The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 116

BLAKE

I stir, but my eyes fly open.

I look around, feeling something lying next to me.

I glance to the side and spot black hair floating over the sleeping beauty by my side. I move and place a kiss on top of her head.

I sigh.

I stare up at the ceiling, not caring where my mind went. But I knew where it was going, going straight to Izzy.

Axel moves in my head and comes closer, his eyes full of emotion as he stares back at me. We both stare back at each other in silence, feeling the pain of the unknown.

“Do you think she’s alive?” I ask him.

Axel looks at me before he speaks. “I don’t know,” he says, “I can’t feel Puna.” I kept staring at the ceiling, knowing I would wake Allie up; I wanted to run and replace Izzy if I moved.

I could hear movement coming from outside the door, but I still looked at the ceiling.

I hear the door open slightly and someone walking into the room.

I know who it is.

“Why are you here?” I ask in a whisper.

The chair from the side of me moves, and he sits down. I close my eyes but turn my head, opening my eyes to look straight at Drake.

Drake stares back, but he holds a lot of emotion in his eyes. We stare at each other, but he leans back in the chair. “I wanted to see if you were awake,” he says quietly.

“I am, as you can see,” I say, sounding rather sarcastically.

Drake stares at me but looks towards the sleeping angel in my arms. “She looks so much like Izzy,” he says. “It’s uncanny.”

“You came in here to look at Allie,” I say as I gaze at his face.

The scar that ran down his face was deep, making him look older. His stumble was overgrown. “No, I came to talk to you,” he says suddenly, pulling me from my thoughts.

I say nothing to him but stare at him.

“I know my involvement in this whole thing, and I know I can’t take back everything I have done, but I wasn’t myself,” he says. “I thought Anya was dead. I thought I had lost her. I felt my heart break into a million pieces. I never felt whole, and I never met another woman. I was hellbent on helping Elder Johnson because he pushed his beliefs onto me.” He stares at me momentarily, but I still say nothing to him.

“I believed nothing he told me; all I wanted was to kill people as I felt lost and alone,” he says, sitting up straighter in the chair. “Elder Johnson twisted everything; he made everything sound real, but looking back on it all, I know it was a lie and unrealistic as it could get.”

“How did you know, Izzy?” I ask him. I have wanted to know about this since Izzy talked to him.

Drake looked at me for a moment but sighed. “I met Izzy one night in a forest; she killed some hunters,” he says. “She didn’t trust me, but I didn’t figure out she was a panther until Elder Johnson had someone follow me. He made a story up. She killed someone he cared about and needed to be killed for her actions.”

I could hear Axel growl in my head, but I needed to know everything.

“I pretended to be her friend. I led her to be caged with some rebels who didn’t believe in the cause, or they were just captured because Nell wanted them for information,” he says. He stops and stares at me.

“You think we hooked up?” he asks suddenly. I can’t help the growl that escapes my mouth.

“Blake, I never saw Izzy like that,” he said as he placed his hand on mine. “I never looked at another woman,” he said in a small voice. “I wanted my mate. When we talked about our mates as teenagers, I always wanted mine and even waited for her.”

I stared at him. I stared into his eyes and noticed he was telling me the truth.

Axel was staring, but he cocks his head to the side. “He thought his mate was dead; he didn’t want another.” He sounded confused.

My face must have said a thousand things, but Drake clears his throat and brings me back to him. “All I wanted was Anya, no one else,” he said. “She was my everything; she was my light in the storm. You know what it was like for me when my father was around. He never showed me any love unless it was to prepare me for the alpha position, and even then, I had to kill him as he lost his frigging mind.”

I remember his father, my father’s, and Alpha Dawson’s brother very well. He was a cruel man. He was only a loving father when Drake’s mother was alive, but as soon he lost her, his true mate, he ultimately became a ruthless man. His soul had no love for anyone, not even his son.

Drake would come over to our pack just for soloists and sometimes would be beaten because of the torment his father would put him through. We were close, but I know we are not the same people we once were back then.

“What do you want, Drake?” I ask him.

Drake stares at me. “I need help with The Red Moon pack. I need you, brother,” he says.

I stared for a moment, remembering the last time I was there. I helped his pack train, but something clicked.

“When I trained your pack the last time, was I training them to fight my pack and this war?” I ask him. I slowly move and sit up in the bed.

Allie was still snuggled into my waist as I moved up the bed to sit up. I made sure my movements never woke her. Drake’s eyes followed me, but he stayed quiet for a while. “I wasn’t there when you arrived; I was told to replace rogues,” he sighed. But I watched him, and Axel was staring, too, as he continued.

“I didn’t know the entire plan until I returned to the pack,” he said. “Elder Johnson made a story up. You killed my mate and made it sound so convincing that I wanted to kill you.”

Elder Johnson tore my family apart for power. But an image of Izzy ripping out his throat reminds me we won’t be dealing with him ever again. “You believed the elder?” I asked him.

“I did, but I didn’t even know Michael was alive either,” he said. “Elder Johnson made sure I knew only so much, but I learned more towards the end. I think I wasn’t meant to be alive, not how the witch and vampire were treating me, but I know one thing,” he said. “I lied to them when I saw them last; they were talking the night before; they kept wondering if you and Izzy marked and mated each other.”

I frown. “Why would that be any concern of theirs?” I say.

Drake shrugged, but Axel came forward and joined me as one, which startled Drake when he realized he was there.

“Axel,” he says in a whisper.

Axel and I nod.

“Human is with me,” he says but carries on. “I think they didn’t want mate and us to mark and mate, as she could feed off our emotions with her power.”

Drake stays quiet. But something clicked in my head; she used my alpha aura. “She was using your alpha aura,” Drake says before I could say it aloud.

Axel and I nodded.

Drake looks at the door but stares back at me. “I will ask Anya if she remembers where they kept her,” he says. “I mean the house.”

I looked at him, slightly confused, as Axel pushed me forward but stayed close to the surface.

Drake shakes his head. “I mean, I want her to show me where they kept her or if she remembers where Elder Johnson kept all his books on cat shifters,” he says.

Something clicks.

“You want to replace out if they missed anything,” I said.

Drake nods. “Not only that; it might give us some answers to get Izzy back,” he said.

I stare at him, but his eyes search my face and then glance back down at the sleeping beauty beside me. “We need to replace something,” he says. “She needs her mum, and you need your mate. I would know the feeling of losing a mate, even if they spelled me. You need to replace out how to get her back.”

I nod but sigh.

Drake and I stay silent for a few moments, but he gets out of the chair after a little while. He walks to the end of the bed and towards the door. But he stops and turns to look at me, “Blake, I want to be a better person and even be an ally to you and the pack,” he said.

A small smile sets on his face. “Anya was being checked earlier, and we found out that we are expecting; it’s early days, but I’m going to be a father,” he says.

I can’t help but smile.

“I’m happy for you, Drake,” I say. He smiles, and he turns to leave. But I know I have to help him before he goes, “Drake,” I say. He looks over his shoulder and stares at me. “I will help you with your pack, but I think you should ask Alpha Dawson and Anita to help you,” I say to him. “I think we can unite both packs and help one another.”

Drake nods. “Thank you, cousin,” he says.

I smile.

Drake walked out the door, but I noticed someone in the doorway; it was Anya. She looks at me and smiles. “I’m happy to see you’re awake, Blake,” she says, wrapping her arms around Drake’s waist as he pulls her to his side.

“Thank you,” I say as I feel Allie stir beside me.

I glance down and watch her.

“Blake,” says Drake.

I glanced back at him, and he had the biggest smile on his face. “You make one hell of a father to her,” he said.

I can’t help but smile and feel proud of the statement.

Drake and Anya leave, closing the door as they walk away.

I glance down at Allie, whose blue eyes stare up at me.

I smile at her.

“Angel,” I say as she moves from me.

Allie turns to me as she sits up and moves to my lap, placing her head on my chest.

“Daddy,” she says in a soft voice.

“Mummy awake?” she asks.

I close my eyes as Izzy’s face comes into view.

“No, sweetheart,” I say to her. I can feel wetness on my chest.

I realize Allie is crying.

“Allie,” I say to her.

She looks up at me; tears stain her cheeks. I place my thumb, catching her tears, and gently stroke her cheek. “Mummy needs to rest as she used too much power,” I say. She nods. “Mummy saved us,” she says, which sounded like a question more than a statement.

I nod.

“Yeah, she did, angel,” I say. “She saved us all. And now she needs her rest,” I said.

“I want her,” she says as her tears start again.

“I know you do,” I say as I pull her into me, “So do I.”

I closed my eyes as we sat there, crying about the one person we both love and want to be with right now.