Chapter 19|The Bond.

....

After Christopher Knight lost his daughter and son in-law his family and the whole pack fell into a state of morning, ten more pack members were lost and they were buried on the same day after the brief plague was gone.

Martin and his family were most supportive, they returned from their vacation to cater to the burial arrangement and mourn alongside the deceased's family because they were more like a part of it.

Alpha Drake went to miles in ensuring that his beloved sister and her husband were given the most respectful burial in the family ground where their grandparents was buried in.

Stephano de Luca alongside his son Enzo and his grandchild Alexander flew from New York to London to pay their condolence and support to the lost's family. Till that point Alexander wasn't made aware of his betrothal, it was agreed that he was to be apprised of the edict on the day he turns eighteen years old.

After the deceased were buried, rain began drizzling and so everyone was ushered into the Pack manor for lunch. Alexander stood behind staring at the burial stone that resembled his mother's. He had a sharp memory that let him picture the Late Samantha's face in his head, he could remember how attentive she was to his needs whenever he followed his grandfather to visit. He felt saddened by the loss and even more so when his Father talked about the four year old child the deceased left.

He didn't know about the girl but he felt it in him that she was the one when he caught a petite girl wearing a black dress that stopped at her knees, her shiny red hair was packed in pigtails and black ribbons. Her expression was solemn as she stared at the stone in front him. Alexander felt compulsed to ease off the girl's pain even before he saw her face to know that she was sobbing. Her small shoulders shook from the action.

Her hair glistened from the rain that pelted softly on it, the crunch of his feet touching gravel had her turning her head to see who was intruding on her moment of privacy and when she saw a strange face her brows furrowed and her nose scrunched upwards. With squinted eyes she stared him up and down before turning her head around and focusing her gaze on her parents' stones.

"It's not healthy for a girl like you to be out in the rain, you might catch a cold." He suggested in a soft tone.

She shook her head at him, her pigtails flailing as she did so before speaking, "They put my Ma and Daddy there, I know it."

He felt his heart squeeze at the pain in her voice. He knew all too well how she felt knowing her parents were in a place she couldn't be but how she could understand the depth of the situation at such a tender age amazed him.

"It'll be alright. Don't worry now let's get you in or else you won't be able to tell them about how your day went tomorrow."

She whirled around to face him shocking him with her features, he felt like an axe rendered his head into two at the sight. Her eyes were doe-like and an odd shade of gold they stared at him with so much hope. "Can I really do that? Will they hear me? Speak to me?" She asked torn between gleeful and sad.

"Sure they will hear you but they won't respond to you directly. However you'll feel their response in the air, the breeze or wind or the weather."

Her expression turned to full blown awe at his words. "I want to talk to them tomorrow, who are you?" She asked tilting her head to the side making the edge of one tail to brush against her shoulder.

"I'm Alex, I came with my grandfather and your new friend if you'll have me as one." He grinned at her wariness to take his outstretched hand into hers for a shake. "I won't bite, I promise. You know my grandfather. He's always with yours."

"Is Grandpa Martin your grandpa?"

"No. Grandpa Stephano is my grandpa." He used her word choice to be on the same grammar level with her.

Her eyes widened and she fell into his arms in a rush. "You're grandpa Stephano's Alex." She raised her face and with her hands holding tight unto his legs she gave him a toothy grin.

He felt his heart squeeze as the four year old orphan circled her arms around him forgetting her sorrow in that moment.

"It seems my name is no mystery to you." Alexander grinned taking her up into his arms.

"Mystri? What does that mean?" Her face pulled into a confused expression.

"It means strange." He face palmed himself.

"Grandpa Stephano tells me all about you his grandchild and his other grandchild, he told me about your strength and courage. He always says he loves you so much and he lets me play with his hair." Her eyes squinted as she looked up to stare at his face, "Will you let me play with your hair? Your hair is black."

Alex nodded in response and together, hand in hand they walked into the Pack manor. They found the three old men in the first receiving room and all three pairs of eyes went to their joined fingers, while walkig in Isabelle had interlaced their fingers thoughtlessly.

Stephano cleared his throat before speaking, "My beautiful apple found Alexander." He parted his hands awaiting her embrace. She shook her hand out of Alexander's in an attempt to release his fingers but Alex felt his fingers closing on hers in a firm grip.

"I want to hug grandpa Steph." She yanked her hand out and he felt shaken to the core but masked the crestfallen feeling he felt in his soul.

With a lopsided smile Alexander moved to stand behind his grandfather.

Isabelle fell into Stephano's awaiting embrace placing her little head in the crook of his neck.

"You feel cold." Stephano commented, pulling her away to stare at her face.

"Alex found me standing by Ma and Daddy's stones, he said I could go talk to them tomorrow and they'll respond but not directly, he said I'll feel them in the air around me." She grinned before her lips pulled down, wobbling slightly. Saddened, she began speaking again, "Won't I see them again?"

"You'll see them in your dreams but they'll always be seeing you at all times."

"Even now too?" She asked, her hope renewed.

He nodded in response as she scrambled out of his embrace.

"Ma, Daddy, I miss you. Why did you leave me? I wanna see you soon."

Her words broke the men's hearts and from the distance between them Alex felt a strong but strange compulsion to protect the little girl whose innocence played with the strings of his heart.

Isabelle got consoled by all three men one by one before her nanny was called forth to change her out of her wet clothes, all Alex did was follow her movements with his eyes.

In the following days that passed after her parents death, Isabelle and Alexander became friends for he stayed back with his grandfather after his Father left. Two days later Isabelle introduced him to Arabella and they became friends, her grandmother Vanessa and her mother Natalie returned to the Pack from the vacation they took before the disease plagued the pack.

Alexander was welcomed with open arms in the whole pack and with Arabella being Isabelle's closest friend he spent most of his time with the two girls who were friends but had the most contrasting looks. While Isabelle had red hair, Arabella had strawberry blonde and her eyes were blue to Isabelle's gold. Arabella's skin was more tanned than Isabelle whose porcelain skin was too milky she had freckles on her arms and a bit on her face.

He spent his time catering to their whims and wishes, accepting invitations to their tea parties when he wasn't training with the pack warriors. At 13 Alex knew exactly what to do and when to do it.

Vanessa stared at the two kids walking hand in hand with Alexander, she narrowed her eyes at how Isabelle literally seemed very much closer to him than Arabelle was. Nothing they did escaped her eyes from how he lowered his head to listen to Isabelle more carefully to how his eyes twinkled whenever he was staring at Isabelle but never with Arabella. Rather, her granddaughter was flicked aside as if she was dirt on their shoes.

She ground hard at her jaw at the way he picked Isabelle in his arms, twirled her around the air twice then turned to Arabella and ruffled her shiny hair.

Arabella's upturned face stared at Alexander in awe as he told them stories about his brother's exploits, exploits he warned them never to try. She laughed boisterously at his stories and dubbed him the boring one who trained to be a warrior while his brother caused chaos around the Pack. Isabelle though agreed with Alex to train harder to fight off anyone who dared to harm him.

"I'll protect you too, I promise." He vowed, her smile infectious he felt his own lips pulling into a smile.

"And me too?" Arabella asked jumping up and down around him.

"Both of you." He amended giving each girl a hand to shake.

Vanessa's frown grew deeper as her granddaughter shook his left hand, her heart boiled at how Isabelle's stayed rooted in Alexander's grasp while he let go of Arabella's who wandered off to the flowers on the sidewalk and plucked three roses out of their stems.

"Ouch." Arabella cried, a thorn had pierced her tiny finger causing blood to peep out and trail down the finger. Worried, Alexander crouched before her and picked her into his arms gesturing at Isabelle who was weeping to follow them. Arabella assured them she was fine but it was Isabelle who kept crying until they reached the Pack Manor to the nurse who cleaned the small cut and placed a pink plaster on it before giving the finger a peck for it to heal faster.

Vanessa nodded in triumph, feeling lightheaded at the sight of Arabella in his arms even though the cause for it wasn't loved. But to her it was still better than nothing. She heaved a sigh of relief thanking God for putting the idea of plucking roses into Arabella's head and not into Isabelle's.

With a cluck of her tongue she made her way to the Mile's Family mansion where she lived the life of the Luna she never got to be.

"I know exactly how to deal with brats like you, Bella. I've dealt with those more older, more powerful and wiser than you. You weasel." Her sentence ended with a loud chortle.