Chapter 113: Chapter 7

COLE

Finding Wyatt Drake takes a little longer than I anticipated. I arrive late in the evening and check into a small motel.

I know where the closest pack territory is, but my mom said he lives among the humans. I can’t help but wonder how many others live among humans yet still remain connected to a pack.

Looking on my tablet, of the thirteen wolves nearby, only one is on the outskirts near the pack territory. However, no one here has heard of the name Wyatt Drake.

I visit three more shops on the southern portion of the small town, but he’s not at any of them. I stop for a quick bite then drive to the other side of the town.

Wyatt Drake is standing under a car loosening a nut when I finally find him. I cross my arms and wait for him to turn my way. I know he can feel me.

He places his tool down then looks back up into the car.

“Are you here to talk to me, Alpha? Or are you here to watch me work?” he asks.

“I’m friends with Ethan,” I say as I step forward.

“I know. He’s been a guard at your pack for a while now.” Wyatt grabs a tool and keeps working on the car.

“You know?”

“Of course I know. He’s my son. I’m very proud of him.” He grunts as he moves a belt around a long bolt.

“What about your daughter?” I ask. I’m just trying to get a feel for this guy. Mom said Ethan’s view is one-sided.

“My princess is at Princeton, ironic right? She graduates next weekend. I already have my ticket and took time off to be there, not that she’ll see me.”

“Wyatt, I came to find out what happened to her.” I’m shocked that he’s so knowledgeable about them.

He tightens the bolt then drops his tool. He grabs a blue cloth to wipe his hands.

“Alpha James, I know you don’t have your mate yet, so I’m not sure you quite understand how bad the mate bond can fuck with your head.” He finally turns to look at me. “My family is my life. I do everything I can for them.”

He tilts his head toward a small office then leads me inside. He washes his hands then offers me a can of coke.

“When I found my mate it was the happiest day of my life, until Danielle rejected me. No matter how bad it hurt, I refused to accept the rejection until she gave me a reason why. Danielle was abused all her life. Her alpha and many other men in the pack raped her since she was a pup. Her dad did nothing to stop it. I killed him by the way. If you want to seek justice for his death, you’re welcome to it.”

I shake my head.

“You know who my parents are. If they wanted justice, they would’ve gone after you a long time ago.”

He lets out a breath then smirks.

“I’m relieved to know that. Thank you, Alpha.”

I nod.

“Please continue.”

“I made a promise to her that I would wait until she was ready, that I would never force her. I swore in blood to the Goddess herself. Danielle accepted me and the pain went away. She left her pack at seventeen. I found her two years later by chance. I was on the road, headed to the summit with my alpha and I stopped to take… to relieve myself. That’s when I smelled her. She was in her wolf and frightened. My alpha commanded her to stop so I could talk to her. It was snowing and cold, but I told my alpha that I was staying with my mate. He left and went back to get a replacement guard.”

I can practically visualize everything he’s saying. I stay silent to let him work through his emotions.

He begins speaking again.

“I had to wait three years for her to trust me enough to finally mate. Her first heat was torture for her, but we got through it and, thank the Goddess, it took. She never was completely comfortable around me, but our bond helped, she could feel the truth of my words. She agreed to some counseling. I found her a human female that helped her. We eventually had Alexis. Everything was going great, we were happy, until Alexis was four.”

Wyatt shakes his head and tears spring into his eyes.

“I love my little princess. She’s beautiful, just like her momma.” A sob tears through him. “One day I pulled her up on my lap and told her how beautiful she was. I kissed her cheek.” He wipes his nose then continues. “Danielle saw and her emotions went haywire. They were all over the place; fear, rage, hatred, shock. She pulled my princess from my arms and locked the pups away. She stood in front of the door trying to keep me away from them. When I figured out what was going on, I left so she could calm down.”

Wyatt blows his nose and regains his composure, but I’m tearing up with him as images of his words flash in my mind.

“You see,” he continues, “her alpha told her that just before he hurt her the first time. It triggered her. It took me six days to convince her to talk to me, but by then she was convinced that I wanted to hurt my daughter. I promised to do anything. I tried to let my emotions pour into her, but hers were stronger and she couldn’t feel me. I stayed away, but I still cared for my family. Our bond was still there and she couldn’t deny it. There were a few times that she came to me, needing… relief. Those are the few times I got to see my pups up close, but it was only while she was kicking me out the door. I had to watch my pups from a distance while they grew up without me.”

Definitely one-sided as my mom told me. I clear my throat.

“I’m so sorry for all you’ve been through. I’m glad you were able to kill her dad for her sake. The rest of the men?”

“Were killed in the battle at the Weston Pack, or just after. He was one that ran away. I had to track him down.”

“So, back to Alexis. Where is her wolf?”

“She’s repressed.” Danielle hated that she was forced to mate a monster because of the bond. She blamed the Moon Goddess for everything that happened to her, for not stepping in and stopping it. She became obsessive. She started denying her wolf, denying the Moon Goddess herself, refusing to even act like a wolf. Two months before Ethan turned twelve, he started his shift. Danielle wasn’t having it. She left with Alexis while Ethan was alone and in pain. He was already passed out when I got there to help him through the shift. The next day I tucked him into his bed and Danielle came back. She refused to believe that her son was one of us, a monster. She blamed me for turning him into one and kicked me out again.

Wyatt looks at me and runs his fingers through his hair.

“I felt Alexis’s bond disappear the very next day.”

I knit my brows. That can’t be it.

“How the…”

He raises his hand and nods, so I shut my mouth.

“Danielle hated the Moon Goddess, but she knew there were other deities. She started worshipping the Earth Goddess. She started talking to witches. Of course, witches now are a lot different than they used to be. They worship the Earth Goddess with crystals and herbs. Danielle found her. Gaia repressed my daughter’s wolf as reparations for what the animals in her pack did to her. Of course, the Moon Goddess is the one that gifted us our wolves, only she can take it from us completely. Gaia put Alexis’s wolf to sleep and I only have one idea of what could wake her, but even then it is no guarantee.”

“Finding her mate,” I supply.

“Exactly, but I don’t even know if she’ll recognize him. I can barely feel her link to me. Ethan doesn’t know any of this. All he knows is that his mother worships the wrong deity. He knows something happened to Alexis because she never shifted.”

He closes his eyes.

“I fear her first shift is going to be traumatic, if it ever does happen.”

“I can ask the Starlight Sister to help her through it, that is if she does shift,” I offer, hopeful that Dara can help her.

I look up to his wild hair then to his blue eyes, the same as Ethan’s. This weak, yet strong wolf in front of me. Wait…?

“Why did you let her take…”

He puts his hand up to stop me.

“I didn’t. When I felt Alexis’s change, of course it freaked me out. I thought she had died. When I went to check on them, I saw her playing as if it were any other day. I confronted Danielle and after several hours, she told me what she had done. I still love my mate with all that I have, and I still provide for her, but I can’t forgive her for what she’s done. She still comes around every now and then, but I can’t look at her the same way. I would love to be with my son and my daughter, but the bond keeps me near Danielle. She lives as much of a human existence as possible. She hasn’t shifted in sixteen years. She’s weak and fragile because of it. I fear she won’t last much longer.”

I am in a state of such awe that I don’t have words.

Wyatt tosses me another coke, even though I still have a half-full can.

“I know you already do, but please watch out for my pups. I don’t know if I’ll survive when my mate leaves me. If I do, they would never forgive me for abandoning them anyway.”

“But you never abandoned them,” I point out.

“You stayed away, but you cared for them, you provided for them. Don’t forget who my mother is. She has ways of making people see the truth.”

Wyatt nods. Then he gets to his feet, goes straight to the car, and begins working again.

I pocket my extra coke and head out, stopping one more time just outside of the shop bay.

“Ethan found his mate. Her name is Rosalie. She’s friends with Alexis.”

“I’m happy for him. I’ll be at the graduation, I’ll see her there.”

“She won’t be there. She’s moving to my pack immediately to be with him.”

He looks at me and nods.

I take the hint and carry on my way. I check the time. It’s close, but I think I’ll be back just in time for dinner. I’m amazed; Wyatt was quite informative.