Chapter 117

Kayden's POV

And Víctor's voice comes again: '... here's the thing about our pack, two people might not like each other very much, but there is something that moves every single link and that is duty and honor to your people...' '...on THIS island your mate has loyalty and respect from her people, of those who like her and those who don't, loyalty means EVERYTHING to us!' Loyalty... The Osupa might be gossipy, but they don't vent dirty laundry to outsiders.

And I notice that I don't feel angry that Víctor has been very intimate with my mate in the past and that I actually feel respect and gratitude towards him. Since his blooming friendship with Izz he has been reasoning with her to have me by her side sooner, while at the same time giving me very insightful advice not just on how to maneuver Izz, but insight on the thought process of the tribe and I can feel like he's already helping me adjust to it and I know he's sincere on wanting our happiness, especially Izz's. And because of the previous intimacy they shared he has his way to get through to her that others can't...

Nope, no anger towards him. The Osupa accepted EVERY mate that were granted to them here and it was one of OURS who rejected and yet at the end of the day even Diana couldn't stand to be without her Osupa mate. I remember how livid Izz was over this, it was like someone has spat at her family! Come to think about it... I was on pins and needles at that time afraid to loose her and she had not rejected me, and how before I met her, the whole mate thing was bullshit to me. And now... Now I am willing to submit to her. I will still be an Alpha in physiology but the title will not belong to me and I chuckle because the Luna position is taken! I would just become the Alpha's mate.

Even our pups names are hyphenated carrying HERS first since they basically carry HER dynasty, and my pups faces come to mind... her words and look of exasperation on her face when she got in the helicopter that day in London: 'Guess what? I want my mate too, one who will trust me! But I need MORE than just YOU, I can't think on JUST YOU! I need a lot of work to finish to ensure the future reig--- of my people I have a LOT TO DO!'

She meant to say reign of our children! She's not just destroying The Council... She's building a supernatural empire which our children will inherit! And so far, she has proven successful. While I'm here focused on just getting her, she's been focused on getting EVERYTHING, including me! My puzzle Master...

I dismissed everyone and told them that I wanted to meet them for coffee tomorrow, I still needed to figure out where the information of my thang had come out from. As long as it wasn't from MY pack, I didn't give a damn what any childish cunt would say, I have never shared internal information about my pack with ANYONE from outside. I would enjoy my time with her, but I never bashed or gossiped about anyone from here. But if it was someone from HERE I will not tolerate that, and I would try to find a way on how to approach Delilah. It's not just all on her and I had to take responsibility for promises made and my own attitude, it might even be her, and if it's her, I share some responsibility.

Ugh! Damn you old Kayden! I will definitely have to take all of this into consideration when I finally am by Loiza's side and am able to council my children... Just thinking about that weight alone made me understand that wrenched look on my beautiful mates face in that video basically BEGGING to fucking get a clue and to start helping her solve the puzzle. While she was trying to make me THINK about what the symbol that appeared on my wrist and who the voice of the woman I have been talking to, I was thinking on how much I wanted to make love to her to the point of leaving my pack behind. Víctor said that Izz didn't want me to abandon my pack, she didn't want them to loose my respect and now talking with the group of women that I thought were going to chew me out and go into the usual pack bullshit drama, they were hailing their absent Luna and actually and being civil, even friendly towards each other. Some are pregnant right now with future subjects of MY children, if I had left them... They would loose their strongest link and opened them for danger and then if I had regrets and returned for them how would they respect my children knowing I had a part of raising them?!

My brain was thinking so fast today, pieces being connected like magnets, her words echoing: 'I'm going to be honest with you Kayden, I haven't been so well, I'm a Gamma, I wasn't born to do any of this! I am a Priestess and I really loved being out on the field. I don't know what I'm doing half the time, but I KNOW I have to protect them... And I am not just talking about the pups. We aren't 10,000 anymore and I took on my duty as I always have, before me, the pack goes first, that's how we survive.'

She's so strong that sometimes I do forget she was Gamma born, the thought process of a Gamma and an Alpha are different and can sometimes come in conflict. She must be feeling a little like when she returned from Avalon which she was still kinda disconnected with the pack... As a wolf, I don't even want to imagine that sensation, yet when she was in Avalon she THRIVED as an independent thinker! Even so, she returned to fulfill her duty... To The Osupa, the pack comes first. She doesn't just feel responsible for the pups, she IS a true Alpha as she must take all of the pack into consideration and even though Blood Moon had yet to join them, she was protecting, not just them, she was protecting my own reputation and legitimacy to partake in their education, but they themselves as legitimate heir to her own legacy. This isn't just a wolf pack, this was a small Empire... She was being guided by Gaia herself for this task!

And then I reflect on Bayoán's words: 'I always expected Izzy to be mated to someone grand!' Pondering on all of this, it made sense... But... Being honest, there REALLY isn't anything 'grand' about me, yeah I'm an Alpha, but unlike Izz, I NEVER even would have considered an Alexander the Great type move like this! Sure, some packs will take over the territory of another and in most cases the pack would be eradicated. Izzy was BUILDING, she was bringing those The Warewolf Council deemed unfit, giving them sanctuary, changing their perspectives, training them, giving them hope and creating a powerful and harmonious unit. So even if in the future if The Council does even think on threatening her people again, they will desist at once... That is if she hasn't already decided to completely annihilate them. She's even riled up The Vampire Council because even some vampires joined her and agreed with her angle.

'... I don't know what is Gaia's plan but Moira always said that it was by Selene's will that Izzy become powerful but that Gaia guarded her steps and would return her to her true self...' Her true self?

For some reason I think Bayoán doesn't know the answer to that question either or what it even MEANS! I look at my hand and feel like I have a sense of deja vu... Grand... I look at the symbol for Earth on my wrist. I have seen this before. For some reason I have a memory of when I was a kid. I have been avoiding them since my parents are cluttered in them. I must have been around 9 and the pack was having a fun bonfire night, I remember the grown-ups drinking and talking with each other, Marcus, Avis, Adam and myself where looking for the s'mores stuff. I must have eaten like 10 of them until Adam said something that to this day when we recall that night, none of us can remember, which pissed me off. We started fighting and I slipped, my right hand fell on the little private fire we had started for our own s'mores... Warewolves have rapid healing but until you're able to shift and your wolf manifests fully, healing can be quite slow for our standards, that's why we focus so much at protecting the pups, until they shift usually at 16, they are vulnerable.

I was freaking out because I could feel the burning sensation yet the hand wasn't burnt. All four of us were freaked out by it and since we were fighting we didn't want to explain that detail when questions on the incident would come, we never told anyone. We still mention it to each other and try to focus on that night, but for some reason we can only recall that detail. I am going to have to talk to them again, for some reason now I do feel that there's more to it.

'You carry her Mark... She MUST have manifested herself to you. It was her who mated you with Izzy, not Selene, she bequeathed her blade to you and don't you have her grimoire?' I was talking with the Goddess Gaia all this time? I have been so engrossed in how magnificent my mate was and how much I wanted to be by her side, that I set aside my OWN contribution to Gaia's plan. If she would have wanted me to be a simple sperm donor why even manifest herself to me if that was achieved the moment I mated with Izzy?

I stand up suddenly startling Marcus and Avis.

**It was about time you started waking up child of the Sun! You must remember, just like she must, he is always looking for her and the ages have not made him less ire. He still wants her to return to his side and you gone forever, I should have put both of you in vampire bodies!**

'Great Mother?!'

**Follow your instincts Kayden... WHO are YOU?**