Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Mink’s P.O.V

“Alpha, there’s an elderly lady here to see you.” Raunak, one of the patrol guards told me as I was sitting in my office one morning, waiting for Abhay to return from his visit to the nearest cyber café in town.

The new wolves were about to be integrated into the pack with a ceremony that was supposed to bring everyone together and as much as I was thrilled that my pack was growing and adapting well…there was this sense of unease gnawing at me as I realized that my pack was soon to draw attention from outsiders.

“What does she want?” I frowned as I tried to remember if I had any appointments. “Or is she new?”

“I’m not sure, Alpha.” Raunak frowned, shaking his head. “She says she wants to speak to the Alpha alone. But I’ve checked her for weapons already and she doesn’t seem to have any.”

“Thank you, Raunak,” I nodded in appreciation. “Bring her in; I’d like to meet her.”

I stood up from my seat and rounded the table and stood facing the door, waiting for this woman to show up. What could an elderly woman possibly want from me? Was she human or another wolf? A spy sent from a neighboring Alpha?

That answer became crystal clear as soon as she entered the room. The scent of her wolf was too strong to be mistaken for anything else. She wasn’t too tall, a bit rounded and short but she stood proud with her head held high. Her hair was covered with thin strands of silver amongst the black and it showed how she’d aged gracefully over the years.

Her face and hands, as much was visible from underneath her snow jacket, showed several wrinkles. She looked delicate but I could tell from the way she held herself that she had a spine of steel.

“Who are you?” I asked the elderly woman, who seemed to be an old wolf. How old could she be? Four hundred years, maybe five or even older? I couldn’t tell, but there was an aura of experience around her, of age and strength. She would never be an Alpha but she was a dominant female wolf, that much I was sure about.

“My name is Belle and I have come from the WildRain pack in Saudi Arabia.” She spoke in a deep, authoritative voice, heavy with an unknown accent. “And I’m here to join this pack.”

I stared at the woman in awe. Not very many people left their packs to join others, mainly because it could result in a conflict between the two packs, but Belle seemed adamant and she didn’t seem like a person who liked to hear no for an answer.

“But why?” I asked her again. “WildRain is one of the most stable packs in Asia. And the alpha is against abuses as well. So why would you leave such a stable and well established pack to join one that is barely formed?”

“It’s because you made a place for my daughter and grandson,” her expression softened, as did her voice. “You have given shelter to not just my daughter but so many others that needed a stable home and a strong alpha. That has gained you my faith and loyalty. From today onwards, I wish to be under your command, Alpha Mikalya. Please, integrate me into your pack.”

Belle bowed her head to me and I felt my wolf stir inside me. The alpha in me that had always wanted to build a pack, nurture a family, it felt happy, satisfied and deep inside the wolf’s heart, it felt the wounds of a century ago had started to heal.

With each member I integrated into my pack, I felt that gaping hole left in my heart grow smaller and smaller. Abhay had been right all along. This was what I needed, a pack to protect; a family to nurture.

But an integration wasn’t that simple. I needed to know more about who I was integrating and why.

“Who is your daughter, Belle?” I needed to ask, because there had been several who had come to my pack recently, but not all were well known to me just yet. That was why I was holding the ceremony in the first place.

“Why, it’s Kashmira, of course!” She spoke with pride in her voice. “And my grandson, Kushal.”

“Kashmira? Kushal?” My eyes widened as I thought about seventeen year old Kashmira and then looked towards the elderly woman who claimed to be her…mother…

Belle let out a throaty laugh as she witnessed my confusion. “I look too old to birth a child, eh? Well…maybe I am. Mira was my miracle baby, one I never expected to have. But there she was, a tiny being in my arms that was my seventh and final child.”

“You have seven children?” That in itself was another miracle. Wolves didn’t have many children to begin with, two or three at most. Seven…should be held as a world record of some kind.

“But…if you lived in Saudi Arabia…how did Kashmira end up in Jammu?” I frowned. “She was mated to the Alpha, as far as I know.”

“Ah…yes.” Belle looked unsteady on her feet, so I took her to the nearest couch and helped her take a seat. “You see…my mate died the same year that Mira was born…and I just...”

The death of a mate was unthinkable…especially if it was a werewolf, like I suspected he was. Belle must have been inconsolable at that time, and Kashmira only a babe…

A silent tear slid down her cheeks before she wiped it away. She seemed to be having a hard time composing herself and I debated calling Mira to console her, but still, it felt like I should learn her story first, so I knew if it would be alright to bring Mira into the equation or not.

“It had been an incredibly tough time for me.” Belle continued, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “I hadn't been sane for a few years after my Amir died…so it was my eldest daughter who took Mira in as her own daughter. Mira probably doesn’t even remember me, but she was sent to Jammu, at the pack where my daughter resides with her mate. And then I heard she was mated to the Alpha at only sixteen.”

Her story matched with Mira so far, but still, I didn’t know how she found out Mira was here of all places. And for now, that was my only concern.

“What happened then?” I urged, eager to know the full story. “What did you do after you learned that?”

“I didn’t want my child to be mated at that age, but I wasn’t able to stop it either.” She sighed, looking distressed. “So I asked my Alpha to release me of my duties so I could go see my daughter. He didn’t want to let me go as I had been with him for so long, and his young son had been quiet fond of me.” She let out a small chuckle. “Little Rhys was always following me around…it was painful to leave that family…but I had to take care of my own as well.”

“But when I reached Jammu however…it was to discover that my daughter had fled the pack along with her child and the Alpha was in a rage.” Belle swallowed, clasping her hands together in her lap. “My eldest daughter stopped me from entering the pack, or else the Alpha would kill me for birthing such an errant child. My daughter was planning on running too, but she had children. So I went in search of Mira all over the country. It was only when I reached Gujarat that a falcon told me about seeing her with you.”

Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle fell into pieces as Belle weaved her tale of her struggles in the country, searching from one state to another in search of her beloved daughter. The falcons, who I had defeated in an effort of self-defence when they had tried to initiate an unprovoked attack, had come in handy in pointing out that I had been with her daughter.

“They told me about a female Alpha, which was unheard of, but as I moved across the country, there were several lone wolves who spoke about feeling a pull towards a new female Alpha and I knew that the falcons hadn't lied.” She seemed to sigh in relief. “I’m so happy that you gave her shelter from those who wanted to cause harm to an innocent life.”

As I watched her compose herself, I couldn’t find any hint of malice or ill intension from her and she genuinely seemed to want to meet her daughter.

“Would you like for me to call Mira?” I asked tentatively, and instantly, her eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.

“Yes! Please!” She nodded enthusiastically, her voice holding a slight tremor. “I want to see my baby. I want to see how she is doing.”

Nodding at her request, I mentally called for Kashmira to come to my office, not telling her the reason just yet. I wasn’t sure what kind of reaction she might have to seeing her mother, since she was mostly raised by her older sister.

However, when Kashmira walked in through the door, she immediately paused, once she spotted the woman sitting beside me on the couch.

“Kashmira, this may be hard to believe but this is your-”

“Maa!”

“Mira!”

I blinked, taken aback by the sudden squeals of joy as the two women rushed towards each other and embraced in the middle of the room, tears streaming down their face as they spoke over the other in illegible words. But none of that mattered; what truly did matter was that mother and daughter recognized each other and they were happy to find one another after such a long time.

Hours later, when they were finally calm and had mostly caught up on their lives, I walked towards Belle. “It’s time, Belle. Are you ready?”

“Yes.” She nodded enthusiastically, her daughter by her side. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

I took out the thin kukri that I kept in my pocket and unsheathing it, sliced a diagonal line in my palm. Then I held the kukri out for Belle to take.

“This won’t be a normal integration, Belle.” I told her clearly. “My pack might be small but we are all bound by blood. We are a family. And if you wish to be integrated into this family, then swear your blood allegiance to me.”

Belle didn’t hesitate. She took the blade and made a similar cut on the palm of her opposite hand and then held out her arm to me. I connected our palms, cut to cut, so that our blood gets a chance to mix, to integrate...to become one. And as soon as the blood hit my veins, I could see flashes of memories, both happy and dark.

The time when she gave birth to her children, her mate and then the devastation after his death. All of it seemed to be a part of me now.

And just like that, another tendril of gold connected to my mind, another member added to my growing pack. But most importantly…a family finally reunited after years of separation.