The Alpha's Runaway

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning, I found the girl who had spoken out against Mina. The morning training session had just finished, and she was just about to leave.

“Wait!” I called, hurrying toward her.

“Good morning, Luna.” She said respectfully.

“Please, call me Addie.” I said, smiling shyly. I wasn’t much of a people person. That was Jess.

“Addie, then.” The girl corrected herself. She was about a year older than me, with gorgeous straight blonde hair and light blue eyes.

“I just wanted to thank you for last night. You have no idea how much I appreciate what you said.”

“Oh. You don’t need to thank me.” She waved me off, embarrassed, “It was the right thing to do. I’m sorry about Mina. She can be… abrasive… Especially when it comes to Lance.”

“Um. That’s a bit of an understatement.”

“Right. I heard about how she attacked your sister. Sorry.”

“Why are you apologizing? It wasn’t your fault.”

“I know, but I was involved. Kind of. Unknowingly. And unwillingly.” She started rambling, “I don’t know what Grant told you. I’m Ashley. Ashley Hawkings.”

“Oh.” I said as the realization hit me, “You’re the ex-girlfriend.”

“Yeah…” She said awkwardly, “Look, I don’t approve of what Mina and Kiera did. They crossed a line. Grant and Lance are their own people. They have the ability to decide who they want to be with, and they chose you and Jess. I’m happy for you, really. I liked Grant. I thought I was in love with him, but looking back… I was wrong. I was in love with the idea of love, if that makes any sense… It wasn’t what you have. He loves you, and he’s happy. That’s all I ever wanted for him.”

I stared at her for a minute, taken back by her words, “You… are not what I expected, Ashley.” I finally responded, “After meeting Mina and Keira, I thought you’d be more like them.”

“They weren’t always like that. Ever since Lance first asked Mina out, she’s changed. I mean- she was always boy-obsessed and a bit shallow, but it’s like nothing is ever good enough for her anymore. She wants to be mated to a Beta or an Alpha. It’s hard to recognize her as the girl I grew up with. She doesn’t get how I can be okay with how everything ended up.”

I nodded in understanding, “Well, if you ever need a friend…”

She smiled, “I’ll keep that in mind. See you around, I guess.” She waved before walking away.

I walked back to the packhouse, lost in thought. As much as I hated to admit it, I actually liked Ashley. She was a bit awkward and had a tendency to ramble when she was nervous, but I could tell she was a good person. Strangely, the thought brought me comfort. It reinforced what I knew about Grant. He didn’t want to be with someone just because of their looks or status. He saw the person underneath all the distractions.

I walked into the foyer and spotted Grant speaking with an older couple. He waved me over.

'I’m sorry. I know I said this could be on your terms, but they really wanted to meet you.' He said quickly through the mindlink.

'What?'

He put his arm around me as soon as I got to his side, “Addie, these are my parents, Isaac and Tianna.”

Oh.

“Hi.” I said awkwardly.

“Hi!” Tianna smiled warmly, embracing me tightly, “It is so nice to meet you!”

“Thank you for what you did last night.” Isaac gave me a brief hug, “You showed everyone this pack is in good hands.”

“I just did what I thought was right.” I shrugged.

“At great personal risk.” He pointed out, “It’s admirable.”

“Thanks.” I murmured, not sure what to say.

“We know you’re busy right now but when everything with your father is resolved, we’d love to get to know you better.”

“Right. Of course. I’d love that.” I gave them a tentative smile.

“Wonderful!” Tianna exclaimed, “I know your relationship with your parents wasn’t great, but I want you to know that we are here for you. You’re part of our family now.”

My breath caught as I felt the unconditional love and acceptance radiating from Grant’s parents, “Thank you. I--I can’t even begin to tell you how much I appreciate that.” I finally managed to say, my voice thick with emotion.

Tianna smiled kindly, “We’ll let you get to your meeting. If you need anything, let us know.”

“Yes, Mom.” Grant promised, waving goodbye as we walked toward his office.

“Sorry about that.” He apologized again as he shut the door behind us, “After last night, they insisted on meeting you.”

“It’s okay.” I reassured him, “I understand why they did what they did. Your parents are amazing. I’m glad I got to meet them.”

A grateful smile flashed across Grant’s face, “Thank you for being so understanding.”

I shrugged, “It’s the least I could do. Especially after the way you reacted when you found out I didn’t tell you my real name and I was being hunted by my psychotic father.”

He chuckled and pressed a kiss against my temple, “Well… when you put it like that.”

I pushed him away playfully, “Don’t you have to make a call?”

Grant sat at his desk and pulled me into his lap. Taking out his phone, he started a three-way call with Mason and Alex. Together we explained everything.

“So the rogues were working with the Hidden Grove pack the entire time?” Mason asked when we finished.

“I doubt the pack is aware of what’s happening.” I answered, “The rogues definitely answer to my father though. I’m sorry. I had no clue even he would stoop so low as to work with rogues and attack innocent packs.”

“Is he aware of your powers?” Alex wondered.

“I don’t know. I doubt it. Even we had no idea until recently. He never saw our wolf forms. We ran away before he could.”

“What’s the plan?”

“We have no clue where her father is at the moment, or who will be with him when he arrives. All we know is that he’s coming. We need to keep our eyes and ears open. Contact the other surrounding pack and see if they know anything. He’ll need an army in order to face us, whether it’s made up of rogues or his pack members. The amount of wolves he would need can’t be moved without detection.” Grant said.

“So, our plan is to sit and wait? I don’t like it.” Alex grumbled.

“There’s nothing else we can do.” Mason stated matter-of-factly.

“What about when they get here?”

“We’ll take a small, covert team and assess my father’s forces, as well as what they have been told regarding us. We’re looking for one wolf in particular: my brother, Quinton. He’ll be able to get us the information we need, as well as the proof we need when we confront my father.” I said.

“And if he’s not there?”

“We’ll observe, gather what information we can. If her father is with rogues, our three packs will attack and disband his army. If he’s with his pack members, Addie, Jess, and Henry will confront him anyways.” Grant answered.

“Is it wise to confront him?” Mason asked.

“If they knew the truth, my old pack would never support my father. We may have lost the element of surprise when he found us, but the plan is the same. My father needs to be removed from power.”

“Will the pack members believe you?” Alex inquired.

“I believe they will. There were a couple incidences throughout my childhood where someone almost found out. We explained it away because we were terrified of what my father would do if his secret got out, but I don’t think they believed us. They just didn’t have enough evidence to know for certain.”

“Okay.” Mason said after a minute, “Then you have my support.”

“Mine as well.” Alex added.

“Thank you.” Grant responded, “We’ll call and update each other every week.”

The others agreed, then said their goodbyes and hung up. I rested my head against Grant’s, starting to feel doubt for the first time.

“Do you really think we can do this?” I asked softly.

He held me closer, “I do.”

“What if something goes wrong? We have a half-baked plan dependent on a bunch of ‘if’s.”

“I know. There are a million ways for this to go wrong but we will get through it. You have survived so much already. You can survive this.”

“I survived because I ran, Grant.”

“You ran because you were afraid.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear, “You don’t have to be scared anymore. You, Jess, and Henry are not powerless, and you’re not alone.”

I smiled, kissing him, “When did you become all mushy and hopeful?”

“Mmm… About when I met you?”

“Okay, so we’re adding ‘cheesy’ to the list?”

He rolled his eyes, “Shut up.”

I laughed, standing, “Come on. Let’s go find the others.”