Chapter 41

(**Irina’s POV**)

After talking to my father, I decided it was time to put all the cards on the table with Sebastion. His scent is still strong in the house, and it leads me to a door on the third floor that I have never noticed before. It blends so well with the hallway’s wallpaper that I didn’t notice it right away as I walked down the hall. Why would this door be hidden from the rest of the house? Where did it lead?

Giving into my curiosity, I reach up and feel around the edges of the door for a way to open it. There is no doorknob on this side. Pressing inwards on where I think the doorknob would be I feel here a soft popping sound then the door opens a crack in my direction. Aw, a push-system door latch. Clever way to hide a room. Opening the door reveals a set of stairs leading upwards.

This must be the attic. Sebastion’s scent is powerful here. Stepping into the small landing area at the bottom of the stairs, I look at the back of the door for a way to open and close it. There is release button and a metal bar that looks like a curtain rod on the back of the door. I grab the rod and pull the door closed. Turning to the stairs, I slowly make my way up.

What I find when I reach the top of the stairs shocks me. The room is wide open with a large window that filters in natural like. There are canvases with discarded half-finished paintings along one wall. Two easels covered with paint-stained white cloth. Paint supplies on a large metal shelf in a corner and more scattered all over the room. A large red sofa dominated another corner.

My focus zeros in on Sebastion, who is at the window with a fresh canvas on an easel in front of him. He is shirtless as he paints furiously. His brows are furrowed in deep concentration, but the instant he senses me, his head turns in my direction. The haunted look in his eyes makes my heart ache. What happened to him since he left me and my father in his office?

“You are a painter,” I state with wonder in my voice. This was a side of him I didn’t expect.

Surprise flickers through his eyes before they become closed off. Sebastion places his palette down on a small stand next to him, then wipes his hands on a towel. Facing to look out the window, he ignores me. That stings more than I expected it would. We need to talk and I will not back off until we do. There was too much from the past brought into the open today. I need to know where he stands on all of it and how he feels.

“Please don’t shut me out.” I close the distance between us until I am standing next to him.

From the window I can see the entire valley that Redwood is in. Houses dotting the landscape but not taking away the beauty of the natural valley. I can see pack members walking down the stone paths as they go about their business. It is peaceful looking down there. Reminding me of my pack before that last day.

“What do you see when you look down there?” Sebastion’s voice is quiet, barely a whisper. Standing next to him, I can feel his body practically vibrating with suppressed emotion.

“I see a peaceful village. Wolves going about their daily lives without a care in the world. This valley is absolutely stunning from up here. You can barely see the perimeter wall that protects it from the outside world, it blends so well with the forest beyond.”

“Can you see this as your home?”

“Yes,” I answer without hesitation. Even I can hear the pride in my voice to call this place my home one day.

“What about the role you would serve here if you stay?”

The role of his and the pack’s Luna. That is a role I have never seen myself in. “When I learned that my mate is an Alpha, I couldn’t imagine myself as a Luna. Not after all I have lived through and done. I am tainted, Sebastion. Do you really think your pack will accept me if they knew?”

“They will if we are honest with them about it all.”

“Ask me again when this is all over and I have Zasha back. There is so much to fight through first.”

I can feel his disappointment in my answer, but I don’t want to lie to him about anything. Lies and secrets have over shadowed my past, and the truth is ugly. I don’t want any secrets between us, ever. Feeling him pull away from me, I reach out my hand to grab his arm. He looks down at where my hand is, then looks up into my eyes. That haunted look is back again.

“What happened today after you left your office?”

Sebastion walks away from the window to go to the red sofa in the room's corner. He sits down hard, causing the sofa to make a noise in protest. “I stripped my sister of her Co-Alpha title.”

“Why would you do that?” Moving away from the window, I join him near the sofa but don’t sit down with him. I am suddenly nervous at what would cause him to take such actions. Arianna is Alpha born and I know it is just a title but that must have hurt her too.

“It was actually my mother’s idea, which my father supported and encouraged me to do. After thinking about it, I realized they were right. Between her actions and words, she isn’t ready or worthy of the title. Besides, she will be forced to give the title up when you take over as Luna, eventually. My mother is still acting Luna, but since she and my father are rarely here, we all agreed to have Ari help me as a Co-Alpha.”

“Did you strip her title because of how she has treated me?”

“That is part of it, yes. The rest is still true. She tried to hit you today. Had your Natalia not stopped her, she would have. That is not something I will ever tolerate from her or anyone else.”

“If my family stays here, will she retaliate?”

“No. She is done.”

“How can you be sure?”

“Because she left my father’s library a sobbing, broken mess. We had a family meeting after I stripped her of her title.”

“What happened?”

“I laid everything bare for her. How her actions in the past made me pull away from her. Told her she is the reason for the wall between us. Shared with her how her words hurt me more than she knew. Then we ripped the scars open on all our old wounds. It was an emotional mess in there.”

Now I move to sit next to him, “Do you think your relationship can be repaired?”

“Maybe one day, but for now she is leaving Redwood with her family. They are going to stay with Flynn’s pack in New Mexico for a while. Flynn’s sister is still there with her family.”

“I never meant for you to chase her away, Sebastion.”

“I didn’t. This is her choice. She claims it will give her time to think, heal and then come home when she is ready. I told her she owes you an apology and I think she knows it, but it will happen when she is ready. I won’t force her to do that.”

Looking down at my hands, I take a deep breath to steady my heartbeat. All I want to do is reach out to him and hold him while he deals with the pain he is going through. Instead, I stand up to go to the window again. The view is so peaceful and calming. “I now understand how you felt when you learned Gia wasn’t who you thought she was.”

“How will knowing what you know now change things?”

“It won’t change the past, but I can see things now that I never paid attention to then. Those lingering looks between them I thought were just friendly, brotherly looks. The way Pavel distanced himself from us during that first year after Gustav and I were mated. How Gustav would disappear for hours to think. It was all right there in front of me, but I didn’t think it was anything more. I loved him since I was a teenager and when I learned he was my mate, I was beyond happy. Had I known he was in love with Pavel, I might have understood.”

“Would you have given up your mate so he could be happy with Pavel?”

“I say yes now, but had I known then, I am not sure. He was never the man I thought he was, and that hurts me to know. You want to know what is more surprising to me?”

“What?”

“I am sad that the life we lived was a lie, but I am not angry with him. He loved us both and was torn between us. What I feel now more than anything is peace knowing that he died loved by many. I can let go now.” Turning away from the window, I look back to see Sebastion’s eyes are looking at the floor. “What are you thinking?”

“Have you ever compared me to him? Physical traits, personality traits, flaws, strengths, weaknesses. Sexual prowess.”

Woah! Where the hell had that question come from? Had I? “Yes, but never the last part. I am sure you have done the same thing with me and Gia.”

“I did. Not that last part. Never sexual comparison. I never realized it until this morning after I left the boathouse.”

“Is that when you thought of the last part? That I would have compared how the two of you differ in bed?”

“Yes.” His voice was so quiet that I barely heard it.

“I am not sure comparing the two of you is a good idea. I feel shitty for talking ill of the dead.”

Sebastion’s head whips up to look at me. Something passes through his eyes that lets me know he gets my meaning without me saying the words. A small smile tugs at his lips. Without saying a word, he points his finger at me then gestures for me to come to him. His eyes turn to onyx as his wolf peeks through at me for a split second, then they are back to his normal color.

“My wolf wants to mark you so bad that it is getting harder to control him. I want to rub my scent over every inch of your body so that there is no doubt that you are mine. I will wait until you are ready to be marked, but I will be a hard fight.”

Walking towards him, I nod my head. “I know. My wolf wants it too. I want to wait until after we have my daughter free and Vicktor can no longer use her against me.”

“With luck, we will have her location in two weeks when we go to California. Then we will go get her, or form a plan to get her. Hopefully Vicktor stays in France until then. Speaking of Vicktor, have he contacted you?”

“No, and he won’t until the two months he gave me are up, or he tires of waiting, then he will check in. If he is in a foul mood when he comes back, he may reach out to summon me for an update.”

“Let’s hope he stays in France.”

**Look at our mate sitting there shirtless. Why are you just talking to him?** Anya growls in my head.

Wait, that reminds me of what she said this morning about our wolves mating with each other. *Did you and Aries mark each other?*

**No, we just mated. Oh, girl, it was amazing.**

Ok, I didn’t want the details I knew she was ready to give me, so I closed the link. “Our wolves had a fantastic time last night.”

“I know, Aries gave me more details than I wanted while I was in the shower.”

That made me laugh. I move to him but stop when I see his eyes cloud over. Someone is mind linking him.

“What do you want to do about your family?”

“What do you mean?” His question takes me by surprise.

“Housing accommodations. Will they stay here in Redwood or will you father and brother leave to go find Oleg and Ekatarina?”

“I haven’t asked them about any of that yet.”

“Well, go find them and meet me in the front courtyard. I have something I want to show them.”

What on earth is he up to? Without waiting to find out, I do as he asks. Would they want to stay here? Natalia has her shop in town and has already been offered a place in the pack before. Would she accept it now that I am here and will stay? What about Pavel? After everything that has been brought out into the open, will he want to stay near me or go out on his own to find a better place more suited to him?

I would love for my father to stay here with me. He would stay for Zasha, she was the light of his life and the only grandchild that he had. At least as far as we know. I believe he would stay to be near me and Nat too. I have never let myself think this far ahead. All these years, I thought I was alone. Never letting myself grieve for my family or give into the feelings of missing them.

Sebastion has given me a chance to make a future happen here. I have a chance at happiness for the first time in five years. Will my father and siblings take that chance with me? I would love them to stay here with me, but I will understand if they decide to leave.

Finding my father’s scent, I follow it out into the kitchen. He is sitting at the table with Pavel and Nat. Pavel’s face is sullen while Nat yells at him. Her words let tell me she knows about him and Gustav. My father’s face is blank as looks through a file on the table. He looks up at me as I enter the room. His eyes softening as he meets my gaze.

“Alright, Nat, there is no point beating a dead horse. Nothing you say to him now will change what happened. It is over and done with, Let that part of the past stay in the past. That is for the best for all of us.”

Nat closes her mouth, then looks over at me. I see sadness for me in the icy depth of her eyes, but I see happiness too. I think she is happy that I finally know what happened.

“Sebastion would like all of us in the front courtyard. There is something he wants to ask you three.”

“Did he tell you what it is?” My father stands up from the table and so does Nat.

“He didn’t say.”

“Well, there is only one way to find out. Come on, Pavel, let’s go see what our host has to say to us.” I follow my family out of the kitchen to find out what Sebastion has in mind for them. Has he made living arrangements for them if they decide to stay in Redwood?

**Author’s Note**
*The crossover event will happen in Her Returned Mate and the follow up of that event will happen here in His Redemption.*