Chapter 5

“Dad?” Ariel called with a soft voice that had Kane’s hardened heart melting. He looked at the young girl, who seemed smaller for her age, and he was shaking his head in pity.

He had asked his men to snoop around the pack house before they burned it, and they had discovered she was just 15 years old. He was 20, which means there was a five-year gap between them.

It wasn’t all that much, yet as he looked at her innocent face, he couldn’t feel anything but pity for her.

“Come.” Kane said, motioning to her. Ariel's eyes hardened as she looked at him, yet her legs seemed to have a kind of their own, and they made their way to him. But right now she was in a strange world and had no recollection of herself, and it was only this strange man that was radiating a comfortable warmth she could trust.

Kane watched as she made her way to him, and he couldn’t help the smile on his face. The moment was, however, disrupted when his ear pricked and he heard panicked footsteps coming from afar.

“Oh, my goddess. I am dead. Oh, my goddess, he will kill me.” The voice continued to ring out, proclaiming her demise, even though Kane had no intention of shortening her life span.

Just as he had thought, a knock went off on his door, and upon his verbal consent, the door opened quietly, as if afraid that the mere creaking of the door would anger him.

If this was what his pack members thought of him, Kane thought he would have to be more friendly.

“Alpha.” Denise peeped her head through the small opening of the door, and her worried eyes scanned around the room until they landed on the ones she had been looking for, and she released a little sigh of relief.

“Denise?” Kane looks at her with a slight annoyance. He wanted alone time with his mate and needed no one to disturb him. “What do you need?”

“I just wanted to check up on you. I know you have been quiet busy lately, and I just wanted to appreciate you for what you did.”

Kane rolled his eyes at the obvious flattery. “You lost her, right?” He said in a teasing voice, and Denise gulped before nodding her head.

“I am sorry. I went to get her food, and suddenly she was nowhere to be found. She doesn’t have any scent yet, and there was no way to track her.”

Kane dismissed her with a wave of his hands before she continued to ramble his ears off. “It is alright, but I expect you to do a better job next time.”

“Yes Alpha.” Denise lowered his head for a second longer than necessary, and she scurried out of the office, shutting the door in her wake.

“Are you hungry?” Kane said, directing his attention to his mate. She has been quiet throughout their conversation, and she merely shrugged her shoulders, refusing to utter a word.

Everything was so confusing to her that trying to make sense of it was giving her a splitting headache, yet she was drawn to this man beside her.

Kane took her reluctance as a yes, and he messaged one of his men to arrange a meal for her. He will need to hold a meeting with his friends to discuss what he is going to do with her. He can’t possibly keep her here in a rogue pack of 99.9% men.

He wanted her to explore the world and, more importantly, to grow up; in his head, she was just a young girl he had taken under his care and not his mate.

His thought was disrupted when he heard a knock on the door and a male warrior entered, balancing a tray on his hand.

"Alpha, you called.”

“Yes, thank you. Just place it on the table.” Kane said, gesturing to the table, and the man left it there before hurrying out of the way.

Ariel needed no prompting before she was walking towards the table and eating from it. She couldn’t care if it was going to be poisoned; her belly needed to be filled.

She pushed back the plate and moved to sit down away from him, but after staring into space for a long time, she dozed off to sleep.

***

“Why did he call us here?” Toby asked, his eyebrows rising in question. He had been relaxing on his bed, playing a game, when Kane messaged him that he wanted to see him.

“I am not sure; I have an idea, but we may never know.” Mason said, his face stoic as ever. All he could think of was how Kane got mad when he suggested they killed the girl from the pack, and he was sure she was his mate.

“I have something to do; he should be...” The door opened before Toby could complete his words, and he was standing up as if he had been struck by lightning. “Kane, you are here.”

Kane glanced from his Beta to his Gamma, his eyebrows furrowed in a frown, and he shook his head. “I need your help.”

“Alright, how can we help you?”

Kane sat on the edge of the bed while the rest had made themselves comfortable on the only piece of furniture he had, and he leaned forward. “I have found my mate.”

He looked at his closest friends as he dropped the bombshell, and he almost laughed as he saw Toby’s expression.

If the situation wasn’t so serious, he would have whipped out his phone and taken a picture. “The hell.” Toby’s dramatic ass was standing up before he could think of it. “You are lying.”

Kane gave him the side eye, not so fond of his words; there are many things he could be, but a liar wasn’t them.

“Does it look like a joke?” His mouth was in a thin line as he glanced at his beta. Mason's face was a blank slate, showing no emotions, and he was sure he suspected it before.

“Who is she?” Mason spoke just to confirm his doubt, and Kane gave him a look that confirmed all he knew.

“What the hell is going on? I want in on the gist.” Toby whined like a spoiled child, and Kane was rolling his eyes.

How did he even become his Gamma?

“You don’t know how, but I will introduce her to you when the time is right.” Kane explained, straightening his back. “Anyways, that is beside the point. She can’t stay here; she is too young to be here, and honestly, I am not ready for a mate now.”

“Hmmm.” Mason stroked his clean-shaved jaw. “I don’t think that is all to it; there is something you are not telling us.”

Kane released a sharp breath, cursing himself for being so easy to read, and he released a sigh. “She has no idea she is a werewolf.”

Toby’s eyes widened to the point that they bore great resemblance to a saucer. “If this is a joke, Kane, I suggest you stop it. How can she not know who she is?”

Kane released a weary sigh, already developing a headache from the long talk. He had called them to propose a solution to his dilemma, yet he was the one doing most of the talking. “It is a long story, but the summary of the point is that her father poisoned her wolf, and it is no more.”

“I see, but you can always reverse it.” Mason suggested.

“I know, but I don’t think I want to do that. It is better she doesn’t know.”

“Hmmm.” Toby was going to say something in protest, but he saw the look on Kane’s face, and decided against it. “I have a friend in a pack in Australia, and they will be happy to watch over her if you like.”

"Mason, do you have any idea?” Mason shook his head for a no. He had a lot to say, but it would probably anger Kane, so it was best not to say it. “Alright, it is settled.” Kane declared.

For the next two days, Kane made himself scarce to Ariel while he allowed Toby to fill her head with talks of Australia.

He had already come up with a suitable lie to give her. She was an orphan, and he found her and decided to take care of her, but he had seen a scholarship opportunity in Australia, and he believed she was the best fit.

Ariel had been sold on the lie, eager to explore another country, and she had no problem believing it. And the following weekend, Toby was escorting her to the airport and bidding her farewell as she set out to begin a new life in an unknown place.