Wild and Free

(Auden’s POV)

“With all due respect Alpha Pearce, I don’t believe you realize what you’re asking,” I said, trying not to sound breathless.

The man folded his hands behind his back and walked over to his podium where he gathered some papers, “I am aware. An hour ago I thought you were a rogue criminal but I feel as though you could make a future with our pack.”

I was speechless. My hands twitched, wanting to pinch myself to see if the effects of the TS had knocked me out and it was all just a dream.

“But-”

“And then there’s that fact that you and my son are mates,” he cut me off.

I shut my mouth and glanced at Mason who’s ears reddened. I guess that both of us thought that no one knew. Kenzie, Cassie, and the others had mixes of confused, surprised, and smug expressions on their faces.

“How did you-” he started before his father waved him off.

“It became clear to me between the time after the battle and at the trial,” he answered. “You aren’t very good at hiding it.”

“I suppose it’s a foreign feeling to both of us,” I replied, attempting to keep the blush from my face.

Alpha Pearce looked at me curiously, “So you didn’t know that you were mates this entire time? Even after you found out about what he is?”

I shook my head, “My necklace hid my true form well but also weakened my wolf. The two of us were never together without me wearing it, save for a few times but none long enough for either of us to know.”

“Selene and Diana were right,” Kenzie said. “Wearing it for so long changed you and your wolf.”

Mason knit his brows, “What about that scent that I’d been getting? It’s definitely her, I know that now, but if she was wearing the necklace the entire time how would I have picked up the scent?”

The Alpha looked over at his Beta for an answer, but the man just shrugged, “Being that you are the first two blood born Alphas to be mated, perhaps the bond was so strong that even the effects of the Razalea stone wasn’t powerful enough to keep all of itself hidden from you.”

“Speaking of which,” Mason’s Father recalled. “How many times did you meet without knowing who she was?” he asked, addressing his son.

I bit my lip and turned away but could tell Mason was smirking.

“We met in the forest a few days after we arrived here,” he began explaining. “Riley and I were talking and she was eavesdropping-”

“Rubbish, it’s not eavesdropping if you just assume that no one else is walking by,” I snapped succeeding in nothing but making his grin grow.

“Either way,” he continued, “she got caught and we fought a little because she wouldn’t reveal herself.”

“For good reason,” I mumbled, folding my arms over my chest.

He rolled his eyes, “That wolf fought differently than any wolf I’d come across in training. She cut me during the fight. The next morning the cuts were still there. That was how I knew that werewolves could scar,” he added before pulling his shirt up to show the claw marks I’d left on his abdomen. He looked over at me and shook his head, “I still don’t know how you did this,” he mused, lowering the hem of his shirt.

I shrugged, “I might not have been raised on a pedestal like my brother but I was still trained as a Wilde. We were taught special fighting techniques to use in battle.”

Mason’s face flickered with something I couldn’t quite identify but it was gone just as quickly as it had come.

“Any other times?” Alpha Pearce asked.

I didn’t answer but it seemed to click in Mason’s mind.

“Rio,” he whispered, at first only to himself. “She’s Rio.”

Angela seemed to recognize the name I’d given the boys, “Wait Rio?” she stepped toward me. “You mean you’re the one who saved my little boy?”

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, “I don’t really know if saved is really the right word to use-”

“You brought them back,” Mason cut me off. “I saw you in the woods. You must have used your ability to get away because I blinked and you were gone.”

Angela’s eyes filled with tears and she surprised me when she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. When she pulled back she held me by the forearms, “We’re so sorry for everything that’s happened to you but thank you for helping my son.”

I shook my head, “It wasn’t anything-”

“Don’t you dare try to say that it was nothing,” she interrupted me, looking me straight in the eyes. “You did not have to stop to help those boys but you did. And you almost exposed yourself doing it. That means everything to us.”

She gave me a grateful smile before returning to her husband’s side, “I think it’s about time that we go,” she said, linking her arm in his. They nodded to the Royals and walked towards the door behind me.

Angela stopped another second, resting her hand on my shoulder, “Perhaps if you were to stay you’d get to see the boys again,” she said with a smile before the pair exited the room.

There was another second of silence before Cassie cleared her throat, “Excuse me? Alpha Pearce, if Auden is free then-”

The man turned around with white eyes and a smile. Together the combination looked strange but the white faded and he nodded, “Go ahead,” he told my friend.

Before I could put together the pieces of how he must have been reading her mind, Cassie nearly threw me to the floor with her hug.

“I can’t believe you just did all of that,” she whispered in my ear.

I squeezed my eyes shut, “I just need someone to tell me that it wasn’t all just a dream,” I whispered back.

“It wasn’t,” Kenzie said, over my shoulder.

I pulled back from my human friend and turned into the fellow female wolf’s arms. She held on just as tightly as I did.

“I hope that we can be like the sisters that we both deserved,” she laughed against me.

We broke the hug and looked to see Mason rolling his eyes which just made us laugh more.

“I believe that you all have some catching up to do,” Alpha Pearce said, gathering his papers in his hands. “We’ll have brunch tomorrow morning because I’m sure you’ll all be up late. Whenever you’re ready Ms. Wilde, have my son show you back to my office so we may talk.”

I nodded before he left the room, following the same direction as his associates.

Kenzie grabbed my hand and squeezed it, “I’m sorry for everything they made you do,” she said, her happy smile faded.

I shook my head, “You’ve no reason to apologize,”

I looked up at Mason who looked equally as guilty and another look over at the rest of my friends faces who held the same expression.

“Look guys I did what I did on that field because I had no choice,” I said. “But that doesn’t mean that you guys wouldn’t have found out. I don’t regret revealing myself back there, not one bit. Especially because to show for it I have six of the greatest people I’ve come to know standing in front of me, alive and breathing.”

Cassie hugged me from one side and Kenzie on the other, making me laugh.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to say it,” Cassie said teasingly. “We love you too.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed, “Yeah, yeah whatever.”

“Do you want to go somewhere less…” Kenzie said looking around the room, “daunting?”

We all nodded enthusiastically and the Royals lead the way out of the trial room. Let’s just say I didn’t spare myself a glance backwards as we left.

~~AUTHOR’S NOTE~~

Sorry for the super short chapter, I just needed to get something out there.

Hope you enjoyed!

As always, comment, don’t hate, and read on!

~your Cheshire Cat loving friend