"It's Tom!"
The news over the Pack link caused Alpha Calvin to freeze. "He shifted?"
"Yes, Alpha. He stopped at the border, howled once then shifted. Now he's just sitting there." Travis looked down briefly, taking his thumb off the trigger for now. Looking back up, he saw Tom, a man he had known for years since he worked with some North Fork pack members at times, tilting his head trying to hear if anyone would reply. "He's waiting, that was a hailing howl, should I answer?"
"Yes, see what he wants," the Alpha replied.
Donald joined in. "Travis, don't leave your post and your orders haven't changed. If he isn't hostile, he will stay where he is and not shift back, all right?"
"Yes Beta." Travis stood up, keeping the detonator in his hand but his fingers off the button, he yelled back down. "TOM! REMAIN WHERE YOU ARE AND DO NOT SHIFT OR YOU WILL BE TAKEN OUT."
Tom located him immediately, and was shocked at the reception. "Travis? What's going on? I need to speak to Alpha Calvin, can you take me to him?"
"Why?"
"I have a message from Alpha Reggie."
There was silence on the link for a few seconds before Alpha Calvin broke in. "Ask him what happened to Alpha Richard." Travis passed the question along.
"He's dead. Listen, a lot is happening now, Reggie and Josi are now the Alphas and they need your help."
There was silence for a moment before Donald piped up. "What do you think, Boss?"
"I think you both need to stay in place, I'll go talk to him. Travis, tell him to stay put, I'll be there in about twenty minutes. Donald, since there is no imminent attack, I'm going to let the Pack leave the shelters, but I don't want anyone getting too far away from them, just in case. Eric, Derek, you're with me. Your mates stay here."
A few minutes later, Silvia left the safe room with the rest of the Pack members, thankful that it was over because Michelle had dropped a bomb in her diaper a few minutes earlier. "Abigail, can you take Zach with you to breakfast? I need to get her changed."
"Sure, Silvia." She headed for the picnic area where the kitchen help was going to set up for a pancake feed, holding Autumn in one hand as Zach took the other. Silvia moved slowly towards the hotel room, she had been given a small flashlight that still worked since she didn't have the night vision the wolves had. Working quickly, she changed her daughter and put her In fresh clothes. She put her in the baby carrier before grabbing her diaper bag.
Leaving the room, her flashlight swung around and she noticed the door to the room next door was open. Focusing the light on it, she watched as the wind banged it against the stop, then again.
"I wonder who forgot to close this?" She walked over and reached for the handle, just as another wind gust blew past her. A piece of paper was caught up in the gust, and it skittered across her feet before going outside. She stomped on it with her feet, then reached down and picked it up. Setting her daughter down, she was almost to the desk inside while returning it when her eyes caught what was written on the outside.
"Silvia."
Her hands trembling, she looked at the name for a few seconds before opening it up and reading.
"My dear Silvia,
If you are reading this, I didn't make it. Do not grieve for me, I've lived a good life and I died protecting my Pack and protecting you and your children. It was my fate.
I love you.
I've loved you since I first got your scent on the road and recognized you were my mate."
She froze, dropping the paper to the ground as she slid down the wall, stopping only when she was sitting on the threshold of the room. Mate? MATE? She knew what it was, what it meant, but she shook her head. It couldn't be. Picking up the paper, she continued.
"I was blessed by Luna to be paired with you, a woman of strength and beauty, with a family I would have been proud to call my own. I only regret that I did not tell you. I know what you have been through and it wasn't time to add on to that, but know that everything I did from that moment was with you in mind.
I'll never know what it feels like to hold you in my arms.
I want you to be happy, to raise your family to be strong and loving, to have every opportunity at a good life. I have no other family, so I want you to have my house and my possessions as your own. I hope you stay here, the Alphas and the Pack will take care of you now.
Know that I died thinking of you, my love, my mate.
Donald"
Her hand went to her mouth as she stared at the words. Donald, that big, scary, lonely old man who was so upset about her story; that Donald thought SHE was his mate.
She sat there for a few minutes composing herself, then she stood up and put the letter in the pocket of her jeans. Closing the door behind her, she picked up her daughter and went to the park.
Luna Kelly was the first to note her emotional state as she reached the tables where the Pack was starting to sit down for breakfast.
"Silvia... are you all right?" She almost ran over to sit by her, her arms reaching to hug her shoulders as her new friend broke down completely. Abigail came over and took her other side, taking Michelle out of her car seat as she started to fuss. They both waited until her sobbing started to slow down, while the rest of the Pack maintained a concerned but respectful distance.
Kelly talked her through controlling her breathing, and a minute later she could finally talk. "Donald... it's Donald."
"What? Did something happen?" Luna Kelly sent out over the Pack link for Donald, he said he was fine and was in place on top of the roof still. She told him to get a relief and get his butt down to the park, his mate needed him.
"No, I... I just need to talk to him. He said some things, they aren't right. They can't be right. It's not possible." She started to cry again, and reaching into her pocket she pulled out a photo of her family. It had been taken at Michelle's baptism, she was holding her in her dress, and her son was hugging her waist on one side while her husband David stood proudly behind her. Touching him with her finger, she started to wail again so Kelly just held her tight and rocked her.
A few minutes later Donald ran into the park, stopping on the other side of the picnic table as he took in the scene. His gut twisted as he felt her pain and saw her distress. He shook his head, here he was a warrior for thirty years, veteran of battles large and small, a man who had no fear of death, and watching his mate cry like this was ripping his heart out of his chest. He stood there, looking at his Luna and wondering what was going on, until she turned and looked at him.
As soon as her watery eyes met his, the mate bond pulled him to her. Moving quickly to her side, he took the place that Abigail quickly vacated. She didn't move towards him, so he fought off his wolf's desire to carry her away to his house and make her his. She needed a gentler touch. He held his hand out to her, both of them looking at it before she placed her hand in his. She almost pulled away as a tingle moved up her arm, but when she realized it was a pleasant sensation she left it there. Somehow, she thought, it just seemed right even though it was so wrong.
"We need to talk." The four words every male knows, the words posted at the emotional minefield of a relationship.
He gulped down his thoughts, and forced a smile. "Walk with me?" She looked at Abigail, she nodded and patted Michelle, and Kelly encouraged her as well. He stood up, still holding her hand, and she looked in his eyes again before standing up with him. "We can't go far, but we can walk along the river here. The Luna will keep everyone else away so we can have our privacy." She nodded as he led her along the path; the moon had just risen, making it a little easier for her to see. She was a little jealous of his wolf vision, she knew he could see perfectly.
When they reached the river, she stopped and faced him. Dropping his hand, she almost grabbed it again, somehow it didn't feel right to let him go. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the letter. "What is this?"
His eyes bugged open as he recognized it; taking a deep breath and letting it out, he took her hand back in his and looked deep into her eyes.
"It's the truth." She looked down at the letter again. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to find out like this. I wanted to tell you myself, after I'd had a chance to get to know you and you were more comfortable. I didn't know what would happen tonight, but I knew if there was an attack I would die before I let them hurt you. I couldn't go into a battle without letting you know how important and loved you are."
"You've seen me for what, thirty minutes? We've barely talked. How can you be so sure?" She looked at his hand, his callused thumb was rubbing gentle circles on the back of her hand, causing a heat she'd never felt that went all the way to her core.
"I don't need to know you to know you are destined to be with me. I knew as soon as I smelled you on the road." She shook her head no, but he squeezed her hand and continued. "You were there when Josi found her mate, right? What happened there?"
She closed her eyes and thought about it. "They just knew, and a few seconds later he was kissing the life out of her."
"That's how it works for us. If I hadn't seen the place you were attacked, if I didn't know what they had done, it would have been the same. I just knew that you weren't ready, so I held my wolf back." He led them over to a bench by the river and pulled her down next to him. "You've been through so much in the past few days. You lost your husband, your life, you've been thrown into our world. I know it will take time, and I promise you I'll give you all the time you need."
She looked out at the river for a few minutes. "What if I don't want you?"
