"I am taking you home."

I stared at the floor, noticing Stephen's black flip flops over white socks. I myself had worn a pair of Natalie's bathroom slippers that she had lended me for sometime.

But Pete was standing in front of me, barefoot. He was panting, showing his fury by his crimson shade of skin. Those tired eyes of his held helplessness and disappointment hidden behind the excessive wrath.

"Pete. . ." I couldn't come up to speak a word. Pete and I had spent more time, with him arriving on my birthdays every year. Since the day, he brought me here, he had been nothing but caring and loving towards me. In addition, there was a respect inside me for him occuring naturally because of him behaving more mature than a twenty-five year-old wolf.

He blinked calmly, eyes narrowing.

"You called Gran. You played that prank. You did your part and he did his," said Pete, in a steady tone. "You are playing games here and my father, having a drink with Beta Iago to have some loose discussion sharing his moments of long journey."

I couldn't even raise my gaze. What the hell! Tie up your laces, Misty.

I didn't have to be scared when it was not my fault. But guess what, I was. Maybe, it was Pete's unavoidable aura of his hard work, care and ambitions.

"Everyone has celebrated Keira's first shift and now, sleeping peacefully. But my mother is crying non-stop."

My nostrils flared as I immediately looked up at him in the eye. "So was I, the whole evening."

Pete's jaw ticked. "I know how my father behaves with you. But you are no less. You too provoke him."

I looked at Stephen in disbelief if he too was agreeing with Pete's words. The old man gave me a tight smile.

"He wouldn't have done anything if you haven't put those cards all around."

My jaws zigzagged with the way he was defending his father. Of all, I had expected some empathy from Pete. But even he didn't care about right or wrong. He was just here for his mother.

"Right," I muttered slowly, looking up at Pete. "Whatever he has done is because I have provoked him. He burnt my cards because I provoked him by putting an exhibition of them. He insulted me all the time because I provoked him by showing my face. He kidnapped me because I provoked him by freeing you and Mom of all relations with me for everyone's good."

Tears leaked from my eyes as I screamed, "He killed my father because I provoked him by taking space in his mate's womb!"

Pete blinked. "I am not defending him, Misty."

"What are you here for, then?" I shouted angrily. "If neither to defend your father, nor to empathize with me. Oh wait! You are just here for the middle path. For the grey area everyone is comfortable with. For our mother who doesn't give a shit to what I am dealing with!"

Pete's fists tightened and the cracks echoed in the room, shivering my heart.

"You want the solution? Do you have the guts to listen to the solution?" He asked, raising his tone. His knuckles turned white while eyes held annoyance. "The solution is the middle path I am trying to make you walk on."

"Your whole life, my father has taken something from you. He killed your father, stole your family from you. In return, you too took away his mate's sanity from her. You haven't lived here. You don't know what mother has dealt with without you. Indirectly, you too have stolen my father's peace. He has always felt insecure knowing that there is his mate's daughter with a man other than him. He has dealt with shame-"

"It wasn't my fault I was born-" I shouted.

Pete stepped ahead, letting out a faint growl. "The solution is if my father and you start to give each other instead of snatching." He shouted back.

My eyes widened at his anger. "So, you think that I haven't given him anything. I have been staying here against my will. You guys kidnapped me!"

"Aren't you getting the chance to live with your mother, Misty? Isn't that what you have always wanted? Tell me if he has tied you with ropes, is torturing you with weapons and asking money from your Gran. That is called Kidnapping," spat Pete while his face turning a bright shade of pink.

I breathed hard, feeling thunder rising inside me.

Pete came closer and grabbed my hand. "If you are staying here for my father, so is he paying for your bills all these years. Your Gran's funds and Grandpa's pensions were never enough for your education. It was my father who-"

"He should!" I said while giving him a dead eye. "After all he killed the sole provider of my family!"

"Misty! Shut the fuck up!" Pete growled while tugging on my hand.

"I won't! I am not going anywhere. Let her cry! I don't care when she doesn't care. Her mate keeps death threatening me in front of her. How could she let him burn those cards in front of me!" I screamed and bent my knees as to loosen my weight.

But it did no trouble to Pete. He just stopped and gave me a dead look. He breathed hard and shook his head.

"I will talk to father. Our mother will talk to him. We will do you justice, Misty. But for now, she is crying there for you. Come home, if not for her. For me!" He begged with furious eyes.

I shook my head, writhing with cries. "I don't want to! She can suck it up! All she does is watch and let it happen. Today, he burnt my cards. Tomorrow, he will burn me. She will keep watching!"

Pete closed his eyes and opened them, bringing chills down my spine. His pupils had darkened over those glowing golden eyes.

"We will solve this," he said in a loud voice, making me sob loudly. "We will sort this out, I am sure. I won't allow hatred to even breathe under my reign. This can't go on forever. This won't go on forever."

"We all live as a family here, Misty." Pete left my hand and cupped my face with his right hand. "If mother is crying on the night we celebrated Keira's first shift, our pregnant Aunt Kate won't feel happy. If we can't complement their happiness in their moments, they will do the same when our Natalie's turn will come."

"Tomorrow, Thomas will return. Uncle Robert would be happy to see his little daughter becoming a wolf. But will they be happy to be distracted by your absence? No. They won't. You want to snatch that from Keira. Do you?" He asked lightly, looking in my eyes. "You are my family. You always have been. Feel responsible, Misty. Please. . ."

"I will have to compromise for others?" I sobbed. "But no one does the same for me."

"I do, Misty." He said immediately. "Everyone does. Some are comfortable at showing while some are not. For family, we forget past and get along with them in present to secure a bright future. Remember, Pack comes first?"

A thick tear leaked from my the as I blinked at his words. "What of the death threat, Pete? What of those cards I made innocently for your father? What of the hatred I am getting for taking birth through your mother?"

Pete gulped slowly. "You shouldn't turn into like someone whom you hate the most at this moment. Don't change the good in you just because you have been treated bad, Misty."

The room was filled with my heavy breaths. I glanced at Stephen who was watching us quietly. He looked back at me and nodded slowly.

I blinked. "I can't see Mom for now. I won't be able to handle it. . ."

Pete sighed heavily. "It's okay. Just come home. That's all she wants. That's all everyone wants."

He gave me a pleading look and I sighed, feeling sorry for my stronger self who was let down by my melted ass.

"Making the empathetic soul understand the dire situation is the easy way to reach the middle path, Pete. That is not solution," said Stephen, crossing his arms across his chest.

Pete gave him a not-so-warm gaze. "It's none of your business to comment on, Stephen."

"It is my business to guide my future Alpha," taunted Stephen. "It is easy to convince her. When will you make the apathetic soul understand the situation."

Pete clenched his jaws while Stephen tilted his head. "When will you go to Gilbert to put his ego aside and take a step towards Misty the next time your mother cries?" He taunted.

I glanced at Pete whose face was shaking in fury. "Someone has to back down to sort out the solution, Steph. So, other can mirror the actions. If Misty will provoke my father, he won't just sit and watch. He will retaliate."

"Misty is a child. Your father is fourty-seven year-old beast." Stephen had my back.

Pete gulped hard while blinking. "For my father, it's not a child. It's not Misty standing in front of him. For my father, it is an incarnation of her own father, the man who had the capability to win my mother's heart. To my father, Misty is the victory of the human male who gave my mother happiness in a little time more than my father ever could. To Gilbert Arche, Misty is a form of Andrew Brown."

My lips parted while Stephen turned silent.

Pete looked at me slowly. "Misty is threat to my father's love for my mother."

Tears hung at my lashes while he smiled sadly. "To my father, Misty is his biggest defeat."

"The day he will see you nothing but as a child, it will be the day he will treat you as one," said Pete while taking my hand and pulling me out of the house.

* * * *

Staring at the wall, I kept trying to fall asleep. But all I was falling into a large pit of unnecessary thoughts.

The ego inside me had been crumbled by entering this house again.

But I kept telling myself that it was all for Pete. He had a tough time keeping his days clean of tension and he was failing to do so with Ceremony approaching. He cared about his family. He cared about his pack and he believed me to be a part of it.

So, I walked along him willingly in the chilled night in nothing but a fullsleeved top and pajamas. Everyone else had retreated to their room and the house was silent. Gilbert was still in his office as Beta Iago came to the kitchen when we had arrived, to take two water bottles to his office.

Pete didn't leave until I safely entered my bedroom and shut the door after me. I couldn't hate him for bringing me here.

I just couldn't.

But whatever had happened now, I had made my mind. I won't talk to Mom until she clears her mind. She didn't want to choose but I would have to make her choose. For the good of everyone.

"Misty?"

I jumped up on the bed, closing my eyes in terror. My heart was beating faster at the sudden intrusion. Raising my head slowly, I looked around to see someone standing against my door with a plate in her hands.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see through the darkness. The whisper was high enough to startle me and low enough to not let me know which she-wolf of the house it was.

"How the fuck you entered through that bolted door?" I was sure I had twisted the knob before lying on bed.

A chuckle escaped her as she brought one hand from under the plate forward. Closing her fist, she opened it again to show me shiny claw in the place of a human-sized nail.

"Using this."

At my horrified face, the laughter escaped her and I knew who it was.

"Keira," I relaxed down and cringed at how rude I sounded. I was never one of those persons who spent their anger on someone other innocent.

Get a hold of yourself, Misty!

She giggled and came forward, sitting on my bed while wincing a little. I was done with the struggle through night blindness so I switched on the lamp on my right side.

"Congratulations, girl!" I murmured, giving her a small smile while she put the plate aside and hugged me. It was a little unexpected but I liked it. "You good, now?"

"I've always wanted this, Misty. I am so much more than just good. I am euphoric."

I chuckled, an errie feeling going down my chest when she started sniffing in between through my hair.

"Woah! Your smell is richer than before. It is sweet and reminds me of old wood, paint. . . Wait. Phenyl?" She whispered in confusion while pulling away from me.

I let out a snicker. "I played chess with Stephen and also met Axel."

Realization hit her glowing face, she smiled shyly under the lamp light. "So, now that you're here. Would you like to eat my cake and celebrate my first shift?"

I blinked, feeling a little apologetic. Pete's words about compromising for family revolved in my mind. I sighed heavily.

"I am sorry for not coming. I swear, I had decided to see you later-"

"It's okay, Misty. Just tell me if you want to eat the cake or I am eating-" She laughed when I dipped my finger into the cream and put it on her cheek.

She had brought a big slice for both of us. We took our spoons and starting eating while I nodded in delight at the pineapple flavour. It was refreshing after eating spicy curries from Stephen's kitchen.

"So, does your body ache or what?"

Keira tilted her head, smiling to herself. "I feel a little wobbly for now. But I am healing. I was feeling like dying last night. The transformation was like a rebirth. For a moment, I thought that it was easy being a human, Misty. But then. . ."

I smiled weakly. "But then?"

"But then, I remembered why I am born in this Werewolf world. To fulfill some purposes and I can't fulfill them without becoming my true self. I can feel my wolf inside, talking to me. She is delighted to sit here with you," whispered Keira, making my stomach churn.

"Oh! So, there's a ghost inside you?"

She laughed lightly, beaming in happiness. "She is the wolf inside me. My personified conscience. Throughout my life, she was there but a little immature. Now, she has grown up like me. Together, we are a supernatural power."

Realization hit my head. "So, this is what the whole Keira is," I teased.

She started blushing for no reason. "Actually, I will be whole when I'd found my mate, Misty. I will be able to recognize him by just smelling his scent," she whispered dreamily. "I can't wait for the Ceremony now."

"Wow," I murmured. "That's cool. You have now powers like Eva."

Keira chuckled. "We always have had these powers. We just weren't grown enough to use them. Now, this transformation was awakening. Yes, I have powers now like Eva just like you said," she laughed. "But I am still scared to shift the next time I will have to."

"I can't wait to see your wolf to settle down my fear," I murmured. "You won't eat me. Right?"

She chuckled. "I will give you a ride whenever I turn that big enough like Eva. She will be a great running partner, I am sure. I have always admired her ways."

I rolled my eyes. "I hope, she turns out to be that selfless enough to guide you."

"She is selfless," said Keira, a little slower. "She is just irritated and annoyed all the times. That's what makes us not admire her."

I blinked lazily, taking the last chunk of cake.

"Can I sleep here with you? Fred and Jiro have covered all of my bed," she whispered. "Luna is sleeping with my mother."

I took note of that and nodded when she got up to put the plate on a nearby table. She went to my bathroom to wash the cake off her cheek while I lazily lied down under the quilt.

"You can. I don't mind an excited company to cheer up my moody self," I muttered, staring at the ceiling. Keira returned with a smile on her face. She was wearing her night shorts and a sweatshirt.

"Just don't turn into a wolf in the middle of night or jump out of the window."

She laughed while walking around the bed and lying beside me. Shifting beside me, she came closer and put her leg over my left one that she was lying on her side facing me.

"I am sure, I can do something more startling than that for your good entertainment," she mused while staring at me.

I turned my head to look at her and blinked. I was recalling something that I had read during my search in Gilbert's office.

"You know shorthand, right." I whispered. "Where did you study that?"

Keira was surprised at the question. "How do you know?" She sniffed the quilt and sighed sleepily. "I had learnt that from my maternal uncle. He went to study out in the human cities for three years. He came to stay here when I was just fifteen and taught me that. It comes handy in keeping records faster when he is out of home. He is the Beta of Northern Pack."

"That's cool. I read it in Gilbert's list of young she-wolves' education. Yours was the only one I could notice that time," I whispered.

She smiled, as if remembering her time of three years ago. "I also learnt hair cutting, a fish curry and sign language from him."

I widened my eyes and gasped loudly. "Oh my God! Sign language? I always wanted to learn that but couldn't due to lack of chances. Actually, our street's sweeper is deaf and mute. He was employed a year ago. I always try to greet him but he doesn't get my signs. So, he just smiles. While Gran can converse with him on her own even when she doesn't know the language. She found out that he is married and lives with his wife, two sisters and one son. He too keeps telling her any gossip or view he witnesses while sweeping. . ."

"She is talented and kind," said Keira. "She would get the idea of what he wants to say just by mere hints."

"Yeah," I chirped. "Do you remember it? Can you teach me? I want to surprise him when I go back to the city. Even in my school, there are two mute students, I would love to exchange greetings with."

"Why not? I myself will get in practise. No one here is interested in learning this. As wolves, we are already able to feel a living being's extreme emotions," she whispered.

"I wonder if Gilbert's not able to feel mine," I murmured, thinking of everything that had happened today.

"He is an Alpha, Misty. He can feel emotions of the entire pack with one blink of concentration. While you're just human," she said quietly.

That meant he could feel my emotions. He knew that I was hurt. Maybe, he was just feeding on my pain.

"Whatever happens Misty, it happens for a reason," said Keira. "You weren't there in my bedroom with everyone eating the cane to celebrate my first shift, because of me only. If I hadn't given you the idea of asking Aunt Malina to call Gran, she would have never sent you to Uncle Gilbert's office. All that wouldn't have happened."

The cards burnt was a sad story. But now, I couldn't imagine how much I would have been left behind if I didn't know about Valeria. If I hadn't searched all of those papers, I wouldn't have been to discuss that whole lot of Stephen's background.

"You are right. Everything happens for a reason," I whispered, concluding it in my mind. "But you need to know that it's not your fault. I did what I wanted to. It's no one's fault. It's just. . .mine and Gilbert's stars are way too far from each other."

"That's a nice way to say it," she whispered, giving me a smile.

I hummed sleepily.

"Do you wanna know how to say Good night with signs before you fall asleep?" She asked.

I nodded.

She cupped her hand and touched her lips. "That's good." She bent her left arm like a shelf and brought the right hand to move it ahead of the arm. "That's the sun going down. So, it's good night."

She did it again. "Good night."

I touched my lips and bent my arm, dipping the sun. "Good night."

She chuckled when I hooted faintly and relaxed.

_______

"What do you think?"