The Pains of Guilt

Chapter 19

Twilight POV

It’s been almost a week since I’ve talked to Mitsuri. And by that I mean in terms of non-pack related business. I considered ignoring her all together but that would’ve been childish and petty. After I came back from dropping off Natsumi with Takumi, I went to check on Shin before I forgot.

“You seem well. Today, you’re coming with me.”

“Am I allowed to ask where?”

“It’s better for you to see for yourself. The doctor said you don’t have the go ahead to shift so we’re going there by car.”

Third person POV

He wasn’t sure where he was going with this but he thought it’d be best to just do as she says and not get on her dad side.

“Get cleaned up then put these on. I’ll be waiting for you just outside.” She gave him some clothes and left the room. He noticed that they were all black just like her outfit.

Actually, he wondered why she was dressed in a suit today but brushed it off as her having to take care of business later. Upon further inspection, he found that he was given a suit. He tried not to waste time thinking on it and shower. Afterwards, he changed and met her outside.

“Sorry but you’re going to have to wear these shackles. You’re still a prisoner.”

“Understandable.”

Afterwards, she took him to the garage. They passed various cars of different makes until she stopped in front of a Toyota 4Runner TRD Pro.

“We’re taking this one.” She unlocked it. “And try not to touch anything. This isn’t my car.”

She wouldn’t tell him that her dad, Takeshi and the former Gamma didn’t want the scent of a Rogue in theirs, especially since they sometimes had their grandpups in them which was understandable. Her, Sky and Youhei drive their pups in theirs which made it out of the question. Not to mention that Ayaka had taken Sky’s to visit a friend. Ichiya and Etsuko had gone to the city earlier and Mitsuri was obviously out of the question. Kaido was the only one who said yes because he couldn’t use the excuse of grandpups since he didn’t have any and also because she was out of options since she couldn’t go around asking the rest of the pack.

“Ok.” He got in after her and she started the car.

He wasn’t really comfortable with being alone with her after what happened a few days ago. Not to mention that he couldn’t deny that she was somewhat attractive despite her being cold most of the time. But he obviously wouldn’t try anything. Especially when he had a mate and she probably had one somewhere out there.

He didn’t expect her to take her blazer off. Nor did he expect her to loosen her tie then take it off and undo the top button or roll up her sleeves. But he was grateful that her shirt was black.

“Sorry about that, it’s really hot out. And I don’t want to sweat on someone else’s driver seat.”

“Understandable.”

“I’m surprised that you held out for this long. The torture I mean.”

“I guess you could say that a wolf will do anything for their mate. No matter how crazy it is.”

“Surprisingly, I can say I understand from first-hand experience.”

“Oh.”

The car went back to being filled with silence. After a while, he recognised the route she was taking but he thought that it was just a coincidence. He was proven wrong once they reached her destination.

“We’re here.”

“May I ask why we came to my old pack?”

“A few days ago, they were buried. I took a few volunteers with me to get the job done. Just because your pack no longer part of my ruling body doesn’t mean that their corpses should just be left as is for scavengers to fun with. They should at least have a decent burial of some kind and we buried what we could find. Go ahead, grieve as much as you want.”

Twilight POV

How was isolation?" I asked him on the way back.

"Absolute hell. But on the bright side, I'm all healed up. What's next?"

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about after the little trip we took. There's been a slight change of plans. Yesterday, a fair amount of my pack members came to me asking that I grant you pardon. That being said, we're having a meeting with the rest to decide if your torture time should end or not. And we'll see what to do from there."

"Oh."

"You should count yourself lucky because collaring was supposed to be next."

"What's that?"

"You get chained to a pole like a dog for three days. Here's the catch, the collar is made entirely out of silver. It's usually reserved for traitors, murderers, rapists, Rogues and so on."

"Sounds like I dodged a bullet."

"You did. Also, you're getting admitted to the hospital for a check-up. This is just to assess your overall health and you might get a few shots so good luck with that."

"Thanks, I think."

I got him admitted to the hospital once we got back and left. When I got to my office, there was a bouquet of flowers. They kind of looked like lilies and they definitely weren’t normal lilies. And that’s because they each had a different mix of two neon colours so it kind of looked like a bouquet made of a rainbow. But they also looked a little transparent. I think I’ve seen them somewhere before. There was also a note on my desk. Weird.

Thank you for a great night.

- A

Now I remember; only his domain has rare and fictional looking flowers. And these ones may look a little bland and the colours might not seem vibrant but that’s only until it gets dark. That’s when they glow. I'm not really the flowers type but I appreciate the effort. And I have to admit that they are gorgeous. I made a mental note to call him later to thank him. It was a nice change of pace.

After getting a vase to put the flowers in, I went to the pack meeting to discuss whether Shin's had enough or not. Everyone was already there when I got there. Mitsuri tried to wave at me but I just gave her a quick nod. After a whole hour of debating, we came to a compromise. Afterwards, I tried to leave but Youhei stopped me.

"What's up with you and my sister?"

"Nothing."

"I'm not an i***t. Anyone with eyes that work properly can clearly see that something's up."

"It's nothing."

I left before he could say more. I then paid a visit to the hospital.

"Any news?" Shin asked.

"Whether it's good or bad depends on you. So, some felt that you've suffered enough while others thought that you didn't, saying that they still don't trust you. So we came to a compromise that works for everyone. You'll be put on probation for the next two weeks and during that time, you'll have to prove to the others that you're trustworthy. I can't do it on your behalf. You also have a curfew; I know it sounds over-the-top but it's part of the probation. It's at 11pm except on the night of a full moon for obvious reasons, it'll be extended to 3am. You're allowed to be with Mitsu. But remember to be careful of what you do because there'll be eyes watching your every move. By the end of the two weeks, there'll be a final decision to see whether you stay or leave."

"Is that all?"

"Pretty much."

"I expected more but never mind. It's more reasonable than I thought it'd be."

"Look, not everyone trusts you completely yet, but the way I see it, you're not a bad guy. That being said, they'll warm up to you eventually. Before I forget, we have two days a week where the whole pack has an exercise session and tomorrow is one of those days. Depending on the doctor’s orders, you’ll be joining us. If you have any problems or questions, just ask one of the doctors or nurses to mind link me."

"Sure."

On my way back, I ran into Mitsu. I tried to turn and walk in the other direction.

“Twilight, wait.”

“What?”

"We need to talk."

"Not now, I'm busy."

I tried to walk past her but she wouldn't let me. I was seriously considering using Alpha command but thought against it. It would've just caused an unnecessary scene.

"No, you're not. Unless you count avoiding me like the plague as being busy."

"Does it matter?"

“Please.”

“I really don’t have the time.”

"Look, I know that you're upset..."

"Who said that I'm upset?"

"Ok, whatever you are then. It's been three years. You broke up with no strings attached, don't you think it's time to move on?"

"No strings attached huh? You're forgetting that we have a freaking child together!" I was practically yelling at her.

"I know!" She yelled back.

"Not to mention, there's still a stupid mate bond! So there are strings attached and I hate that I can't move on no matter how hard I..."

She pulled me in for a hug.

"Why are we even arguing?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just want you to move on because I hate seeing you like this. It hurts me whenever I do. And I know I wasn’t making it easy for you to decide what to do with him and that I crossed a line with what I said. I feel like such a bad friend. Can we just go back to being besties?"

"This was getting pretty ridiculous."

"So besties?"

"Yeah. I’m sorry for avoiding you.”

“No, I’m sorry for what I said.”

“It’s ok. By the way, he's in the hospital, you can go see him. Last time I checked, he was awake but I'm not sure if he still is."

"So, you and Alex are getting closer I see."

"Don't you have a mate to visit?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to bother him while he's resting."

"That's the lousiest excuse you've ever given me."

"It was worth a shot. And you avoiding the question means that I'm right."

"Or that you're wrong and jumping to conclusions."

"Where have I heard that before?"

"Just go visit your mate already."