54. Another Pair

Chapter fifty-four

Another Pair

*AURELIA*

T he next couple of days are up and down. I try to be there for Arden the way he needs it, without pushing him or forcing him to openly grieve or to talk. Mom said it's a process and all I can do is be there. Arden is not showing how sad he is or how crushed, but it's obvious in the small gestures like in the way he switches off his hearing aid whenever someone else is around.

We send Vander off in a beautiful, yet devastating funeral. When someone dies so young, it brings people together to cry. For Vander, almost the whole pack gathers.

But it breaks Arden all over again.

He throws himself into work to distract himself from his pain. He and Eric are cleaning up all the mess Night left; from his victims to the wolves who worked for him. He had a whole network of rogues and traffickers working for him. Junior, his most trusted man, was captured alive, which proved to be helpful to their task. The attack on Arden's pack happened as revenge against Arden's father. As we expected, Night wanted to go down with a bang, and now we know he wanted to take the man with him who was responsible for messing with his business.

I've also contacted Alexander and talked to him briefly. Even the stoic, rather cold man let his guard down for a moment to voice his condolences and promised me he and Silas would be dealing with everything on the vampire side. Apparently, it's much more complicated for them, but they are on it, and he gave me his word that he would not rest until the vampires are punished.

It's still a mess, but it's getting more and more cleaned up.

Lion and Tori will be traveling home soon, as Tori can't miss more days in school. I want to have an official talk with them before they start preparing for their trip back home, so I've borrowed Arden's office for that purpose.

"Please take a seat," I tell both of them.

"Sounds official," Tori says, confused, but does as I tell them.

"I already discussed this with Arden, and we decided this together," I tell them. "We are not going to be the usual pack with me being a female alpha. Arden will take over some of the luna tasks, but he won't be the typical luna, either, maybe a bit like Marius. However, we still need a gamma, and I think you would be perfect for this, Lion."

Lion stares at me, his eyes wide. When Tori elbows him with a giggle, he jumps up. "Fuck, yes!" he blurts out.

I smile, happy to see him so happy. "And Tori." I turn to look at her. "Silverlake didn't have a delta for a while because my mom technically has always filled that part of the job. But Arden will work for the Council a lot, and we both think the tasks of a delta aren't really suited for his talents. But, they are for yours."

Tori gapes. "No way," she whispers.

"It's going to be a lot of work for the both of you," I tell them. "We still have time until I take over the pack, but you will need to start learning under Gamma Aurel, Lion. And Tori… we didn't have a delta for a long time, so it's a whole new field you are moving into. I won't hold it against either of you if you don't want to—"

"Shut up, Auri!" Tori blurts out. "We are so happy! Right, Lion?"

"Yes." He nods, his eyes glowing with motivation. "I am up for the task and the challenge!"

"I honestly thought you would ask one of your twin brothers," Tori points out.

"We still consider Felix and Dario for a rank," I tell her. "But the gamma and delta need to be people I can trust with this task now, as they need to be trained. There will still be the need to fill the position of a second beta for me, and maybe for Arden. It's a choice neither he nor I want to make yet because we don't want to exclude my brothers."

Arden and I discussed this for a long while, and both agreed on it. We are also both aware that Felix and Dario are going to grow into potentially strong lycans, and will deserve a rank too. Arden decided to leave the beta position for him open until Dario and Felix are old enough to see if one of them is up for the task. There are so many possibilities for their futures that we don't know about so we can't fully count on them yet, but at the same time, we don't want to exclude them either.

Tori and Lion entwine their fingers and smile. "We won't disappoint you," Tori assures me.

I feel relieved at their reaction and happy about having such a strong team around me, with people I trust. "I know you won't."

It's when I wrap up my work and start to head out to see how Arden is doing that Eric approaches me.

"I need to show you something," he says.

"Is Arden okay?" I ask promptly, my first thought always directed at him in fear of him getting hurt.

"Yes, don't worry," he says warmly. "He is with Leila and Val, at the moment. They have invited Léna, to talk a bit with her."

"How is she doing?"

"Not well," he admits. "But, I promised Arden I will keep an eye on her, so she won't be on her own when he leaves for Silverlake."

"And Arden?" I ask quietly.

"You know that better than I do," Eric says. "He doesn't show his pain too openly. Vander was his everything, though. I'm glad he will be moving with you to Silverlake. I think he truly needs to get away from here. Although, it means I'm losing my best assistant."

"I'm sorry for taking him away from you," I say with a smile.

"Well, I will be okay. Emilien and Leila are very capable. Besides, I decided to invite two other people as my assistants."

"And who?" I ask.

He smiles. "Don't ask a question you know the answer to already."

His comment makes me chuckle. "Okay, you did it. I'm feeling better now. What do you want to show me?"

"I can't help Arden, at the moment," he says, "but I want to give you closure about one other thing that haunted your family."

His words have me curious. I have a slight feeling about what he wants me to see, and I hope I am right. Indeed, Eric first leads me down to the last floor of the basement, and then to a room with several screens that show the images of surveillance cameras in the dungeons. And there he is! I almost don't recognize him at first glance because he is just a shadow of himself. "Calvin," I breathe out.

"Yes, we separated him from his lycan spirit. The poor thing was completely broken. I don't know how Calvin did it, but he had tremendous gifts, which he probably used against his own lycan, too."

"Did he say anything?"

"Yes, he told us how he was able to hide everything from your father. It seems like he had a witch work for him. She cast a spell on him which made it difficult for anyone to even detect him or his true nature."

"Who is the witch?" I want to know.

Eric sighs. "He killed her after she helped him."

"No way," I mutter. "Don't tell me he did that with all his allies?"

"He did. He disposed of anyone who wasn't beneficial to him anymore. He also killed his mate."

"He had a mate!" I exclaim.

"Very early on," Eric explains. "When there might have still been a chance for him to turn a leaf. Going by the timeline he gave us, it was shortly after your parents took over as alpha and luna. He didn't want to be bound to anyone though, so he killed her. I believe that by doing that and also with the help of the witch, plus his very own gifts, he was able to silence and suppress his lycan completely."

It takes a moment for me to let Eric's words sink in and to fully wrap my mind around them. "Insane."

"We had our psychiatrists evaluate him. They diagnosed him with ASPD. This doesn't mean that someone is automatically a bad person, but he—"

"He is a psychopath," I conclude.

"He feels no empathy, no remorse. He took joy out of torturing others." He pauses. "Listen, Aurelia, please make sure to tell this all to your father. He needs to know how Calvin did it and that no one would have been able to see through his schemes. Uncle Elden needs to know that it isn't his fault or shortcoming. Calvin used his gifts and connections in a way no one could have seen coming. We have barely scratched the surface and don't even know how many of his so-called benefactors he killed after they weren't of use to him anymore. I know Uncle Elden asked a witch to check on his ranked members when he took over the pack, just to be safe."

"I know," I say. "She didn't detect anything unusual."

"Either she was in on it, or the spell that was cast on Calvin was already effective," Eric explains.

I turn my gaze back to Calvin. "He looks miserable," I say with bitter satisfaction. "Really miserable."

"That's because he is," Eric says. "I made sure of it." A dangerous smirk curls his lips. "My gift works both ways. I can make a situation feel lighter, but I can also make a room of people feel like they're suffocating in despair." He pauses. "It's over now. He is just an empty shell."

I can't deny that it makes me happy to hear that and see him like that. "What will you do to him now?"

"Let him rot in a cell until he dies. He has lost his lycan, and there is no retrieving it. He has nothing. He is a broken man." He pauses. "Some fates are worse than dying, Aurelia."

I watch the man, who assaulted and tormented one of my brothers and betrayed my whole family, with bitterness and grim satisfaction. "Maybe this makes me a bad person, but you are right, this gives me closure. I think it will give closure to all of us."

Arden and I decide to meet the others for lunch. It's been a while since we did that. Arden doesn't feel like meeting in a crowd, and fortunately, everyone accepts it, but he is trying to come out of his shell a bit more. He even met with Meg to talk to her, as she had so many questions for him.

Meg doesn't feel comfortable with many people around, either. She mostly sticks to Nox, although she has taken a liking to Tori, so that helps too.

Arden takes a deep breath and his fingers squeeze my hand, as we approach the restaurant where Eric has booked a table for us.

We stop in front of it before we can go inside. "Give me a moment," Arden mutters.

I let my fingers brush over his arm. "Don't worry, we have time. We don't need to do this, Arden."

He gazes from the restaurant to me and then back to the restaurant. "We can leave anytime?"

"Of course."

"Then I want to give it a shot."

He takes a couple of more deep breaths before he enters the restaurant. I spot our table instantly. Eric made sure it was in a separated area so we would be on our own. Gustave and Zoé are here, Eric of course, and Tori and Lion—it's one of their last days in Paris. Everyone is happy to see us but don't fuss over Arden. I can feel his anxiety subsiding, his stance relaxing slightly.

"Coralie will come too," Tori says after we all ordered our drinks. "I hope the both of you don't mind? She was here for a meeting, but she said she would only join if everyone was comfortable."

"That's no problem at all," I say.

"I don't mind either," Arden says. "We made up a while ago, and she is really great with Léna."

Tori eyes the door, waving when she spots Coralie. The young woman is dressed in simple jeans and a white turtleneck sweater. She still looks elegant but has settled for a more comfortable style after the incident with Night. I feel like she is much more comfortable in her own skin, and doesn't feel like she constantly needs to prove herself and see every other woman as her competition. And Arden is right, she is really good with Léna.

I think if we had met now, we would have even become friends.

"Goddess, she is so… stunning," Gustave mutters, all of a sudden. "She is…"

We all turn to look at him; his eyes have turned black. "She is so out of my league!" he says, obviously panicking and brushing over his hair. "How do I look? Like an idiot? I should have dressed better!"

"You look very presentable," Arden reassures him.

"Don't worry," Eric says. "You are a handsome, smart fellow."

"Why don't you go and greet her?" I suggest. "Lead her to the table like a gentleman."

"Good idea!" Gustave jumps up and hurries towards Coralie. He looks completely flustered and almost trips over his feet when he approaches her. Coralie seems surprised, but when he reaches out his hand to awkwardly shake hers, a smile lights up her face.

I was sure they had met each other before, but then Gustave was mostly in the office, and he didn't spend New Year's with us, either. When we freed the girls, he was part of the surveillance team and not with us.

"Well then," Eric relaxes visibly. "Another one off the table. It's awesome how you all found your mates. As I keep saying, we need more love and sex in this world."

Lion snorts into his glass.

"Of course, you would find that funny," Tori says and rolls her eyes.

"What, he is right!" Lion argues. "I am all for more sex."

Eric laughs at the prospect of his mischief catching on to someone else. Even Arden can't help but smile, and I can feel him relax more.

Coralie approaches us, confidently holding Gustave's hand and tugging him along. "Seems like the Goddess had mercy on me." She looks happy and content. "And I got my very own prodigy. Apparently, that's my type," she says in a typical Coralie manner. But that's just how she is; I don't mind it anymore.

After lunch we leave the new couple alone so they can get to know each other, while Eric takes Arden along for some work. I think he does it on purpose and made something up so that he can keep an eye on Arden. Meanwhile, Lion picks up Nox for a little training, and Tori and I sit down with Meg for some tea and cake.

She has left the infirmary and moved to Nox's place. Eric ensured that Nox was moved from his room, to a suite with two bedrooms, so that the two of them can be close without forcing any proximity. The mate bond helps her with healing her wolf, but at the same time, no one wants to push her into something she is uncomfortable with.

"This tastes so good," she whispers when she takes another spoonful of cake, closing her eyes while she tastes it. "I never had…" she pauses. "Night would never... no, I don't want to call him by his nickname anymore. His name is Andre, not Night. Just Andre. Andre would never give me anything special. Only as a reward."

"You know his name now?" I ask quietly.

She nods. "Noctis told me. I asked for the truth, and he never denies me anything."

Tori smiles. "That's the type of person he is."

"He is so nice," she says quietly. "He and Arden made sure I have all the books I want and need."

"You like to read, don't you?" I ask.

She nods. "The only thing I was allowed to do as a reward. I read everything I could find, even dictionaries." She pauses, looking at the cake sadly. "I already feel full."

"Don't push it," Tori says gently. "You don't need to eat all of it at once."

"Noctis is my mate, isn't he?" Meg asks all of a sudden.

Tori and I look at her in surprise. I knew she was quite aware of things and that the psychiatrist carefully told her about her wolf and that Noctis shares a bond with her.

"In one of the books, the Goddess was described, and the bond she blesses her creatures with," Meg mutters. "Poor Noctis."

Tori carefully reaches out her hand to place it on Meg's. "Why do you say that?" she asks.

"He could have had a normal mate, but he is with me. I'm sullied and broken."

"Meg," I start, not sure how to tell her that it's not true, that she isn't broken, but I doubt anything I can say will chase these feelings away. She needs professional help. "Nox isn't staying at your side out of a sense of duty," I explain instead. "But, because he truly cares. He always believed he might never get a mate. He doesn't need or want anyone else, but you."

"Because of his past, right?" Meg asks.

"So, he has told you?" Tori asks.

"He said he wanted me to know so that I could make my own decisions. And that he could understand when I don't want to be with a criminal." Her eyes fill with tears. "I hate that I make him feel that way and that he thinks something is wrong with him. It's me who is wrong."

Tori and I let her cry, trying to reassure her to our best ability. Eventually, Meg calms down. "Is Silverlake a beautiful place?"

Tori and I both eagerly jump at the change of subject, hoping to distract her. We start to tell her everything about the pack and show her pictures and photos. I even show her a picture of my mom so that she knows that the pack isn't just ruled by an alpha.

"I want to leave this place," Meg says all of a sudden. "Noctis invited me to Silverlake. And I have nowhere else to go anyway. Everything is better than staying here. I just want to be away from… all of it. From…"

"We understand," I say gently. "You are very welcome in Silverlake. We are happy to have you join us."

"You don't need to make any big decisions, either," Tori reassures her. "See the pack for yourself and choose a place there for yourself. Nox is going to be happy to accommodate you anyway."

She nods tentatively. "How do I move? I don't even know what to do. I don't know where to buy a ticket or who to call or…" Her voice trails off again, and she looks at her hands in shame.

"Leave that to me," I say. "I will make a call immediately. Is that truly what you want, Meg?"

She looks at me, then at some of the photos again, before she nods. It's the confirmation I need, so I leave Tori and her for a moment to call my father. I have been talking to my parents at lot recently, as Arden and I are currently organizing everything for his move, and they are being so helpful.

Dad already knows about Meg, and I make sure to explain the new situation to him swiftly.

"Send them to me, darling," Dad says. "Liam and I are here, and building connections to our wolf and lycan spirits is truly our forte. She will get the best help here."

"The psychiatrist suggested something similar, saying it would be best for her to move to the pack she will be living in and start to heal there."

"Your mother will make sure she and Nox can choose their place. If the pack house is too busy, there are plenty of other places. I will inform our psychiatrist of Meg and her history and have Eric transfer all her medical documents."

"She doesn't even have any papers," I say.

"Leave that to me," he promises. "When are Tori and Lionel traveling back?"

"Next week. Tori has to return for school. I know Mom played her contacts and put some pressure on the headmaster so that she wouldn't get in trouble for not returning sooner, but she wants to graduate and can't miss much more."

"Don't worry. I will have everything ready for Meg by then, so that she and Nox can travel with them. I think it's for the best."

"Can you really pull it off that quickly?" I ask hopefully. "Meg really likes Tori, and I think it would be the best option to have them travel back together."

"Don't worry, your father has quite some tricks up his sleeve," Dad says, amused. "Or did you think you and your brothers are the only ones with shady skills?"

"Then I will leave it to you. Thanks, Dad!"