Vindicator

Chapter 70

"Bit busy, the battle's ongoing. Both sides had reinforcements arrive" Christina grunted through the mindlink, clearly in the middle of a fight.

"Sorry, focus! Let me know if you get a chance to chat" Karma replied, feeling guilty  for having interrupted her mother; however, she was simultaneously relieved because it meant she could focus on Chance's sudden question.

"Sure" Christina replied, but by then Karma was giving Chance a quizzical look and barely paying attention.

"Why would you think that?" Karma asked, not intentionally deflecting, just confused.

"It makes sense...You are at his beck and call, and he always seems to be the one you seek when you're upset" he explained, adding the last part a bit sadly. "And it also explains why you and your mother were the first he rescued...He felt the bond, but didn't recognize it because he was already mated to another."

Karma was completely thunderstruck. Where did this fantasy he'd dreamt up come from? And why was he even worried about that to begin with?

"Jealousy" Alessia purred, her tail wagging happily.

"It's not cute, stop being so pleased" Karma grumbled at the wolf. Then, she let out a huff of a sigh, and decided to come clean...Sort of.

"No, I am not mated to the Alpha of the Forsaken pack. I am at the beck and call of whomever needs help; it doesn't need to be an Alpha telling me to help people. And as for when I'm upset...The truth is, saying I'm going to see my Alpha is a lot easier than saying I'm going to see my wolf" she said.

Chance raised an eyebrow. "See your wolf?"

Karma smiled at him, nodding. "I have to tell you the truth...And I'm sorry, I should have done this a while ago. I am the Alpha" she said, deciding to just throw it out there bluntly.

Chance frowned, shaking his head. "That's not possible, though" he said, not trying to argue; merely stating a fact.

"I know. Neither is a daughter being born to an Alpha, or twins for that matter. And neither is teleporting, but I sure make it look possible, don't I?" She asked with a smirk.

Chance was still frowning, trying to decide if she was toying with him or not. It was true that, as the first child of an Alpha, logically she would be the next Alpha of her father's pack. So it wasn't a far stretch to believe that she could be an Alpha of her own pack, he reasoned. Still...

"Why would you pretend that you're not the Alpha?" He asked, no accusation in his tone, just confusion and curiosity.

Karma sighed, deciding to explain from the beginning. "Look...My mother was shunned because she went against nature and had me. She was tortured for years because of it, to the point of wanting to die to end it all...So, I swore that I would save her, and protect her from the moment I recognized what was happening...The Goddess blessed me so that I could finally protect my mother...Not just her, though, but others, too."

"I don't really understand how it happened; mom and I each have theories...But somehow I'd set us free from our pack, without making us Rogues. We were happy with that for a while, and hadn't planned on doing anything else...Until we met my friend Jenna. She was going through a bit of emotional torture from her mate, and after hearing her story...I just knew I had to help. Just like you questioned me, though, I knew she'd doubt my claim of being an Alpha. Everyone would, it's unheard of...So, it made more sense, and was easier to just tell them the Alpha was a mysterious person" she said with a shrug, pausing to look up at her ceiling and stare at the intricately painted panels.

Since Chance didn't intervene during her pause, she took in a breath and continued. "I never planned for things to get so big with the Forsaken pack, though...It started out as wanting to help an innocent, pregnant woman. And it grew from there, always another person in need, and always another ugly monster of a werewolf responsible for their pain. I couldn't risk letting people know my identity, in case somehow my father recognized me. So I opted for the Spectre persona, or the Vindicator as I originally wanted to call her" she said with a soft laugh.