It has been several days since leaving the place where she used to call home. When she announced the news to the little ones, she thought she will see a little hesitancy but all have taken a liking to Maksim and was eager to move to a new pack. Octavia has to admit though, she was extremely nervous to meet everyone. Maksim has been assuring her that everything will be fine the whole way there.

The day of her parents’ burial, it was the saddest day of her life. She felt so much pain but Maksim was with her the whole time and he was a godsend. He was patient with her, held her at night when she cried. It will take a while for her to get use to the fact her parents were no longer with her but she knew deep inside of her that Maksim will always be there to help her.

When they reached the edge of Maksim’s territory, Octavia can sense Maksim’s guard coming down. The pups that rode on the back of several warriors were laughing gleefully as the sentries that guarded the border howled—announcing their Alpha’s return.

Maksim’s territory was surrounded by mass of trees, several homes were built around the place and the pack house looked like a wood mansion. It was huge. She looked at everything carefully as they pulled up to the edge of the woods and began shifting. She watched as Maksim shifted and pulled on a pair of shorts before walking up to her with an oversize blanket.

During the journey she had also shifted into her wolf to run alongside him. She was guessing he held the blanket up for her so that she can also change. She nodded her head for him to turn away but he only arched an eyebrow in response.

That pompous male, she thought to herself.

Reluctantly, she shifted in front of him naked. A blush forming on her cheeks as she quickly pulled on his t-shirt and a pair of yoga pants. When she was done, she risked a glance at him. He held a cocky smirk and his eyes held back nothing. He saw everything.

“I hope you had a very good look.” She muttered in an undertone.

He chuckled. “It was a very beautiful view, Octavia.”

She pursed her lips and he wrapped the blanket up before placing a possessive arm around her hip. The pups hopped off and followed closely to them. On top of the valley, stood two couples—one of them looked very much like Maksim. They were smiling brightly and suddenly Octavia didn’t feel so uneasy any longer. Nothing about the people here gave her any sign of malice or unacceptance.

“How are you doing?” Maksim asked with concern.

She looked up at him with a smile as they continued to walk up the hill. “Good. Are those two couple your parents?”

He glanced to where she was nodding to and nodded in response. “The one jumping next to the dark raven hair woman is the former Beta Female. Her name is Anna. Her mate is the one next to her, his name is Dimitri. They are Antonia’s parents.”

Octavia nodded and when they finally stood in front of the four people on top of the hill. The two women crouched down to the pups’ eye level.

“Oh my god, they are adorable!” Their eyes held a look that reminded her so much of her mother. She smile sadly. Maksim squeezed her hip supportively.

“Thank goddess you are home.” The man that looks very much like Maksim breathed.

“It is nice to see you too, папа (papa).” Maksim moved into hug the man.

They were the same height but Maksim had his mother’s hair. It was those eyes—they were exactly alike. Those eyes finally turned to meet her.

“This must be Octavia.” Maksim’s father spoke with a fatherly smile. “It is so nice to meet you.”

“It is nice to meet you too, sir.” She replied.

“Call me Nikolai.” He encouraged. “Sir, just seems too much.”

“You’re old, Nick. Get use to it.” Dimitri muttered as he appeared in her line of vision. He also wore a brilliant smile as he introduced himself to her.

“Piss off, Dimitri. Don’t make me throw you across this yard.” Nikolai growled at him.

“Stop it you two! No one will be throwing anybody.” Maksim’s mother scolded before pulling Octavia into a tight hug. “It is so nice to finally meet my son’s mate. You are absolutely stunning, my dear. My name is Roza.”

She turned to Maksim and Octavia can see the love the woman had for her child. She hugged Maksim tightly. “Oh my dear older one, you leave us and come back with a surprise.”

He chuckled. “I miss you too, мама.”

**

After all the introductions with everyone and explaining to them that Antonia has returned to her mate’s pack. Maksim, Nikolai, and Dimitri continued to discuss who should be the next Beta. Maksim was taken away to finish off some pack issues that have been pushed aside until he came back home which left Octavia alone with Anna and Roza.

“I can’t believe it, you took in five orphan pups. It is absolutely cute. They are absolutely cute.” Roza’s eyes were lighting up so much as she watched the little pups eat in the pack house.

“I never thought I will meet Maksim.” Octavia admitted.

Roza was a very pretty woman even for her age. Octavia now knew where Natalya got her beautiful violet eyes from. Anna was a slightly smaller woman but her perky attitude makes up for her smaller frame. They were definitely a lot like her mother and Octavia knew if her mother was here, they would have become good friends.

“So I see that my son has marked you. Does that mean you two-“

“Roza, really.” Anna stopped Roza before she could say anything.

“I’m just saying…”

“It is really none of our business. Besides, Maksim built that small cabin next to the pack house for a reason. He wanted privacy.” Anna argued.

Roza huffed but you can see she was not angry at all. Instead she pushed it aside. Octavia learned a lot during the two conversations between the two women. They spoke a lot and made her feel extremely welcomed. The pups were feeling the same and soon it was like they knew each other for the longest time.

It was late into the evening when Octavia finally yawned from exhaustion. All those days of running was quickly catching up to her. Roza noticed it immediately and stood up.

“Oh dear, you must be tired. We kept you here long enough. How about I have Maksim come and take you to get some rest.” Roza offered.

“What about the pups? Where will they be sleeping?” She asked.

“In this pack, we have nurses that watches pups in the East wing. Some family leaves their pups up there a few days a week to be taken care of if there are some issues at home that they need to take care of. The East wing has many bedrooms for the teens within the pack, pups that are of age to sleep alone without their parents, and also a nursery for the little ones.” Anna responded. Octavia nodded her understanding. It was actually a pretty good idea. The pack house was the safest house out of all the places in the territory only because it was normally heavily guarded.

“We will take care of them.” Roza assured Octavia seeing that Octavia was still slightly worried. The pups were use to sleeping with her in their small little cottage.

The pups on the other hand were more than eager to leave. The idea of sleeping on their own and owning their own bed was thrilling. Katya unfortunately has no say in it as she has already fallen asleep. Aleksander was the oldest of them all and although Octavia thought he will be the first one to hesitate, his facial reaction showed no arguments as he shot out of his seat in the sitting room.

Maksim appeared in the arched entryway of the sitting room then. Octavia can’t count how many tiems this man will make her heart flutter, she knew even if they grow old together he will constantly make her feel like a mess inside. He stood in the entryway, wearing a black t-shirt over his shorts he had pulled on earlier. He looked a little stiff until his eyes found his mate to which he relaxed.  Roza and Anna helped the pups up and carried a sleepy Katya out of the room and up the stairs.

“How did it go?” Maksim asked.

She smiled. “It went well. Everyone is very friendly.”

He nodded in approval. “I’m glad you are not feeling uncomfortable. Anna and my mother can be pretty persistent. They are extremely excited. You can’t imagine the years I heard her telling me to go search for my mate.”

“Did you not want to find me?” Octavia asked accusingly as her eyes narrowed on him playfully.

His eyes widened. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Exactly what did you mean then?” She propped her hands on her hips.

Maksim took a large step toward her, ridding of any spaces between them. His chest was pressed dangerously against hers. She didn’t realize how much she had missed him all day today until she saw him standing here in front of her. It took everything in her not to throw herself into his arms and cling onto his skin like a mad woman.

“That’s not what I meant.” His hand came up to slowly caress her cheek. His eyes followed the trails of his fingers until he looked back at her in the eyes again. “And you know it, Octavia.”

With that he startled her by sweeping her up into his arms. She let out a surprised squeal before wrapping her arms firmly around his shoulders. His eyes gleamed with something that has Octavia’s core clenching with desires.

“Where are we going?” She asked.

“Home.” He said softly with so much hope. Her heart melted into a complete puddle.