Whispers of the Wolf

Her Answers

Enzo

I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw only Alaric and Radley emerge from the heavy door that separated the hallway and the cells.

Part of me had thought I would have been helping them spring Orion from the cells. That I'd be asked to cause a distraction or something. Not that I wouldn't not help my future Alpha and best friend, it was just that ... it would be kind of hard to hide that human hunter.

He was a big guy.

Watching as Alaric's hand reached out for Radley as they approached me, I felt a pang in my chest. Would I ever get that one day?

A mate?

The other half of me?

An image of Tala crossed my mind and I blinked against the burn of tears that were never far whenever I thought of her. She wasn't my mate ... but close enough to be. We'd made a silly pact a couple of years ago ... if neither of us met our fated mates soon, then we would take a chosen mate ... and choose each other.

But her fated mate would never get the pleasure of meeting her, of being with her, of getting to know what an amazing wolf she was.

I sensed my wolf lying down, his nose buried in his paws as he whined for Tala.

Alaric stopped briefly to bring Radley's hands to his lips and kiss his palms, a look of complete adoration in his eyes. Radley smiled softly back at him, his cheeks flushed.

Sniffing, I quickly wiped my eyes then snapped my attention to Alaric and Radley as they stopped in front of me.

"Your father and my dad are in the sitting room near the front door of the mansion." I relayed the message I had from Dad only moments ago over the mind link. "I was told we had to go there now."

Alaric nodded, then looked down at Radley, a small smile playing on his lips. "Let's go get some answers."

*****

Claudia was sitting on one of the sofas as we entered the sitting room. Her eyes snapped up, and she smiled wide as soon as she saw Radley.

"There you are." She stood up and held her arms out. "How are you doing, my boy?"

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Radley let go of Alaric's hand, take a step forward ... and stop. His hands balled in fists at his sides and he simply looked at the wolf that had raised him. The woman who had been a mother to him.

"I'm not your boy," he muttered, loud enough for us all to hear. He stood tall, his shoulders back, his chin raised. "I'm a werewolf, apparently."

"You knew, didn't you?" Radley huffed. I watched as Claudia dropped her arms."You knew I was a wolf and didn't tell me."

Claudia blinked, her eyes glossy.

Where had my future Lune gotten this courage from?

"Why?" Radley took a step forward, his jaw clenched. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't tell you what you were because I was trying to protect you." Claudia fumbled behind her, and Blevine immediately rushed to her side and lowered her to a seating position on the sofa, then took the seat next to her. "You ... you need to listen to what we have to say. We can explain."

My dad and Conri both stood near the door, their faces stoney, their eyes on Claudia, an air of tension crackling around them. Blevine patted Claudia's arm. Claudia sighed, and wiped at her eyes and then raised her gaze to meet Radley's.

"I know what I did has hurt you more than helped you. Left you feeling confused." Her eyes were focused on Radley. "I know I've done things wrong. But please .... Please just ... let me explain. Me and Conri. We can tell you everything."