The Alpha's Daughter: Book 2

Ch 31: Group Bonding

*warning: graphic violence*

By the time the sun has started to rise, our group is utterly exhausted and we're forced to stop and rest. We find a clearing with fallen trees to stop at. I pull a large log over for Valencia to sit down on. Axel sits down across from her. I decide to switch it up and sit next to him for a change. He has pulled out a granola bar that he was now basically inhaling. Scarlett is the last one to sit down because she was scavenging and hunting around the surrounding area. She comes back with two bloody hares, locked in her dripping jaw. She shifts back to human form and dresses again.

"You'd think that the way we all get casually naked in front of each other that we'd be either best friends or hooking up," Axel jokes, starting a fire. Scarlett cuffs the back of his head. His hand jerks and he drops the lighter. He whips around and slaps her leg. She laughs and leaps onto his back, slapping him. He stumbles around for a second before he is able to shake her off.

"I think at this point we could say we're best friends," Valencia starts the fire with ease, spearing the dead hares with a spare branch.

"You know what," Scarlett brushes her leggings off and pats Valencia's head, "I think you're right." Val beams at her comment, pulling her down into a tight hug. They were already best friends to begin with.

"I just hope that it will stay this way," I say suddenly. I've surprised myself. I didn't mean to say that out loud.

"Aw, does Evy love us?" Axel bats his eyelashes at me, leaning in for a kiss. I slap him away but he manages to graze my ear. I immediately wipe it off.

"I get it," Scarlett smiles kindly at me. "I haven't really had a group of friends to just goof off with since, god, it's been years." We all nod our heads.

"After Remi went off the deep end, it was just me and Ember," Axel admits. He hasn't spoken much of everything that went down between them. "Even then I didn't have many guy friends." he meets my gaze with a small smile. I grin back at him and slap his shoulder.

"I don't even belong to a pack," Val blurts suddenly. Scarlett takes in a sharp breath before wrapping her arms around her friend. "There was an attack. Very few survived," her eyes are glued to the ground but I can hear the unevenness of her voice, "I don't know where my family is. I haven't seen them since I was able to escape, a few weeks ago. Then, Scarlett offered me a safe place to stay, and I couldn't refuse. I was homeless."

"I'm so sorry," my heart breaks for my gentle mate. She deserves everything and more, but not this. Nobody deserves to have lost their entire family.

"I have hope that I'll have some closure," she wipes her eyes, raising them to meet ours. "I really just want to know what happened so I have a chance to grieve and move on."

"I've been in love with Ember for as long as I can remember," Axel says quickly. He lets out a loud sigh. "That felt great to finally say."

"Trust me, Axel, it was obvious," I say with a light chuckle. Valencia laughs, nodding. He looks around with wide eyes. "Everyone was always saying you would end up together."

"It must've hurt to have her become mated with someone else," Scarlett flips the hares, to evenly cook them. Axel nods.

"It sucked. Really, really sucked," he lets out another shaky breath as he stares up at the sky. "I just hope we have the same connection even after everything."

We all sit in comfortable silence, letting our thoughts take over. My eyes settle on the flames over the fire. I see embers settling around the burning wood as tears form in my eyes. I miss my sister. I feel responsible for what happened to her.