Chapter 18

(**Sebastion’s POV**)

I watch from my office as Irina waits for the elevator. She is leaving for the day. All I want to do is go out there and beg her to stay with me all night. I don’t want to let her out of my site for one second, let alone all night long.

**One day we will have our mate with us like we want, calm down,** Aries tells me.

**This coming from the one who wanted so desperately to mark her last night? You as me for patience now?** I tell him with sarcasm.

Aries doesn’t respond to me, but I am just fine with that. I know in my mind Irina is safer going to her own apartment, so is Redwood, but it doesn’t make me or Aries happy. We both want her near us at all times. This war with The Collectors which I have suddenly found myself in is so much more than I thought it was when Rayne told me about it.

This war goes deeper and wider than I originally thought. I have a feeling it will bleed over into the human world before it ends. We are not animals and will not be caged. There are more people at work in the war to take my vengeance out on Vicktor Treadstone in any way that will alert The Collectors of an outside threat. I may have to alter my plans to have Vicktor’s head delivered to his office on a silver platter after I kill him.

I will have to think it over more, but for now I need to head home. Jace will be waiting for me to take him out to the courtyard to play. He is making progress in his fear of the outside word. The Halloween party we had last night helped him get past some of his fear, but from what Sarah told me today during my call to check in, Jace had a panic attack when they went to into the courtyard.

He claimed to her he was ready, but wanted her with him all the way. They were out there for about twenty minutes before he panicked. Sarah said she took him into the house right away. She calmed him down within an hour, but I wasn’t there and that may have been his reason for panicking.

I will take him outside with Sarah to see how he does, then I will leave him out there with her to see how long he handles it. We will have to do his outside exposure in baby steps.

I grab by briefcase and draped my suit jacket over my arm. Time to go home. Without my mate. I spent the ride down to the lobby thinking over what I can do with Jace tonight to put him at ease so he will go outside with me. I got him a little basketball hoop that he likes. That is a wonderful game we can play. Or I can take a blanket outside so we can look at the clouds to find shapes hidden in the fluffy clouds. He loves doing that too, plus it is relaxing.

As long as I spend time with Jace he will be happy and calm. That is all I want for my son. The damage done to his heart and mind will fade in time, but his happiness is what I need to concentrate on tonight.

I reach the ground floor and see Gabe waiting for me with a file in his hand. I look at him confused. I haven’t asked him for anything today. “What is this?”

“Arianna asked me to do some background work on your mate,” Gabe replied to me with a grimace on his face, as if he didn’t like the task or what he found.

“When did she ask you to do this?” I can feel my anger spike at what Gabe tells me.

“This morning after you came down here to talk to the vampire. I clocked out after Ghost left and I changed into my street clothes. Then I went to investigate. Walk with me to my office and I will go over what I found,” Gabe told me as he turned towards the from lobby.

Before I hired Gabe, he was a private investigator for a law firm. He is very good at that part of his job. He does all of our employee background investigations, some deeper background searches for new business deals, and runs a training program for self-defense in the human world. I picked him as my chief of staff for his thoroughness, sharp mind, and loyalty.

**Arianna is crossing a line here, Sebastion** Aries growls.

**I agree. I will deal with her when I get home after I see what Gabe has found.** I close the link and follow Gabe to his office.

“Now, I know you are debating who to be angry at in this situation. I think Arianna is only trying to make sure your mate’s story is true.” Gabe states as he unlocks his office door. He moves around to sit behind his desk.

I sit in one chair off to the side of his desk, then flip open the file. The first thing I see is a view of a high-end apartment complex. The address shown is the one Irina listed as her home address. Vicktor set her up in stylish high-rise with security on site twenty-four hours a day. The second picture was of a small single-story house in a very nice neighborhood. I frown, not knowing the relevance of this location.

“I went to Irina’s into the building but no one there recognized her name, or face. I think there is a reason for that. It is a cover. The address is an actual residence to any employment background check we would run. She doesn’t live there at all. The apartment she lists is rented to a human couple that have lived there for the last ten years,” Gabe explained the first photo.

“The house?” I ask him as I stared at the second photo.

“That is the house listed at the address I got from Ghost when I called him asking where he followed Irina to meet Vicktor last night,” Gabe responds with a smile.

“You exchanged numbers with one of the vampires?” I asked in surprise.

“I had a feeling I would want to know more about them. He noticed my curiosity and told me he would answer anything I wanted to know. The house there is a single story with no basement on record. I wasn’t able to investigate it much, as that neighborhood is heavily crowded during the day. I checked with the city and the house is registered under Treadstone Industries.”

“So, what is your conclusion to everything you found and the video that Joe showed Arianna? He told me about it when I called down here to ask how she got the photo she showed me,” I ask my trusted friend his opinion of my mate.

“I think Irina is following her master’s orders. Will she betray you? After seeing the look on her face when she scented her child, hearing the story she told us, and seeing Vicktor Treadstone on the grounds here. I don’t think she will. Aside from her being your mate, you are giving her something she hasn’t had in a long time,” Gabe tells me with a solemn look on his face.

“What is that?” I ask him as I close the file and place it on the desk.

“Hope. You are giving her hope to escape the nightmare she is trapped in. You have shown her she isn’t alone now. Your alliance with Rayne, something I still think is odd, shows Irina that there are more people out there that know of her struggles. What you do with this information is up to you. I only ask that you don’t go too hard on your sister,” Gabe tells me as he stands up.

“I know she is only worrying about the pack, her family, and my history. I understand why she is upset and I get where her intentions are coming from. There are more issues between the two of us than this, and I am afraid this was the tipping point to what else she did today. I am going home now to be with my son. Thank you for showing me this, Gabe,” I stand up from my seat and walk out the door of his office.

Good intentions or not, Arianna has hurt me more today than she knows. I am not looking forward to the confrontation waiting for me when I get home. I will have to keep my temper in check when I talk to her. My anger can get the better of me sometimes. I don’t want to go to an extreme with my twin. I love my sister, but I need to make myself clear that she has gone too far.

When I reached home, I am greeted with a site I didn’t expect to see. Jace was in the courtyard running round with my father chasing him. What are my parents doing here? They are not meant to be here until next week for the birthday party Arianna is throwing our mother. Why are they here early? If I know my sister, she no doubt called them to come talk some sense into me.

I park my car, grab my jacket and briefcase, then walk towards my family. Jace’s laughter is a heartwarming sound. He doesn’t notice me in his excitement, so I dash into the house. The scent of fried chicken hits me the moment I walk in the front door. From the spices I smell, I know my mother is in the kitchen cooking instead of Flynn.

She is cooking my favorite dinner. I follow the sound of my mother’s laughter into the kitchen. There she is, Lenore Drakos, my mother. Her dark brown hair is pulled up into a ponytail high on her head. It is shining in the light with good health. Her eyes are dancing with happiness at being back home. Her loose white dress has a floral pattern going across her left shoulder. My mother loves her flowers.

Mom looks up at me as I step further into the kitchen, her eyes lighting up as she holds her arms out for me. Without hesitation, I rush across the room to her embrace. Her scent sends waves of emotion through me. It is like I haven’t seen her in years, when in fact it has only been three months. I hadn’t realized how much I needed her until right here in this moment.

“Hello my baby boy, I am so happy to see you. Now go grab that son of yours, get washed up, then meet us all in the dining room for dinner.” Mom tells me like this is the first time I am going through this routine.

I let her go so I can do as she tells me. I may be the Alpha, but I will always fear my mother’s temper. I only had to go into the foyer and then I stopped as the front door opened. Jace raced into the house, spotted me, then ran to tackle my legs. I laughed as he then rushed out of the foyer to go wash his hands for dinner. Leaving me to the assessing gaze of my father, Julian Drakos.

His black hair is going gray at the temples, but his eyes are sharp as ever as they stare at me from the doorway. He is dressed in dark blue-jeans and a grey t-shirt. That is the most casual I have ever seen my father dressed in my life.

“How are you doing, Father?” I ask him as he continues to stare at me.

I feel like I am thirteen again as he just stares me down. It feels like I have been caught sneaking back into the house after doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing. Either sneaking out with Flint and Justin to take midnight runs in the woods, or depending on when it was in that year, sneaking out with Gia.

I am saved from his stare as Jace runs back into the foyer, grabbing my hand, then pulling me towards the kitchen. I know my father will find me before the end of the night to say whatever it is on his mind. No doubt Arianna has informed our parents of all that has happened in the last month.

For now, I force it from my mind, letting Jace lead me into the dining room towards the meal waiting for us. I can hear my mother talking to Callie, Arianna laughing at whatever they are talking about, then Jace’s whoop of excitement as we entered the dining room. I think this is the first family dinner that I have really taken a part of.

We have had them for holidays, birthdays, or other special occasions. Yet something, or now that I think of it, someone always seemed to cause issues and I would leave. Gia was always welcome at those occasions, but the tension between her and my family always ended in petty squabbles. That should have always been my clue to walk away from Gia, but my heart wouldn’t let me do what my mind knew was the right thing.

Now, after hearing how Arianna has seen me all these years, I think she sees the future repeating itself with Irina. Yet the two women are nothing alike. Gia was a power-hungry woman who thought of only her wants. Irina has been forced to do all that she has at the whims of a monster. This is the first major act Irina has done to go against Vicktor.

My mate is putting herself at substantial risk to set herself and all those in Vicktor’s grasp free. Yet, all my sister can do is see the negative and compare Irina to Gia. I have a feeling that my talk with my father tonight will be a lecture. I am the pack Alpha, not a teenager who needs to be told what to do. I am done with my family looking at me like I am going to fail them.

Irina opened my eyes today over everything that I have done, or more aptly the things I haven’t done. I haven’t failed my pack in any way that matter. Yes, I lacked attention in some areas, but never in the important ones. I am not a bad Alpha, no matter what the picture my sister paints me out as. I understand her fears, but she needs to let me do what I have to do now. I can take care of my pack, family, and my mate. I just need to be given the fucking chance to prove it.