ELLIE

"—But I don't really remember all that much about my mother. She wasn't my father's real mate and he banished her from the pack once she had done her job of raising me," Bradley sighed. He had successfully managed to get out us out of the cellar I was being held in and had spent the last forty-five minutes telling me about his family.

He had tried to assure me that his father and sister hadn't always been ruthless and he remembers a time when they both actually loved him. I knew he was kidding himself and that he wanted to remember that side for his own benefit but I wasn't going to tell him that, instead settling for smiling and nodding whenever he spoke.

"What about you? Do you remember anything about your family?" Bradley asked curiously.

"Not really. I didn't even know I had a twin until she turned up but my brother does make an appearance in my dreams every so often," I smiled as I remembered the last conversation I had with Kyros.

I had just found out that Charlotte was my twin and he appeared that night. I asked him about Charlotte and he explained that she was never meant to be left behind. He told me I was more important than Charlotte but that's only because I was next in-line for the thrown so that meant I required more protection because people were always going to be after me – but he promised me that Charlotte was never supposed to be left behind and Nicole was meant to take her at the same time she took me.

It was still weird talking to a faceless figure. I was weird having a conversation with my dead brother. But I had become used to both now and had never told anyone that Kyros paid me the occasional visit, usually when there was something I needed explaining, out of fear that they would think there was something wrong with me.

"Huh?" Bradley replied in confusion.

"I don't understand it myself. But he appears in my dreams and we have conversations. It sounds totally bonkers when I say it aloud but I take what I can get," I sighed sadly. I would have loved for Kyros to still be alive and to have grown up with my brother but he died to keep me safe and, as guilty as that makes me feel, I understand now that it was necessary and he did it in order to protect me.

"What about Link? And his parents?" Bradley smiled. I had come to realise that he was a curious little thing and he was constantly asking me questions about myself if he wasn't talking about himself.

I don't know why I saw it as my duty to protect him or why I felt the need to keep him safe but I did. I didn't want anything to happen to him because, despite all the things he had done, he wasn't actually a bad kid; he had just been handed a bad start and needed someone to point him in the right direction.

"Link is my older brother. I have never thought of his as anything less. He's always been overprotective of me and he's always been there for me throughout everything. He can be a proper dick at times though and I deny that he's my brother but I love him and I honestly don't know what I would do without him," I told him honestly. I didn't really want to talk about Jayne or David though because it was still too painful to think about the both of them – even Link ignored it if it ever came up as a topic of conversation and we had never talked about it with each other.

I smiled to myself as we finally crossed the line for my territory. I knew my warriors would be here any second because they would smell Bradley and that meant they would smell a rogue but the moment they saw he was with me, they would back the hell down and they would simply escort us back to the house.

And, right on cue, three wolves appeared out of the trees with their teeth bared and the sound of their growls filling the empty space around us. They had been trained well and that's why it was their job to keep the pack safe before the pack was in any real danger.

"Oh. Back down boys. It's only me," I waved them off dismissively and they immediately silenced with a bow of their heads.

Alpha? One of them mind linked me in confusion. I know it had been a while and I didn't expect banners or balloons but I at least thought my pack would have faith in me to return alive.

"The one and only," I told him. I gestured to myself from top to bottom and the three wolves took a moment to examine me to make sure I was actually here and I wasn't some stupid hallucination they were having.

We assumed you to be dead. Another one of them spoke in surprise. I don't know why none of them believed in me. Sure, I never thought I would get out of there alive, but it would have been wonderful if my pack actually believed there was a chance for me to come back to them.

"Well. Glad to have proved you wrong," I muttered harshly as I pushed forward and walked past the three of them with Bradley in tow. They growled at him and began to circle him like they would a criminal but I wasn't in the mood for their shit right now. I hadn't told them to attack so they therefore didn't need to attack. "Back down. He's with me."

The kid wants to kill you. One of them spoke rudely. I don't know which it was because I don't even know their names. I just know they are damn good at their jobs and that's good enough for me. I didn't need to know their names and neither did I need them to do something I didn't ask them to do.

"We've been alone for over an hour now. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it by now," I pointed out. I grabbed hold of Bradley's arm and pulled him away from the warriors. I wasn't going to allow anything to happen to him unless he gave me a reason to let something happen to him.

He had helped me so I wasn't about to put him on trial. He had helped me escape and he had gotten me back to the pack. He had even opened up to me about his family and the life he remembered as a child. If he was going to kill me then he definitely would have done it by now.

I decided I was going to ignore the three wolves who were now following after me but I could tell they were making Bradley nervous from the way he continued to look around at the three of them. I knew they weren't about to attack him, if they did they would have me to deal with, they were simply watching over me since I was their Alpha.

The silence was awkward and constricting. I wanted to speak but I didn't know what the hell to say. Nothing seemed appropriate at this moment in time and so I decided that I was going to remain silent. I didn't wish to make Bradley anymore uncomfortable and I certainly didn't want to give the warriors a reason to attack.

The moment we emerged in the clearing, I was surrounded by everyone from the pack house, but there was only one person I was interested in seeing. But, as I looked around, I could see nor smell him anywhere; it's like he had disappeared and he didn't want to see me.

"They're all in the hospital," I turned at the sound of the voice which I knew belonged to my best friend. I had been such a bitch to him before I left and I was ridiculously happy to see him right now.

"Why?" I asked once I had embraced him in a hug and muttered how much I had missed him.

"There was a—" but he stopped when he looked behind me and saw Bradley standing there. He was no longer calm and collected, he was now pissed and he was ready to attack, just as he always was when he thought I was in danger. "What the fuck is he doing here?"

"He's with me Luca. Leave it," I told him harshly.

"You're aware that he not only kidnapped your children and tried to control them with drugs but he's also the reason you've come close to death so many times?" Luca seethed. His eyes shifted from green to black and his fists were clenched at his side while his canines appeared from his gums.

"And you're aware that the only reason he did that is because of Nicole Stone? Correct?" I asked with just as much venom.

"I couldn't give a shit if he had orders from the King himself. He shouldn't be here," Luca growled. He was growing angrier and I didn't like that he was acting like he was my mate. I had Blake to keep me safe, I didn't need Luca to start acting like I needed his help right now, especially after I was the one who willingly went with Bradley in the first place.

"You know the King is his grandfather, right? You don't forget about the fact James kill my entire family?" I mocked him.

"Look, this was a bad idea, I should probably go. It was nice getting to know you Ellie and I really am sorry for everything I did," Bradley spoke up. I could hear the sadness in his voice and I didn't miss the pained expression on his face either.

"Yes. Leave. Before I rip your head off myself," Luca stepped forward so that he was standing beside me now and he was continuing to growl at Bradley who had taken a couple of nervous steps away from the threat.

"Back off Luca," I hissed. My own fists were clenched at my side and I was fighting the urge to release my wolf. I didn't like the way Luca was acting and she didn't like being disrespected by a member of her own pack.

Luca should have known better by now. He was my best friend and I loved him but I was also his Alpha and, though I let him get away with more things than I should do, disrespecting me wasn't one of the things I included on that list of things which were acceptable.

"He ne—"

"I said, back. Off," I repeated myself. Luca looked at me like I was mad but he also couldn't ignore the Alpha command. Even if he wanted to ignore me, the wolf inside him had no choice but to listen to the command and it was the wolf which forced him to bow his head as he took a few steps away from where I was now standing.

"Ellie—"

"No. Bradley is with me and that's final. If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it one the way over here, so drop the subject," I interrupted before Luca could even say another word. He needed to learn when to keep his mouth shut and this was one of those moments where he simply needed to keep his mouth shut before it got him into trouble. "And where is Charlotte?"

"And why do you want to see her?" Luca snapped.

"I need to speak with her. Not that it's any of your concern," I ground out the words. The tension between the two of us was so thick that it could be cut with a knife.

I never expected him to be happy that I wanted to speak with her. But she was still a member of my pack and that meant I was still her Alpha. And I still needed to deal with her betrayal and I needed to tell her that she was to be off my land by the end of the week – I would allow her back once a week to see her children but that's only if they wanted to see her.

I wasn't a total bitch. There was so much I wanted to do to her – torturing and murdering here were included in that list of things – but she was a mother and she had just as much right to see her children as I did to see my own. But, if they didn't want anything to do with her, at least I would be able to say I tried and I didn't simply rip her away from her children.

"And here I was thinking you were my best friend," Luca spat harshly.

"Don't you dare pull that card with me Luca. I have done so much shit for you over the years and got you out of more situation than I care to remember. So don't you fucking dare assume I don't care about you," I shouted. I caught Bradley nervously walking towards the both of us and he came to a stop in the middle of both of us.

My eyes didn't leave Luca's and I wasn't about to back down either. I was an Alpha and submitting wasn't in my nature. I especially wasn't about to submit to a jealous Third in Command who thought he had the right to question the value of our friendship.

"I know I don't have the right to say anything—"

"Then keep your mouth shut," Luca told him harshly.

"—But I don't think this is going to solve anything. Ellie, as Alpha you have to make decisions which people aren't always going to like and that may put friendships in jeopardy. You have to do what's best for the pack and for yourself. Luca, you don't have to like me, but you need to know that Ellie would never do anything to deliberately hurt or upset you. She cares about you and she just wants you to be happy," Bradley continued calmly. His eyes moved between the both of us as I stood there in silence and Luca released a breath I didn't know he was holding in.

"And how do you know anything, pup?"

"Because she didn't stop panicking about how much you were going to hate her when she told you that she needed to speak with Charlotte. She was in tears at one point when she thought about you walking out of her life. She's doing what she's doing for the good of the pack and you need to see that," Bradley told him.

"I want you to gather everyone, including Michael and Daniel, and I want you to meet me in my office in half hour," I muttered with tears in my eyes. This needed to be done and, whether Luca liked it or not, he was going to have to be in the same room as his ex-mate so that he could hear what I had decided.

I walked away from Luca and headed into the pack house with Bradley following behind me. I ignored the looks I got from everyone as I walked towards my office only to be stopped by the smug voice of the bitch who had done this to me. The smug voice of the bitch who had set out to ruin my life for her own sick gain.

"Well. The enemies working together. Who would have thought it."