Nick's POV
“How can you not recognize me, you scum,” the old man said, as he stared at us with his eyes wide open and his eyebrows raised.
I looked at Kyle to see if she knew the old man, but it appears she was as completely lost as I was.
I was puzzled as to why this old man was insisting I knew him when in reality I had no fucking idea who he was.
Maybe he thinks I am his long-lost son. But fuck it, he is old enough to be my great grandfather.
“Humans are so predictable but, never did I imagine that wolves could forget an act of kindness in such a hurry,” he screamed at our faces, groaning and sighing dramatically.
Honestly, I was getting bored of his melodrama as I still had a lot of things to take care of. One of wish was to find Harry and bury Miranda.
Meanwhile, our dear squirrel was busy making all the squirming sounds in the world.
“Please can you let the squirrel go?” I asked as I felt that poor Simeon was possibly scared of the old man's shouting.
I wonder where he gets his energy from since he looks very frail and old.
Fighting the old man off is also not on my to-do list as he did not look like someone that could pose a threat to me or Kyle.
He was mysterious, but there was this calm aura around him.
Before we could say jack, the next thing we knew was that the old man stretched forth his fingers, and the earth beneath where kyle and I were standing shook. And before we could register what was happening, the ground opened and we were both in a hole.
Ok, I must admit, I was not expecting that. Although the hole was not so deep, it probably measures about five to six feet.
“Do you remember me now,” he asked looking down at us from where he stood.
But, before we had the chance of answering, the old man's wrinkles started fading away. His long grey hair was turning black and shrinking in length.
And his once wrinkled body had smoothed out, and before us was none other than our very own Harry.
“Harry?” Kyle called out in shock.
“Oh please, how can you be my friends and you did not recognize me in my old age,” he said in his all-drama element.
At that moment I realized how much I had missed him. He may be crazy but he is sure a good sport.
I stretched my hand to the ground and the cracks begin to cover up and within seconds we were back on the level ground.
“Harry, is that you?” I asked, still puzzled at how easily he found us when we have been looking for him all this while.
I can't believe he has been in our faces all these while when we were busy looking for him.
“No, it's not me, it's your grandpa,” he said teasingly.
Meanwhile, Kyle had run to hug him as soon as we were out of the hole.
“I am so glad you are alright,” she said still holding on tightly to him.
I tried looking away and not getting jealous at the tightness of the hug. I tried giving myself a sermon on how it was just a friendly hug and try not to get jealous.
'I mean why should I be jealous, it's Harry' I said within me.
'Yes, same Harry that our mate had a crush on for years' my wolf said tauntingly.
Idiot.
Harry looked at me and chuckles unbelievably.
“I expected more from you though, we were friends for such a long time, and we did so much together, we even traveled together. How could you not recognize me?” he said after kyle had broken off the hug that felt like forever after.
“Technically we were friends for about a week or less, and we have been trying to come to rescue you, but you were nowhere to be found,” I said to him, trying to get the picture of kyle in his hands out of my mind.
It was fucking hard.
“Oh, even though my heart still hurt, I can't help but admit that I missed you guys,” he said smiling.
“Thanks for what you did for us, I mean you practically sacrificed yourself and that was thoughtful of you,” I said in all honesty.
“Wow, thanks, that's deep coming from you,” he said trying to hide the heat creeping to his cheeks.
Yeah right, boys blush too.
“How did you escape?” Kyle asked.
“Nobody can hold down a great wizard like me,” he said proudly. After which he softens his voice to say “although I had help from one of the oracle's apprentices”
“It's so good to see you,” Kyle said hugging Harry again.
I seriously was getting uncomfortable with all the hugs Kyle was giving him. I honestly understand that she missed him for the time he was away.
But if she is not careful, this might be the last time she would ever see him alive.
Just kidding, or maybe not.
“But why didn't you go back home?” Kyle asked, her voice breaking into my thoughts.
I didn't realize that I was standing and staring without saying anything. Don't blame me, she is the one distracting me with all the hugs and attention she is giving Harry.
“I was too embarrassed. I hated the fact that Bella dumped me for Richard and I was not ready to start answering people's questions, so I decided to disguise myself and remain in the woods,” Harry said sadly.
It is evident that Harry did like or had feelings for Bella, even though he tries to hide it.
“Oh poor you, she doesn't deserve you,” Kyle said and was about to hug him again when a growl escaped from my lips.
Harry heard it and quickly pushed her hands away. His reaction made me chuckle.
“Watch it, Kyle, what are you doing, are you trying to get me killed,” he asked with his eyes on me.
I couldn't help but chuckle as Kyle suddenly realize the gravity of what he had just said.
Good thing he still knows who the boss is around here.
Kyle's cheeks turned red as she narrowed her eyes to the ground.
My beautiful mate, she will do no wrong in my eyes.
“It's good to see you, Harry,” I said smiling.
“Yeah I know right, as long as I stay off your mate,” he mumbled.
“No, I am really glad you are ok,” I said to him.
He smiled back and I must admit he was looking really cute, maybe too cute for his good.
“I can see that you have met with our pet,” I said walking towards where the squirrel was now sitting on the floor.
I bent down and was about to pick up the squirrel when I heard Harry mumble some words and the squirrel turned back to Simeon.
But I was already trapped as Simeon's head bumped my lip in a hurtful manner.
“What did you do that for?” I yelled at him while checking to see if my lips were bleeding.
“Stop treating a grown man like a little pet,” he said, in a shaky voice, as he unconsciously takes steps away from me.
Maybe It was too soon when I said I missed him.
“How did you know it was a human,” I asked out of pure curiosity
“I saw you guys in the hut and you had no squirrel. Aside from that, I saw him with the other prisoners once while I was still in the oracle cell. It's a shame what they did to him, I mean they cut off his tongue, and it must feel awful. I mean I can't even imagine it,” he kept ranting on and on.
Are you done? I asked when he wouldn't stop talking.
He looked at me and then at kyle and finally at simeon, I think he could see that we have all had enough of his talkativeness as he nodded a 'yes'. Pretending to zip his mouth with his fingers.
Honestly for some seconds there, I wished he was the one that had his tongue chopped off.
“So you earlier mentioned something about you and Simeon being the solution to our problems,” I said trying to ignore the stinging pain from my broken lips, and his none stop talking that was almost driving me insane.
“Now to the reason why I came here, which was what exactly, oh wait, it seems like I have forgotten,” he said, acting ignorantly.
I sighed tiredly as I was eager for him to finish his act and tell us the solutions he has for us.
He sure likes his drama.
“Oh I remember now, Black is on his way to the cursed mountains,” he said
“Cursed mountains, what is he going to do there"
“There is a powerful witch that lives there. No one got to know how she became so powerful, but the story goes that she was cursed decades ago after inflicting so much havoc on those around her,”
“Why would Black want to go and see her,” I asked surprised.
“To match your strength stupid, just in case you didn't notice, you left the other people's mouths in shock after the fight you had in the hall with those rogues. Even the other Alphas that were planning to attack and fight for the throne had a second thought after they watched how you killed those rogues mercilessly. They know for sure that you are no ordinary wolf and the rumors that have been round of you being a hybrid confirms their suspicion” he said.
“So what do we do?”
“We go after Black and stop him before he gets to the cursed mountains, else he will become very powerful,”
“I'm not scared of what he is to become”
“Oh, I know you are not, but you should. Especially since you care so much about the people of your pack and for the fact that you have friends and family to protect," he said.
“How soon can we go after him,”
“As soon as we can bury your mother-in-law or should I say stepmom?”
I looked at kyle and wanted to hear her concerns, she has been quiet all this while.
“We can bury her tonight, I mean right now,” she said
“Are you sure that is what you want?” I asked Kyle.
“Yeah, it's not like she has any other family members that would be coming for the funeral. And oh that reminds me, Richard mentioned something about his father's name being Peter,” kyle said passively.
“Wait, Peter?” I questioned, as simeon and I exchanged a quick look.
“Yes, do you know him”
If Peter is the father of Richard, then it means that simeon has been right all along. No wonder she showed Peter so much attention and care more than the other elders in the pack.
“Yes, he was my father's best friend,” I said reflectively.
If Peter was Richard's dad, then why did Miranda also kill him and made it look like I did.
“Maybe we should invite him over, he could also be my dad,” kyle said as a spark of hope spread across her gloomy face.
“He is dead kyle,” I said, wishing there was a more subtle way to put it in other not to hurt her.
“How did you know that?” she asked curiously.
“It's because it was one of the murder cases that Miranda was accusing me of,” I said as I ran my hand over my head.
“What, did you do it?”
“What do you think?”
“Miranda killed him, she is so heartless, I wish I never got to know her,” she said as the sad reality hit her.
She turned to look at Miranda's body while streams of tears adored her face.
She said the fire spell chant and a blast of fire engulfed Miranda's body. More tears rushed down her face as she rested her head on my shoulders for comfort.