Braiden Ava is thrashing around, tears streaming down her face. Then her eyes fly open, revealing the white of her wolf. She bolts out of the hospital bed and then shifts. She looks at me, and in her white eyes, so much is revealed. Anger. Sadness. Confusion. She doesn’t stick around, bolting through the door and down the passage, shrieks and shouts heard in her wake as she leaves the hospital. Luckily, it is the one on pack land, not in town. I give the order for her to be left alone before shifting and following after her. She runs, tracking our scents as she heads back towards our house. She sticks to the forest, circling our home and towards the forest behind it. I hear her before I see her, a loud howl that leaves birds fluttering in the air and little animals running for shelter. It is a soulful howl that can be felt throughout the pack. It’s filled with all the emotions I saw in her eyes. Something must have happened. I wish I knew what. I’m slow entering the clearing she is pacing in. I don’t want to push her away, and maybe she will be more acc epting of my presence in this form. More acc epting of who I am to her. But I must give her some space. Let her come to me. Her senses are impeccable, so she must already know I am here. She doesn’t acknowledge me immediately but instead paws at the ground angrily, flaring her nostrils as her fur bristles. I wait, standing at the edge of the forest, until finally, her eyes meet mine. She whimpers, my wolf acknowledging it as a sign we are acc epted here in this space. I smile. I can’t help it. Little victories like this give me hope. All I want to do is hold her in my arms, comfort her, and make her feel safe. I take several st eps forward, careful not to get too close before dropping to the floor. She is eyeing me warily, pacing around me. I close my eyes. This is a sign of trust. If she wanted to, she could pounce on me. This position left me disadvantaged, opening me up for an attack. I want her to know that in front of her, I am no threat. She holds the power. It takes longer than I expect, but what happens when she finally acc epts this truce is surprising. So much so that it takes all my willpower not to move. She lowers herself to the ground beside me, mimicking my pose, her body touching mine. A few minutes pass before I open my eyes and shift my head, now resting next to hers. She looks at me, but the weariness from before has faded. I lift my head and offer her the only comfort I can in this form—I lick her face. Her eyes close, and she sighs, encouraging me. I groom her. The act is so primal and intimate that it resonates with me on a level akin to making love. I have never groomed anyone in this form, but I had heard about it happening between mates. It is a different kind of bond— a different kind of connection. Even now, the sparks erupt at the touch, but in this form, it is filled with more. Like the mate bond can be tasted. And it is delicious. She moves her head and nuzzles my neck, licking the spot she marked. The urge to sink my teeth into her, to leave her with a similar scar, is so strong, but I hold back.
Hours pass like this until the sun is high, telling us it is midday. “My King, your mother and Selene are making a scene at the packhouse. They insist on knowing your whereabouts and what is going on. They saw Aliana when we came for lunch...” Samuel is hesitating, trying to figure out what to say. “And what, Samuel?” “They must have sensed something was going on while trying to interrogate her. Asking her who she is and what she is doing here. And not very nicely. They made her cry.” Fuck, my blood is boiling. What is wrong with them, treating a three- year-old, my daughter, like that? Ava can sense my anger as her head lifts, and she looks at me quizzically. We must go back to the house and then to the pack hall. I get up and then dip my head toward our home. I don’t have time to waste, so I hope she will follow me there. Luckily, she does, and we are back in no time. I shift first, bolting inside to get on some clothes before picking out something for Ava from her room. When I return downstairs, Ava stands in the lounge, one of the blankets from the couch covering her. The atmosphere is awkward. What happened in the forest has changed things. Her eyes are no longer as guarded, and there is a shyness that wasn’t there before. Understandably. What we did was intimate. “We will talk about what happened, but we must go to the pack hall right now. Don’t panic. Everything is okay. Aliana is there, but my mother and... one of the pack members are causing a scene.” Fuck. How would I explain the Selene situation to Ava and make her understand? “Okay, but if anyone hurts my daughter, they are dead. Just saying.” Ava’s eyebrows lift, and she pulls her mouth in a matter-of-fact, cute way. “Our daughter. And you can’t kill them if I have killed them first.” She rolls her eyes, grabbing the clothes from my hands before disappearing into the guest toilet downstairs to change. “That’s two, Ava!” I shout, remembering how the eye rolls ended before with my hand spanking that delicious rear. A rear that is currently walking towards me, the jeans I picked hugging her like a glove. “Let’s go.” She takes the lead, heading out the door first but slowing down so that I can fall in st ep next to her. Better. The torture of walking behind her in these jeans was real. “What’s the deal with your mother?” If ever there was a question that could kill the mood, this was it. A question that is far from simple to answer. How do I tell her my mother has never liked or approved of her? “She is a difficult person. The years of being royalty have made her arrogant.” “Like mother like son then.” Ava laughs, the sound stopping me dead in my tracks. “What?” she asks, looking around as if something else has been the cause of my reaction. “Your laugh. I haven’t heard it in years. It has haunted my dreams, but nothing is as good as reality. I have missed it so much.” She blushes and then turns away, continuing on our path. I catch up, and she side-eyes me, the look in her eyes gentler. Not as harsh as when she first saw me.
“So, your mother... Have I met her before?” Damn, I would have to pull the band-aid off before we reached the hall. “You have. But Ava,” I say, stopping again and putting my hands on her shoulders, forcing her to face me. “She has not always approved of you, which caused some problems before. Do not let that deter you. You belong here with me—both you and Aliana do. I made that clear before, and I will make it clear again. I will not lose you again. My mother will get used to the idea.” Ava stares at me for a long time, mulling over what I have said and probably going over what has happened today. She must feel the sparks. She must know we are mates. She must also question what has happened to her and what the truth is. “I don’t know you. What I have been told about you are all things that instill fear. But,” her eyes land on where my hand is touching her shoulders, “there are a lot of things that don’t make sense. I want to know the truth. I will stay for that long and then decide. It is all I can offer at the moment.” My heart aches. It aches for what was taken from me. But Ava fell in love with me before. I can make her fall in love with me again. We can be a family. “Okay. We will take it slowly. But you cannot leave. It is too dangerous out there for you and Aliana alone.” She nods, this tiny bit of common ground feeling like huge progress. It makes me smile, and Ava’s eyes drop to my mouth. Unconsciously, she licks her lips and then blushes when she realizes this before turning back in the direction we are heading. The closer we get to the pack house, the louder the voices get. My mother is the loudest, followed by Samuel, who seems to be trying to calm her down. Finally, they come into view, along with the crowd who has gathered to watch the scene my mother is putting on. “I don’t care what he is doing. I demand to see him now!” Mother shrieks, stomping her foot on the ground for added effect. Selene stands beside her, looking angry but leaving the verbal sparring to my mother. Pack members see us before they do. Gasps followed by necks bared in submission. “My Queen, she has returned.” Ava stiffens beside me as we near the group while whispered words reach our ears. “You see, they remember you.” Ava is as shocked as they are. “Mommy, Daddy!” Louder gasps echo through the pack as Aliana, who is holding Nick’s hand, runs toward us, her tear-streaked face tearing my heart in two. Ava drops to her knees, swinging Aliana into her arms as she reaches us. “What’s wrong, little bean?” Aliana looks behind her, her eyes landing on my mother and Selene, both of them frozen, and my mother temporarily silenced by shock. “Those ladies are not very nice,” she whispers, the tremor in her tone making me angrier. “What did you do?” I roar, pack members flinching as I storm toward the two people who feel they have the right to interrogate my daughter. To demand to see their King. No one orders me to do anything.
“What is she doing here?” my mother hisses, completely ignoring my question. The hatred on her face as she points at Ava tells me she would never acc ept her, even if it made me happy. She didn’t care. It hits me like a ton of bricks. Fuck. It’s crystal clear. She never cared about me. Only about being royalty and being able to rule, even if it was just from behind the scenes. That’s why she pushed Selene on me. She could control her. Manipulate her. Secretly, I think she enjoyed the pain I was in the last four years. It meant she had more control as I battled to ke ep myself together, let alone a kingdom. Rage pushes my wolf forward, and I growl, finally catching my mother's attention. The hatred does not disappear even as she looks at me. “As of this moment, you are banished from the royal pack. Stripped of your royal title. If I could but strip you of the title mother, I would.” She gasps, her face falling in shock. “You wouldn’t dare.” She takes a st ep back as Samuel st eps forward. “I just did. You will be escorted from the pack property. If my father chooses, he can go with you. Don’t you dare come back.” My heart aches a little, but I don’t show it. Mother looks at me and then around her, none of the pack members meeting her gaze. Samuel grabs her arm as she shouts to be unhanded. “All this because of that bitch. Wait. They will come back for her, and when they do, they will kill her! Her blood is too valuable to them!” Her words make even Samuel stop. We look at each other and then at her. She doesn’t know about Ava’s blood unless... my heart sinks and my blood boils as I look at the woman I have called mother all these years—the woman who was supposed to love me, the woman who should have my best interests at heart—all lies. “It was you. You are the traitor.”