Iknew Nadia had beenon the phone often with Zahra, but I dared not listen to their conversation. It was enough that Nadia wasn’t pushing me to meet up with her. Because no matter how many times I thought things over, I just couldn’t seem to accept what she just told me.
My father was not perfect, but I did look up to him. He did everything for me, even the blood pact for Andrea, which was already extreme. He did it to appease me. It made me realize that I was my father’s son—he did everything I wanted so I would stay, to make up for the lies he gave me. In the same way, I was doing everything to make everyone in my life stay with me.
My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door, and I let my Beta come in together with his mother, Katya.
I requested to meet Katya tonight just to have answers.
“Alpha,” Beta Dominic and Katya bowed their heads in respect.
“You can leave us, Beta,” I told Dominic, and he cocked his head to the side in submission before leaving the room.
I asked Katya to sit down the moment the door closed, and she chose to sit by the couch adjacent to my desk.
“How are you, Katya?” I asked her, clasping my hands together and resting them on my desk.
“I’ve been excellent, Alpha. And you? You look better, son. I’m glad you and the Luna have sorted out whatever was going on between you. And congratulations on your pup!” She beamed happily at me.
“Thank you. I’m glad she’s back too.” I nodded my head at her.
“Have you discussed the Luna Ceremony?”
“No. Not yet. There were many things that came when she came back. Her pregnancy and another one, which was the reason I called for you.”
“Dominic told me. I will tell you what I know, but to be honest, we were blind-sided too.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my forehead creasing at her words.
“We had no idea why Zahra left, no idea why she left you. And we were prohibited from discussing anything related to her and what we saw before and after she left.”
“Tell me what you know.”
“Of course. I’ve been waiting for you to ask me after your father passed away. I’ll be honest with you, Alpha, I still don’t understand why she left you when I’ve seen with my own eyes how she adored you. “
“Maybe she changed her mind and realized I would be just an obstruction for her.”
“No. She would never think of you that way. That day she left, I went home to find her luggage by the foot of the stairs and your small nursery bag. I knew you were both leaving. She told me and Nicole the day before. And I thought you were both still here because of the luggage. But then your father came out of his office carrying you and ordered my mate to take your luggage back to his room and Zahra’s luggage to the storage room.
That night, the Alpha asked for help in putting you to bed. I was pregnant then with Dominic. I put you to sleep since Nicole was already having a hard time breastfeeding Sebastian at that time. We did as we were told, but we were not allowed to ask questions about your mother.
A day prior to that, Zahra confided that they were finally getting a divorce. For a long time, we knew of the fights and that they were not intimate for a period of time. So we knew it was coming, but Zahra never discussed any third party on her side or the Alpha’s. So when the news broke out that she left the Alpha for another man, I didn’t want to believe it. Until we saw pictures of her with another man.
But no matter how many times I told myself that she had abandoned you, I couldn’t seem to believe it. I had known Zahra for almost my entire life. She would never abandon you. But then she never came to see you. Over the years, I started to believe she actually did. And now, I feel guilty for even thinking about it.”
Tears began to stream down her face. She took a handkerchief from her pocket and wiped it away before she continued. “Dominic told me what the Luna told him, and I kept crying that night. I could only imagine what your mother went through not seeing you at all.”
“What else did Dominic tell you?” I wanted to know if Nadia told Dominic about my parents’ not being fated mate.
“The Alpha command, that she tried to reach you but couldn’t get to you and that all her letters and gifts were returned.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, Alpha.”
“Thank you. That’s all I wanted to hear.”
“I’m sorry, Alpha. If only I could do something…”
“This was beyond your control, Katya. You have nothing to apologize for. You’ve been nothing but a blessing to me.”
