Chapter 26

My legs ached with each contact it had with the ground, and my chest constricted more by the minute.
One, because I was running at full speed, and two, because my heart felt like it had been struck with a
silver dagger laced with wolfsbane.



I was getting closer to the large training ground where I sensed them to be gathered, and I silently
prayed that nothing had started yet. Ryan was still behind me, but by a few meters. It was obvious that
he was struggling to keep up, but no way was I going to let him catch me and just end up slowing me
down.



Relief bathed my tingling skin when I saw that there were no bodies, fighting or blood. Ace seemed to
have gathered a lot of his people in the short time, and they were already in defensive and attack
mode. More men emerged from the trees in wolf form, making Ace's army bigger.



Dad's army was just as big, and I could recognize a few of my trainers and warriors. I also saw Phillip
and Aiden, and Aiden was the first out of the two groups to see me coming.



~"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"~ He bellowed through our link, watching me with wide and
disapproving eyes.





~"Stay the hell out of my head"~ I snapped back then completely blocked him from my mind.



Ace and dad were glaring at each other and baring teeth. Every wolf on each side, both shifted and in
human form did the same with each other, so no one even noticed when Aiden left the group and was
running towards me.



I ran straight for him, but quickly wooshed around him once he was close enough to grab me. I knew
he was taken off guard, so I had a little advantage of getting away from him before he recovered.
Unlike Ryan, Aiden could catch me in a few seconds.



"Roxy! Roxy, stop now!" He shouted at the top of his voice, and if I wasn't annoyed with him then, I was
sure as hell annoyed with him now since his voice made every single head snap towards me, including
Ace and dad.



Ace's eyes darkened when he saw me running towards them, but I tried to ignore his burning gaze by
facing dad. But that too was a mistake, since he had the very same expression as Ace. For different
reasons of course.



Ace told me to stay away, and here I was defying him. And dad? Well I wasn't sure about how much he
knew, but I surely knew that he was pissed.





"I told you to go to the safe house with Ryan" Ace gritted out as soon as I was in hearing range. I
opened my mouth to reply as I slowed down, but I was grabbed by the shoulders and spun around
harshly.



"What the hell were you thinking? Do you want to get hurt?"



I yanked my hand from Aiden's grasp and gave him my best glare. "Like you care"



His face flashed with something that looked like hurt, and I took the opportunity to go closer to the
confused looking wolves on both sides. Four hundred eyes watching as you walk into a war zone
wasn't exactly a walk in the park.



Wolves from my pack watched me as if waiting for me to make a move, while wolves from Ace's pack
watched me in irritation, wondering how and why one she-wolf could disrupt a pack-to-pack stare off.
They didn't know who I was after all.



I heard thudding sounds and heavy breathing behind me, and I saw that Ryan had finally caught up to
us.





"I'm sorry Alpha. I tried to- to catch her… But she's so fast" Ryan muttered very out of breath. I kinda
felt bad, but I barely got to muster up an apology since dad's voice interrupted my thoughts.



"What kind of business do you have trying to lock up my daughter Alpha Ace? This is ridiculous!"



I turned to give Aiden a confused look, and simply shook his head, answering my silent question. He
didn't tell dad? But why?



Ace opened his mouth to answer, but dad beat him to it.



"And you young lady" He started, turning to me. "This is not what I sent you here for. How dare you
refuse to come back home with Aiden because you got attached to these people?!" His face was
burning red as he shouted at me loud enough for Alaska to hear.



"If you knew you were soft hearted, you should have never-"



He stopped mid sentence when I saw him stare incredulously at something on my neck. His eyes
widened a fraction, and I watched as Phillips's eyes followed his to my neck. I knew what they saw, but
I made no move to hide it.





"Roxanna Isabella Gilbert! What is the meaning of this?!"



He took a step closer to where I was with a look on his face that made me believe he would kill his own
daughter. But before I could react, Ace stepped in front of me in a protective manner and growled
loudly at dad.



I couldn't see dad's reaction, but from the corner of my eyes I saw Beta Phillip's face light up with
realization. He then met my eyes from behind Ace's back, and I felt like I wanted to hide under a rock. I
felt like I had let Phillip down.



But instead of looking at me in disappointment or rage, he gave me a small smile with those kind eyes
of his. He then gave me a short nod, and his defensive demeanour quickly changed to calmness.



For the first time since morning my heart didn't feel like it was getting stepped on, and I immediately
remembered why I was even down here.



I quickly jumped from behind Ace, cutting off his growling and stood between them. My eyes searched
for Aiden, and I found him not too far away from where dad stood.





"You didn't tell him" I said more as a statement than a question, and he hung his head with a short sigh.



I too sighed as I took a deep breath and faced my father once again. I sized up to him and squared my
shoulders as I started.



"Dad, Alpha Ace is my mate" A series of gasps echoed from both packs, since this was news to
everyone.



"Nonsense!" he dismissed immediately. "You bastard, why did you forcefully mark my daughter?! I will
ki-"



"Alpha Blake!" I shouted.



He stopped suddenly at my outburst and watched me in shock. I always called him 'dad' or 'father', so I
knew I got his attention with that. I took another firm step closer to him and continued with what I hoped
would be both packs' redemption.



"Ace is my mate, whether you like it or not. Whether you and John cursed it or not, he is my mate" His
eyes grew impossibly wider at that, and I knew what his follow up question would be.





"How did you know about that?"



I laughed humorlessly. "You are so selfish, dad, and maybe it's you who I got it from. Because you were
so selfish, you hid the truth from Aide and I , completely ruined our teenage life just for your own
benefit. Just because you were a coward. "



His face completely drained of colour, and I knew I had him then.



"Roxanna, I told you not to wander around the pack" He tried to sound firm, but failed miserably when it
came out wavering and weak. I could've smirked if it was any other situation, but this was serious.



"Yea and for what? So that I don't find out the truth and mess up your whole plan? You never really
cared about the pack's benefit did you? You just strategized all this for alllll these years for your own
benefit." I took a step closer to him as I stared him dead in the eyes.



You were gonna ruin this man" I stopped and pointed at Ace for effect, "Just because you were too
scared and prideful to do things in a civilized manner. And I was so blind to how stupid, inhumane and
childish this plan of yours was. You made us believe that Alpha John was power hungry and ruthless,
and took what was ours without reason"





I noticed from the corner of my eyes that Aiden was looking very much confused, and dad's face only
got paler.



"I'm not gonna point fingers and say it was your fault, but it was as much yours as much as it was
John's. And you know what makes you look like an even bigger dick?" Eyes widened and mouths fell at
my words. Hell, even I was surprised at my language, but I didn't regret it.



"The fact that Ace was willing to give you back everything and more, even before he met me, just
because it was the right thing to do and because he's actually mature"



"Wh-what?" His eyes quickly flickered to Ace before they found back mine.



"I found the documents of the transfers, leases and even extra help that he was willing to give you
without a war. And hell I was so freaking stupid to keep this from him all this time, and I know I'm
undeserving of such a wonderful mate, but he's more of a man than you ever were"



By now everyone just watched and listened silently, war long forgotten. Dad looked like he was being
run over by a bus, but he just stood quietly.





"You see this?" I gently took his hand and placed it on my tummy.



He gaped at me as his eyes flashed between me, Ace and my stomach. A series of mutters went
around the crowd, and Ace was standing really close behind me again, as if he thought dad would rip
my stomach out.



"This is Ace's baby, and this is Ace's pack. So if you rage a war on Ace, you wage a war on his baby,
and that automatically means you're waging a war against me."



And for the first time since I got here, I saw him back down. His eyes no longer held malice or anger,
just regret and realization.



"I was stupid to even agree to do this, but I was brainwashed with a lie. We both were" I turned to
Aiden as I spoke that part. "And I was even stupider to keep the truth from you Ace" I then turned to
Ace as I spoke. "But it was just a constant war with myself. I felt like if I told you, I would be betraying
my pack and my family. But I knew that by not telling you, I was betraying you and your pack. I didn't
know what to do"





And just like that, my tears started to flow again. I rested a hand on my flat stomach and gazed down at
it.



"But I knew that even if I couldn't do it for myself, my pack or for you Ace, I had to do it for our unborn
child. And I swear to you, I was gonna tell you everything the day I came into your office, but then I
learnt the real truth"



I sniffled as I turned once again to Aiden. "Mom's not dead Aiden. She's here"



Despite what he tried to do yesterday, my heart broke for him as I saw the expression on his face. I
knew exactly what he was feeling, and that made it hurt more. Dad simply hung his head as expectant
eyes from our pack gazed awestruck between the two of us.



"What?" Aiden's voice was barely audible, but it was there.



"She's been here for eighteen years. Dad's motive wasn't only to get back the land and people back, it
was to get her back. So he trained us like lions to go on this crazy mission, just because he was too
prideful to talk to John and too cowardly to pitch a meeting with Ace when he took over.





"He lied to all our lives, making us believe our mom was dead. He kept the truth from the pack too. He
didn't feel the mate bond break, only the pack bond. So when everyone thought she was dead, he
knew the truth all along"



Torn faces and sad eyes could be seen everywhere. Even Ace's pack members looked as if they would
hug us to make us feel better. We were all victims here, controlled under the Alpha's influence and lies,
just to avenge his mate from a man who's dead. Dad's eyes finally met mine again, and it was safe to
say it was the first time I've seen him like this.



"Why dad?" I whispered through my tears.



"I-I.."



"Blake?"


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