An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 40

"Are you okay?" Ryan looked behind him to see Lenah sat on the other side of the breakfast island, quietly looking at her hands.

He'd been trying to fill her in on the things she'd missed during the last two weeks whilst he made them breakfast. He knew he had to be the one to explain to her about her parents.

She needed time to come to terms with everything he'd told her but he wasn't sure if there was enough time in the world to accept that her parents were missing. It had been the hardest thing he'd ever had to explain to her.

Trying to give her some space he'd left her alone to make them both breakfast but not a few minutes later she'd followed behind him and sat heavily on a stool.

She had said nothing since entering the room and he was starting to get worried. They'd been through so much and this was just more bad news that neither of them wanted to hear.

"I don't know. I just don't know how to feel." Her wavering voice was too much for him to take, so setting the stove to low, he walked around the breakfast island and swallowed her in a hug.

He felt her arms wrap around him as he lifted her up and carried her to the more comfortable settee, in what would one day become the library. Sitting down, he allowed his mate to settle in his lap whilst she buried her head in his chest.

When he felt the wetness cling to his t-shirt, his heart broke for her. He held her tighter as small sobs wracked her body. Knowing that no words could ever help, he simply held her whilst she cried.

His mate had been through so much. He wished he could have spared her from this heartbreak but he knew he couldn't. Lenah needed to know that her family loved her, they hadn't abandoned her as she'd always believed.

He felt Lenah lift her head to look at him. He watched her rub at her eyes but it did nothing to disperse the tears he could still see.

"I must look a complete mess right now." Her pathetic attempt at a smile just made him hold her tighter.

"You look beautiful, you always do. No amount of tears could ever hide that." He cupped her face and wiped away the tears she'd missed. "Are you okay?" He asked her gently.

"I will be. It's just so much to take in. I never thought my family cared about me. And now my sister is staying in the pack house and I find out my parents went missing searching for a way to bring me home." She sighed as she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Why don't you start by getting to know your sister? She'll be able to tell you more about what happened." He whispered to her.

Nodding her head, she got to her feet, pulling Ryan back towards the kitchen. They couldn't ignore the sound of both their stomachs rumbling.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a meal and she was starting to get a craving for the delicious food she'd seen Ryan preparing.

Sitting back onto the stool, Lenah watched as Ryan finished making breakfast. She thought over what he'd said.

When her parents letters had stopped, she'd only been a young girl and at the time she had thought very little of the sudden lack of letters. It was only when she was older she began to question the reasons behind why they'd stopped.

She'd always believed that the letters had stopped simply because her family had forgotten about her, despite Elaina's constant reassurance that they had loved her. Eventually, she preferred to simply forget about the family that she had never known and focus on the family she'd built around herself.

She had so many questions and she knew she should follow Ryan's advice and talk to her sister but she was reluctant, almost scared. Akari was a complete stranger to her. She had only a small knowledge of what her sister was like and even that was from stolen moments in their dreams when she was younger.