Chapter 30 – Tale Of The Shadow Sister

Elora met Mary’s gaze, tears brimming in her eyes as she shook her head slowly. “I really screwed up this time, Mary” she confessed, her voice choking in her tears, “Big time.”

“Talk to me? You are scaring me!” Mary told her, agitated.

Elora took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts before recounting the events of the past twelve hours to Mary. She spoke of the nightclub, the allure of the mysterious man who fascinated her. She described how she had allowed herself to be swept away by the attraction, how they had ended up going home together, and how she had discovered, to her shock, that the man was none other than Azriel Storm himself. With a mix of emotions swirling within her, she admitted the night of passion they had shared.

“OK, sweetie. It is not the end of the world. You had a passionate encounter with him and that’s it.”

“There is more, Mary.” Elora replied, “This morning I realized that Azriel… Azriel is… Asher’s father!” she added, tears streaming from her eyes while she was about to have a panic attack.

Mary listened intently as Elora recounted her story, her expression shifting from concern to shock as she heard the revelation. When Elora finished, Mary’s eyes widened in disbelief. “Wait, so you’re saying… Is Azriel Asher’s father? Like, Azriel Storm? THE Alpha!” she exclaimed, her hand flying to her mouth in astonishment.

Elora nodded, her voice trembling as she spoke. “Yes, I didn’t make the connection until this morning. But it all makes sense now. He has the same scar in the same place, and the resemblance with Asher … It’s undeniable. Same skin tone, same dark hair shade, plus some facial figures. The more Asher grows, he will look more and more like him. It is not that obvious now because he has my green eyes, but later…”

Mary’s hand flew to her mouth as she processed the information. “Oh Goddess,” she whispered, her voice filled with shock. “I can’t believe this.”

“What am I going to do, Mary!?” Elora asked her desperately. “We are talking about Azriel Storm. You know his reputation, especially with rogues. I am a rogue Mary, wolf or not! I have a record am on a terror list! And I am raising his son! Do you believe that someone like him could be rational when he learns the truth? Tell me, Mary! Do you believe that he will spare me just because we had a one-night stand?” Elora shouted as she started to cry uncontrollably.

Mary placed a comforting hand on Elora’s shoulder, her voice gentle yet firm. “You need to compose yourself, Elora. Asher will be awake soon, and you have a shift to prepare for.”

Elora nodded, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. “I just… I want to hide here in the cottage,” she admitted. “I don’t want to face Azriel or deal with any of this.”

“I know, sweetie,” Mary replied sympathetically, “but hiding won’t solve your problems. You need to be strong for yourself and for Asher. Maybe Azriel will take it as an affair and will not search for you.”

Elora sighed, her shoulders slumping. “I hope you’re right,” she murmured. “I hope Azriel won’t track me down after last night.” But even when she said the words, she felt an uncomfortable tug in her chest. Despite the circumstances, last night was magic, exceeding any expectations.

Mary squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. “We’ll get through this together, Elora. But for now, let’s focus on getting through the day ahead. Take a shower and remove his scent from you before meeting Asher. This mini-Alpha is like a bloodhound, and you won’t want him sensing Azriel’s scent, otherwise it will cause you lots of questions.”

“What if I leave, Mary? If we choose a different hospital, a new city?” Elora added in a hesitant voice.

Mary took a long breath before replying to her, “My sweet girl, from experience I can tell you that the truth always has a way to come to the surface when you expect less. Plus, if you leave, Asher could be noticed by other packs, maybe even rivals of Azriel. What would happen then? You and your son would be even in greater danger. So, don’t rush to make any decision and go ahead as normal. We will figure this out in the same way we did with everything.”

Azriel’s rage echoed through the pack’s mind link, a tempest of fury that left everyone trembling in its wake. For two days, he was a storm unleashed, his usually controlled and calculated demeanor shattered into pieces. No one dared to cross his path, not even his most trusted advisors, his Beta James and his Delta Tim.

In his office, Azriel stood tall and imposing, his hands clenched into fists as he glared at Tim and James. “You are useless!” he shouted, his voice thunderous in the confined space. “We are the Stormheart pack, the most powerful pack on this continent after the Royal Pack, and yet you tel me you are unable to locate a single girl!”

Tim and James exchanged uneasy glances, the weight of Azriel’s disappointment heavy upon them. “Alpha, we’ve been searching tirelessly,” Tim began, his voice hesitant. “But she seems to have vanished without a trace. There’s no sign of her anywhere on the pack premises. We checked the club as well, but she did not pay for the drinks with her card and no one saw her before.”

Azriel’s nostrils flared as he fought to reign in his anger. “I don’t want excuses!” he roared, slamming his fist down on his desk with enough force to crack the wood. “I want results! Find her, now! I don’t care how you do it. Do you hear me?”

The tension in the room was palpable as Tim and James exchanged another look, silently acknowledging the gravity of the situation.

James, gathering his courage, asked him, “Azriel, we are trying the best that we can, but in order to be more efficient, give us some context that will help us later when we find her: is she a threat, a spy, an ally? You only give us her physical description and that she is human, which is not helping us too much. There are thousands of blonde petite girls with green eyes and curly hair in Maine, if she is from here and not only passing.”

At James’s words, Azriel’s control snapped as his wolf came to the surface in his feral form as he roared at them, “She is your Luna!”

As Azriel stormed out of the room and shifted into his massive black wolf Thunder, James and Tim exchanged a look filled with a mix of concern and understanding. “Wow,” James breathed, his voice filled with awe. “I can’t believe it. Azriel found his second chance.”

Tim nodded grimly; his gaze fixed on the forest where Azriel had disappeared. “Yeah,” he replied, his voice tinged with sadness. “But now it makes sense why he’s been so on edge in the last two days. Meeting her and, after that, losing her is driving him and his beast close to insanity.”

The memory of Avril’s tragic death weighed heavily on both of them. Her death hit the pack hard, as she was always like a little sister to them as they had known each other since they were young pups. It was no secret that since that day, Azriel’s beast had become increasingly feral, his grief and rage consuming him from within. Even King Markus, Azriel’s closest friend and ally, tried to intervene, suggesting that he take a chosen mate to help quell the darkness that threatened to consume him, as he lost Avril more than 10 years ago. But Azriel and his wolf, Thunder, had rejected every prospect, his growls filled with a ferocity that made it clear he would shred anyone who dared to come near. After her death, he became vicious, violent and gained the nickname Deathstrike as he became relentless in killing rogues. If there was one thing that could fuel Azriel’s anger, it was a rogue’s presence.

As they watched Azriel disappear into the forest, James couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that settled in the pit of his stomach. “We need to find her,” he said, his voice firm with determination. “Before it’s too late. As this can escalate really badly. We know that Thunder started to become more feral with each passing year, but what is happening now is driving him to madness, and he could snap at any time.”

Tim nodded in agreement; his jaw set with resolve. “Agreed,” he replied. I will check with my contacts from the club and human territory to see if I can come up with something.

“One thing surprises me,” James said.

“Which is it?” Tim asked.

“That she is human. The irony is that the Goddess paired him with a human, when even his own shifter first mate was not strong enough to resist this world and be protected.” James replied.

“We will deal with it once we have her here, but first let’s find her. How the hell could a human leave the pack territory undetected by the patrol and reach the main road, and from there, to the city.”

Tim asked.

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