Chapter 294: Found!

Rebecca’s POV

​"Come home?" I repeated, frowning.

​"Yes, Rebecca," my mother said gently, taking another step forward. "Come home with me. You don’t have to live like a fugitive or hide in places where you don’t belong."

​I looked at her face, searching for any familiar trace of the woman who used to brush my hair, but all I saw was a stranger in royal robes.

​"I can’t," I whispered, taking a half-step back. "I don’t know you."

​A look of deep hurt flashed across her features. "I am your mother, Rebecca. I brought you into this world. I would never hurt you."

​"It doesn’t matter!" My voice rose, trembling with years of confusion and buried pain. "You walked into this room through a portal fifteen minutes ago! You’ve been gone for years. I don’t know who you are, I don’t know your pack, and I can’t just drop everything to follow a stranger."

​"What about your abilities?" she pressed. "Don’t you want to understand what you are? The power inside you is unsealed now. It will start showing up, whether you want it to or not. I am the only one who can teach you how to control it, how to unleash it safely."

​She looked down, her gaze settling directly on my stomach, and her eyes softened.

​"Here is not the place for you to raise that baby," she said quietly. "You are my only child, Rebecca. And that child in your womb... it is going to be extraordinary. The bloodlines mixing inside you are powerful. His abilities will be strong, and as he grows, you won’t be able to control him without my help."

​My hands instantly flew to my stomach, shielding my unborn baby. A chill ran down my spine. "How... how did you know about the baby?"

​"It was the very first thing I felt when I stepped through the portal," she answered softly. She reached out and carefully took my trembling hands in hers. Her palm was warm, but I remained rigid. "Trust me, Rebecca. Please. I won’t hurt you. You are in a strange country, surrounded by people you barely know. I want to protect you."

​Before I could pull my hands away, Stephanie stepped in between us, placing a firm, protective arm in front of me.

​"Please don’t pressure her," Stephanie said, her voice respectful but unyielding as she looked my mother in the eye. "She just found out you are alive. She just found out her whole life was a lie. Give her some time to process this and think."

​My mother looked at Stephanie, then back at me. She let out a soft sigh and nodded slowly.

​"You’re right," my mother said, stepping back. "I am sorry for pushing. But my offer stands. If you need help, or if you just want to talk to me, open a mind-link. I will hear you."

​Without waiting for me to reply, she lifted her hand. The air behind her rippled again, tearing open into a dark, shimmering portal. She turned, stepped into the light, and vanished. The rift collapsed instantly, leaving the bedroom completely silent.

​I stood frozen in the middle of the room, staring at the empty space where she had been standing.

​Stephanie turned to me, her face pale. "Do you trust her?"

​"I don’t know," I breathed, sinking back onto the edge of the bed. I stared down at my lap, my hands still resting over my stomach. "But... about the abilities... I think she might be right. Occasionally, over the last few months, I felt strange things happening. Things I couldn’t explain. I thought I was losing my mind."

​Stephanie came over and sat beside me, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Whatever you decide to do, I’m behind you. If you want to stay here, we stay. If you want to leave with her, I’ll go with you."

​I closed my eyes and leaned back against the headboard, feeling completely overwhelmed. I had thought my life was finally figured out. I thought removing the choker was the final step to my freedom. But instead, everything had grown ten times more complicated.

​Suddenly, the silent house echoed with the sharp ring of a phone.

​I jumped slightly. The sound came from the nightstand drawer—the burner phone Kane had given me.

​I picked it up but didn’t say anything. Whenever Kane called, I never spoke first. I always waited for him to confirm it was really him, just in case someone else had gotten hold of the line.

I pressed the receiver to my ear and kept my lips sealed.

​"Rebecca!" Kane’s frantic voice burst through the speaker before I could even draw a breath. He was breathing heavily, his tone laced with pure panic. "Rebecca, answer me! We have a major problem."

​My grip on the phone tightened. "Alpha Kane? What’s going on?"

​"Kaden knows," Kane choked out, the background noise sounding like a speeding car. "He figured it out. He knows you’re in Africa."

​A wave of shock washed over my entire body, completely wiping out every thought of my mother and my sealed powers.

​"What?" I gasped, pushing myself off the bed as my voice cracked with panic. "How? How could he possibly know that?!"

​Kane was silent for a second before answering.

​"He traced the jet."

​My heart dropped. "What?"

​"I don’t know exactly how he did it," Kane said quickly. "We covered everything. The flight records, the route, the people involved. But Kaden has been contacting everyone he knows. Somehow, one of his contacts found information showing that the jet entered African airspace."

​I pressed my fingers against my forehead. "Does he know I’m in Botswana?"

​"No. Not yet."

​I released the breath I had been holding.

​"But Rebecca, that doesn’t mean we’re safe," Kane continued. "Africa is huge, but Kaden has resources everywhere. Now that he knows which continent to search, it’s only a matter of time before he starts narrowing it down."

​My stomach twisted.

​"He’s already contacting Alphas and other supernatural leaders across Africa," Kane added. "We have to move you."

​"Move me where?"

​"I don’t know yet. Logan and I are trying to arrange something. Maybe another country. Somewhere farther away where we can hide you again."

​Another country.

Another house.

Another fake name.

Another escape.

​I closed my eyes.

​I was tired.

​So fucking tired.

​How long was I supposed to keep doing this?

​Every time I thought I was finally safe, I had to pack my things and run again. If I moved somewhere else, Kaden would search there too. And if he found another clue, I would have to move again.

​I couldn’t spend the rest of my life running from one country to another.

​Especially not with a baby on the way.

​"Rebecca?" Kane called. "Are you there?"

​"Yes."

​"Start getting your things together. Don’t leave the house until I call you back. I’m going to speak with Logan and figure out where we can send you."

​I looked across the bedroom.

​My eyes landed on the exact spot where my mother had disappeared through the portal only minutes ago.

​You can come home with me.

​Her words echoed through my head.

​My mother was an Alpha now.

​If everything she had told me was true, then I wouldn’t have to hide there. I wouldn’t be some stranger living under another Alpha’s protection. I would be the daughter of the Alpha herself.

​And my mother could teleport.

​Even if Kaden somehow discovered where I was, reaching me wouldn’t be as simple as driving through a border or tracking down a private jet. My mother had spent years hiding secrets from powerful families. She understood magic I knew nothing about.

​More importantly, she could teach me about the abilities awakening inside me.

​I looked down at my stomach.

​Maybe I had been too quick to reject her offer.

​I still didn’t trust her completely. I still barely knew her, and hearing that she was my mother didn’t erase all those missing years.

​But Stephanie was right.

​I didn’t have to trust her completely today.

​I only had to decide what made the most sense right now.

​And I was done running.

​"Rebecca?" Kane’s voice came through the phone again. "Did you hear me?"

​"Yes."

​"Good. Pack your things. I’ll call you as soon as we have another location."

​"No."

​There was a pause.

​"What?"

​"You don’t need to find another location."

​"What are you talking about?"

​I took a deep breath, staring at the empty space in front of me.

​"I have somewhere else I can go."

​Kane went quiet.

​"Where?"

​I glanced at Stephanie. She frowned, clearly wondering what I was thinking.

​My heart started beating faster as the decision settled inside me.

​"I have a way to end this, Kane."

​"What way?"

​I swallowed.

​For the first time since leaving Kaden’s territory, I wasn’t thinking about where I could run next.

​I was thinking about where I could finally stop running.