Page 175 of An Omega for the Lycan Prince
But I will do it well.
Chapter fifty-two
Chapter 52 Difficult transitions
*ANNALISE*
WhenIstepoutside,I’m surprised to see quite a lot of familiar faces. Dante and Aryanna, of course, stayed behind, they are Liam’s Betas, and I assume they won’t just leave him. “We already talked,” Ari says in a matter-of-fact tone. “And D and I are not going anywhere. Just so you know!”
My eyes light up. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” Dante nods. “We will never leave Liam behind. He needs us now more than ever. You can rely on us.” He winks at me. “Besides… There is another reason for me to stay too. Spoiler alert… my other reason is a tough, stubborn she-wolf with a heart of gold.”
I smile warmly. It only dawns on me now that many problems might have disappeared for Dante and Ella now.
My eyes wander through the room. Elden kept his promise… there are a few of his men, ready to get to work. Also, I notice Flora and Finn. He must have just picked her up and brought her to Red Claw’s packhouse. She looks a bit worried and sad but also proud.
Dad, Celine, and Harmony stayed back too. Dad pulls me in his arms. “My baby,” he mutters, voice hoarse. “I’m so proud.”
Harmony joins him, turning it into a group hug. She usually is not the touchy type, which makes her hug mean even more now. “You will be wonderful, Luna Annie,” she whispers. “You already are.”
When they let go, the others approach me. Flora is the first one to hug me, telling me how great we were and how proud she is, and that I can always count on her for help if I need anything… an offer I will probably need to take her up on before long. “Flora…” I say quietly, unsure how to apologize to her for what happened tonight. I’m just as responsible for what happened as Liam.
“Don’t,” she beams at me, squeezing my hands. “I talked to Elden a few days ago when he started to get visions of this future… For many years Elden and I wanted to force a certain prediction on our children, but no one can escape fate. Liam just so happened to have found his own path, and as parents, we can only accept his decision and respect him for being strong enough to follow his heart. It's not always easy to let go, but we need to allow our children to spread their wings.” She smiles. “If you throw a rock into a sea with calm water, it will stir something up, no matter how small the rock is. You and Liam are the rock, and now let’s see what else will change.”
“Liam loves Silverlake so much, though,” I mutter. “I hope he won’t regret it.”
“I think he has thought a lot about this over the last few days. He loves Silverlake as we all love it. But Red Claw might need him more than Silverlake does, and he knows it. It’s like the pack called out to him ever since he and Dante found the little boy's body. He acted on it although he hadn’t met you or Ella yet.” Something in her eyes sparkles. “We pushed Liam onto this firmly set path, and we did the same with his siblings. Now that everything has changed, I’m sure some of my other children might come forward with new dreams. We don’t know the consequences of today’s events yet, but I assure you not all of them will be bad.”
In a way, she is right. Liam was supposed to become Alpha of Silverlake, and Finn or Marius his Gamma or advisors, and Aurelia was probably supposed to be mated to an Alpha and become Luna. But now… no one can tell what will happen now. In a way, all of them relied on Liam their whole life. It’s their time now to grow up and find their own path.
“Thank you,” I whisper to Flora.
“We can talk more about this later,” she reassures me.
I nod thankfully before shifting my attention back to the others. Celine and Ella have joined Finn. Celine nudges me playfully with her elbow. “I wonder who will tell the news to Dave?”
Finn laughs. “He will be overjoyed. He already sees you as his queen anyway.” He gets more serious. “Honestly, Annie, I would have loved to see Liam become Silverlake’s Alpha and you, our Luna. You would have both been fantastic. But sometimes things just happen, and this pack needed you two more than we do. I love and admire Liam a lot, and he will always have my support.” He chuckles. “There goes dad’s retirement though,” he jokes.
“You know I can hear you? Enhanced hearing, my son!” Elden calls from the secluded room.
“For real,” Flora sighs dramatically. “We had so many plans!” She twirls around. “I wanted to book us a cottage in the mountains for at least three months,leaving it only for food.” She beams. “Other than that, just me and Elden and a bed. You know it has been years since I had my mate all for myself for more than a day. It's been forever since we broke a bed! Like that one time in Paris when we visited the Council. One of Elden's cousins had a few bottles of whisky he shared with us. Oh goddess... the night was wild, and we went on forever and- “
“Yeah, Mom,” Finn groans. “Thanks for that.”
“Don’t worry, my love,” Elden’s voice reaches us again. “I’ll take you away on a vacation once everything calms down.”
“Fantastic,” Flora smiles brightly.
Finn shakes his head before he chuckles. “Now that Liam is away, who will stand between Dad and me?”
Flora giggles, poking his upper arm. “Time to grow up now,” she squeals, obviously having turned back to her normal cheerful self. “Who knows, maybe little Finn will become the future Alpha?”
Finn is speechless for a moment. “What? No way! I’m not Alpha material. What about… Aurelia! Or Marius?”
Flora mouth curls slightly. “We will see. Time will tell.”
While both of them continue to discuss the current situation, I look at Ella. She is a Red Claw pack member and one of the most important people in my life. I need to know her opinion and how she feels about everything.
