CHAPTER FIVE
Lost
While Chris and I had been lost in the throes of passion atop Ava's mountains, all the way over in the Yoma clan, another wolf's life was being upended.
Han Solstice looked him like you'd expect him to. He was rough, tough, and unyielding. He immediately scared pup wolves away because of how unapproachable his entire demeanor was all the time but could hardly blame him, he'd had a rough life.
The absence of his father had weighed heavily on him in childhood and he carried it through till the present day. Now it wasn't that his father had died or stayed very far away from Ava, but he simply wasn't a father to him.
Aside from the fact that he had sired him, he had had no hand in how young Han had been raised.
'Mama, does Baba hate me?', he'd asked, when he was little.
'No', she'd replied.
'Then why is never around? Why doesn't he ever come out of that cave? Why does…'
'In due time, my little one', she'd cut him off, soothingly yet firmly.
After howling at the moon for the first time, that time did indeed come. He was invited to the cave of light by his Father, Omrison Solstice.
'Han, welcome'
'Thank you, Baba'
'Sit'
Silence.
'First of all, I'm glad that you've turned out to be nothing like me. I know an Alpha when I see one, and you're one in every sense of it, my son
'I know that I owe you so much, I know that no amount of words now can make up for lost time but I want you to know they everything that has happened so far has been my fault. You shouldn't have had to face the consequences but even I couldn't and that is why we're here today, to make an attempt to right that wrong
Silence.
All his life, Han had wanted to sit across from his father like he was currently doing, to talk about various affairs in life, but when the time for it came, he didn't have any words. He didn't know what to say
As they sat in silence, keenly watching each other in the cold cave, five wolves from the council of elders joined them as well. Han would be getting the whole truth and nothing but.
'In my time', he started 'I lost in the competition for the Ultimate Alpha. I failed. As an outcast and the weakest link in the pack, I thought I could do something different with the cards that I'd been dealt with
'I had fallen in love with a Luna from the Yitta Clan, Anastasia and we were going to start a family. I wanted to be something of a role model to my unborn child, and a husband to be proud of, so I reached out to the only person that gave me the time of day, Cody Nexus…, now Chief Cody Nexus, because he was the one that I lost to'
'I confided in him about my weak lungs which might pose a problem for me if I made it to the last phase of the competition, but his encouraging words made me believe that I could do anything'
'He even got the pack to tentatively overlook that fact I'd been living free range all my life'. As Omrison said this, he scrubbed his face with his rough hands, and then inhaled deeply.
This was a difficult moment for him, as he unraveled the betrayal.
He went on to explain how Chief Cody had double-crossed him but no one would believe him if he had tried to defend his honor, so he walked away instead. He also talked about how his wife had died during childbirth while he was underwater, and as he said this with so much regret Han was afraid that he was going to burst into tears.
'I couldn't look at her, I couldn't bear to hold her because I wasn't worthy of that pure love', Omrison said gravely
'So she survived, this child of yours, is she alive now?'
'Yes. Nana Sam, the healer, made sure of it
'Well, where is she? Who is she?'
'Nana Sam thought it'd be best if she took on her mother's last name so that she wouldn't have my failure hanging over her head every she went, and I hear that she's turned out quite well. She should be about your age. Her name is Nina Thunderheart'
When he was done, the party disbanded. One left with his heart empty and one left with his heart full- Omrison's was empty. Han's was full.
All his life, his hatred, and his dissatisfaction had been a nameless and faceless entity because he couldn't completely hate a Father that he didn't even know. Now he knew that his Father wasn't at fault. He could have been more present, he wanted to, but he'd been held back by the two people who now lived together in the Yitta clan as one happy family, riding on the wave of his father's failure.
Somehow, one way, he'd restore his father's honor and he'd do it by getting his pound of flesh from Chief Cody and Nina Thunderheart.
I had been back at the Nexus mansion for two and a half months, and Chief Cody still watched me like a hawk.
It was understandable given the circumstances that had warranted my leaving in the first place but Chris had brought me back and since he was involved, it'd be an act of God to get me out. I trusted his son enough to be sure about that.
While Chris was away on another hunting expedition, I had made a discovery and I was excited to share it with him. So I watched from my window every night, eagerly anticipating his return.
On the night that he returned, Chief Cody invited him up to his study where he had been locked in all evening with his butler, Mr Williams Lester.
After what seemed like an eternity, I had him angrily slam the study's door shut and in a moment, he angrily opened mine.
'Nina tell me that it's not true!', he bellowed.
'Wha…what?, What's going on?'
'Your guardian angel, she's spoken to you about your mother before, tell me what you know about her!', he demanded.
I struggled to come up with the words. I knew that he needed answers but I didn't know what answers to give him. His chest was swollen with anger, heaving up and down in quick succession. His eyes had turned a burned orange too in the most fearsome way.
'I wish I understood any of this Chris…' I started innocently, and that was all the push that he needed.
He rummaged through the room, throwing things everywhere. He only stopped when he opened the drawer and read through a letter that he found there. Then he turned back towards the door.
'Chris, stop, please!', I cried. 'What does this have to do with my mother?'
Without turning around, he said gravely 'By sunrise, I don't want to see you here again. Pack up your things and leave, go anywhere, I don't care, but not here
'Of all the awful mistakes that I could have made, I'd never envisioned falling in love with my sister to be one of them'