother answers her more relaxed. “How are you doing?”
“We found Kate,” she says right on and I go into shock by her words. “We had a doctor examine her. I called down Adam to escort her home. They are already on their way over to the Ninjan Pack. You should expect them shortly.”
Wait what, my Adam? Why didn’t he tell me!
“How is she?” Mother asks slightly panicked and I hear her shaking with the phone against her ear.
“She was treated well where she was kept. Read the report and check for yourself when she reaches there. I am already on my way to arrest the culprit. We fear that he already escaped from the Island he was living on, but we will not stop until we find him. I promise to capture him and bring him into justice.”
“Alright, thank you Gretel.”
Mother hangs up the phone and walks out to us again with a distant look in her eyes. She’s not shaking anymore but her brain is processing what she just heard. Mine is too. Did I really hear right? Will I finally see my dear little sister again?
“Kate is coming home,” Mother tells everyone clearly.
“What Mom, are you serious?” Tom breaks out loudly.
“She’s on her way,” Mother assures him and takes her seat by the table again. “My little girl is on her way home.”
Father brings her into his arms and everyone start buzzing with excitement. I am still quiet and too absorbed in everyone’s chatting to say anything. Mary’s eyes lights up for the first time in a really long time.
Vincent grabs my hand and I give him a wide grin. Everything’s going to be okay. Life will be good again, at least better than before.
Leanne digs in on her second portion of food and that wakes everyone up and they start eating again. I push my plate away and wish I slept more last night. I won’t get any rest this night either. There are two things I need to do.
Firstly I must make sure Kate is alright.
Secondly I must call WSF and milk out as much information from them as possible.
It takes fifteen minutes of waiting before I hear the helicopter fly into our territory. We all abandon the dinner and make our way down to the landing area not far from our house. Father’s helicopter is missing so Adam must have borrowed it.
I count down the seconds until the helicopter comes into view. I stop on thirty-two and I take my place besides Mother and Father in front of me. I’m the Alpha so I should be the one greeting Kate first, but I can’t take away that right from my parents. I’m their child too and I will respect them.
A hand grabs mine and I look up on Mary’s hopeful face. The poor girl is so nervous that I forget about the fact that my little sister is taller than me. Heck, everyone is taller than me!
“She’s here, I can feel her,” Marys mumbles under her breath but I can hear her without trouble.
“I can feel her too,” I nod with a strange feeling of recognition.
The girl on the helicopter is Kate. She doesn’t feel like the Little One I saw all those years back, but I recognise her smell. There’s something about her that isn’t quite right, but not wrong either. She grew up far from here, of course she’s different.
The helicopter lands without trouble and a wave of mixed emotions goes through me when I see her faintly through the glass. Adam jumps out of the helicopter first and I smile when I see him. I can always count on him to look after what’s mine. He lifts Kate down onto the ground and she almost falls down when she is standing with her own legs.
“Careful,” Adam says gently and brings an arm around her shoulder.
“I know,” she answers him like it is no big deal.
Kate is thin, unhealthy thin. The blue dress is hanging on her body and her hair is curling down to the waist in black ringlets. She looks like Mary, but still not. That’s not what makes me worried. Kate is looking around us, examining everything with a distant look in her eyes like she’s not really here. Her spirit is strong despite her weak body, stronger than I ever came across before. She looks tired and Adam has to help her walk up to us.
What happens next takes me by surprise. Kate carefully steps up to Mother and gives her a hug. I wonder if Kate knows how much it means to our mother that she did that. Father throws her arm around them but I hold Mary back. Kate looks so fragile that I’m afraid of them squishing her.
Something wet is falling down from my eyes and I realize that I’m crying. Mother doesn’t let her go for a long time and Kate doesn’t complain. Her eyes are closed but when she opens them she looks at me and Mary. Tom steals her into his arms and throws her up into the air with a shout of joy.
“Kate!” he says excitedly. “We’re so happy that you are home again!”
“I’m happy to see you too, Tom,” she says out of breath with surprise when he catches her in his arms.
“Happy birthday, sis!” he smiles happily and ruffles her hair. “You just gave me the best birthday gift ever!”
Kate turns her attention back to Mary and a frown comes across her face. I read sadness in her eyes but I don’t understand it. Maybe it is because all years changed us and no one looks like she remembers? Or is it the fact that she looks a bit different than Mary?
“Welcome home, Kate,” I say grinning and I can’t describe how happy I am to see her again.
Our relatives greet her after the closest family steps back and I walk up to Adam who looks lost in the crowd.
“How was it?” I ask him and surround us in a small protective bubble so no one can hear us speak.
“Her spirit is so strong,” he says thoughtfully. “She’s amazing, Princess.”
I roll my eyes at the mention of my horrid name and he smirks back knowingly. He looks at Kate longingly and I quickly put two and two together. I shake my head at the fact.
“Congratulations on the mateship,” I tease him. “Welcome to the world of no free will.”
He sighs deeply. “She doesn’t seem that interested.”
“Of course she is!” I incline with a smile. “Come on, it can’t be worse than what Vincent did to me.”
“She makes me confused,” he says slowly. “It doesn’t feel that she’ll need me. Her spirit is so strong.”
“You don’t have to be her knight in shining armour,” I scold him. “Love is love. Get a kid if you want someone to cling around you.”
He laughs at my comment. “You’re so right. I’ll try to remember that.”
Everyone walks back up to the dinner that’s now completely cold. Kate declines the offer to eat and Adam ensures them that they ate earlier.
I keep inspecting Kate and it looks like she’s searching for someone. Everyone is here so I wonder who? Her eyes suddenly go blank and she starts walking away in the direction of the forest.
“I just need a few minutes for myself,” she says detached.
She disappears into the trees but something tells me she still can sense and hear us all. I’m not able to block her out even with my Alpha powers which is strange. She can however block me out completely from what she’s doing and that makes me scared. I know she’s safe in our lands. The Wolf Spirits will not allow her to be taken from us again.
“She’ll tell us when she’s ready,” Mother says wisely.
When will Kate be ready? Will we ever understand her at all? Kate’s not a regular wolf anymore.
What exactly changed her?