Leonardo

She...she's been found.

Moonstone Pack—the very pack we'd been assured three times over the past seven years held no record of a new woman, no one resembling the photo of Maya. Doubt never crossed our minds, as the Alpha, preoccupied with safeguarding his people from relentless rogue threats, would hardly entertain the entry of an unknown woman, let alone fabricate a story to shield her. For years, they grappled with terrifying incidents and rogue attacks, only recently finding stability.

Why did she choose that pack over all the others? Did she lack knowledge about their history?

Perhaps not. The thought of her leaving without a plan was unsettling. How desperate must she have been to take such a reckless step? It was so frightening and at the same time stung because I knew we were the ones who had driven her to that point.

"Are you certain the spy spotted her in Moonstone?" Maximus asked, his voice betraying a tremor, “Is the information totally correct?”

"Yes. He even brought us a picture, right here..." Fabian extended the photograph, and my heart paused when her image came into view. “There’s no reason to doubt, Alpha. The information is correct. Luna has been found.”

God…..

"Maya..." A soft whisper escaped my lips as I gazed at her picture—the same captivating eyes, the luxuriously silky hair, the familiar lips—yet everything about her projected a different narrative. A radiant glow adorned her face, a beautiful one. Her eyes no longer spoke of pain; instead, they brimmed with happiness, maybe showcasing her newfound freedom. People surrounded her, perhaps they were her friends. Friends….that we had never permitted her to have.

And most notably, she was smiling. A beautiful smile we perhaps never witnessed.

“We'd never seen her smile, Leo…” Max uttered, his hand trembling as he held the photo, “God! We had never fucking seen her smile.” I understood the pain in his voice, familiar with the emotions coursing through him. Yet, I maintained more control, aided by alcohol coursing through my system, masking the hurt, even though it gnawed at me just as fiercely.

God, damn it! It actually hurt that we had never seen her smile…..

All we had ever seen on her face were tears and pain but who were to be blamed except for us? We wanted to see pain and that’s what we saw. 

“There's none more unfortunate than you and me, brother,” I emitted a bitter chuckle, lacking the courage to even touch her picture. It felt as if the image would fucking vanish if my tainted hands came into contact with it so I refrained from doing so even though every part of me wanted it—to touch, to feel her picture and see if I could actually feel her presence.

But….I could only gaze at her and wish I had made different choices, regretting the blindness I had chosen.

What else was there to do but wish? Besides begging for forgiveness and hoping she'd find it in her heart to return to us, we had nothing left. Even if she refused, we had no right, no privilege, to beg for her return. We had squandered every chance she had given us.

We didn’t value her and now we were facing the consequences. Bearing the burden of our sins.

“We have to go and find her,” Max declared, carefully tucking Maya’s picture into the pocket of his shirt. “We can't risk anything else. Let’s go and find her and our child.”

“Is… Is she really living in Moonstone?” I found myself asking Fabian. It seemed almost too good to be true that fate had, out of the blue, presented us with such an opportunity. Just as we were coming to terms with reality after Dad’s words, fate had laid out a path to Maya.

Wasn't it all too good to be true for monsters like us? Damn right, it was. There wasn't even a need to doubt; it was that obvious.

“Yes, Alpha. In fact, the informant even suspects that she's been residing there the entire time. It appears Moonstone lied to us about Luna not being in their pack.”

I didn't care about what Moonstone had done. All that mattered was that, after all these years, we finally knew where Maya was.

“The baby, has the baby been spotted?” I asked, my voice faltering.

We didn't even know the gender of our child, let alone their name or what their face looked like. The mere thought of it killed me from within.

"Unfortunately no, Alpha. There was no such information."

My heart sank at his words.

Was our child even alive? Could it be that she had lost our child amidst everything she had gone through after escaping from us? So many possibilities haunted my thoughts. I exchanged a glance with Maximus, knowing he shared the same fears. The idea of losing our baby because of our actions was unbearable.

The sickening realization of what we had done to her, coupled with the potential loss of our child, was overwhelming.

No, it couldn't happen.

The child must be alive.

"You can leave now, Fabian. Make arrangements; we'll go to Moonstone unannounced," Maximus said, and nodding, Fabian left the room.

A pin drop of silence stretched through the room, and none of us spoke a word for a while. Our thoughts and concerns were loud. I was desperate to know if our baby was alive, and at the same time, I longed to see Maya at least once and pull her into my arms.

I had lost her once; I didn't want to lose her again.

"So, we are really going to go to her?" I asked Max, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes. We have lost seven years already, Leo," Maximus emitted a sigh, tracing his fingertips on Maya’s letter on his desk, which I hadn't noticed until now, "We can’t lose any more. We have to meet her."