Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Uncomfortable silence settles as they both take in the implications of Stella’s statement.

“That’s horrible.” And Madelyn does look horrified, voice barely audible.

Stella shrugs and looks away, clearly not willing to dwell on the subject for long.

“I did as I was told and two months later, I was pregnant. With you, Millan.”

Millan swallows, holding Stella’s remorseful gaze. His father was more of an asshole than he’d previously believed. And he never thought that could be possible.

“He didn’t want people to know what he’d done so he commanded me to leave for the duration of my pregnancy and to come back with the child only if it turned out to be an alpha male.”

“I turned out to be an omega.”

Stella shakes her head.

“No. Not at first.”

Millan's confusion must have shown and Stella explains further, “Your scent was akin to an alpha. I really thought you were one and when I came back with you in my arms, Travis did too. It’s only after your first birthday that your scent started to change and you started to show omega traits.”

Millan doesn’t know what to do with the information and decides to store it for a later freak out, since freak out material seems to just pile up.

“When he thought you were an alpha, your father wanted people to believe you were his and his mate’s, Klaire. He didn’t want to compromise your status.”

That sounds like the father Millan knows. Then again, being a bastard DID compromise his right for leadership.

“So he commanded Klaire and I to play along. He commanded me to avoid you, to avoid any contact with you. He commanded her to raise you as her own. We did as we were told.”

“What the fuck! Why the hell would you obey him? Why would you let Millan believe you didn’t even care for him! That’s just terrible!” Madelyn’s outburst strangely soothes Millan.

In that moment, he can see how different they both are. Where Madelyn fights tooth and nails, Millan looks for the closest exit.

He’s just glad to see that she is willing to fight the battles he’s too cowardly to even get involved in.

Stella looks pleadingly at them both. She goes to answer, but closes her mouth again, tears forming in her eyes.

Millan can see how hard she’s trying to hold them in.

“I’m sorry. I tried but… I couldn’t do anything. He Alpha Commanded me every time I tried to talk to you, Millan. I’m sorry.”

Millan knows how hard it is to disobey a command from an Alpha, especially for omegas.

He wouldn’t dream of holding this against her. Besides, all he wants to do at the moment is forgive and forget, especially the forgetting part.

“It’s okay, you don’t have t-”

“No. It’s not okay. Are you kidding me, Millan? YOU are able to disobey Alpha Commands, why the hell wouldn’t she even try? No. ‘sorry’ doesn’t cut it.”

“Maddie...”

“No, Millan, come on, let’s get out of here.”

Millan looks apologetically at Stella’s pained look. “Maddie, please.”

“It’s Madelyn for you.”

At that, Madelyn takes Millan's hand and pulls him out of his chair and out of the coffee shop.

Millan senses a strange mix of relief and guilt building up in his chest as Madelyn, his newly discovered sister, drags him further away from Stella, his apparently, biological mother.

*****

Weston blinks a couple of times, trying to ignore the echoes of Millan's current torment.

Sure, Millan was visibly sad when he’d left him but his distress only grew bigger and bigger and now, Weston has trouble concentrating on Grant’s report and the map they’re leaning over.

“Weston, are you all right?” Amir, always the perceptive one.

Weston doesn’t look at him as he answers, trying not to worry Amir further.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Weston does his best to ignore his soul mate’s anguish and looks at Grant expectantly. “You were saying troops have been gathering on the Northern Border?”

“Yes. Usually, Axel Brook's force isn’t too... worrying. But the volume of soldiers is starting to be alarming. Guards have spotted at least a couple thousand soldiers gathering in this area, which is double the numbers we’re used to with the Brook Pack.”

“Alliance?”

“Most definitely.”

Weston nags on his bottom lip as he thinks of his next move. He finds himself wishing Millan would be next to him, sharing the decision. But he doesn’t have time to day dream and every member of the Council is staring at him, waiting for orders.

“Amir, get me an audience with Axel Brook. Grant, double the guards and keep me updated.”

They both nod and Weston quickly ends the meeting, anxious to get back to Millan.

He has a feeling Millan could provide more than useful informations and suggestions in this crisis with Brook Pack. Millan may not realize it, but the omega is more than capable, witty and intelligent in handling other packs.

And more importantly, his wolf is crawling out of his skin, wanting to comfort Millan.

*****

The quick pace of Madelyn’s power walk is hard to keep up with.

Especially when you’re trying to get your thoughts together.

“Wait, Maddie, stop.”

Not thinking she’d listen, Millan is taken off guard when she turns around to face him and almost slams into her.

“What?” Maddie, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised, waits for an answer.

Millan really didn’t expect for her to give him any attention. Now he has to come up with something to say to a ‘fuming, verging on intimidating’ Madelyn. All the while, his head is still spinning with the new information Stella has thrown at them like a curve ball on a baseball match.

To be honest, he is glad that Madelyn has put an end to the conversation just so he could try to make sense of what has already been revealed, but he feels bad for Stella who only wanted to see her daughter again.

He feels like he stole the moment from Stella and Madelyn.

“Don’t you want to talk to your biological mother? Don’t you want to know why she gave you up?”

“I pretty much have all the answers I need, don’t you think? A shit father, a weak ass mother and a pathetic pack. She probably had me a few years after giving birth to you. No, not probably, for sure. She surely had me after you and then, she decided to give me away. ”

“Maddie…”

Millan wishes he could have a fraction of her confidence. Still, he thinks it’s a little unfair to summarize what Stella has been through so simply without giving her a proper time to explain further.

“What? Am I wrong?”

“She’s not weak.”

Millan tries not to cower under Madelyn’s infuriated gaze and holds his ground. He is her older brother after all.

But he is finding that standing up to people he actually cares about is a lot harder than standing up to idiots like Axel Brook.

“She ignored her son and gave up her daughter, lived a lie for the best part of her life just to obey an asshole blindly. If that’s not weak, I don’t know what is.”

“It’s more complicated than that. You don’t know how hard it is to ignore Alpha Orders when you’re an omega, to ignore your wolf’s needs completely. It hurts! Both physically and mentally.”

“YOU can do it.”

“Yeah, but it took a lot and it’s still hard to do even after all those years of practice.”

“Whatever. If you have the will to do it for yourself, she should have been able to do it for her children.”

Millan has a hard time arguing with that. He fish mouths for a second, trying to come up with something to say, but Madelyn doesn’t give him time to do so.

“She should have fought harder.” Madelyn said, the fight living in her voice.

Millan can see the glimpse of a little girl right now. Something that he had never seen in Madelyn before. Her personality was just so big that he sometimes forget that she’s still just a teenage girl.

Millan stepped forward and surround Madelyn with his arms. Madelyn returned the hug immediately, like it was as natural as breathing air.

“For the most part, I am glad that you grew up here and not in Caelan Pack.”

Madelyn’s grip on him tightened. “But-”

He stopped her to explain further. “No. Maddie, you don’t understand. Caelan Pack is… harsh. You heard it from… her. It’s not an environment that I would want you to grow up in. As a brother- as YOUR older brother, I believe and I am thankful that she did the right thing. It’s for your own good, Maddie.”

Madelyn shook his head, “You suffered alone, Millan. I wasn’t even there to be with you or comfort you, or at least help you!”

Millan pulled away just enough to look into Madelyn’s face. “You don’t have to worry your pretty little head about those things. Whether you are there or not, things will still happen. We will still grow up separately. There’s no use crying over spilled milk, Maddie. I would rather you avoid all of that, and stay away from it.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that she’s weak.” Madelyn countered, the sharpness in her voice back.

Millan sighed, not knowing how to console her. He doesn’t even know what he feels right now. She turns around and starts walking again, effectively ending the conversation.

Suddenly exhausted, Millan doesn’t follow her.

All he wants to do is curl up in Weston’s arms and ignore the existence of the outside world. It’s terrifying how addictive Weston’s comfort is becoming. He can’t imagine coping with all of this alone as he’s been doing for the better part of his life.

He’s certain now that he wouldn’t survive another exile. It’s with that shuddering thought that he excuses himself from Madelyn’s company, and stops himself from following her as he concentrates on finding Weston.

It’s surprisingly easy.

As he walks towards the familiar scent, he realizes that Weston is also walking up towards him.

That simple fact, the knowledge that Weston is seeking him out too, eases up some of the tension in his shoulders and the pounding in his head.