Chapter 4

Ash

Just as I remembered a quote from one of Robert Dunn's works, my sister crossed my mind. Guilt is what I feel right now for what I did to Aria. I still can't imagine that I did those things to her. Aria didn't deserve that. Maybe she was the youngest and the weakest, but definitely the sweetest. All her life, people looked down on her because of us. She was always known in the pack as the “weak” sister of the great Williams siblings.

Despite all the disdain they threw upon her, she remained strong and unbothered. She only dreamed of one thing, which was to find her destined mate. She was kind, innocent, and pure.

But the question is, why did I smack her? Obviously, I was an asshole for doing that to her.

Aria's fantasy of being mated to our alpha's son was something that I couldn't handle. I love my sister, but I won't make her believe a lie. I couldn't let her believe that she was fated with the man who would become the next ruler of Moon Valley.

Do I believe it wasn't possible? Of course not. If it were the will of the goddess, it would happen. There are known instances in history where a lower-ranking wolf was mated to an alpha of a pack. So, I knew that it was highly possible.

However, I was sure that Aria was lying. Why? Because Adrian remained indifferent. Why on earth would he do that to his own mate? Being his friend, he knew how much I loved my sister. Also, the mate bond is so sacred, so I didn't see any reason for him to reject my sister.

I let out a deep and heavy sigh after thinking about what happened earlier. Evan, one of the trackers in our pack, turned his gaze to me. I knew he had heard my sighs earlier.

“Is there something wrong, dude? You look distracted, huh? Is it a woman?” I nodded my head to him. Evan and I were assigned to check the eastern part of our territory. We were tasked with looking for any possible threats in the pack.

“I was just thinking about something,” I scoffed.

I did my best to hide the thoughts that were bothering me. However, Evan didn't seem convinced about my reasons. I could feel his stare at the back of my head.

“I am also a tracker, dude, so I know that something really bothers you. Our responsibility is very significant for the security of our pack, and any distraction could have a great impact on the lives of many. We both don't want to be the cause of a great number of deaths, right?”

I was embarrassed by that. Evan was right; I couldn't mess up on this job. Being part of our pack's security was one of the hardest and most challenging tasks in our pack. If I messed up, somebody would die.

“If I were you, I would go and fix whatever problem you might have now. Don't worry; I will cover for you. Besides, the next set of guards will be here in an hour, so you don't have to worry.”

“No, no, no,” I refused. “No need for that. I just—”

“I insist,” he said sternly. “Go now before I change my mind!”

Hearing this, I shifted into my wolf form. I figured that running in this state would make me reach home faster.

It was dark at night because the moon hid behind the clouds. The buzzing sound of the dried leaves echoed in my ears as I hastened my movements. This night was a bit darker, but thankfully, I had enhanced vision that helped me see the entire forest.

The first thing I did as I reached our house was to take some clothes from the other side that I had hidden. Since my job required a lot of shifting, I made sure to leave some clothes handy to cover myself.

My heart was beating so fast with excitement to talk to my sister Aria. I would do everything I could to make up for what I did. Aria deserved all the love because she was kind and the sweetest girl that I knew. I knew that I had hurt her earlier, but it didn't mean that I didn't love her anymore.

The deafening silence welcomed me as I entered the front door of our house with enthusiasm. My smile faded from my lips when I saw my mom crying on the sofa.

I rushed in her direction to comfort her, but I was stunned when she got up from the couch and distanced herself from me.

Confused, I asked her, “What's wrong, Mom? Why are you acting like this?”

“Mom?” I asked again. I didn't understand what was happening.

Why did I have this feeling that Mom was upset with me?

“Can you please tell me what is wrong? I am so confused right now.” I was hoping my honesty could get through to her. I wasn't good at consoling; it was never my thing. And yet, this was my mom, and seeing her cry was hard to bear.

“Aria is gone,” she uttered softly. Then, she buried her face in her hands once more before producing another sob. This action didn't make sense to me.

“W-w-wait. What do you mean she is gone?”

“She ran away from this pack! She is never coming back!” she shouted before sprinting to her room, leaving me dumbfounded. I massaged my temples, trying to wrap my head around it. I balled my fist in frustration and stormed off to her room.

I had to see it for myself. I needed to know the truth.

“Aria!” I pushed the door open without even knocking. I was expecting an annoyed Aria to lash out at me for invading her privacy. But all I got was a deafening silence.

“No…” I uttered. Devastated, I collapsed at her bedside. Nothing had changed in her room; it was still tidy and organized. But it was not the same anymore because she was gone.

I turned my gaze to my right and saw her bedside table. On top of it was a photo of me and her. It was taken during our youth, a testament to the good times we had. Heartbroken, I felt something warm flow out of my eyes.

“Why…” I asked the wind while holding the picture frame. I couldn't believe my baby sister had run away to become a rogue. I never saw it coming. It was not like her.

And then, I noticed something else. There were two folded papers under her lamp. Curious, I took them. My eyebrows furrowed as I read the names to whom the letters were addressed.

Those were addressed to me and Adrian.

My anticipation was killing me. And so, I started reading the contents of them.

"I forgive you. Take care of yourself."

Those were only seven words, but enough to make my heart ache. The flashbacks of what had happened earlier came flooding into my head.

"Adrian is my mate, Ash. I just learned about that early this morning."

"Adrian and I are mates. I'm not trying to seduce him as Cassie said."

"I wasn't lying, Ash! Adrian and I are mates!"

Aria’s words echoed in my soul. I held a letter to my chest before howling in agonizing pain.

What have I done?

I took out my phone from my pants and dialed a familiar number. My jaw tensed as I bit my lower lip. My wolf was howling from the inside, but I did my best to subdue it. Until then, I didn't know. All I wanted was to talk to the man who had caused all this trouble, the man who had driven my sister away.

Finally, the call was connected. “Hello, Ash?”

“We need to talk,” I demanded before smashing the phone in my hand.