Leila

'What's your name?" I asked, ignoring Lea's snort. I could only remember the names of people that mattered.


Luckily, she didn't think my question was weird. 'Penny…I'm really sorry for how we treated you… How I treated you… I should have treated you better…"

I smiled shocked, I wasn't expecting an apology from her.

'It's alright. It's in the past. I appreciate the fact that you apologized."


Amelia didn't, not even at the point of her death.

'I'm going to touch more than your hair now" I announced in other to prepare her for my touch. She had gone through a trauma, sudden touch could lead to a panic attack.


I could hear Marenza's voice in my head.

'Okay…" she shut her eyes.

Placing my hands on her stomach, I ignored her initial flinch and the gaze from the others, I called on my powers.

A dim light appeared under my hands, Penny gasped. The glow increased and spread, covering her stomach then her lower region.

A small moan left her lips.

Soon, her whole body was covered by the glow.

'Wow…" someone whispered. They got closer in their amazement.

'Please, don't touch her."

Their advancement stopped but they continued watching in amazement. When I was sure that every part of her body was in good shape, I lifted my hands from her body.

Penny opened her eyes, 'Woah…" she got up and stretched, '...I feel so good."

'I told you so" I said with a smile.

'I'm next…"

'No me…"

'I'm older, I should be next…"

'I'm closer to her…"

I laughed, at least their moods have improved.

'Don't worry, I will heal all of you at the same time."

'Leila…" Liam said through the link.

'Don't worry, I'll be fine."

'Don't overwhelm yourself."

I nodded.

'Join hand with the person beside you, I need all of you to be touching."

They shuffled, somehow forming a circle around me. I placed my hand on the woman closest to me and the glow appeared.

Soon, I was seating in the middle of a glowing circle. Light sounds of pleasure and relief filled the air. I could feel our soldiers watching from afar.

'Is Marenza okay?" I asked when I was done. Liam pushed a bottle of water into my hand. I smiled and drank it willingly.

There were some drops of sweat on my forehead but I felt alright. The women weren't agitated by Liam's presence by my side.

'Marenza? She's fine." Penny replied, 'is he your relative Leila? He has a strong resemblance with you…it's almost like…"

'He's my twin brother. He's the one who rescued me."

'He's hot" a woman said.

'Thank you, you're stunning" Liam replied.

The woman blushed and nodded.

'Has she been coping well?" I asked.

'...it wasn't easy the first time. They almost locked her up because she kept on insisting that her mate wasn't dead…"

What?

'... luckily, Sonia intervened and told them that she was just grieving. Surprisingly, in the dead of the night, General Regan staggered into her house badly injured and almost dead."

'Regan is alive?" my voice came out in a whisper.

'Yeah, Marenza nursed him back to life. She almost died doing so but they are okay now. Last I heard, his injuries are healing nicely and he's staying awake longer."

I blinked fast, keeping my tears at bay. 'Thank you. Can you lead me to the house they are staying?"

The remaining members had moved to houses in the middle of the pack leaving the edge to the traitors and the front to Antonio's soldiers.

'Of course. It's the least I can do for you in return."

****

'Xander?"

I could feel his rage through the bond. Something was going on, was he hurt?

'Are you okay?" I asked.

'I'm fine babe. I just found out who the first fucking traitor is."

'Oh?"

Was the person really close to Xander to get this kind of reaction from him? I couldn't think of anyone, my father was dead, Marv died in the ambush and Regan would never, he wasn't in good shape to begin with.

'I should stop distracting you…"

'It's okay, are things done in your end?"

'Yeah. I got good news…Regan is alive."

Suddenly, I was flooded with shock, joy and relief, all Xander's emotions.

'Are you with him right now?"

'No, I'm heading to his place. Marenza is nursing him back to full health, he's doing better than he was when he returned."

'Okay, I'll round up and come to you."

'Have you heard from Hera?"

'Yes…we'll talk later love."

'Okay Alpha."

The pack was quiet. I wasn't suprised, given the things that had happened.

'How have things been here?" I asked Penny. Liam was beside me and some of our soldiers trailed behind.

Some women had decided to join Penny in leading me to Marenza's.

'Tough and hard…Sonia stepped up and became our leader in a way but it wasn't the same…she is also afraid of Antonio…"

I wonder if she was also a traitor, maybe she came to our pack as his spy, maybe living with dad was just part of her cover…I pushed the thoughts out of my head, it wasn't the time.

'In Antonio's absence, the soldiers became barbarians…they…" she shuddered.

Another woman tapped her shoulder comfortingly, '...they wanted to sleep with the underage pups…" the woman took over from Penny, '... Sonia has already done so much for us, we decided to take their place to relieve the burden…the things they did…"

I was really glad that we killed those bastards. So fucking glad.

They clearly held Sonia in such high regard, they were unaware of the fact that she was once Antonio's mate.

'We almost died from a famine but Sonia was able to convince them to allow us hunt for food."

What was Sonia's plan? Did she really care about these people or was there something else going on?

'Penny?" a small woman called. She looked tired but suprised, 'oh goddess…you look okay…"

'Mom…"

She ran to Penny and hugged her, I could hear her heartbreaking sobs. Our small group watched them with smiles on our faces.

'We heard noises…I was so scared…how…"

I felt a stare and looked beyond the bonding mother and daughter.

Sonia.