Falling in love with my Ex's Alpha Chapter 158

'Troy is telling me he's scared his parents will be disappointed in him,' Ruby says.

Frankly, I don't know if I'm more stunned by Kaiden's feelings or by the fact that she can talk to Troy without me knowing.

I try to ignore everything around me and quickly take off my coat, and when my arms are free, I direct my hands to Char's body. I feel how weak she is. I feel the weight of my brother's gaze on us, his sadness at seeing his fated mate like this.

"As soon as the barrier fell, we noticed it immediately and prepared ourselves for any possible attack, however..." my mother says but stops halfway as if it were too difficult for her to say.

My father hugs her and continues, "As you know, Char is a great warrior. Since she arrived, she has changed our entire defence system, but we don't have many warriors... When the pack was invaded, we soon realized the number of warriors would not be enough. More than half of the warriors died..."

"Char only stopped fighting when she was already unconscious. She continued fighting even though she was extremely injured to protect those who couldn't fight," my mother adds.

"I was on the front lines. I couldn't get out there and go protect her," Dustin puts both hands on his face, "I shouldn't have–"

"You did what you could, son," I hear my father say as I try to heal Char, but it's harder than I thought it would be. She's not responding to my healing.

"What attacked Char?" I ask, looking at my mother.

"I don't know what it was, but Kyrie said the daggers used had some spell so malevolent it looked like some evil magic," she says.

"But did anyone get injured like this?" I ask and see everyone's confused, looking at me. Something is off...

"No, just Char. She was attacked by the same group that was going to attack the three sacred trees," my father says.

"There's something strange in her body. The wounds have already healed due to her super healing, but there's something evil trapped inside. I can feel it..." I feel my brother stop breathing, "it's like it's stopping me from healing her!"

"What happened to the sacred trees?" Jake asks.

"Well... the fruit tree was all looted. They took the sacred fruits that can be used for so many spells... and then," he takes a deep breath, "... and then the three were destroyed," my father says with sadness.

"No!" I turn to him in disbelief, letting my arms fall limply around me.

"I don't know if they'll ever be able to recover," my mother says, "but we're going to do everything we can to make it happen because that's our family's duty ever since your grandmother found this pack!"

Fury runs through my veins. How does someone have the courage to do all this? How can someone be so evil to kill so many innocent lives? How can someone destroy something so sacred, so pure?

I don't even realize what I'm doing, but suddenly, I shift, and Ruby's two paws lay on Char's body. We both touch her body with the intention of not only saving Char but also killing anything that is harming her.

Around us, I feel my parents' shocked looks upon seeing me shift for the first time, as well as my brother's.

"Katie!" my brother says in disbelief.

I feel Kaiden close to me, but he knows better than to touch me now. I'm focused on this task. I need to be successful in this. My pack was almost wiped out... all of this is my fault.

'No, it's not. Stop blaming yourself,' Troy growls in my mind.

Ruby presses her paw over Char's heart. Her breathing starts to return to normal, and her heart stops beating irregularly soon after I feel the oil black mark inside her disappear.

I keep pressing her, and I feel warmth run through Ruby. Ruby's red fur makes it feel like it's on fire. As if she had burned away all the evils that were preventing Char from living.

'She's pregnant!' Ruby tells me.

'Oh my Goddess! Do you think they know?'

'There's no way for them to know because something was stopping her from getting pregnant before. I removed it, and well... there was already something waiting there,' she says in a joking tone.

'Ewww, this is my brother we're talking about! Stop it!' I respond, and I hear her laugh in my head. 'She couldn't have... kids?'

'She could, but not the way she was, we just gave her a little help, I hope she wants to be a mother.'

"I need to go to the pack entrance if someone decides to invade again–"

"Don't worry about it," I hear Kaiden interrupt my father, "I came with a team of warriors, and I already mindlink them to patrol the pack and help with whatever the members need," Kaiden says firmly.

"You did?" my father asks as if he hadn't expected this from him.

"Yes, and they will live here to protect the pack from now on," Kaiden says firmly, leaving no room for argument. "I will take turns with other warriors, but a team will always be here to protect."

'He already does this with his small packs. Don't worry, it's the best thing to do now,' Jay mindlinked me.

Neither my father nor Dustin responds. They are both still shaken by everything. I think that even if they are upset with me, they have to think about the pack's safety.

"Where are my parents?" Jake asks.

"They're already getting here, don't worry, they're fine," my father assures him at the same time that I feel the last black spot disappearing from inside Char's body.

She opens her eyes and takes a deep breath as if she is waking up after being drowned.

Jay is the closest to her to fall on top of her. I hug her and get off her to give him space, and then my brother does the same, even with Jay still hugging her.

"I thought I was going to lose you," Dustin whispers in her ear, but everyone hears his fear.

Her eyes hover over me and then widen. I would be scared, too, if a big red wolf out of nowhere was in front of me after I almost got killed.

"Katie?" she asks confused.

"How do you know it's her?" Jake asks, just as confused as she is.

"It smells like Katie, but it's different... and besides, I've felt this healing sensation before," Char says, raising an eyebrow.

My brother and Jay look at me, amused, and I'm suddenly blushed.

'I want to shift, but I'm embarrassed,' I confess only to Chad; somehow, I was embarrassed to even tell Kaiden.

"Where is Katie's room? The trip was long, she needs to change and rest," he says to my parents. My parents look at him without understanding anything.

I'm so embarrassed that I forgot to go to my room, so I force Ruby to go there, and my mom follows behind me.

I listen to Jake explain to my father, my brother and my sister-in-law that Chad is my protector while I am afraid of what my mother has to say.

🐺 🐺 🐺

After I returned to my human form and put on a robe because literally nothing fits on me, my father and Kaiden joined my mother and me in my room.

I feel Kaiden's apprehension through the mate bond. I hold my swollen belly as I sit on the edge of my bed, and my mother does the same, and my father and Kaiden are facing us.

"I'm sorry for breaking the protective barrier," I say, with a lump in my throat, "it's all my fault," tears run down my cheek, and Ruby remains silent in my mind.

"Honey, what are you talking about?" my mother hugs me, "a tragedy happened, yes, but the most important thing is that you're alive!"

"It was my fault. I should have killed the person who poisoned her before she could do any harm to my mate..." Kaiden says with regret in his beautiful eyes, his jaw so firm that I see the muscle contract.

My father turns to Kaiden, and Kaiden looks away, looking like he can't bear the weight of my father's gaze, which is strange because Kaiden doesn't act like that with anyone.

"Kaiden, you did well to save my daughter," he says with a hand on Kaiden's shoulder, but Kaiden doesn't look at him, my father looks at my belly, "and my grand pup," he smiles.

"Aren't you mad at me?" Kaiden asks angrily. Does he want my father to be mad at him? Why did he ask in that tone, for Goddess' sake?

"What?"

"Wait a minute, you can't just forgive me after all the chaos I caused with a simple fucking pat on the shoulder," Kaiden says aggressively and takes my father's hand off his shoulder.

I stop crying, and my mother starts to stifle her giggles. "Kaiden, none of this was your fault," my father says firmly, looking into his eyes, "you did the right thing, son. Besides, we knew that one time or another, my daughter would have to get her wolf back. We knew we couldn't have the protective barrier forever," he says.

"But you're not going to fight me?" Kaiden asks indignantly. I feel the desperation in his voice.

My mother rubs my belly. Kaiden softens his fury eyes when my father returns with his hand on his shoulder, "Honestly, I don't know what you expect from me or my family. But from the moment I met you, you became as much a part of my family as Katie. You are my son, Kaiden. The only way I will fight or be disappointed with you is if you do something bad to my daughter," my father says firmly. "However, I think you'd cut off your own hand before doing that," he smiles, a few lines of expression around his eyes, showing how used he is to smile.

Kaiden doesn't say anything, much less look at my father. My father is shorter than him, but it seems like my father is talking to a child at that moment.

My father hugs Kaiden, and Kaiden doesn't react, but after a moment, he hugs my father back.

My mother is already crying at their interaction, and so am I, because my heart hurts every time I remember how he was raised, how he was treated by his parents and how this still affects him. It seems like *he thinks he doesn't deserve any kind of affection, he doesn't feel enough*...

After a while, my father lets go of the hug and turns to me, still smiling, "I'm going to have a grand pup," he says with a tear in his eye.

"Well, not one, but two," I say, and everyone's eyes widen simultaneously.

"What?" the three speak in unison.

"How did you know that?" Kaiden asks me furiously. "Wait... I just listen to one heartbeat."

"No, but Char is pregnant," I reveal to them. My father opens his mouth in disbelief, and so does my mother. Then, they both hug each other in happiness.

"I found out while I was healing her," I explain, "I'm sorry it took me so long to tell you; after everything that happened, we were going to visit you the following week and tell you everything in person."

My mother playfully slaps me on the shoulder, "Katherine Wright, if you hide any more grand pups from me, I swear to you you will get the spanking you never got!" she threatens.

I giggle as she and my dad stroke my belly. The baby kicks right away as if happy to be near them.

"Sweet Goddess, did you feel that?" my mother says, and my father nods; my eyes meet Kaiden's eyes.

I can still feel for our bond mate how shaken he is by the conversation with my parents. The sudden urge to go to him took over me. The image of my mate suffering, traumatized by his parents, filled me with sadness and rage. He must have felt so lost growing up.

So alone. Without any love...

I remain sitting, though. I raise my hand, and he comes to me and holds it, interlocking our fingers. He looks at our hands strangely again, sweeping his thumb across my knuckles.

He doesn't say anything as we lost into each other's eyes and listen to my parents talk with our baby in my belly in the background.

I know he faced hard traumatic events in his life, and I'm hopeful that one day, he'll tell me all about them.

Even if he wanted to, even if I wanted him to, he can't go back and change his past. I just hope that with me by his side, he doesn't have to live there anymore.

I want to help my mate heal.