Alpha's Twins Chapter 86

When we got back to the pack house, my parents immediately swept Aria into their arms. The fear of losing her was written all over their faces. At this age, Noah and Aria were everything to them.

"I'm okay, Grandpa. Don't worry, Grandma."

Aria reassured them like the thoughtful little girl she was, telling them she was fine.

I spotted Noah standing alone in the corner. His eyes were fixed on Aria, but he wasn't moving toward her. Something was clearly bothering him.

Was he feeling guilty? Blaming himself for what happened?

While everyone fussed over Aria, I made my way over to Noah.

I crouched down and gently touched his shoulder. He wouldn't look up.

"What's going on, big guy? Why do you look so upset? Don't you want to see your little sister?" I asked softly.

He was only a few minutes older than Aria, but I'd always told him he was her big brother and needed to protect her.

"I'm sorry, Mom. I couldn't protect Aria," he mumbled, his bottom lip jutting out.

I ran my fingers through his hair, and he finally looked up at me.

His eyes were watery, which nearly broke my heart. "Don't cry, sweetheart. You're my strong boy. This wasn't your fault, okay?"

He shook his head. "I—"

I didn't let him finish, pulling him into a tight hug instead.

I rubbed his back soothingly. "Tears don't suit you, buddy. You need to be strong. You're going to be a powerful man someday."

"Just like Uncle Jason?" he asked, his arms wrapped around my neck.

I laughed softly and nodded. "Yeah, just like Uncle Jason."

We broke apart and looked over at Aria. When she saw us, she came running over on her little legs.

"Noah!" she called out, throwing her arms around her brother.

I stood up and let the twins have their moment.

Noah hugged Aria tight and looked up at me. I smiled at him, and he smiled back before turning to his sister.

"I missed you. Where did you go?"

Aria pulled back and started to answer, "I was with..." then stopped and glanced at me.

I shook my head slightly. She blinked and turned back to Noah. "I was lost. Mommy's friend found me, and I stayed with him."

Aria lied to Noah because I'd told her in the car not to mention Adrian to anyone. She'd kept asking me why, like she actually wanted to talk about him.

But I didn't explain much—just made it clear she couldn't say anything about him, especially not in front of Noah. I knew Noah hated that man as much as I did. In a way, having one of Adrian's own children dislike him felt like karma.

Still, it made me wonder why Noah had such a strong reaction to someone he'd barely met and didn't even know. According to Aria, Adrian had never been mean to him. So what was that about?

The pack house felt happy again. Everyone was relieved to have Aria back safe.

All evening, people kept asking Aria what had happened. She stuck to the same story—she got lost chasing a kitten.

Eric told everyone to stop questioning her, saying it wasn't good for a child to keep reliving traumatic moments.

When Jason got back to the pack house, the first thing he did was call Aria to his room.

My stomach dropped. I was terrified he'd start investigating. Eric caught my eye and signaled that he'd handle it.

I stood outside Jason's bedroom, trying to listen to their conversation.

"Where were you?" Jason asked Aria.

"Uncle Jason, I was with Mommy's friend."

"Oh, I see. How are you feeling now, sweetheart? Did anyone hurt you?"

"No, Uncle. Mommy's friend is nice. He bought me ice cream and gave me my favorite brownies."

"He? Your mommy's friend is a man?"

The second I realized Jason had caught that detail, I tensed up.

"You can come in. You know eavesdropping isn't polite, right?"

Busted. I heard my brother's voice and knew he'd caught me. I opened the door and stepped into his room.

I gave him an awkward laugh. "Sorry, Jason. I was just walking by..."

Eric bit his lip to keep from laughing, like I was the world's worst liar.

I shot him a dirty look. Wasn't he supposed to be on my side?

He cleared his throat and jumped in. "She's telling the truth. I think you're reading too much into this."

Jason raised an eyebrow and turned to look at Eric.

"Stop covering for her all the time, Eric. I'll deal with you later. Let me talk to her first."

Eric swallowed hard, clearly realizing Jason was onto something.

"You can go back to your room, sweetheart. Uncle brought you lots of chocolate—I'll have someone bring it to you."

Aria's face lit up at the mention of chocolate. "Okay, Uncle!"

She kissed Jason's cheek and skipped out of the room, leaving me alone in the lion's den.

"Natalia, where was she? Are you lying to me?"

"Jason, I told you. My friend found her."

"Which friend? I need a name."

I looked at Eric for backup. He nodded and put his hand on Jason's shoulder.

"Dude, why are you scaring her? She's allowed to have guy friends, you know."

Jason stood up from his bed and turned to face Eric.

"Really? Don't make me spell this out. She can have guy friends? Weren't you the one who used to beat up any guy who got near her?"

My eyes went wide. I stared at Eric, who was suddenly very interested in scratching the back of his neck.

"Stop talking nonsense, Jason. Just calm down," Eric muttered to his best friend.

I was confused and shocked at the same time.

Every time a guy had shown interest in me, Eric would beat them up, and he always told me it was on Jason's orders.

*So it was Eric all along? Why would he do that?*