Chapter 110: Chapter 110

Azraiel stares at the table in front of him blankly. He is currently sitting in his office at the pack house waiting for Theo. Charlotte and Theo went to her pack today and it looks like he has finally accepted that Samantha is her mate.

This also means that he is ready to talk about the past without biting his head off!

A million things cross Azraiel’s mind but he somehow quietens the questions so that he wouldn’t upset Theo.

He leans back as he hears the footsteps.

A few seconds later Theo knocks on the door twice and then enters.

“Sit.” Azraiel says to him. He carefully looks at Theo and notices the change in his demeanor. He seems relaxed, not angry and definitely happy.

“What happened?” Theo asks as he sits down.

“Nothing.” Azraiel puts his hands on the desk. “Can I not call you to just talk?”

“Of course, you can!” Theo says. “But I’d rather talk while walking.”

“Come on then.” Azraiel gets up and gestures for Theo to follow.

Both of them do not speak until they are out of sight of others and well into the woods.

“So…Congratulations.” Azraiel stops in front of Theo and opens his arms for a hug.

Theo accepts it and hugs his best friend.

“I am taking that you want her to join the pack.” Azraiel and Theo resume walking.

“Yes, I do. She is waiting for Charlotte’s shift.” Azraiel senses him hesitating a bit. “What do you plan to do with her pack after her shift?” He asks.

“Well..It’s her pack!” Azraiel answers. “If she wants it and the pack members have no objection then I’ll merge the two packs. It’ll make it easier for Charlotte to be their Alpha while being our Luna.”

Theo nods.

“But…if she doesn’t wish to do so, I’ll not interfere in her decision. However, your mate is welcome to join our pack anytime she wants.”

“Thanks.” Theo says and smiles.

Azraiel starts walking towards the lake, knowing that no one would disturb them there.

“Why did you not tell me Theo?” Azraiel hates the way his throat clogs up thinking about the pain his brother had to go through all alone.

Azraiel doesn’t look away from Theo’s face, trying to catch anything that would tell him the answers without coming out of his mouth.

Theo gulps and looks away. He is quiet and stares at the water of the lake.

“I-I couldn’t say it, Azraiel.” Theo gulps as the memories flood back.

“You lost your father. Matt lost both his parents. We all lost Kain. Our pack-it lost so much.”

“And you lost your mate, Theo.” Azraiel quietly adds. “Just because you weren’t mated doesn’t mean it would hurt less.”

Theo doesn’t answer. They both sit in silence, each trying to sort out the mess in their head.

“How did she die?” Azraiel finally asks.

Even before Theo could open his mouth, Azraiel adds, “Please don’t avoid the question this time. I want truth…all of it.”

“It happened on the day we were attacked.” Theo begins and Azraiel could see the pain.

The pain of losing his father.

The pain of losing his mate.

The pain of losing himself.

“We were fighting off the rouges when one of them attacked my father from behind. I saw it. I-I wanted to help. My father was strong but three of them were holding him down and one of them stabbed him with a silver knife. I was about to help him Azraiel, but out of nowhere two wolves pushed me down. They stabbed me with a silver knife too. I-I was young, unprepared and the panic just made my reflexes slow. I watched it Azraiel. I watched as four of them pushed my father down, and stabbed him again and again. And do you know what’s the worst part?”

Azraiel stopped breathing for a second because somehow in his gut he knew what he was going to say.

“The girl who was stabbing him was my mate.”

Azraiel squeezes his eyes shut as he recalls what happened next.

The Blue Orchid pack lost his Beta and the pain flooded through everyone’s mindlink, including Azraiel. The blind rage that Azraiel felt in that moment couldn’t be described in words. His father was alive when this happened and they had just lost Kain. As soon as he felt the pain he rushed to Theo and helped him fight the rouges off. When he saw the girl standing near Theo’s father’s dead body, he was blinded with rage.

He killed her in an instant.

Shit!

Shit!

She was a rouge who killed Theo’s father.

And he…Azraiel killed her!

God! This is fucked up!

“I-I” Azraiel opens his mouth but Theo stops him.

“It wasn’t your fault, Azraiel.” Theo finally looks at Azraiel. “It wasn’t your fault.” He says softly. “She looked at me. She knew! She fucking knew that I was her mate. She knew that the man she was stabbing was my father…She knew it! Yet…yet she chose to kill him anyway. She made the choice.”

Azraiel has no idea what to say. He has no idea how to say sorry…for the loss of his father…for the loss of his mate…for the loss of his faith in the word mate!

So, instead, he doesn’t talk about it. Azraiel quietly pats Theo’s back.

“Is that why you left?”

“Yeah… I know it was foolish. I was a coward! But- I couldn’t handle it here. Everyone was dealing with the loss in their own way. Some lost their entire family….some lost themselves. I-I had no idea how to deal with the situation…with the responsibilities…with the pain. I- I really had no idea. So, I ran away!” Theo’s voice changes and Azraiel knows it hurts.

Even after so many years, it fucking hurts!

“I ran away like a coward!”

“And you didn’t want to compete for the Beta position.” Azraiel adds. He remembers being so angry at Theo. Azraiel lost his father and Matt lost both his parents. As a trio, they were told right from childhood that Theo would become his Beta and Matt the Gamma. They were groomed to be the rank holders. But after the attack, Theo left. The night after the attack he bailed on them. They tried contacting him for hours but all they received was a text that he was safe and they shouldn’t worry about him and that he would be back before the ceremony in which Azraiel would be declared as the Alpha.

That’s when Azraiel decided that the ranks shouldn’t be passed on because of the blood. He decided to change the system in his pack. No one would get a rank in his pack without proving their competence, not even him. Before he was declared the Alpha, he invited wolves around the world to challenge him for the Alpha position. Many came but he won.

It’s not that Theo wouldn’t have won but that he didn’t want to win. The role of Gamma's position was comparatively smaller than it is today in his pack.

“I wasn’t fit to be the Beta then, Azraiel. You know it too!” Theo looked sad but relieved on letting everything out.

Azraiel nods. To be honest none of them were fit to hold any position. They were practically teenagers. He might have been angry with Theo then but now that he knows the reason, he is just glad that Theo is safe and Mother Luna has blessed him with a second chance at love.

“I know I don’t know how to express my feelings…” Azraiel says to Theo, “But you know I love you and I’ll always be there for you…right?”

“Theo smiles with tears in his eyes and nods. He leans forward and embraces Azraiel.

Azraiel can feel Theo’s tears dripping on his shirt and he knows his are streaming down his cheeks too. He clutches Theo to him with all his might as if wanting to take away his pain. He embraces the child who lost his father, the wolf who lost his mate and the man who lost himself eleven years ago!

The Alpha and the Gamma of the Blue Orchid pack, the brothers comfort each other knowing that their Luna and Beta are crying for them too!