Alpha Tristan ✓ [Republishing]

Eikosiena [ 21 ]

author's note: this chapter is a real shocker :)

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The next morning, the first thing I did was go to the fields. It looked very different and I could instantly tell that it had lost its vibrancy. Something tugged at my heart and I crouched down to brush my fingers over the withered daffodils.

While it was calming to see nature like this again, it was somewhat nostalgic. I wouldn't be able to see the flowers grow here again, and in Greenland, I had to wait until spring and the season seemed years away.

Closing my eyes, I honed in on my senses and allowed myself to be consumed by the nature around me. I could hear the light winds sliding across the leaves on the tall trees and blowing them to the ground. The sounds were therapeutic and I felt myself smile contentedly. The fields had been my happy place, the place where I could go and always feel better no matter the season.

"You've missed this, haven't you?" came my mother's voice from behind me. One glance at her had me seeing how much better she looked. Fast healing was a perk of our supernatural nature, and I had guessed that my arrival had jumpstarted it all. It was crazy that she had become sick in the first place. In her hands were two mugs of hot chocolate and I stood up to take one with a grateful smile.

"I have." I blew on the chocolatey liquid. "I'm sure it will look beautiful in spring."

There was a beat of uncomfortable silence between us before my mother spoke hesitantly. "You won't be here in spring, will you?" her tone was uncertain and I sighed.

"No...I won't." I sipped on the hot chocolate and took that brief moment to think how I could bring it up. "The only thing keeping me tied to this place is you. I'm ready to let it go, hopefully, you are too."

I heard the breath catch in the back of her throat. "Me? Leave this pack?"

I mustered up the courage to meet her gaze. "I don't belong in this pack anymore, Mum. Not when Tristan has a pack of his own." I winced as she flinched at the sound of his name. "I have a responsibility to him and five hundred people. I'm supposed to be their Luna."

Her shoulders sagged and she took a long drink of her hot chocolate. "I thought you'd say that." A deep frown pulled at her lips. "Kara, there's no way I'd ever go to the Underworld."

I turned fully to face her. "Why? Is it because of the rumours? Mum, they're not true. Yes, there was a war, but you've heard the wrong side of history—we all have. There's nothing to fear in his pack."

A bitter laugh fell from her lips and she shook her head as if I just didn't understand. "If only you knew you had everything to fear. Your mate is not a good man, no matter what lies he fed you." Her fingers tightened around the mug and I could hear the ceramic lightly crack from the pressure.

Reaching forward to take the mug from her hands, I gripped the handle and stared at her in confusion. "What could you know about the war?" Suddenly, I had no interest in my drink anymore and instead, I stared at my mother. "You've lived here your entire life and you've never stepped foot out of this city. How can you know more of the truth than someone who lived through it?"

She simply shook her head as she sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

I shook off the odd feeling her vague remark gave me and frowned back at her. "You know I have to go back, Mum. And if you stay here, then at best, you'll see me every six months. I might be here right now, but it'll get harder for me to leave every time." I couldn't stop the way my chest tightened at the thought.

My mother widened her eyes slightly and grimaced. "Kara, I know what you're asking of me. But there's no way I'm engaging in a fight to the death just to join his pack." She spat it out like she was disgusted with the very idea. I looked so much like my mother at that moment because not only did we share similar features, but she seemed as repulsed by the idea as I had when Tristan brought it up.

I cracked a relieved smile. "Mum, you won't have to." I continued when I picked up on the confused look in her eye. "Tristan said he would make an exception for you. He wants me to be happy and that can only happen if you're there with me." I placed both mugs on the floor before stepping towards her, taking her hands in mine. "I need you with me. Tristan has no parents and I've seen the pain that's caused him. I don't want to lose the only parent I have if you're right here and can come with me."

It must have dawned on her because she pulled me into a comforting hug. "Kara, you mean the world to me. I just—I can't bring myself to want to be anywhere near that—that monster. He doesn't deserve you."

The irritation took me at a stronghold and I stepped back with a deep frown, trying to rein it in. I was more defensive than I expected. "If he was the monster you think he is, do you think I'd be here right now?" I folded my arms across my chest. "I was downright mean to him. I told my own mate that I would never choose him, and do you know what he did? He gave me space, he gave me a phone so I could call you when I was upset, he gave me everything I needed and even now, he's protecting me. To be a monster, you'd have to be heartless, and he has one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen. So, please, I love you but don't insult him like that. If anything, I don't deserve him."

She seemed shocked and swallowed down whatever rebuttal she had, reaching down to grab her mug. "Facts are facts, sweetheart. He's killed more people than you can count, and if he can live with himself after all of that then he is heartless."

When she turned away, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself. There was no point in arguing and I didn't want to disrespect her by screaming at her. Instead, I made up my mind and blurted out my decision as she began to walk down the hill.

"I'm going back tomorrow—with or without you." I knew she could hear me crystal clear and she confirmed it with a tilt of her head before quickly turning around again.

It looked like she snapped because she was in front of me again within seconds, a low growl falling from her lips. She was truly angry. "Do you want to know why I hate him so much? Why do I think he's such a despicable monster? Why do I think there's no way in hell he deserves to be your mate? Do you really want to know, Kara?" she fired question after question at me, and I stumbled back in shock at her sudden outburst.

But then I was frustrated again and I couldn't help but snap too. "Yes! I do!"

A dark look crossed her face and she didn't look like my mother at all. She always looked so sweet yet at that moment she seemed haunted and downright heartbroken. "He robbed you of the chance to know your father." She didn't leave any time for me to ask questions as she continued. "I think it's a cruel twist of fate to be the Luna of a pack that used to be your father's. He was the alpha of the neighbouring pack, and the rumours hadn't been wrong when they said your mate knocked his head clean off his shoulders."

My heart dropped and I felt like I was going to be sick.

"He's a monster because your father wanted a second chance and he killed him."