Sold To The Alphas I Hate

Chapter 379: Eira And Iris

Eira’s POV

Kael had been gone for quite some time.

They must be discussing important matters between the packs. He would not leave my side this long otherwise.

After all, they were leaders. Their responsibilities stretched far beyond their mates.

Yet I did not feel lonely.

Luna Iris remained beside me, and we had settled comfortably on one of the lavish couches in the grand drawing room. She spoke warmly about the history of her family’s pack, sharing stories of ancient rulers, forgotten wars, and traditions I had never known existed in the werewolf world.

Her knowledge was vast. And the way she narrated it felt personal, as though she carried generations within her voice.

The other four and Raven were nearby, engaged in conversation with Evan. Even while speaking with Luna Iris, I could feel my mates’ gazes occasionally shift toward me.

They were alert. Watching. Ensuring my safety.

I pretended not to notice, but their quiet vigilance comforted me.

At one point, Luna Iris fell silent mid conversation. Her eyes remained on me, yet I sensed her thoughts drifting elsewhere.

Is she mindlinking someone? Her mate, perhaps.

I discreetly glanced around.

There was no sign of Alpha Gerald. But I noticed Evan had also grown momentarily still.

They were mindlinking.

I was certain of it.

A subtle shift crossed Luna Iris’s face. Her composure wavered. Emotion flickered in her eyes, and a faint sheen of moisture gathered in them.

My heart skipped. Did I say something wrong that hurt her?

I quickly looked toward my mates. They had noticed Evan’s pause as well. Their expressions told me they understood what was happening.

I chose not to react.

Luna Iris composed herself, her lips curving into a gentle smile despite the emotions lingering in her gaze.

"Would you like to see portraits of our ancestors?" she asked softly. "From the first Alpha King and his family... to us."

I nodded immediately.

Partly because I was genuinely curious. Partly because I sensed she needed the distraction.

She rose gracefully and led me toward the far end of the massive drawing room. A separate section had been dedicated to their lineage.

Portraits lined the walls in chronological order.

The Alphas with their family in it, their mates, their children.

Each painting detailed the era they ruled the werewolf world.

As I studied them, something caught my attention.

In nearly every portrait, behind the figures, carved or painted into the wall, there was a large intricate design.

It felt familiar.

I had seen a smaller version of it on the guards’ vehicles when we arrived. Shiny. Golden. Too small to study closely at the time.

But here, in full detail, it was unmistakable.

"Is this the royal family’s crest?" I asked to be sure.

Luna Iris nodded.

Perhaps I was mistaken.

Every pack has its own crest. During those years when I was dragged from one territory to another by those old hags, I must have seen dozens of similar designs. It was foolish to think this one meant anything.

We stopped before the final portrait.

It was of Alpha Gerald and Luna Iris, painted in regal poise. In Luna Iris’s arms rested a tiny child wrapped in soft layers of fabric.

The baby looked like a delicate doll.

Small. Fragile. Adorable.

"Evan was very adorable as a baby," I said lightly, calling him by his name just as he had insisted during lunch.

"That’s not Evan," Luna Iris replied softly.

I turned to her.

Her gaze met mine, steady yet trembling beneath the surface.

"That Eva, my first child, a daughter who was abducted years ago," she said.

Daughter? I blinked in confusion. Hadn’t Kael mentioned their lost child was a son? Was there another child they lost. That would be so horrible for a parent.

Something inside my chest tightened painfully.

A pureblood she-wolf. Abducted as an infant.

My mind instinctively drifted toward the horrors I had endured. The cruelty. The greed. The inhumanity. I forced myself not to imagine what such people might have done to a helpless baby.

I did not want to picture it.

"It must have been unbearable for you," I said quietly at last. "Luna Iris... I understand that kind of pain."

She offered me a faint, fragile smile, her composure straining against the tears threatening her eyes.

"She was barely a month old when we commissioned this portrait," she said, turning her gaze back to it.

I followed her eyes.

The baby’s tiny face seemed so peaceful in the painting. Untouched by the brutality of the world.

My own emotions stirred deeply. I would burn the world before allowing harm to come to a child. Any child.

"She would have grown into a beautiful young woman," I said gently. "Very special."

Luna Iris let out a fragile breath.

"So special that she paid the price for it," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Taken from us when she was only a baby."

My throat tightened painfully. The thought of what they had done with baby Raven consumed my mind.

"A special bloodline can be a curse," I murmured in regret.

She gave a faint hum of agreement.

"A rare she-wolf born once in a century," she continued softly, "becomes a curse rather than a blessing."

Rare she-wolf? The words lingered in my mind.

Another one? Born around the same time as me?

Before I could form the thought further, I noticed tears finally spill from her eyes.

They struck something deep within me.

I did not want to see her cry.

Only moments ago, we had been speaking calmly, almost comfortably. Now grief had overtaken her entirely.

"Luna Iris..." I began softly.

"I often wonder," she said, her voice barely steady, "if we found her today... would she forgive us? For not being able to protect her?"

The way she asked it felt personal.

As though she were not merely speaking of a lost child, but were asking me.

"I... think she would try to understand," I replied carefully. "No parent willingly abandons their child. If she knew the truth, she would see that."

At that moment, from the corner of my eye, I noticed movement.

Kael and Alpha Gerald were entering the drawing room.

Relief washed over me.

I was running out of words.

Surely Alpha Gerald would be the one to comfort his mate now. That’s what she needed the most at the moment.