ELIJAH'S POV:-

　　Once I left her in the bathroom, I stepped out of the bedroom. As expected, everyone was waiting for me. Uncle Grey had this concerned look on his face. Emma looked horrified as soon as she sensed my presence. As for Kevin and Nichole, they were nowhere to be found. As if they just ran off. I was still too angry to deal with them. I was not ready for that. Without sparing a single glance at them, I walked towards the elevator to grab all the bags from the elevator. The elevator door opened before I could even touch the button. I was not surprised to see Gregory and Lauren standing in front of me. They stepped out of the elevator and I got the chance to grab the shopping bags.

　　I gathered all the bags and decided to go back to the bedroom. Dean was actually acting crazy ever since we saw Artemis in such a miserable state. He was blaming me for not being careful. And I knew that he was right. I should never have left her alone in my apartment like that. "Elijah! We need to talk. You can do all this later. Just tell us. What is going on? Who is that girl inside your bedroom? What is going on?" Uncle Grey asked me in a low tone. I turned to look at him. Unfortunately, my anger took over me again. Instead of a single look actually turned into a glare. And at that moment, I was unable to control it.

　　Lauren sighed as she walked towards me. She took the bags from my hands and set them aside. "Alpha! I don't know what just happened but I can see you are furious. Unless you tell them everything, you will not be able to get help. They are your pack members. They are your family too. They deserve to know." Lauren spoke as she grabbed my hand. I growled as I was not sure what I was supposed to tell them. They clearly didn't once ask Artemis before beating her so harshly. They didn't think about asking me before they dared to touch what belonged to me. They just thought they could get away with everything. I couldn't imagine they could actually think that I wouldn't question them.

　　My eyes wandered around for Kevin and Nichole again. Even though I couldn't sense their scents in my penthouse anymore, I still wanted to see if they were around. I sat down on one of the couches, growling angrily. "I can't believe you would do something like that. I can't believe it. I went out for like an hour and I came back home to witness you all behaving like wild wolves. Is that how we are supposed to behave in front of others? Are we that despite?" I asked Uncle Grey and Emma as I lightly massaged my temples. My head ached because of all the drama I just witnessed. I didn't have the strength to apologise to Artemis.

　　How could I ever think about apologising to her? I promised her safety. I promised her that she would be safe around me. I took that responsibility on my shoulders. I made her believe that she was safe with me. "It was all my fault. I should have known better. I trusted you all way too much. I trusted you all blindly. And yet, here I am. Thinking about ways to apologise to her. Because even my own damn family beat her so harshly. I was supposed to keep her safe. That's the promise I made to her." At this point, my voice was no longer low and calmed. I was shouting at my Uncle and my sister for being jerks around Artemis.

　　She was such a tiny and sweet little thing. I thought no one would ever think about hurting her. At least I thought no one in my pack would ever do anything like that to her. I had never once imagined how wrong I was. "Seriously! Apologise to her. And for what? What did we do? It's not like we broke her bones or anything. And in fact, how were we supposed to know that this little plaything of yours would become so precious to you?" Emma asked me in an annoyed tone while she was fanning her face with her hands. A signature that she was nervous. The words she used for Artemis, ignited a bomb inside me. I was barely able to control my wolf from lashing out at her.

　　Hearing the words she said about Artemis, Gregory and Lauren gasped loudly. Their shocked reaction made my Uncle and my sister a little worried. They had no idea what was happening. But that didn't mean they didn't deserve to be punished for what they did. "Watch your fucking tone, Emma. You have no idea whom you are talking rubbish about. Seriously! You beat her without even asking her once why she was in Alpha's bedroom? I can't believe it. I thought we were better than this. I thought you were better than this, Emma." It was Gregory who yelled at Emma. His sudden outburst made Emma gulp hard in fear as it was rare to see Gregory angry like that.

　　Gregory and Lauren were the most calmed people in my pack. They rarely got angry. And whenever they did, the others knew that they might have fucked up in some way. "What the hell is going on? Will anyone tell us?" Uncle Grey finally broke the silence. He yelled at Gregory out of frustration.

　　"Oh, I will tell you, Grey. The girl you just beat, she can actually be your future Luna. There it is. That's what we all have been talking about." Gregory added in a low and sarcastic tone. Hearing his response, both my Uncle and my sister gasped. They suddenly went pale as they heard the whole truth. It was still a mystery. But I knew Gregory and Lauren can never be wrong.

　　"We are not sure right now. That's why Alpha Elijah asked us to keep it a secret. But according to Alpha's explanation, we think that this girl is actually Alpha's mate. They actually share a mate bond with each other. That's our theory for now. We still need to get the answers from a reliable source." Lauren added further to Gregory's answer to Emma and Uncle Grey. Uncle Grey turned his head in my direction. I could see a lot of questions in his eyes. But there was also a light of hope inside his eyes for me. Maybe after all these years, he saw me caring about a woman like that, it made him hope that everything in my life would get better.

　　He had always hoped that one day, I would be free from the curse my mother left inside me when she left me with my father. Well, she practically left us both. And my father blamed me for that. He loved her wholeheartedly. And she left without any explanations. It broke something inside me. And I made up my mind that I would never look for any Luna in my life. The former Luna of my pack almost broke the pack. If it was not for Uncle Grey. He raised me all alone and he took care of the pack as the beta of the pack. I was shocked that they were all able to beat Artemis like that when Uncle Grey was around.

　　Uncle Grey was one of the soft hearted people I have ever known in my life. While my father's heart was filled with hatred for everyone except for my mother who betrayed him. Uncle Grey was totally opposite of his older brother. He was kind and loving and caring towards everyone. Daniel, my childhood friend, lost his parents in a war between two packs. Uncle Grey took Daniel under his wing as well. We grew up as if we were brothers. It was unimaginable for me to think that Uncle Grey could actually let anyone hurt someone as innocent as Artemis. It was also shocking for Gregory and Lauren when they heard that Uncle Grey was among them. I stood up and walked towards the shopping bags.

　　I grabbed all the bags from the floor and walked towards my bedroom. I was sure Artemis would be done bathing by then. I stopped in front of the door of my bedroom. "Call Kevin and Nicole back. Once I am done talking to Artemis, I will be dealing with them and you as well, Emma. So don't you dare go anywhere. You were one of the people who crossed the line you were not supposed to cross. To hell with being your Alpha. I also have a personal life. And none of you were supposed to peek in." I growled at them without even looking at them. Without waiting for their response, I stepped into my bedroom and locked the door.

　　"If you would have listened to me and locked the door before you left, none of this would have happened in the first place. But you just don't listen to me. Now you are looking for words to apologise to her." Dean growled at me angrily again. I sighed as I knew he was right. He did warn me about this. He knew how stupid Kevin and Nicole could behave. Emma's behaviour was also very shocking for me.

　　"I just didn't want her to feel like she was a prisoner here. Try to understand, Dean. She was locked up in a cold, dark and stinky dungeon for a month. Can you lock her up again after hearing how terrified she sounded when she told us everything?" I flipped at Dean out of anger. It might have been a mistake but I did what I could to make her feel safe. I wanted her to feel like she was home. So she would never think about leaving.