Chapter 95

(**Sebastion**)

Several weeks have passed since Monroe’s departure. All his rogues who found their mates in my pack have decided to stay. We will have the ceremony for them and Katarina in a few days. To my surprise, she found her mate in one of the pack scouts, Luca. That made Irina happy.

She is excited for her baby sister to finally meet her mate. I have given them a bit of land to build a house of their own. One that meets both their tastes and gives Kat her own space for her design studio. She and Natalia are going into business together, with Irina as a silent partner.

It is nice to see the three Belova sisters with their heads together as they plan for the future. A future that they never thought was possible. For so long, they each thought that their family was dead. Now they are reunited, safe, and paving the way to a bright future.

I am happy for all of them.

Oleg has shocked me over the last few weeks. Irina told him about my love of painting as a way to get us to bond with each other. I was at the boathouse one afternoon with my easel and paints. Theo was in a small basket beside me while I painted. When Oleg joined me, I was surprised.

We talked for hours as we painted. He shared stories about their childhood in Russia. Then we spoke about our favorite artists and painting techniques. I like him more than I thought I would originally. Oleg is a quiet, easy-going man once we got to know each other.

Now and then, I catch a glimpse of sadness in each of their expressions. For a brief moment, all five Belova siblings were in the same place at the same time after all those years apart from each other. Sadly, that didn’t last long. One of them is missing and may never return.

My father called yesterday to tell me that the council will render their decision on Pavel’s fate in a few days. He is hopeful. Out of everything the man has done, the one crime they will probably punish him for is what he did to Gustav.

Gustav made a statement to the council yesterday. Irina sat with him while he told them what happened that night. When she found me later, I held her while she cried. She cried for what her brother did to the man he claimed to love more than life itself.

I hope the council castrates Pavel.

If they left it up to me, I would have just killed him. However, doing so would hurt people I have come to love, like family, as well as the woman I would give my life for. His death by my hands isn’t worth their pain.

“Papa?”

A small angelic voice brings me out of my thoughts and causes me to look up at the door to my office. Zasha is standing there, peaking her head around the partly open door. There is what looks like chocolate smeared on her chin and upper lip. There is a twinkle in her beautiful eyes that makes me smile at her.

I stand up from my desk, then walk over to her. After scooping her up in my arms, I hold her close to my chest as I walk down the hall. When I reach the third floor, the sound of childish laughter come from the playroom. Jace and Callie.

“What have you three been up to since I left you to play?” I ask her.

Her eyes flutter closed, then she buries her head in my chest to hide her face. My heart melts instantly at her cute way of avoiding getting into trouble. She is so adorable that I am not sure I could discipline her if I need to.

She is a daddy’s girl and knows it.

That sends a painful pang to my heart because I know I will have to share her with Gustav soon. He is stronger than he was when he first came here. Each day that passes, his weight improves. Dr. Greggory has scheduled the surgeries he needs for tomorrow.

Irina and I agreed that today would be a good day to take Zasha to see her father. He has moved to a private room in the clinic, so there will be privacy for this meeting. Part of me wants to be selfish and keep her to myself. However, I love her enough to step up and do the right thing for her.

“Callie… found… choco…. in her momma’s… room,” Zasha whispers against my shirt.

Well, that makes this more interesting. My sister’s little snoop is the culprit of today’s shenanigans. Calista will make an amazing scout for the pack one day. She has a nose that can sniff out anything she has a mind to find. My poor sister.

“Well, knowing Arianna, the chocolate was good. I hope you enjoyed it because your momma will watch you like a hawk after she hears about this one.”

As I walk to the playroom, I mindlink my sister to tell her to come get Callie. I don’t give her details when she asks, which I know made her mad. I am laughing as I walk into the playroom.

Jace’s head shoots up as he hears me. Guilt is written all over his face, along with the smears of chocolate on his lips. Callie just smiles at me, then holds her hand out to offer me a piece of chocolate. No guilty look on her face. Not at all. She is happy with herself.

“Is that the last of it?”

She nods her head.

I walk to her, take the last of her ill-gotten gains, pop it in my mouth, then sit Zasha on the floor. After lowering myself to the floor, she climbs into my lap. It seems I am stuck here until my sister comes to break up the party.

“Daddy, can you read us a story?” Jace asks.

“Yes. Go wash your hands, then find a book.”

Twenty minutes later, I look up from the book I am reading when I hear Arianna and Irina laughing in the doorway. The anger I felt from my sister has faded as she holds her side as she laughs. I know what I look like. I know why they are laughing.

Zasha and Callie decided they wanted to play with my hair while I read Jace a story. My hair is now full of little pink and purple butterfly hair clips. A pink plastic tiara is perched on my head. I ended up this way because I was incapable of telling them no.

Not when they both gave me sad eyes and batted their lashes at me. I am a sucker, and they know it know. I feel like they took advantage of me, but I don’t mind at all. Spending time with the three of them is always entertaining. Even if I have to deal with Aries growling in my head over the hit to our dignity.

*We are a strong Alpha. Why do you do this to us?*

I can’t help but laugh as he purrs when Zasha snuggles up in my lap next to Jace.

*You were saying?*

He ignores me.

“Callie, my darling child, you have been a bad girl.” Arianna says as she walks into the room.

I glance over my shoulder to see Callie’s reaction to her mother stern voice. For the first time since I came into the playroom, she has a guilty look on her chocolate smeared face. She bows her head, then walks slowly to Arianna.

Arianna picks Callie up then walks towards the door. She smiles at me. Before I have to react, she pulls her phone out of her pocket, snaps a quick picture, then laughs as she walks out of the room.

Great. Now this day will forever be immortalized as a picture.

“You look adorable, Sebastian.”

I glare at her as she walks towards me.

“Zasha, Jace, go wash your faces. Then we can all go to movie night at the pack house.”

They both shoot up off my lap, then rush out of the room. I run my hand through my hair to remove all the butterflies and the tiara. My sister will never let me live this down. However, I did it to make the girls happy, so I think I can live with it.

“We will take Zasha to the clinic after we drop Jace off at the pack house,” Irina says.

My smile vanishes when she mentions going to the clinic. I know it is something that needs to be done, but I am not ready. With an inwards sigh, I bury my reluctance deep down, then I stand up off the floor as she stops in front of me.

“I love how much you love her.”

I glance down at her beautiful face. Her lips meet mine as I lean down to kiss her. I can feel Aries and Anya reaching out for each other in our minds. It is time we let them out to spend time together.

“Zasha stole a piece of my heart the night we found her. Then she took a little more when she called me daddy for the first time. Part of me wants to keep that just for us, but I know she deserves to get to know her biological father. He deserves to be in her life. I do all this for her.”

Irina gives me a brief hug then leads me out into the hallway. Jace and Zasha come running towards us a few minutes later. All traces of their chocolate adventure gone from their faces, but I can tell it is still racing through their systems. The bouncing on their feet and running in circles around us is proof enough.

“Come on, you chocolate fiends. Let’s get going.”

Twenty minutes later, we leave Jace with Sarah and the other kids while we take a now furious Zasha to the clinic. I understand her anger. We told her she would have a movie night with the other children, then we tell her she can’t go. It was a bad move on our part.

When we reach the clinic, Irina stops, picks Zasha up, then sits on a bench in the small courtyard outside. She glances my way briefly before looking down at Zasha. I can feel the conflict within her.

*I will go get Gustav and bring him out here so she doesn’t have to see him in a hospital bed.*

*Thank you, my love.*

To my surprise, Gustav is standing in the doorway to his room when I walk down the private wing of the clinic. He is leaning on a cane with one shoulder on the doorframe. His eyes search over my shoulder as I walk toward him.

“She is waiting outside with Zasha. We thought it would be better to do this outside.”

He nods his head. “Thank you for this.”

I give him a questioning look.

“Zasha means the world to me. I am nervous to meet her after all this time. That you for taking care of her.”

I motion for him to lead the way outside, then wait for him to walk towards me before I speak. “Since the day I found her, I have thought of her as my own. I will always put her needs before my own, like any good father would. If that means I have to share her with you, then I will.”

Gustav nods his head, then slowly walks past me with his head held high. I can feel the nervous energy rolling off him in waves as he makes his way to the entrance. He stops before he opens the door. I can see him breathing hard.

I place my hand on his shoulder. “Take a deep breath, man. You don’t want to go out there like this. Relax. Calm yourself. She will pick up on your nerves and you don’t want that.”

“I hate that you know my daughter better than I do, but thank you for being here with me for this.”

After giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze, I push the door open for him to walk outside. I can hear Irina and Zasha whispering softly to each other from where they are sitting. Gustave takes a deep breath, then steps outside.

I follow him a moment later to give him a chance to be seen by his daughter first. My heart constricts painfully at the sight before me. My beautiful mate, our amazing daughter, and the man they both thought died years ago. This is the first time they have been in the same place at the same time since Vicktor Treadstone stomped into their lives.

He is dead, but the pain and devastation left in his wake will take more time to heal than it took him to create it.

*I love you, Sebastian. You are so much more than you give yourself credit for.* Irina tells me through our link.

With a nod of my head, I walk to the bench across the courtyard from where Irina and Zasha sit. I want to give them space but still be close enough to still be involved. Adding Gustav to our family dynamic will take some time to get used to.

“Momma, who is he?”

Despite the pain I know he must be feeling, Gustav smiles at his daughter, then slowly sits on the bench next to Irina. I can see the sheen of tears in his eyes as he looks at Zasha. Her little head tilts to the side as she studies him.

“You were just a baby the last time I saw you. So tiny that I wanted to bundle you up and hide you away from the world. Even though you were so small, you had a powerful grip and would just hold my finger while you slept.”

As he talks to her softly, I can see her shy smile. She doesn’t move away from him when he leans down to kiss the top of her head. However, when he sits back up, she scrambles off Irina’s lap, then runs across the courtyard to me.

I watch Gustav’s face as she runs to me, and it breaks my heart. When she reaches me, I scoop her into my arms, then stand up off the bench. I glance down at her ice-blue eyes as she looks up at me.

“Is… he my… daddy too?”

“Yes, he is. Gustav is your first daddy. You are a very special little girl. One that has two daddies that love her unconditionally.”

“You will… still be my… daddy too, right?”

“Until the day I die. I will be here no matter what. Now, let’s go back so you can get to know your father.”

Zasha nods her head, so I walk across the courtyard. When I reach Irina and Gustav, I lower her onto her mother’s lap, then sit on the bench beside Irina. Zasha breaks the heavy silence by asking if Gustav will live with us now.

“No, little one, I won’t be living in your house with you. However, if Sebastian agrees, I will live close by.”

As I expected, her face turns to me for my answer. I nod my head at her because I can’t seem to do anything else. This was a conversation Irina, and I were planning to have with him later. We will still do that, but for now. I will give Zasha the simple answer.

“You father won’t be going anywhere again.”