Chapter b283 /b

    bChapter /bb283 /b

    Cyra

    When we arrived back at the packhouse, Warren was waiting for us. He wasn’t the only one. Yana stood or one side of her father with de and Yvonne standing on the other. It felt like the Hill family showed up to prove a point. ‘She doesn’t need you, she has us

    I feel warmth spread through my chest at their silent pronouncement of love and eptance of me. They’re right. I don’t bneed /bbanyone /belse

    when I have them.

    Warrenes down the steps, he nods at Arman, but his gaze remains fixed on Ramin. He’s making a point that no one hurts his bfamily /band

    Ramin hurt me.

    “I’m Alpha Warren Hill, Cyra’s father–inw.”

    Not Yorick’s father. MY father–inw.

    “Alpha Warren, I’m Alpha Ramin,” my uncle says.

    “Yes. So I gathered.”

    There’s a tense moment of silence as Warren continues to stare my uncle down in some sort of Alpha disy of aggression.

    “Alpha Warren, I am Alpha Arman, Alpha Cyra’s cousin. As we mentioned ito /iAlpha Cyra, my father and I are here to make amends and to speak to Alpha Cyra.”

    “Apparently one of you has some good sense, then,” Warren says. It’s an obvious insult to Alpha Ramin and a threat. He won’t tolerate bhim /bhurting me again.

    My uncle growls at the threat, but Warren just continues to stare him down. Arman, however, gives his father a warning growl of his own, quieting my uncle.

    “My father was wrong in how he treated my cousin. As I mentioned to Alpha Cyra, my father and hers have a lot of bad blood. But we are here to make amends.”

    Finally, Warren looks at Arman. “Cyra is my family, and I take family very seriously. You would be wise to tread lightly.”

    “Understood.”

    He turns to look at me. “Where did you want to meet?” he asks.

    I’ve seen Warren do this with his family, go from an angry discussion with one person, then turning his warmth onto one of his family members, flipping like a light switch. It’s what he does with me now and my love for my father–inw and the entire Hill family grows even stronger. It’s a wonderful and powerful feeling being engulfed in a family’s love. It’s something I’ve never had before, but now I’d never want

    to live without it.

    “I thought we’d meet in the conference room,” I say.

    He nods. “This way,” he says, turning to walk/inside. Without any discussion on their part, the Hill children surround me. Yorick bis /balready between me and my cousin, but Wade takes point in front of me with Yana on my left and Yvonne falling in behind me.

    The physical show of protection by their entire family does not go unnoticed by my uncle and cousin.

    We’re quiet as we walk inside, the pack watching as we basically parade through the packhouse to the conference room. bWhen /bbwe reach /bbit/b, Warren opens the door and gestures for my uncle and cousin to step inside ahead of him. He makes eye contact bwith /bbme/bb, /bbnodding /bbas /bbI /bbpass /b

    him band /bYorick follows behind me. The Hill children don’te in, but Warren does.

    ‘I can leave if you’d rather have some privacy,‘ he says in the mind link.

    ‘No. You’re family. You’re our interim Alpha. You should be here,‘ I tell him.

    He nods, obviously relieved, like he’s worried I’ll need him here to protect me. The love I feel from all of them settles me and when I sit down across from my uncle and cousin nked on either side by my mate and his father, I’m ready to face whatever they’vee to discuss.

    Arman leans forward, his hands sped on the table in front of us.

    “I think it would be helpful if we start with my father telling you why he and your father have such animosity between them. I think it will help you to better understand why my father expressed so much anger when you called.”

    “Alright,” I say, turning my attention to Ramin. Arman sits back, letting his father take the lead.

    Ramin sighs heavily, then scrubs his hands over his face before sitting forward.

    “My sister was beautiful, just like you. She was the pack’s darling, but she never let that stop her from bing a strong and powerful warrior. If anything, the pack adored her more because she didn’t expect their admiration, she earned it. She was so good, she earned a spot at the Warrior Academy. You know the one I’m speaking of?” he asks.

    “I’m assuming it’s the same one that Yorick and I are attending,” I say, keeping my tone neutral. I didn’t know my mother had gone to the Academy.

    Both Ramin and Arman look surprised that we’re at the Academy. Then Ramin looks down, shaking his head. “Yes, you are very much blike /bSoraya.”

    He sighs again before looking back up at me. “That’s where she met your father, at the Academy. They weren’t fated mates, but they became close very quickly.”

    “That happens at the Academy,” Yorick says, thinking of Zach and Piper I’m sure.

    “A small group of young Alphas and strong warriors, living together and taking sses together, I’m not surprised. What did surprise me was hering home one weekend to tell me that she and Arden had decided to be chosen mates. No amount of arguing could talk her out

    of it.”

    “Wait, I thought they were in an alliance bond,” I say. That’s what my father always told me.

    Raminughs. It’s an ugly, angryugh. “As if I would have ever allied myself with a man like him. The moment their bond was sealed, he began asking for money. I don’t know what he did to make Soraya think that he loved her, but all he really wanted was money. Did you know that he got kicked out of the Academy?”

    “We found out recently, yes. I never knew he went to the Academy before that,” I say. “I didn’t know either of them didb./b”

    “That was a big blight on his record and his ego, and it was probably the first time Soraya saw through the fa?ade to the real person he was. He came asking for money again, this time for legal fees. He threatened to drag my sister down with him if I didn’t pay.”

    He clenches his jaw. “She was my sister. What was I supposed to do? She had earned her right to go to the Academy. She didn’t deserve to be dragged into his nefarious activities. iSo/i, I paid for the best attorneys and got him off. He didn’t get back into the Academy and Soraya dropped out to return to his pack. That day/in court was thest time I saw her,” he says, his voice bing ragged.

    I wait while he collects himself. Arman puts a hand on his shoulder as if helping his father to steady himself.

    “After that, Arden said I had to pay to see my sister. She had no reason to see me, and I had no reason to see her unless he bgot /bsomething out of it,” he growls. My stomach clenches. Apparently, my father has always been the way he is. I was just another pawnb, /bba /bway for him bto /bbmake /b

    b19:48 /bFri 15 Augu

    money. Goddessb, /bI should be d he didn’t try to sell me off to the highest bidder. He might have if he hadn’t been bcaught /bbembezzling /b

    *I was angry, furious that he would try to keep me from my sister. I was ready to attack his pack and get her back, but she somehow bwas /bable to get a hold of me and she begged me to stop. She was already pregnant with you, and she didn’t want the stress of what was bgoing /bon between me and Arden to impact her pregnancy. I heard through others that Arden wasn’t happy that you were a girl and he got Soraya pregnant again right away. I’m pretty sure that’s why she died in childbirth. He should have given her at least a month for her body to heal before getting her pregnant again, but he didn’t. She died five months after you were born, their son stillborn. That’s what I got from the medical team I paid to give me information about her death. Arden never even called me to tell me she was gone. I never got to say goodbye,” he says, his voice ragged as his head drops into his hands.

    I sit back, squeezing Yorick’s hand under the table as Arman sits forward. “Now you see why there was bad blood between our fathersb. /bbAnd /byou see why my father, while wrong, jumped to the wrong conclusion about why you were calling yesterday. I hope now, after hearing this story, we can start over. Aunt Soraya was my father’s only sibling. I have no other cousins. I, myself, only have one sister. I don’t have ba /blot of family, so it’s important for me to get to know the family I do have,” Arman says.

    ‘They seem sincere,‘ I say, opening the mind link to Yorick and Warren.

    ‘I agree,’ they say at once.

    ‘Why don’t we have lunch in here and we can get to know each other further,‘ I say.

    ‘I’ll go order some food. I need to check on Hacker and Wendy anyway,’ Warren says.

    I look at my uncle and cousin.

    “Would you like to stay for lunch? Maybe we can start to get to know each other better,” I say.

    Arman smiles his first smile.

    “We would love that, wouldn’t we Dad?” he says, looking at his father.

    Ramin looks at me. “I have let hatred eat at me for nearly two decades. Perhaps it’s time to set that aside and get to know Soraya’s daughter.”

    “I’ll go order lunch,” Warren says, standing up and walking out.

    When he steps out, Arman grins at me. “So, you’re rted to Alpha Quirin through your mate bond. What’s that like?”

    b2/2 /b

    biAD /i/b

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