Liv sat with her legs pulled up, forehead resting on her knees and arms wrapped around them as the streaming water warmed her icy body. Malik was downstairs telling her pack what had happened to her and the fact that a Margyge had been spotted. She could feel the worry and anger coming from all of them. Closing her eyes, she hated the fact that she felt their feelings right now. She needed a break from all this. Even though there was no way that she would get one. Her life was one shitshow after another and it seemed like the breaks she got were brief and few. What has she ever done to deserve this?
A tear streamed down her cheek as loneliness filled her chest. Yes, she had her pack back and right now, more than ever, she wasn’t alone, but the feeling still consumed her. Why? Because she was still alone to deal with everything in her head. There was no one at the end of the day to take her in their arms, telling them everything was going to be okay. It was times like these that she missed her parents more than ever. She was forced to grow up when she was twelve. Always living alone and always on the run. There was no time for her to be loved and coddled. She had never complained because she had her life back, but the loss of love was a wound that hadn’t closed an inch since the death of her parents. Having Malik, Fare and her pack was something she’s forever grateful for, but even though they chose her as Alpha, they are not the ones to close the wound. With time they may be the reason that it’s starting to heal, but it will never close. She will always feel like this and she hated it. She hated it even more that everyone downstairs could feel it coming from her now as well. It’s not that she didn’t want them to know, but because they will find out what a pathetic excuse of an Alpha she is. She could even imagine Malik and Fare scolding her for thinking like that, but she couldn’t help it. Having to be strong comes with a price, and this was hers. To always feel alone, even surrounded by those who care for her. Why else would she feel like this?
A thumb made her head snap up as she looked at the closed bathroom door. A small voice whimpered something before she heard shuffling coming from her room. Liv got up from the floor and softly got out of the shower, while it was still running. She grabbed a large towel which she wrapped around her body and allowed the wolf to get closer to the surface.
“Alpha?” Fare asked through the link. “Stay down there until I order otherwise.” She answered as she slowly got closer to the door. The acceptance came through the bond as she grabbed the doorknob, before turning it around and pulling the door open with a quick motion. Only for a small yelp to sound as a girl fell on the ground. Liv looked at the girl who scrabbled to get up and sighed. “Hello, Frida.” Rev’s daughter met her gaze and gave her an embarrassed smile as her cheeks turned red. “Hi.” She spoke as she sat up on her knees. “What are you doing here?” Liv asked as she bended to pick the girl up and sat her on her bed.
“Everything okay?” Malik’s voice entered her head. “Yeah, it’s just Rev’s daughter.”
“Do I have to tell you how not okay that sentence is?” Malik immediately answered. Liv sighed as she ran her hand over her wet face. “Malik.”
“Yeah?”
“Shut up.” She said before she cut the link and focused on the girl in front of her. “Frida?” She asked as the girl still hadn’t answered her. Frida played with the end of her shirt as she averted her eyes. “I- Mommy and Daddy are fighting.” The girl spoke softly. Liv sighed as she crouched down in front of Frida. She laid her fingers against her chin and lifted her head so the girl was looking at her. “They have been fighting a lot.” She added.
“I’m sorry to hear that, but why is that the reason for you to climb through my window?” Liv asked with a soft voice. “Because they are fighting about you.” Liv’s eyebrows shot to her hairline as she dropped her hand on Frida’s knees. Nessa and Rev were fighting about her?
“Mommy is angry at daddy because you hate us now. They are screaming at each other and-” Tears started to roll down her cheeks as she dropped her head again. “Alpha cannot calm mommy down and she is yelling that she is going to leave us. She doesn’t want to be with us anymore.” The girl broke down completely and Liv sighed as she looked at her, before she moved to sit on the bed and took the crying girl in her arms. From the brief time she knew Nessa she also knew that the woman had a temper, but she hadn’t expected something like this. A bit of guilt woke up in her chest as she held the crying girl.
Her door opened and Malik walked in with Fare as they looked at the two of them.
“We felt your guilt.” It was the only answer she got to her questioning gaze as she looked at them. She gave them a small nod as Frida kept crying. They were quiet until the girl recollected herself and wiped her nose. “I’m sorry, Frida.” Liv spoke as the girl moved to sit on her own and looked at her hands in her lap. “But why on earth would you climb through my window because of this?”
“Because you can make mommy stay!” She stated as she met Liv’s gaze. “Mommy and daddy are fighting because of you. If you tell Mommy that you don’t hate us, she will stay!”
“Alpha, we must think of the possibility that this is a set up.” Fare’s voice came through the link as he stood with his back against the wall and didn’t take his eyes off the two of them. “To what end? What would they get from me by sending her in here?” Liv asked as she still held the gaze of the girl, but added Malik to the link.
“Playing with your emotions? Another test?” Fare answered with questions.
“Or just to plainly get you alone in Caden’s pack.” Malik interjected as he connected the dots of what the conversation was about. She didn’t think that Caden would actually send Frida to get her into his pack. He would fight harder to keep her out of it. Even getting her alone could be easier done. Why would he need an elaborate plan for that?
“Frida, I don’t think that-”
“No, please!” Frida interjected before Liv even had the chance to finish. “Please help me to keep my mommy.” She added as she grabbed Liv’s hands in her tiny ones. Frida’s eyes held pain and fear and she knew for a fact that the kid couldn’t fake that.
“This isn’t a ruse. This is a girl who is desperate to keep her family together.”
“Are you sure?” Malik asked. She met his gaze from the bed and gave him a small nod.
“Please...” Frida begged again. Liv’s eyes snapped back to the girl. She lifted one of her hands and wiped the tears away from her face. “Go with Malik and Fare. I’ll meet you downstairs.” Hope sparked in the eyes of Frida, like a fire that was ignited with lighter fluid. “You’ll help me?” The girl whispered.
“I’ll try.” Frida pulled her hands free before attacking Liv with a hug. Liv smiled as she wrapped her arms around the girl as well and squeezed her a little, before gently pushing the girl away from her. “Go with them.” Frida nodded, before jumping off the bed and walking over to Malik and Fare who were waiting for her by the door. Fare smiled at the girl before saying something and taking her hand to go downstairs. Liv released a sigh the moment Frida and Fare were out of sight.
“You, okay?” Her gaze slid to Malik. “I have to go into a pack I want to destroy and mend a relationship between two of their members. I have been better.” She ran her hands over her face.
“Then why not just tell her that there is nothing you can do and have her returned to Caden?” Liv’s eyes shot to Malik. “Because I’m not heartless. I know what it’s like to have a broken family and if I can help it, I will mend any family I can.” A smile started to splay over his face. “Good.” He winked at her before walking away. He asked the question, not because he was truly wondering it, but because he knew she needed to hear it herself as well. With a sigh she got up from the bed and walked back into the bathroom. Turning off the shower, before drying herself and putting on some underwear, black jeans, a blue long sleeve and her combat boots. She tossed her long hair on her back as she made her way downstairs. Entering the living room, she saw Fare and Frida playing tic-tac-toe on a piece of paper. Walking over to Malik, she met his gaze as he straightened from next to Fare. Frida looked over her shoulder as she noticed Malik. “Who’s winning?” Liv asked as she reached them. “I am!” Frida exclaimed happily.
“Good girl.” Liv commented with a wink to Fare who chuckled softly. “Come on, I’ll take you back to your pack and talk with Nessa and Rev.” Frida nodded and jumped off the stool. “You two are coming with me as well.” She added as she looked at Fare and Malik. They didn’t need an explanation, they just nodded. Together they walked out of the house and to the one that was way too close to theirs. Malik and Fare flanked Liv as Frida ran towards the door and opened it. Dread filled her as she met looked inside the cabin. She didn’t want to be anywhere near any of them, but she had to help Frida. She just had to.
Taking a deep breath, Liv walked up the porch steps and entered the cabin that was way bigger than the one she had. All the wolves inside quieted as they all looked at her. She straightened her back as she followed Frida through the house with Fare and Malik at her sides, glaring at any wolf that they passed. The girl led them through the cabin until they reached the back door. Frida opened it and walked into an enclosed backyard, that was way bigger than she thought it was. The backyard of their own cabin was large as well, but this one topped hers by far. As they walked into the yard, female yells greeted them from a distance. Liv’s eyes shot to the sound and she saw Nessa raging against Rev, who was raging back to Nessa in the same extend. Caden and Ben sat a bit farther with another wolf she didn’t know, watching the couple fight. All but one set of eyes, who snared hers the moment she looked at him. Fare and Malik both growled lowly as they got closer to her. They obviously saw Caden as well and felt her tense. Bringing them was the best thing she could have done. At least now, he wouldn’t be able to pull the same stunt he had last night. Knowing that made the tension in her body abate a bit.
“I don’t remember giving you an invitation to enter my pack.” Caden spoke, hushing the fighting couple who were looking at her right now as well as she reached the group.
“You didn’t.” She spoke as she reached out her hand to Frida, who took it. Liv pulled the girl in front of her and placed her hands on Frida’s shoulders. “As a matter of fact, one of yours infiltrated mine, by climbing through my window.” Caden’s eyes hardened a bit as he briefly looked at Frida who didn’t back down from his stare. “The fact that I’m bringing her back myself and not have her punished and send back to you as an example is a favor I’ll only extend once.” His eyes snapped back to hers as she felt Frida tense underneath her hands. “You’re not that heartless.” Ben interjected with a hard line set in his jaw.
“You have no idea how heartless I can be, remember that I was trained to be nothing but a heartless mercenary who was hired to do the most unthinkable things to people.” It wasn’t a lie, but she would never hurt a child. Frida had never been in any kind of danger from her, not that they need to know that for sure right now. “She is a child.” Nessa’s whisper filled her ears which made her look at the female.
“She is.” Liv confirmed. “A child that is desperate enough to break into another pack to beg for help to keep her family together.” The tension in the air shifted to something else entirely as everyone grew quiet. A tear rolled down Nessa’s cheek as she looked at her daughter. “Frida?”
“I don’t want you to leave momma.” Frida spoke as her voice broke. “You and daddy were fighting because of Liv.” Nessa sighed as she closed her eyes as she turned away.
“Frida, why don’t you go play with Bo, I’ll talk to your parents.” Liv said as she turned the girl to face her and gave her a soft smile. Frida nodded before she wrapped her arms around her neck once more before running off to Bo who was standing a bit further.
“What the fuck is going on between you two?” Liv asked as she met Rev’s hard gaze. Caden and Ben surprisingly kept quiet as she talked directly to the beta. “You cannot help us, Kerra.” Malik immediately growled loudly and took a step forward as he heard her first name. Liv immediately grabbed his arm and held him back before he was going to attack the male. “Call her by that name again and we’ll rip your throat out.” Fare commented from her other side. Rev’s eyes shifted to emerald as he growled as well. Fare reacted in kind and also took a step forward. “Enough.” The command rolled off her like a wave and both Malik and Fare took a step back as they listened to her. “If you wanted me to stay out of this, you should have thought of that before your fighting pushed Frida to climb through my window.” Rev gulped as he met her gaze again. “So, I ask again, what the fuck is going on?”
“I don’t want to live in this pack, in this world, anymore, that’s what’s going on.” Nessa said as she turned back around. Rev growled as he was the one who turned away this time. “Ever since I found out what Rev was, I made the choice to abandon everything and be with him. It was my choice to leave my parents and everything I knew behind, but if I had known for what I would be giving them up, I wouldn’t have done it. Over the years, the pack became something else from what they used to be and I hate it. I am done with being a pawn for someone else outside of the pack to use and to continue to live in a war that has no end in sight. What we did to you was the last straw for me. Because what we did was wrong and you didn’t deserve it.” Nessa’s tears ran down her cheeks as she advanced to Liv and grabbed her hands in hers. “Liv, I am so sorry. I wish I could reverse time and change what happened, but I can’t and I am so sorry for it.”
“So, you are willing to give up your daughter and husband because you are done with the life you chose to live?” Liv didn’t want to make it sound like she was condescending, but she couldn’t help herself. Everything that Nessa had said woke up anger in her and she couldn’t hold it back. Nessa’s body went rigid as Rev turned around and looked at her. “My life was taken from me when I was six, I was tortured for twelve years, when I ran away to live in the human world, where I had to suppress my wolf for eight years and had to kill and torture people in order to stay away from King, only to be found eleven years later and be thrown back into the same hell hole I crawled out from. I have been nothing but, on the run, alone or used for most of my life and you have the audacity to whine to me about the life you chose to have.” Nessa flinched at her words. “Fucking hell, Nessa. If I had the change to live the life you have, I would take it with both hands and never let go. You aren’t without choice, even if you feel like you’re a pawn for someone to be used. Snap out of the self-pity you have thrown yourself in and realize what you want to throw away right now! You have a daughter, a husband, a family and friends who love you and who are there for you. That’s more than I’ve ever had for my entire life!” Nessa looked at Frida who was laughing with Bo before she looked at Rev who had gotten closer to her and held her gaze with a desperate look of his own. Liv took a deep breath as she finally noticed the weight that was pressing on her chest because of her words. The words she spoke were nothing but true, and she still hated the pain they caused, and will always cause.
“I don’t hate you, Nessa.” Nessa immediately looked back at her. “What’s done is done and let it go. You cannot change anything about it, so don’t torture yourself with it.” The pain was clearly visible in Nessa’s eyes and the words she spoke ran through Liv’s head. She released a long breath as she realized that it wasn’t just self-pity that drove her to the point of running away from everything.
“Get help with the problems you’re facing, Nessa. If not Rev then go to Doc, but get help, before you throw away everything.” Nessa’s lip trembled as she dropped her head while nodding. “I will.” Nessa squeezed in her hands. “Thank you.” She whispered as she looked back up. Liv gave her a small nod as someone walked towards them. Liv looked at the wolf and saw Doc, who gave her a small smile. She met Caden’s gaze next who winked at her as he sat back. Confirming that he was the one who called for him through the link while she was talking with Nessa.
“I really screwed up, haven’t I?” Liv’s gaze was pulled back to Nessa, but she didn’t answer as Rev was the one who walked forward and made Nessa turn towards him as she released Liv’s hands. He cupped both of her cheeks as he made her look at him. “You haven’t, not yet anyway.” He said with a small smile. “I love you, Vanessa and I only want the best for you, you know that. Thank you for finally accepting help.” Nessa’s lip trembled as she also smiled, before Rev kissed her.
“I’ll do my best to help you with whatever you need, Nessa.” Doc interjected which made the couple look at him. Nessa nodded as Rev moved his hands from her face, before Nessa walked away with Doc.
“Thank you.” Liv met Rev’s gaze and gave him a small nod. “Turns out she could help anyway.” Malik snapped to Rev, making the Beta glare at her pack member. Liv had to fight her smile as she glanced at Malik who held Rev’s gaze with unrelenting hardness.
“Calm down, Mal.” She spoke, which made him look at her as well. He saw the slight smile on her face and winked at her. She rolled her eyes as movement made her look at the bench where the two Alpha’s had parked their ass. Caden walked towards her and crossed his arms as he stood in front of her, too close for it to be appropriate, which was also noticed by Malik and Fare who immediately tensed.
“Why did you help them?”
“And I owe you and explanation, why? My reasons are my own and if you don’t like that you can go fuck yourself.” Caden gave her a crooked smirk as she straightened a little. “Not exactly sure you want me to fuck myself.” A shiver ran down her spine and not the good kind. She hardened herself towards him as she took a step closer. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s not like I would want you when I have two others who are better than you will ever be.” A low growl came from Caden almost instantly. “Not bothered by that now, are you?” He clenched his jaw as he held her stare. She smirked as she took one step closer, brushing her breasts against his chest. Pushing herself up until she was standing on her toes and bringing her mouth as close to his ear as she could she spoke low, for only him, Malik and Fare to hear, “Yours will be the last name on my mind when I let either of them take me, but mine will be on your mind as soon as you wrap your hands around that cock of yours. As will be the fact that you will never have me again.” She retreated herself and met the, now emerald, eyes of Caden. “Your turn.” She spoke the same words he told her, before walking away with Malik and Fare close behind her.
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