Chapter 89

(**Sebastion**)

While we wait for the doctor to come back after he assesses Gustav’s health, Irina falls asleep. I lift her up gently, then carry her into the clinic to an empty exam room. After laying her on the bed, I kiss her cheek then leave the room, closing the door behind me as I do.

I head straight to the mansion to open the door to the underground passage. The threat has been neutralized, so there is no reason for members of my pack to remain hidden. Irina’s family is also down there, and she will need them now.

Even if she tells me that Gustav holds no place in her heart, I know that he still holds a piece of her soul. He was her true mate, not her second chance mate. Even though their bond was broken, their souls are tied together for life.

I know that thanks to a crazy Warlock who wanted to kill me to break the tie I still have with Rayne. It is just a small thread, like a single strand of sweater that is keeping a sleeve from falling apart. Blessed be the tie that binds. I can’t feel her through it, and I am grateful for that.

We have all moved on with our lives. For me, I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, maybe I would change how I handled the past. However, I wouldn’t change a thing about how my life is now. I have the most amazingly beautiful mate in the world. Together, we have four incredible children.

I smile as I pull the lever to open the secret door, then I wait patiently for my pack to reach the surface. When Alexei reaches the doorway with Nat and Oleg behind him, I motion for him to join me. I need to fill them in on what happened.

“Treadstone is dead?” Alexei asks.

“Not, but he is in a cage and will meet his maker by the end of the night. Either by my hands or Irina’s.”

“He is hers to kill.” Oleg says.

I look at him and see the anger glittering in his eyes. This time, the anger is not directed at me. I will take it.

“Where is Irina now?” Natalia asks.

“I left her in the clinic sleeping. She wasn’t injured, but she hasn’t slept since we sent the children away. The lack of sleep caught up with her.”

“Why is she in the clinic? Why not let her sleep in her own bed?” She asks.

“We were waiting for the doctor to tell us about Gustav’s condition. He is in very poor condition health wise, but he was unharmed in the fight.”

The three share a look between them. Their expressions all mirrors each other in grimness. None of them speak right away. I can understand the need for them to process the events of today. It was one thing to know that Gustav was alive. It seems to be an entirely different situation now that he is right here in the same place they are.

For the first time since that horrible day, their lives changed forever.

“I think the three of you should be the first faces she sees when she wakes up. She is in exam room two.”

As a cohesive unit, the three of them turn as one, then walk swiftly from the house. I don’t blame them for rushing to her side. I will join them as soon as my other obligations are fulfilled.

Now is a suitable time to seek Monroe. Swiftly I follow the last of my pack members out of the mansion, then make my way towards the row of guest houses. This meeting with him has two purposes. I need his contacts for both.

The first is to bring the rest of my pack home. I need to bring my children back to their mother. This will also be a wonderful time for Monroe’s men to bring Katarina here. After everything Irina’s family has been through, it is time for them to finally be as whole as I can make them. The last Belova sibling will do the trick.

Even if it doesn’t heal the damage done, it will go a long way to help speed the healing process along.

As I walk to the house Monroe has been staying in, he falls into step beside me. Where the hell he came from, I don’t know. He is the most powerful werewolf I have met, as well as the sneakiest. I don’t think really tries to be sneaky.

“How is Irina?” He asks.

“I left her sleeping in the clinic. The events of today were stressful for her. There will be more to come for her and her family in the coming days, I am sure.”

“What drew you away from her side?”

I stop in my tracks when I realize I was walking to his house to find him, yet he is right here, so there is no need to keep going in that direction.

“I needed to open the door to the tunnels. The threat is neutralized, so there is no reason for my people to be down there for longer than necessary. I also want to get Irina’s family up here so they can be with her.”

“I already made the call to Arabella. Your family and the rest of you pack will be returned to you within the hour.”

I nod my head in gratitude. “The remaining Belova sibling?”

“She is on her way here with my third in command. She, too, will be here within the hour.”

I let out a sigh of relief. Everything is coming together as intended. My family will be whole again soon. Irina’s family will finally be reunited. There are two things left to tie up before all of this can be put behind us.

With Treadstone is a cage, bleeding and in pain, one part of this nightmare will soon be over. I sent a doctor to tend his wounds so that he doesn’t die before we can extract every bit of information on the Collectors that we can get from him. The more we know about them, the better we will be able to defend ourselves against them.

However, my priority is to my mate right now. This conversation with Gustav will be ugly for her. There is much to resolve between them. One major issue will be their daughter. A little girl that I love more than I thought I would in the beginning.

Gustav may be her father, but I am her dad. I will not stand between them. Zasha deserves to have the love of both of us. I will do everything I can to make sure this is a smooth transition for her. After she was just an infant when Treadstone attacked their pack. I want to be there when she meets Gustav after all this time.

Will she know who he is?

“I have sent most of my rogues back to Bodega Bay. Those who found mates here will have to make a choice.”

Monroe’s voice brings me out of my deep train of thought. I register what he said as I glance over at him. It would probably be a good idea to have a meeting with his pack and mine.

“We can have a meeting tomorrow between our members. I will welcome those from your pack that wish to stay here with their mates. Though I can only assume it may be a hard choice to make for them.”

“I think they may surprise you. Now, go be with your mate. I will be with you when it is time to interrogate Treadstone. There is much to learn from him, and I have a feeling that he won’t make getting that information easy.”

“You are probably correct about that. I am sure we will get some useful information from him in the end.”

“Go. I am sure Irina needs you now. I do not wish to ever be in your position, Little Alpha.”

“What position is that?”

Monroe shakes his head, then just walks away. I know what he means. I am not looking forward to being in the same room with Irina and Gustav at the same time. Knowing what I do about their past, I am sure the conversation will turn into a confrontation before then end.

With a sigh of apprehension, I change direction and head back to the clinic. When I open the door to the exam room I left Irina in, I see her family gathered around the bed. She looks up at me with a weary expression on her face.

“Has Dr. Greggory been here to talk to you yet?”

Irina shakes her head in response.

“I will go check to see if he is still with Gustav.”

“No. Please just stay here with me.”

The pleading tone in her voice makes me do as she asks. I hate waiting, but for her I will do anything. I was hoping to have this wrapped up within the hour so I can have Irina back home by the time they brought our children to her. Gustav must be in worse shape than I thought.

We only wait for another five minutes before there is a knock on the door. Dr. Greggory opens the door when I tell him to come in. He looks tired and worried as he enters the room.

“I did a full spectrum of testing on Gustav. His is severely malnourished. When I did an x-ray, I found a few broken bones that healed badly, which those can be repaired by re-breaking them once he is back at full strength. However, one thing that concerns me is what I found on the CT scan. There are two bullets lodged in his back and one dangerously close to his heart.”

Well, holy shit.

“Can you remove them without doing further damage?” I ask.

“I can, but just like the bone, I want to wait until his overall health is improved. This will take a few weeks or months, depending on him. He needs to want this and do the work to help his recovery. I also want to have a psychologist talk to him. When I tried to touch him for the initial examination, he started screaming and crying.”

“Where is he now?” Irina asks.

“Exam room one.”

“I want to see him, please.”

“He has asked for his daughter; I don’t advise this for the time being.”

With this, he leaves us alone. I look down at Irina as she reaches for my hand. This will be hard on her, but I will do my best to not lose my temper while in there with the two of them. Part of me hates the man’s existence. Yet I know in my heart that she is mine alone.

“Are you ready?”

She gives me a nod, then gets up off the bed. Her family follows us out into the hallway. Each of them gives her a brief hug before they let her go.
“We will be right out here if you need us,” Alexei tells her.

“He will need you all as he heals. Be here for him.”

With that, she takes a deep breath, then pushes the door open. I follow her into the exam room but keep some distance between us. Not for her sake or mine, but I feel slightly sorry for Gustav. Had things been different, he might still be her mate. I doubt it, but we will never know now.

Irina stops a few steps from the end of the bed. Gustav’s eyes snap open as she clears her throat. When his eyes flick to mine, he growls buts stops himself and bows his head. I expected something like this to happen. To him, I am a stranger. One that he can smell all over the woman who used to be his mate.

“I’m sorry,” Gustav says.

“You have nothing to be sorry for with me. You and I are nothing to each other. I understand why you reacted that way and will not hold it against you.”

Gustav lifts his head, then his attention turns to Irina. His eyes roam her features as if he is seeing how much she has changed over the years. Aries growls in my mind as Gustav assesses her. I shove him back down because now is not the time for his shit. I am not happy with it either, but I will not say a word about it.

“How are you alive? I saw you go down. I felt the mate bond break with your death. How are you alive?” Irina demands.

He frowns for a moment then opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out. He closes his mouth, then looks like he is trying to remember. His eyes cloud over with so many emotions. The last one is confusion.

“The last clear thought I have from that day is of rage at being attacked by humans. Then pain. I woke up covered in dirt. Panic gripping me as I felt like I was suffocating. Then flashes as I clawed my way to the surface. Someone buried me alive. How is that possible? Who would do that?”

“My father and Pavel buried you.”

Gustav’s mouth falls open at the hostility in her voice when she says her brother’s name. Shame and guilt slide through his eyes before he quickly recovers. The expression of a guilty man is something I know well. I wore it more times in the past than I care to recall.

“How is that possible? I saw your father fall.”

“He did, but the wounds he received were not enough to kill him. After Treadstone got what he wanted, he left the carnage he created behind. Two of our hunters came back into the area a few hours later. They saved my father and Pavel. They buried the dead, then left to hide until they were healed, and it was safe.”

There is anger and pain in Irina’s voice as she recounts what Alexei and Pavel told her about the aftermath of that day. The emotions may fade in time, but the memories will remain with her forever. Some wounds never heal.

Gustav opens his mouth to say something but closed it again. There are questions in his eyes that I can tell he wants to ask. Why does he hesitate?

“Pavel is alive, if that is what you are wondering. He is in a cell right now across from Treadstone.”

I didn’t think it was possible for his face to go any paler than it already was, but he proved me wrong. Now he looks like a ghost. Was he hoping that Pavel wouldn’t be here with the rest of the family? Was he hoping to never face the actions of his past?

“Why is he in a cell?” Gustav whispers.

“He tried to kill me.” I answer.

“Don’t worry, Gustav. You will see him again soon. I wouldn’t dream of keeping you two apart any longer. He is your heart’s desire, after all,” Irina tells him.

With that secret revealed, he stares at her in shock.

“How do I know about that, you ask? Pavel told me all about it. So did my father.”

Gustav looks down at his hands.

“When you are stronger, I will bring Zasha to see you. For now, get some rest.”

Irina turns on her heel and leaves the room.

*Authors Note*

To my Patreon subscribers: Kells Bells, Harriet Moskowitz, and Sonia McLeod, thank you for your support. To all my readers who wish to keep up to date on my progress or news with my series there are two ways to do so. My Instagram page @northrose28 OR my private FaceBook group North Rose Novels.
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Thank you every one for reading and being patient with me. This books is winding down to the ending . I hope you all will enjoy the rest of Sebastion and Irina's story.