Chapter 35

(**Irina’s POV**)

As soon as Sebastion left the room, silence descended. With so much to say to one another, we all suddenly had nothing to say. Pavel is pacing the room, from one end to the other, back and forth. Occasionally he stops to look at a photo on the wall.

The den is set up with one long sofa facing the doorway. Two large overstuffed chairs flank the sofa, angled in towards an oval-shaped coffee table in front of the sofa. There is a fireplace along the wall to the right of the door. The fire going makes the room cozy despite the tense situation. Looking around the room, I make a note to look at it another time.

Slowly, I make my way to a chair. Natalia is on the sofa with her feet tucked up under her. Her blue eyes look haunted and tears are still slipping down her cheeks. My father sits in the other chair, staring at the flames from the fire. His eyes are just as haunted as my sister’s. I am sure if Pavel were to finally sit still, there would be a similar look in his eyes.

We are all in a state of shock. All of it because each of us thought the others were dead all this time.

“How rich is this family?” Pavel sneers as he plops down on the sofa next to Natalia.

“Have you heard of Drakos Enterprises?”

His eyes bulge for a moment as who runs this pack sinks into his mind. “You mate is the Alpha of the richest pack on the west coast? Holy shit!”

“I am not here for his fucking money!”

“Woah, calm down, Rinny. I didn’t mean it like that.” Pavel stood up and came to my chair. “You and I both know that money isn’t everything in life.”

He pulls me up and into his embrace. His scent invading my senses. I couldn’t stop the tears even if I wanted to. I missed my big brother more than I knew. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I hold on to him like he is the only thing that is grounding me to this earth.

“Pavel, how did you make it out of the tunnel? I saw you go down after they got in.” Nat’s voice was hoarse from all the tears shed.

Pavel pulls back from our hug, leads me to the sofa, then sits me down next to her. He joins us on the sofa, sitting between us. “I played dead until they left the tunnels. They were bitching about getting lost down there if they didn’t know the right paths to take. With all the blood I was losing, I eventually succumbed to unconsciousness. When I woke hours later, I heard voices coming down the tunnel entrance.”

“Was it the hunters?” I ask in surprise.

“No, it was other survivors. Milosh and Turek. They were coming back from an overnight trip so they were not in the village when we were attacked.”

“How many others survived?” It was the only question I could think of to ask.

“Four, Father, Milosh, Turek, and myself.”

“Now you found Nat and me.”

“What happened to Kat and Oleg?” Pavel stops his pacing to look at Natalia.

“When we got to the mountains, we spilt up. Oleg thought we would be safer if we were to go solo.” She repeats everything she told me.

“They never showed up?” My father’s voice was full of shock and pain.

Was he thinking along similar lines like I was? That the reason Oleg or Kat showed was because they were dead or worse. I want more than anything to believe that they are both alive and hiding somewhere. Knowing about The Collectors the way I do, I have a feeling deep in my gut that they are not safe at all. Sebastion has deployed a team of investigators and pulled strings with a few of his parent’s friends in Europe. All to help find the rest of my family.

Will it be in vain? Will the entire search lead to a dead end? If they are only hiding, will finding them now keep them safe, or will it put them in more danger?

“No, and I waited longer than I should have. I had to go, I am so sorry, Papa.”

Pavel wraps her in a hug as she breaks down in sobs. “We all hid out in Milosh’s cabin, the one he used that was about five miles from our village. Once our wounds healed, Milosh got us transport into Mongolia through a smuggler he knew. From there we parted ways with them and made our way to Japan.”

“Why did you end up here?”

“I was in this small tea shop in this very touristy town, there was this group of American women, shopping bags everywhere, gabbing about this designer they found online. It was hard to not listen since there were ten of them just going on and on about this fashion designer. I was walking back to my table with tea when I got a look at the designer’s webpage.”

Pavel stands up to pace the room again. He could never sit still when he talked. Our younger brother Oleg is the same.

“I saw the butterfly pattern Nat made for mom on some sort of skirt thing. It took all my willpower to stay calm. When I got back to where we were staying, I looked up the site, but couldn’t find any details of the designer. No personal information at all, just the address of the shop she worked out of.”

“Now you know how we survived and what lead us to where we are now.” My father spoke up after Pavel was done with their story. “Now what I want to know is what happened to you, Irina. Where is Zasha? How did you end up with this Alpha of yours?”

Here is is finally the question I have been dreading. I don’t want to tell my father what happened to me. All the things that Vicktor did to me, had me do to others, or allowed others to do to me. Those things were humiliating, demoralizing, and outright disgusting. If I tell my father all of what I have been through, will he see me the same way again?

Will he feel that same way I have felt about myself? Soiled and ruined beyond repair? Will he think of me as the whore I was made to be at times? I felt all of that until I met Sebastion. Will my father and brother be as understanding as my mate has been? There is so much more to tell Sebastion. Things that I fear will change his mind.

“Did either of you see two men that day who stood out from the rest of the humans?”

That is a good place to start. Tell them why the humans came to our pack. Let them blame me for the death of my mother, my mate, and the rest of our pack. Then once they are angry with me, I will rip the bandage off the rest of my wounds.

“I saw two men, one was human, and the other was a werewolf. They were watching the carnage around them. It was like they were looking for something in particular.” Pavel sits down in the vacant chair.

“Why was a werewolf working with a human?” My father asks as he sits up straighter in his chair.

“What are two things that our pack was known for in our region?”

“The ability that some of us had to mask our scent, and we had a female white wolf.” Pavel’s face showed he was understanding what I was getting at.

“The human’s name is Vicktor Treadstone of Treadstone Industries, the werewolf’s name is Issac.”

“How do you know their names?”

“Because I was the reason that they encouraged the humans to hunt us down as werewolves. I was the reason they came to our pack and killed everyone.”

“No, Rinny, the humans came because of fear.”

“Yes, but Vicktor and Issac were the ones who told them about the tiny village were werewolves live. He gloated to me about it while he bent me to his will.”

That statement had the result I expected. My father rose to his feet as his anger took over. Pavel looked at me with a combination of anger, disbelief, and horror. Natalia reaches for my hand after he stands up to pace the room. I am glad she already knows everything.

“Tell me exactly what you mean by bend you to his will?” My father’s voice is icy as he speaks to me, the violence of his anger just under the surface.

“I was caged, tortured, and sexually abused. All so he could break me down. He used Zasha to keep me in line. Threatened to hurt her if I didn’t do what he wanted. Why? To use my ability to mask my scent to track other supernaturals for him. Why? He locks them in cages, charges rich humans to view his creatures. Vicktor is one part of a larger organization of humans that do this all over the world.”

My father’s face pales when I go quiet. He falls back in his chair like his legs can no longer support his weight. I can see tears forming in his eyes. The clenching and unclenching of his fists is the only outward sign of his anger. Anger that is now directed at Vickor fucking Treadstone.

“Is Sebastion involved with the men who took you? Is that how you know him?” Pavel demanded, “What is the name of this group?”

“The Collectors,” Sebastion’s voice from the now open doorway makes me look up at him. Relief flow through me now that he is here.

Without thinking, I stand up off the sofa and rush across the room to him. Surprise flickers through his eyes, but he opens his arms for me without hesitation.

(**Sebastion’s POV**)

Irina collides with my body as she rushes to me. Planting my feet to steady us, I wrap my arms around her. The feeling of her body trembling against mine makes me angry. Not at her, but the reason she is trembling. Recounting everything done to her for her family must have been hard on her. Recalling how she looked when she asked me if I thought she was dirty like the whore Vicktor made her be.

Does she think her father and brother will see her that way if she tells them? I rub her back in small circles to soothe her. Sadness for what she has been through and forced to relive over and over, makes Aries struggle for control. He wants to comfort our mate too.

*Now is not the time, bud.*

**Soon, make it soon. I want out to meet Anya.**

*I know. We plan to make that happen. Just give Irina some time with her family.*

Aries grumbles but quiets down.

“Are you a part of The Collectors? Is that how you know my sister?” Pavel demands from across the room.

The rage I feel from him is understandable, “They are all human, those they capture are not.”

“I didn’t get to the part about how we met.” Irina’s voice is muffled against my chest, but I understood what she said.

“My twin sister and I are Vicktor’s next targets. He sent Irina in to gather intel on me. The goal was to trap me. He doesn’t know she is my mate yet.”

Questions from both her father and brother came at me in rapid fire succession. I answer them as they ask, knowing that they will keep asking questions as more and more is revealed. I guide Irina over to the fireplace to warm her up. Even though the trembling is not from the cold, the heat from the fireplace can be soothing. When we reach the area in front of the fire, I slowly sink to the floor with her.

I don’t care that her father is in the room as I settle her on my lap. Irina burrows deeper into my embrace.

“You are good with her. I am sorry about what I said earlier. The other women. I know that isn’t who you are.” Natalia’s voice as she apologized made me look up at her.

“We all have our demons, past and present.”

“That is very true. Your mother showed me where we can all sleep for the night. Thank you for opening your home to us.”

Natalia stood up, grabbed her brother by the arm, and lead him from the room. Pavel resisted at first, as he is clearly not done asking questions. Alexei gave me a nod. Then he helped Natalia escort Pavel to their rooms. Tomorrow there will be time for more questions and answers. Readjusting my arms around Irina’s body, I stand up swiftly with her cradled tightly against me.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Where do you want to go?” Looking down at her, the ice-blue of her eyes takes my breath away.

“Take me somewhere and make me feel anything but what I am now. Make me feel you. Chase the darkness from my heart with your touch.”

“Are you sure?”

“More than anything. I need you to make me feel clean.” The way her voice quivered at the end made my heart constrict.

Walking out of the den, I walk to the front door. The boathouse is the best place for privacy. The entire was there, Irina unbuttons my shirt as far as she can. Her hands going inside to caress my chest send shivers through my body as the sparks from her touch ignite my desire for her. Hesitation to do as she asks me gnaw at my subconscious.

I know she is in pain from reliving the past with her family tonight. The need to chase that pain away is loud in my mind. However, what I want and what she needs are two different things. While I will happily use my body to distract her temporarily, that will make none of her problems go away.

“You are thinking too hard, Sebastion.”

Once we are inside the boathouse, I lower her enough she can stand on her own. “I want to do as you ask, but...”

“I will not think badly of you, Sebastion. What I need right now is something good, pure, and not tainted by the past. What we have here is all of that. I need you to make me feel alive the way only you can. You are my mate, Sebastion, show me how you feel.”

The conviction in her voice makes me reach for her, crashing my mouth to hers. I will give this woman everything I have in my heart for her. I will show her I love her with my hands, my mouth, and my body. Then later I will tell her with my actions and words.