The Lycan King's Second Chance Mate: Rise of the Traitor's Daughter
Chapter 70: Réunion

Chapter 70: Réunion

Natalie~

The moment my feet touched the polished marble floor of my brothers’ home, warmth engulfed me. The scent of rain-soaked earth, firewood, and the crisp mountain air swirled around me, a stark contrast to the lingering scent of Zane that still clung to my skin. Before I could even take a step, a flurry of movement rushed toward me.

"LITTLE MOON!"

I barely had time to react before I was enveloped in a storm of arms, laughter, and overwhelming emotions.

"My little moon," Jacob murmured into my hair, his hold on me tight, his voice clouded with emotion.

Bubble’s hands gripped my shoulders as he pulled me back just enough to stare at me, his light blue eyes glistening with unspoken words. "You’re you again," he whispered, then, in a dramatic turn, clutched his chest. "And looking absolutely divine, if I may say so."

Fox chuckled, ruffling my hair, his golden eyes alight with mischief. "I see the celestial glow suits you, baby sister."

Eagle’s silver eyes gleamed as he tilted his head, wind stirring his long black hair. "I knew the moment you transformed. The winds told me."

Tiger, ever silent, simply placed a warm, grounding hand on my back and gave a warm smile. "It’s good to have you back, little moon."

A lump formed in my throat. I had forgotten what it felt like to be surrounded by them—to belong to my family. "You guys... you were with me all along." I whispered.

Jacob scoffed. "Of course we were, you brat. Do you think we’d ever leave our little moon?"

Before I could respond, the sound of small feet padding against the floor caught my attention.

"Mommy Natalie!"

I turned just in time to catch Alex as he barreled into my arms, his tiny fingers gripping my dress. His face, round and bright, was split into the widest smile, his dimples deep and adorable. My heart squeezed.

"Alex," I breathed, pulling him close and pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I missed you."

He giggled, pulling back slightly. "I saw you yesterday but you were sleeping and Daddy said not to wake you up. Did you come to play with me?"

We all laughed and then I smiled and nodded. "Of course, sweetheart. Why don’t you go pick out the toys you want, and I’ll join you soon?"

Alex’s face lit up. "Okay!" With that, he spun around and dashed off, already babbling about which toys he’d choose.

As soon as he disappeared into another room, I turned back to my brothers—only to find them all staring at me with knowing smirks.

"Oh, come on," I sighed, rubbing my temples.

Fox was the first to speak. "I thought by now, you and Zane would be—how should I put it—eating each other up?"

Bubble snickered. "I expected a full-blown mating frenzy."

Eagle leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. "So what interrupted you?"

Jacob narrowed his eyes. "And why are they still breathing?"

I rolled my eyes. "Because I let him go."

A collective gasp filled the room. Fox clutched his chest like he’d been personally attacked. "Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?"

Bubble nodded dramatically. "I’m going to need a moment to recover from this."

Jacob’s expression darkened. "Natalie, if someone interrupted you and Zane, and you just let it slide—"

I sighed. "It was Sebastian. And I let it go because I didn’t want Zane to be sad."

Silence stretched between us. Then, Jacob groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "Ugh. You’re always in love."

Eagle smirked. "Deep."

Fox cackled. "Hopelessly."

I folded my arms. "You say that like it’s a bad thing."

Jacob sighed. "It’s not, little moon. But knowing you, I’m surprised you didn’t skin Sebastian alive for interrupting you."

I shrugged. "Zane comes first."

Bubble gasped. "The mighty celestial princess letting her anger slide?" He wiped a fake tear. "They grow up so fast."

I shook my head but couldn’t help the fond smile tugging at my lips. These idiots.

The humor faded slightly as I exhaled, my expression turning serious. "Jacob, I need to ask you something."

At my sudden shift in tone, all of them straightened. Jacob stepped closer. "What is it?"

I hesitated before speaking. "Why did I reincarnate without Jasmine?"

Jacob’s jaw tightened.

I pushed forward. "The last thing I remember before reincarnation was that Jasmine was with me. We were about to be sent down together. But then, suddenly, she wasn’t there. She was put to sleep. Why?"

A heavy silence fell. My brothers exchanged glances.

Finally, Jacob sighed. "Little moon... we owe you an apology."

My brows furrowed. "For what?"

Jacob hesitated before answering, "We... meddled."

Fox cleared his throat. "A lot."

Bubble winced. "Like... a whole lot."

I stared at them, not following. "What the hell does that mean?"

Jacob ran a hand through his hair, looking guilty. "We all thought you weren’t having enough choices in mates because you always chose Frederick."

My stomach dropped.

Fox raised a hand. "In our defense, we thought Griffin was a good option."

Bubble added, "And Mom agreed. She decided to test it further by putting Jasmine to sleep—to see if Griffin would stand by you through all odds."

Eagle sighed. "But... he didn’t."

Tiger nodded solemnly.

My hands curled into fists. "You mean to tell me," I said slowly, "that my suffering—being marked against my will, being rejected by my mate, being banished and left alone—was because of a TEST?"

Jacob winced. "Technically... yes."

I inhaled sharply. "You had no right." My voice was low but firm. "Even if I’m your little sister, you had no right to play with my life."

"We know," Jacob said immediately. "And we’re sorry."

Bubble, Fox, and Eagle nodded.

Fox exhaled. "We really thought we were helping."

I let out a humorless laugh. "Helping? You call putting me through hell HELPING?"

Jacob placed a hand on my shoulder. "We messed up. But... it proved something."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Oh?"

Jacob met my gaze. "It proved that you weren’t always with Frederick because you were fated to him." He smiled slightly. "You were with him because you were truly meant to be."

My lips parted, but no words came out.

Bubble nodded. "It was never fate forcing you two together. It was always you and him."

Eagle added, "It’s why, even without Jasmine, you still loved him. You still found your way back to him."

My throat tightened. Damn them. They were right.

Jacob gave a small smile. "But, little moon... you’re right, too. We shouldn’t have interfered. And we won’t again."

Bubble raised a hand. "On my honor."

Fox grinned. "Same."

Eagle smirked. "We’ll even get the others to apologize personally."

I exhaled, my anger cooling slightly. "Fine."

Then, a voice growled in my head. "FINE? That’s all you’re going to say?"

I blinked. "Jasmine?"

Jasmine growled. "Oh, just a simple apology is fine? Do you know how long I was trapped in that damn slumber? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA—"

I winced. "Jasmine, calm down."

"Calm down? Oh, sweetheart, I am going to have WORDS with our dear brothers."

Bubble paled. "Oh, no."

Fox chuckled nervously. "Jasmine, darling, let’s not be hasty—"

"HASTY? I WAS IN A DAMN COMA FOR YEARS."

Jacob groaned. "Here we go."

I sighed, rubbing my temples. "This is going to be a long day."

Jasmine snarled. "Oh, you have NO idea."

Jasmine not wasting time, took over the wheel of my body and I let her while I rescinded to the back of my mind for a while.

"Do you have ANY IDEA how suffocating it was?!" she snapped, pacing back and forth. Her massive red fur bristled, her sharp fangs bared as she half shifted. "Years, Jacob. YEARS. I was trapped in the dark while my girl suffered! I could feel everything—every heartbreak, every moment of pain—but I couldn’t do a damn thing about it!"

"Wait..." I said in shock, "I thought you said you didn’t know what went on while you were away?"

"Not now, Mara." Jasmine said and went back to face my brothers.

Jacob rubbed the back of his neck, looking properly scolded. "I know, Jas. We messed up."

"Oh, you know?" Jasmine whirled around, her glowing red eyes locking onto him. "You know? Well, congratulations, Misty, you just earned yourself the award for ’Dumbest Brother of the Century.’"

Fox snickered but immediately shut up when Jasmine turned her glare on him.

"And you!" she growled. "You thought you were HELPING? You thought, ’Oh, let’s just throw Mara into the pits of despair and see if she survives. That’ll be fun!’"

Bubble held up his hands in surrender. "We didn’t mean it like that, Jas, I swear."

"Then how did you mean it, Bubble?" Jasmine narrowed her eyes. "No, please, enlighten me, because from where I’m standing, it looks like you all decided to play god with Mara’s life, and I was the collateral damage!"

The room fell into dead silence.

Fox cleared his throat. "Okay, yeah, when you put it like that... we kinda sucked."

Jasmine let out a huff, pacing again. "Damn right, you did."

Eagle sighed. "We get it, Jas. We really do. And we’re sorry."

Bubble nodded. "On my honor, we won’t interfere again."

Fox put a hand over his heart. "We swear it. No more playing matchmaker with fate."

Jasmine studied them, her tail flicking. Then she snorted. "Good. Because if any of you try to pull another stunt like that, I’ll personally introduce you to what happens when a celestial wolf gets REALLY pissed off."

Jacob raised an eyebrow. "Is that a threat?"

"No, Misty," Jasmine purred, flashing her fangs. "It’s a promise."

Jacob gulped. "Duly noted."

Satisfied, Jasmine retreated into the back of my mind, still grumbling about ’reckless brothers with god complexes.’

I exhaled and turned to Jacob. "I need your help with something."

He blinked, as if he hadn’t expected me to move on so quickly. "What kind of help?"

"There’s this girl," I started, crossing my arms. "I met her once at school. She reminded me of myself before—before everything. And I want to find her."

Jacob’s brows furrowed. "You want me to find her? Nat, you have your powers now. You could do this yourself in seconds."

I clasped my hands together and gave him my best pleading look. "Please, Jacob? I have other things I need to handle."

Jacob still looked suspicious. "This isn’t one of your sneaky ways to set me up with a mate, is it?"

I gasped, placing a hand over my heart. "How could you accuse me of such a thing?"

"Because I don’t trust you when it comes to matchmaking," he deadpanned.

I laughed, shaking my head. "This isn’t about that, I promise."

He sighed dramatically. "Fine. But if I find out you tricked me—"

"I swear it’s not about that," I said, smirking.

Jacob grumbled but nodded. "Alright, show me her."

I closed my eyes, focusing on the image of the girl in my mind. With a deep breath, I connected my thoughts with Jacob’s, sending the image straight into his mind.

His eyes flickered with recognition as he received it. "Huh. Alright, I’ll find her."

I beamed. "Thank you, big brother."

Jacob rolled his eyes but ruffled my hair, making me swat at his hand.

I turned to the others. "Speaking of mates, I think all of you need one."

Every single one of them groaned.

Hypocrites.

Fox immediately stood. "I suddenly remembered that I have a VERY important pot roast to make."

Bubble shot up next. "Oh, I need to—uh—water my... plants."

Eagle sighed. "I need to go check on the winds. You know, make sure they’re still... blowing."

Tiger, who had been silent the entire time, just gave me a firm shake of the head before walking away.

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Cowards."

Jacob smirked. "See? This is why we don’t trust you."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, whatever. But before you all escape, I have something important to tell you."

That got their attention.

I took a deep breath. "After I finish my degree in two years, I’m moving back home."

They all stared at me, their expressions unreadable.

"And," I continued, meeting each of their gazes, "I’m heading straight to my former pack."

Jacob’s eyes darkened. "Why?"

My voice hardened. "Because those people killed my earthly parents in cold blood. And I’m not going to let it go."

Eagle frowned. "Natalie, please don’t let your anger take over. You know how hard it is to control once it’s unleashed."

I exhaled. "I’m not telling you this so you can stop me. I’m telling you so you’re prepared."

They all sighed, exchanging glances.

Jacob finally asked, "Does Zane know about this plan?"

I smiled. "I’ll tell him in due time."

Just as Jacob opened his mouth to argue, Alex came bouncing into the room, his arms full of toys.

"Mommy, uncles, play with me!" he demanded, dropping a pile of stuffed animals at our feet.

I grinned. "Alright, alright." But just as I reached for a toy, something strange pulsed in my chest.

Jasmine stirred. "Zane and Sebastian are up to something. Something that might not end well."

I stiffened.

Alex tugged on my sleeve. "Mommy?"

I snapped out of it, bending down to press a kiss to his cheek. I tickled his sides, making him squeal with laughter.

"I’ll be right back, baby," I promised. "I just have to go grab some things from home. Stay and play with your uncles, okay?"

Alex pouted for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. But hurry back!"

I smiled and ruffled his hair. "I will."

My brothers turned and gave me a knowing look.

"What ever happens, don’t go too far, remember, even if we’re ethereal beings, we are still bounded by certain laws." Tiger said crossing his arms. I smiled at them all and nodded.

"I’ll try." Then, without another word, I focused my energy and teleported, disappearing into the morning.

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