Aida

As we sit in the Alpha's office, Argent and his father are discussing everything we had just learned. My head begins to spin off its axis.

Here I was, thinking I would just march down there and hopefully learn a few home truths, find out why dear old dad was an asshat, and maybe if I was lucky, get a cure for Amalie. Simple. End of story, and we all live happily ever after.

No. No, not at all. No such luck in my life. Like always, I get to do things the ridiculously hard way. Now not only do we have to contend with the mess my father has made with me and Amalie, but we also have to worry about the very real danger of my mother and the vampires turning up at our door and coming for what they think they're owed. The pack blood. And apparently, Me.

The betrayal of my father and grandfather runs deep. They've each been directly responsible for the torture and death of many of our pack members, and for what? Their pathetic pursuit of power? For my father's revenge? For his sick, twisted, and somewhat backwards attempt to cover up the mess his father began all those years ago?

And oh, let's not forget how I'm supposedly some sort of immortal werewolf they planned on using as a breeder.

Fuck. Could my life get any weirder? I mean, come on. Don't I get a chance to be normal for once? I've never asked for anything ever. But all of this? It's just too much.

I'm so lost in my own internal nightmare that I don't realise that Argent and Argos have stopped talking and are both staring at me.

"Huh? What?" I say, trying to pretend I was actually listening and not freaking the fuck out.

"Are you okay over there?" Arge asks, coming towards me with his arms out. I don't hesitate to fold into him, seeking some sort of comfort, even if only short lived.

"I'm, ah, I'm not sure what I am," I manage, staying in close to Arge but turning to look up at his father.

"It's a lot. I'm not going to lie to you, Aida, this is a lot to take in," Argos says, walking around to sit at his desk and reaching underneath to take something out of a drawer. "I'm not a huge drinker, but after that load of information? I think we've earned this." He lines up three glasses and pours a shot of whiskey into each of them.

"Really?" Arge asks incredulously.

"Just this once. We could all use a shot to relax and then figure out what the hell we do next," he replies, pushing two glasses across to us and holding his up. "To our pack's future leaders," he chimes.

Arge and I look at each other. We each take one and clink our glasses together, then tip them up. The liquid feels warm and burns going down, but something about it feels nice. Maybe the shock to my system is what I needed to reboot. We place our now empty glasses down, and Argos takes a settling breath and steadies himself.

"We should call James and Deacon," Argos says, and Arge nods in agreement.

"This is going to be a hard fight, kids, I won't lie. We need to evacuate the children and families now." His words are matter of fact as he begins to dial a group call on his phone.

The lines pick up, and I hear my brother answer followed closely by a deep voice I vaguely recall.

Argos explains, "Alpha Deacon, Alpha James, we need to call on you both to help us. We have a big fight ahead of us, and I need to know now if we can count on you both." After that, he fills them in on everything we've learned.

The vampires. The experiments. My father. Me. He leaves nothing out. There is nothing but silence on the other lines as the two Alphas take it in.

James is the first to speak. "Alpha, you raised me, you support me, you are my family. We will rally our warriors and be there tomorrow after we have and prepared our pack." I see the look of pride cross Alpha Argos's face as he accepts the assistance offered.

"Thank you, James."

"We too will be at your side, Alpha," Deacon replies, and Arge shoots me a grateful look from beside his father.

Argos says, "We're all in debt to you both, Alphas. See you tomorrow."

The line goes dead, and we three sit in silence in the office, pondering what lies ahead of us now.

Finally, Argent speaks up, "Father, where is Amalie?" Arge asks, standing now and moving to the door.

"She's in the hospital. Why?" he says,

"Well, I don't know about you, but there is no way I can sleep. And if I can't, then that asshole in the cell isn't either. He can get a start on fixing her." Argent holds his hand out for me. I offer Argos a small smile before turning back and reaching for Argent's hand.

"Aida, about the immortality, that information doesn't leave this room. No one will know until you want them to. Okay? And just know that it changes nothing as far as I'm concerned, not in a bad way," Argos says with sincerity.

"Thank you, Alpha, for everything," I reply, giving him a quick nod and leaving the room before I start to bawl. We walk in silence down the hall, hand in hand. For maybe the last time in who knows how long.

***Emerson stands next to the still bound frame of . She lifts her head and smiles at me as we walk in, tailed by the huge guard and a chained Jasper trailing along with his feet bound together.

He puts his hands out towards the guard, who turns to Argent. He steps up to stand towering over Jasper and looks him in the face.

"Any funny business and you're back in the cells to wait for Lukah to kill you. Got it?" he says flatly. It's not really a question, more a command.

Jasper nods, not making eye contact, and rubs his raw hands when the cuffs and chains are removed. He takes in the form of the young girl in the bed. Her skin is very pale, and she seems much frailer than the last time we saw her.

"Has she taken in any blood orally?" he asks Emerson, who moves to stand a little closer to him, handing him her charts on Amalie.

"Just the one time. She surprised us all. She took in a little before we could restrain her. We've had her sedated and on plain fluids ever since," she explains, watching Jasper check over the report.

"You have done well in keeping her stable." There's a small smile on his face. A low growl from Argent kills that immediately.

"She needs a full blood transfusion from a matching donor. She needs to be drained of all of her own blood and have it all completely replaced. She will also need to have a slow, constant infusion of silver nitrate. It is the only thing that sufficiently weakens the vampire transformation in werewolf kind."

Emerson nods and starts to gather the supplies needed.

"What else harms them? Is there anything you can tell us that will actually help us when they come for you?" I ask, watching him flinch when I don't say his name, keeping things formal. So impersonal.

"Silver nitrate will slow them down," he replies matter of factly. "But it won't kill the mature ones and pure bloods. The only way to kill them is the traditional way, by beheading. It's the only way to make sure they're truly dead."

As they set to work transfusing Amalie, Arge and I take seats in and wait. I can tell he's too worried to rest and after about an hour, as I'm falling asleep on his shoulder, his father joins us too.

I must have dozed off because I wake to a soft voice whispering in my ear. As I flutter to open my eyes, I notice Argos is asleep leaning against the wall on the chair opposite me and Arge is leaning into me, trying to coax me awake.

"She's awake, Aida," he whispers, and I jump up, waking Argos as I do. We all tumble out of the room together.

Jasper and Emerson are on either side of the bed, where Amalie is sitting up and looking somewhat bewildered. A loud gasp sounds from behind us, and we part as Argos makes his way over to her, falling to his knees next to the bed.

"Amalie, is it you?" he asks quietly, the rest of us just staring at this rare show of raw emotion. Arge takes my hand in his.

There's a small smile on her face as she looks around the room. "It's me, Dad." She pauses, noticing Dr. Jasper, who now stands meekly behind us. "What is he doing here?" A small growl escapes her throat.

"He saved you," Arge explains, not even looking in the direction of my father as he steps through the group and hugs his sister. "What do you remember?" he asks, sitting next to her and taking her hand. They look so alike with the same striking eyes, the same hair colour. They seem close, which is lovely.

"Not much. It's a little ... foggy. I remember the attack and then being at the hospital," she says, looking again at Jasper, then at me. "I remember seeing you there." It's then I realize that she doesn't actually know who I am.

"Mals, this is Aida, my mate. And James's sister." Arge tells her, putting his hand out for me. I tentatively step forward and take his hand, moving closer to the bed.

"James's sister ... But that would mean that ..." She looks from Jasper to me and then back again, confusion clear on her face.

"Yes, that makes him my father. The irony has not escaped us all," I say with a small laugh, earning a smile from Amalie.

"Well, that's a nice surprise to wake up to." When her wandering gaze finds Jasper again, a frown settles on her face. "What's the plan with him, then? You say he saved me, but what about how he tortured me?" She's asking her father but glaring at mine.

Argos replies, "It hasn't been decided yet. We have other things to worry about. For now, he's here and alive purely because he was able to reverse what he did to you in the first place. However, as he is finished here, the guard may return him to the cell for now." His voice is laced with authority.

The large, looming guard herds a quiet Jasper out, and Emerson takes her leave to connect with her husband.

I spend the rest of the evening getting to know Amalie and spending time with her, Argent, and their father. It doesn't feel abnormal or like I'm interfering. It feels like a family. And for now, that's all I'm going to focus on because I have no idea what tomorrow brings.