The day had grown dark as the sun began to set. I watched it from Phoenix's office, through his patio windows. They were busy deciding on plans whilst I tried to get my head around the information I had gathered.

My entire life was literally for nothing. I wasn't an Omega werewolf, my Alpha wasn't who he said he was. I was potentially bullied on purpose? That one didn't make sense, surely people are not that bad to make every day a misery.

"Is that okay with you Nova?"

I snapped out of my face and looked at Phoenix. "Sorry?"

He smiled softly. "Call your parents now?"

I swallowed the nerves I felt but nodded in agreement. We had decided not to tell Alpha Steven that I had been kidnapped so we could gauge their reaction.

I took the phone from Phoenix's grip and dialled my Dad's mobile number. I haven't called them in two weeks so I'm sure they would be worrying. It rang for a while and just as I went to hang up, it clicked in answer.

"Hello?"

I chewed on my lip, trying to fight back the overwhelming rush of emotions at the sound of my Dad's voice.

"Dad?"

"Nova? Oh my gosh Nova, are you alright?"

"Yeah Dad, I'm o-okay. Is Mum there?"

"Of course Ember..." He murmured before muffling the phone. "Lulu! Get your ass out of the toilet it's Nova!"

I heard Charlie chuckle and I gave him a confused look. He pointed to his ears and mouthed 'wolf hearing' which made me feel a little awkward because they would be able to hear everything that was said.

"Nova? What where?" I heard my Mum shout.

"On the phone!" Dad moaned. "What are you accomplishing woman, get over here."

I heard Mum's chiming giggle before the sound of the phone moving met my ears.

"Nova?"

"Hey, Mum." I breathed.

"You're on speaker honey." Dad chimed.

"What's going on? We haven't heard from you in days. Then we got a phone call from your brother saying he met his mate at your pack and we expected to hear from you but then we didn't and-and then the next time Leo called he said that something was going on and he needed to fix it... Nova, Nova, what is going on?" Mum rambled.

I sighed. "Mum I'm okay. I'm safe at home."

I heard her inhale a wary breath. "I was so worried Nova. I heard wolves had been kidnapped from your pack and I thought the worst."

I winced and cast a glance at Phoenix. He gave me a small frown before shaking his head

"Yeah, they took some girls near the border," I mumbled. "I'm okay though, don't worry about me."

"Oh, I'm so glad." She shakily laughed. "I thought when I hadn't heard from you in so long something happened and it was you in trouble."

I nibbled my lip, the thought of lying to them was hurting me. "I'm okay Mum, promise."

"Well, we know you would be. You're stronger than you give yourself credit for Ember." Dad chuckled. "I said to Steven you would be fine."

The men in the room suddenly leaned forward and I swallowed at the intense looks I was being given.

"S-Steven?"

"Oh yeah, once he for word of the kidnappings at your pack he was the one who told us 3 young girls had been taken! He was worried in case it was you and wanted to know if we had been in touch." He explained.

I stared at a Phoenix, gauging his reaction. His jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed so I took it as a gesture to carry on probing for information.

"Oh, I'm surprised he did."

Mum chuckled. "He's always kept a close eye on you Nova. You were a part of this pack once you know."

I winced, knowing the pack I was a part of was potentially full of lies.

"What did you tell him? When he asked?" I wondered, my leg jittering underneath me.

"We told him that we hadn't heard anything. Well no, we told him Leo found his mate and was thinking about transferring. We all want to, come live with you of course. We just gotta fax the paperwork over..." Mum giggled. "Anyway, no. We told him we hadn't heard from you, but that Leo said some stuff was going on and he'd call back in a few days. That was when he told us about the 3 girls being taken."

Phoenix nodded and moved back to sit on his chair. I watched as he began to write something down, his spare hand clasping his jaw in concentration.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay," Dad interjected.

"I'm sure your busy, doing Luna things and all Nova. You'll have to let us know when you've mated the hunk of flesh." Mum jeered.

I blushed profusely, hearing Charlie chuckle from in front of me. Phoenix had frozen momentarily but I looked away before I could see his reaction.

"Mum please, he is right beside me," I muttered.

"Ooh." She laughed. "Sorry Nova, I'll leave you to it. Have a good time and look after yourself."

"I will Mum."

"Don't forget to call us again," Dad warned. "I don't care how busy you are. You worry us."

I chuckled. "I won't. Bye guys."

"Love you." They chimed simultaneously.

My heart warmed at their affection as we said our goodbyes. I hung up the phone with a sigh, glancing between the four of them.

"Well, they don't seem to know anything."

"Are your parents always that loud?" Charlie chuckled.

I narrowed my eyes in defence and without having to say another word he rose his hands in defence and muttered an apology.

"It's not like you're quiet yourself Charlie," Sean grunted.

He pouted and shoved Sean to the side. I expecting it he stumbled and shot Charlie a glare. Just when he was about to retaliate Phoenix growled at them. They stopped immediately and looked at him with wide eyes.

"What do you think?" Pollux suddenly spoke. "You've been scribbling a lot down."

Phoenix nodded, looking up from his paperwork to study me. I kept my face blank as I awaited his answer. His eyes travelled over every feature on my face before he sighed and looked away.

"Steven is definitely in on it."

"How do you know?" Pollux asked, tilting his head.

He clenched his jaw and gave me another glance. "I never disclosed how many girls were taken."

The room fell silent. My breath hitched in my throat and I found myself unmoving. So it was basically confirmed then. My old Alpha was working with the rogues; how else would he have found out how many girls were taken?

"So what now?" Charlie asked.

"We need to interrogate Leo," Sean stated.

I blinked up in surprise, turning my body to face him. "Leo? Why?"

He grimaced at my defence. "He has been in contact with your parents, we need to make sure he is an ally."

"But Leo has never done anything wrong by me, or by the pack."

He sighed. "It's just to be sure Nova. We won't hurt him. It'll just be me and Phoenix in here."

I couldn't get my head around the fact my brother could potentially be an enemy. He couldn't be; he was my protector against the hierarchy; my guard when I was bullied. He wouldn't plot against me.

I know my brother and he hasn't done anything

But I nodded my head, my lips down turned into a frown. They had to do it, they had to protect their own backs. We needed evidence and Leo was more involved than I was in that pack.

"So for now?" I wondered. "What do you need me to do?"

Phoenix shifted and I looked at him. "We've got the basic ideas. We need to ask your brother a few questions and then we can start to fill in the finer details of our plan tomorrow. You need to look after yourself and go to bed. Come back tomorrow with fresh thoughts."

I frowned at having to leave but I knew I wouldn't be able to stay to interrogate my brother. A knock on the door suddenly drew me from my thoughts and I looked at it in surprise.

Charlie walked over and opened it, greeting the person behind it. Leo stepped in, his hair freshly washed and fluffy on his head as he smiled warily at us all.

"Wanted to see me Alpha?" He asked.

Phoenix nodded. "We have some questions about your pack."

Leo's eyes widened but he nodded and came further into the room. I stood to my feet and went over to embrace him, his arms wrapping around my shoulders.

"Just tell the truth," I whispered as I pulled away.

He frowned down at me, confused before nodding. I gave him a small smile before I turned to look at the others in the room. Charlie and Pollux stepped beside me as we went to ext and I found myself looking to Phoenix as the door shut behind us. He was back to stern no-nonsense Alpha, his face blank as he watched the door shut behind us.

I sighed, nerves eating away at me. Charlie came and wrapped his arm around my shoulder, rubbing a small circle into my top. I leaned into him, taking the affection he gave. He wasn't one for touching so it was strange to be so close to him.

"It'll be okay Nova."

"I hope so," I muttered. "I'm just... scared."

"You should be," Pollux stated.

I looked up to glare at him at the same time Charlie did. He shrugged at us, his hands going into his pockets.

"Just saying... there's a group of wolves out there hunting down women and planning on taking over the werewolf world. Pretty scary if you ask me." He chuckled.

I found myself rolling my eyes. "You're not the one whose whole life has been a lie."

He smiled sadly as the three of us made our way upstairs. "If I had known you were alive I would've found you as soon as I was able to."

I chuckled. "That would've been interesting... Didn't you say Gaia lives here? Have you seen here since you've been here?"

He nodded and smiled. "Yeah of course, whenever I'm not with you guys I'm with her. She raised me well and taught me to look after myself. If she hadn't I wouldn't have shifted at 18. I guess I was just ready at that age."

Charlie hummed as we approached the second floor where Pollux was staying. "Weird you guys both are cursed... Do I need to do some kind of cleanse when I get in bed?"

Pollux chuckled and patted him on the back. "We're not anymore pal. We've shifted and that was the curse."

"Oh." Charlie laughed. "Good, I didn't want to get naked and dance around a fire with a garlic necklace."

"Garlic is for vampire myths." I rolled my eyes.

He laughed again. "The dancing naked round the fire didn't get you?"

I smiled at him but turned my attention to Pollux when he reached for his door handle. "How come you remember me, but I don't remember anything until I woke in a hospital covered in burns?"

His eyes darkened as he went deep into thought. "I'm not sure. I apologise. Maybe if we have time we shall have breakfast with Gaia and see what she thinks."

I nodded. "Okay. I'll see you in the kitchen tomorrow morning?"

He smiled and entered his room. "You shall."

The door softly clicked behind him and I turned to Charlie. He smiled and shrugged at me, walking me to my room in silence.

"Do you reckon I will ever be Luna?" I asked.

He chuckled. "The way Phoenix has been since you arrived here, I would say so."

I shook my head. "That's just because I was kidnapped."

He put his hand on my door to stop me from entering. "I mean from when you first arrived, back in April."

"What?" I frowned.

He chuckled. "The moment he found you he'd been itching to have you. He'd constantly wake me at night because he can't sleep. He was always checking in on you, watching from afar. He was like a trapped puppy it was so annoying. I'm glad he's got his shît together and he is realising he can't stay away."

"Oh." I breathed. "I didn't know he cared about me back then."

He smiled and leaned away. "Constantly on my case about you. He's never not cared, he's just a confused arsehole."

"Charlie!" I gasped.

He laughed and turned to walk away. "It's true!"

I shook my head at his retreating figure as he rounded the corner out of sight. I let myself into my room and sighed as the familiar comfort met my eyes. I had expected to find my plants droopy or dying but to my surprise, they were sat as though I had never left.

I frowned and made my way into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I changed into some pyjama shorts and a vest top and made my way over to my windowsill. I sat and watched the final rays of the sun disappear behind the horizon. Once it fell into the blue I inhaled deeply, and the unwelcoming emotion of sadness filtered through my mind.

I was finally home watching the sky through my window, but I couldn't stop the fear, the guilt, the anxiety from eating away at me. I couldn't get the thought of the girls out of my mind, even as I eventually made my way to lay in my bed when it got darker outside.

I tossed and turned for what felt like hours until I eventually fell into a light sleep.

At some point, I heard my door click open, and the instant fear of not locking it hit me. I rolled over and squinted at the protruding light of the hallway to see a large shadow. I blinked the blurs away as the door shut and the figure came towards me.

Cel grumbled in my mind, raising to my sleepy defence. "What are you doing in here?"

I felt my bed dip from where he climbed in and lay beside me. I gazed up into his honey eyes, the little light from the curtain gaps made them glow in the dark. He was shirtless, in nothing but knee-length shorts.

"I couldn't rest without you," Phoenix mumbled.

I sighed, too tired to argue. I felt the same, restless and unsure of tomorrow. I was scared and haunted by the thought of being in a cage. The softness of my bed was foreign but when he laid beside me and placed his hand on where mine clutched my pillow, I felt myself calming.

I felt safe knowing he was here with me. Although I was hurt and confused by everything in my life, I couldn't fault the mate bond for always being there.

"My brother?" I mumbled.

He let out a soothing purring sound, his hand stroking my palm. "He's innocent."

I sighed and closed my eyes in relief, relaxing into his comforting scent and warmth. The small hum of the bond vibrates through my chest and I finally drift off into a peaceful sleep.

•••

Hey everyone.!!!

I updated this early as I have some things to get off my chest. And I know how much ur waiting for this.

lol, I literally just finished it half an hour ago.

Can't believe I'm past chapter 60 already. This book is going places. I can't wait to share my plans with you all.

I hope you enjoyed today's chapter, I'm still sick so a bit sluggish but doing it for the gang aka you 😂

Anyway...

I appreciate you all so much and how much you love my book. I'm constantly being asked for updates so would just like to clarify -

I am a single mum of 2 kids age 5 & 1.

I do not have time to pee alone let alone write a chapter haha.

I dedicate my writing time to the evening when they are asleep. Literally the only time I have to myself I am writing for you.

It takes me an hour to write one chapter, which are coming anywhere between 2800-3100 words. So to write so many I'd need a whole day home alone hahah which will never happen.

Also, I do not have any chapters written in advance. What you read when I upload, was literally written like half an hour before I published it - there are no chapters written in advance. I cannot update what isn't even written, nor planned.

Love you all thank you for reading !!

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