Miranda couldn’t hear the sound of her own voice shouting… the pain in her heart drained all her thoughts aside.
“Why…? Why would he do that? Why would he ask her to fight when he could have rather used anyone?”
“We all tried to change his mind, but out of those left alive, there was no one else whose battle skills he was more certain of than hers. Many of our strongest hands had already been killed. We were running out of soldiers and…”
Miranda had heard enough… “stop it!”
“My queen… I…”
“I said, that’s enough! You don’t come to me twenty years later and start giving me silly explanations on a matter that could have been avoided. She could have still been alive! You all could have still had your queen, but no, you chose to listen to that man I mistakenly called a father for so many years and send a pregnant woman to battle able men like you. You all should be ashamed of yourselves!!”
She was speaking from pain. Rory understood this well, as he could already see the tears escaping her eyes.
“I am sorry, my queen. Ashamed is even an understatement as to how I and the others feel regarding this matter. And please, do not hate your father. He made a big mistake that he lived to regret for the rest of his life, especially when he didn’t get the recognition he expected for all his sacrifices. We are all aware of his mistake, we wished things could have happened differently, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.”
“Why? Why are you telling me this? After so long… why now?”
“I am telling you this, because, my queen, I do not want you to make the same mistake your father made. You are an alpha, yes, you have people to protect, you have an honor to uphold, but you should never neglect your family and happiness for all that. Instead, you should try to strike a balance. You should give them all equal attention. It’s hard, yes, but it’s one of the things that that will be required of you. You need your family, my queen. You need your happiness, because in the end, that is what will sustain you and make you a better leader for us to enjoy.”
Miranda understood his words. “You want me to return back to the silver pack with the evacuees.”
Rory nodded, “yes, my queen. Not just because I think you’ll be safe there, but because that is where your happiness lies, and as an alpha, you should never be far away from that happiness. You have learnt that from the life of your father, I hope that your actions will produce better outcomes for us all, my queen.”
“If I go with them, will you promise me that the Lotus pack will be safe without me? Will you promise that we will win this battle despite my absence?”
“You haven’t been around for most of your ruling time, and we have progressed even as you ruled from afar. I’m sure that we will do well in this battle, my queen.”
**********
It was almost midnight, and Damian was receiving the last set of evacuees from the Lotus pack. He’d given instructions to his guards to lead them to the pack house and give them rooms to settle into. With the last of the wolves, they’d performed a head count, and realized that everyone was complete, at least they weren’t expecting anyone else.
“Wait!” The guard at the border noticed that there were two silhouette figures coming closer. It was the outline of a mother carrying a child. Damian then wondered who it was.
“Hurry up!” He said for them to hasten their pace.
He and the other guards waited for them to come closer before shutting the gates. Upon seeing them, he was surprised.
“Miranda!” He didn’t expect that she would come back; and who was this child she was with?
As soon as Miranda put tired Camila down, Damian rushed to take her into his arms, giving her kiss as he’d missed her so much.
“I thought you wouldn’t come back. What was it that made you change your mind?”
Miranda shrugged as she pulled from his lips, “just a great piece of advice from an old friend.”
“You don’t know how much I missed you, Miranda. It’s good to have you back.”
“It’s also good to be back, Damian, and I promise that I will always put our happiness into consideration when next I
make any decision.”
**********
About two hours later, after ensuring that all the lotus wolves were comfortable in their guest spaces, Miranda had one last task to do before she retired to bed.
She went to get Camila where she’d been waiting in Madam Jane’s quarters to take her to her own room.
Miranda didn’t know why every time she saw her, she felt this special connection with this child, but she knew that she had a duty to her. As soon as she picked her up, she thanked Madam Jane for watching over her while she was working before excusing them both.
She took her to a special room close to the Alphas Chambers where she wouldn’t be too far from her.
“Are you ready to go to bed, Camila?” She asked her.
Camila nodded her head politely. “Thank you, Alpha.”
Miranda noticed then that apart from telling her name earlier, this was the first time that Camellia had said anything willingly on her own. She wasn’t much of a talker, but then Miranda would still try to get some information for her that might be useful and helping her get back home.
She took her hand and let her to the bed before tucking her in slowly.
“Tell me about yourself, Camila. Where do you come from and how did you and up in the lotus border like that? Where you being pursued or something?”
Camila looked at her, hesitant to speak or to say anything, just like she behaved before.
“It’s okay Camila, you can tell me. Remember that we have to take you home, so you have to help me so that I can help you.”