Unscentable
Chapter 77

Piper POV

It was almost 8 that night when Brad returned after dinner to go for that walk. His father, Benjamin, was with him. She frowned at the man, but he only smiled right back at her, waved a PS5 game at her. "I'm here to hang out with my grandson." the man sounded very excited. Even saw Brad roll his own eyes at his father, "I couldn't stop him, he vetoed everyone watching Brandon, so he could do it himself."

"Well, I want to spend time with my grandson. I've missed out on all his life. I won't be missing anything more." He was glaring right at Bradley.

Saw Brad's jaw tick at this, Piper stepped aside and let the man in to the suite "where's my grandson." He hollered as he walked pasted her, back to being excited it seemed.

There was no need to holler or shout. The boy was only a few feet from the door, it was pretty clear to her that Benjamin blamed Brad for him not having any contact with his grandson. That was more than a bit wrong. How was it actually Brad's fault? She'd never told him about the boy, never told anyone.

"Sorry Piper, Eddie and Izzy were up for watching Brandon, but..." his eyes moved to his father still looked annoyed with the man.

"I understand." Piper nodded, his father had likely put his Alpha boot down.

"I hope you're okay with this."

Piper turned to look at Brandon, he was already telling Benjamin he was going to beat him and they were teasing each other about who was going to be the better driver. Shook her head a little at the boys' antics. "Does your father play games?" Piper queried. "Mm.. not really, but on occasion with my brothers girls, though...I've not seen him play a car game before. I believe he took that from Hendrix himself. Are you ready to go?"

"Yes, Brandon?" The boy looked right at her "Take it easy on your grandpa, he's old you know." snorted with amusement at Benjamin's wide-eyed look, then stepped out of the room and chuckled, a little pay back for his own attitude. "Like playing with fire, I see."

"Hmm." Piper shrugged "I think, the man needs to be put in his place."

"What for exactly? If you don't mind my asking." Piper frowned up at him. "He clearly blames you for not knowing about Brandon...how could you have known, I didn't tell you."

Brad looked at her quite a bit shocked by her words, it seemed "Thank you, I guess then." Piper shrugged it off. "If I don't blame you, for the past, how can anyone else?"

She felt his hand slip into hers a moment later and when she looked up at him he was smiling down at her gently, seemed he appreciated her sentiment on the situation. "Where are we going?" She asked him.

"Well. I'd like for you to..." he sighed "Show me, where you lived while inside this pack, Piper. No-one here recalls you, our memories are all tied into our sense of smell unfortunately." "You saw the cabin." Piper frowned.

"I did," Brad nodded "but you said you found that.. after you were 18." sounded a little sad to her ear.

"I did." Piper got the impression he already understood how and when she found it. Left that alone.

He'd apologized a lot for all of those years, he'd never scented her out. She'd not asked him to, didn't see the actual need for him to do so, didn't blame him for it, never had, she knew she'd been the one who was unscentable. It was not his fault. "Will you show me.. I know you don't want to talk about it, it's painful.. but, I'd like to know, see where, if it's still there."

"It will be." Piper nodded, and she did feel different to being here now, than she had back then, and it was likely because the pack members now saw her, could look right at her and acknowledge her. They smiled right at her and could recognize who she was. It was the first time she'd felt this. Couldn't really recall her own childhood much anymore, it was overlaid with too much loneliness, she supposed.

Even Harper felt different now, they'd never really wanted to come back to pack life, but knew that was solely to do with feeling alone and invisible all of the time while here. They didn't really feel that anymore.

They, both she and Harper, felt different now, it was a bit more like being in the human world. Where people could see her all the time.

Everyone addressed her by name, or called her Luna, something she was still trying to wrap her brain around.

It felt weird to hear them say that. Had known once, it should have been her title, had learned over the years it would never be, to not even consider it or think about it, had come to hate the term Luna, in fact. But now it was their title, was weird to say the least. "Where did you live, Piper?" Brad asked as they walked down the stairs.

"In the basement of the pack-house." She told him.

Brad stopped walking and turned to stare down at her, looked almost completely horrified, she realized "Better than out in the woods alone." Piper shrugged, "though for a year, I stayed in my parents' old house."

"Why didn't you stay there?" He asked right away.

Piper raised an eyebrow at him, she'd already yelled that at him in his hotel room. Maybe he'd forgotten already or had not really understood her. Piper sighed, that had been a horrible day for her, coming home from school and finding the house cleaned out and emptied of all her things, of her parents' things.

She had sat and cried on the backsteps for hours, had already been alone for a year and then that. Did not want to talk about it, not ever. Pushed the pain that was hollowing out inside of her chest away and as deep down as she could before answering the question "Came home from school and everything was just gone." Her voice was almost completely emotionless. Piper could feel his eyes on her. "I don't want to talk about it," Piper stated before he started asking anymore questions and she knew he would. That's why he didn't want Brandon around, so the boy didn't have to hear how she had lived here inside the pack.

Walked him all the way down through the pack-house and into the laundry room. It was quiet and dark at this hour. All the lights were out, the omega's having gone home for the day. Piper reached out and flipped the light switch before he did. Saw that he was uncertain as to where they were.

Other than the updates to the equipment and working stations and a new lick of paint, the place was still the same as when she'd been here. Heard him sigh and looked up at him, half smiled "Never been in here have you?" "Not really no." Brad shook his head.

"I used to do all my washing late at night in here when everyone went home."

"How'd you get clothes as you grew up?" Could actually hear the sadness in that sentence, sounded like he didn't actually want to know.

Piper wondered if it was the Alpha in him, that was demanding to know answers or was it his need as her Mate to understand how she had grown up inside this pack, and he'd never noticed her.

"Lost property or the clothing donation bins." She pointed them out to him. "there was always plenty of clothing around. Ranked members throw away a lot of perfectly good clothing, some of it barely worn." She shrugged "and school uniforms." she motioned to a whole section of open display racks where unused uniforms hung neatly on hangers "easy enough."

"I'm sorry Piper."

"So you keep saying, it was not your fault, please stop apologising for it."

"It is the pack's fault, Piper, we lost you."

"From my understanding of it now. No you didn't, my mother's pendant hid me."

"Still, my father he should have been more diligent, he knew Jewel had a daughter, you. He didn't hunt for you properly." heard him huff, sounded annoyed "you should have been found, returned to your mothers people as the contract states." "Likely we wouldn't have met then." Piper frowned.

"Yes we would have, and none of this would have happened to you or me. We would have been together properly. Annabella would have educated you likely at 10 and the first mating ball in Ice Moon Pack that I attended after your 18th birthday you'd have scented me out, been able to let me scent you back."

Piper stood staring up at him, had never even once thought about that. Her life never turned out that way and she'd never really let herself wonder about the what if's. That was a painful game to play. Learned that the hard way.

"I would have claimed you in a heartbeat, Piper." His hand touched her face softly as he looked down at her.

Turned away from him, walked away, didn't or wasn't ready for that weird feeling she was getting in the pit of her stomach, thought maybe he wanted to kiss her, wasn't entirely sure, but moved away from it quickly. Also didn't want to go down the road of what their lives might have been like.

His hand was still in hers and he wasn't letting go, it seemed, so as she walked away he was pulled along behind her, only a few steps, and then he once again fell in step beside her.

Piper pushed out of the furthest door in the back of the laundry room and into a long dark corridor, reached out and flipped several switches on the wall which turned all the lights on down here in the basement. Headed off down the corridor there were many rooms full of stored items, and a few other corridors that led to other store rooms. She walked along down the corridor and neither of them spoke.

It seemed that nothing down here had changed at all, not even a lick of paint, no remodeling either. It was exactly as it had been when she'd lived down here.

Stopped and stood before a closed door in the furthest corner of the pack-house. "In there," Piper told him.

There was a set of omega stairs behind them that led up into the western end of the pack-house near the library, and at the very end of this corridor was a set of very wide stairs that led to large double doors and the outside world, how they got everything down in here.

Watched as Brad touched the door frame, it had not been painted in all the time she'd been gone, there by the door handle were her initials carved into the frame. PHW had done that after Harper had come along. She saw him turn and look at her. She said nothing. There were a lot more of those around the pack, he'd seen the ones in the cabin, she could presume, a lot more of those than he probably wanted to know about. Especially seeing as it looked like it was bothering him, it almost looked as though it was causing him pain.

"What was in here?" Brad finally asked, his voice was quiet, as he opened the door, likely wasn't going to want to be in there either. It was currently an empty room, she noticed as he pushed the door open. "It's where I found my family's things, so.. it's where I belonged I guess."

Actually, saw the pain in his eyes on that one, but there was nothing that could be done about it now.

Watched him step inside the room, glanced in there but did not go in, could see it had never had a fresh lick of paint from here, he turned the light on.

Watched him walk around the small room. It wasn't that large; a standard storage room, twelve by sixteen feet. Watched as he got to see just how many times she'd written on the walls, Piper Whitlock lives here, before Harper had come along, and then Piper Harper Whitlock lives here, once she'd gotten her wolf. It was everywhere in that room. In pencil, pen, texsters and there were a few carved into the plaster with the use of Harper's claws.

Found his eyes on her, full of pain and sadness now, then saw him just step out of the room and just pulled her into his chest. "'m so sorry Piper." he whispered" I will never loose you again."

She blinked in surprise at his words, they too were filled with pain.

He actually seemed to understand that she'd written those words, screaming to be noticed on the inside, the whole time she was here in the pack, her whole life just wanted to be seen by her pack. Be a part of the pack.

Have someone take care of her.

Leaned into him, her actual Mate, he could see her now, had claimed her and wanted her. Allowed herself to be held by him, willingly slid her own arms around his waist and just stood there, to take the comfort he was offering by holding her.

They stood for a long time, like that, before Brad murmured "Is there anything else I need to see?"

Piper shook her head slightly. "No." she answered him.

"Are you sure?" he sighed softly "Piper.. want to see everything no matter how small.. or painful."

Piper looked up at him, her chin resting on his chest and he turned those eyes so unique right on her, their blue-green so like opals in their magnificence, sparkled down at her. Felt Harper sit up inside her mind and wondered if Benson was somewhere near the surface too. It was possible "No." she answered him "only my name, around the place." she said softly.

Felt his hand touch her face, shivered a little when it slid to her hair, trailing tiny sparks across her cheek, saw his eyes move to her mouth and sucked in a breath as she realized Brad wanted to kiss her, felt her own heart race inside her chest.

Then his mouth was on hers, soft and gentle, felt her hands bunch in his shirt at his back, actually saw his eyes close as he pulled her that little bit closer to his body, leaned into him, to a kiss she'd longed for all her adult life. Dreamed about a million times, felt her own eyes flutter close and kissed him back.

It was the sob that erupted from her that broke the kiss, and she pulled herself from him "I'm sorry." She whispered and turned her face away from him, could actually feel tears burning down her own face.

"Don't you ever be sorry Piper." Brad turned her face back to his, tilted her chin up to make her look at him, through her tears, felt him brush them gently away. "Not ever." he said softly, gently "Feel how you want to eel."

Stood there and looked up at him, had to blink a few times till they were gone. "I didn't.. I just.." couldn't even explain why she was suddenly crying, while he was kissing her for the first time as his Mate. She understood why, but couldn't seem to express it at all, was more than a little overwhelmed by her own emotions.
"Will you show me where?" he asked, changing the subject for her, she thought. Piper just nodded her head up at him, and then he took her hand again. She spent a good few hours walking around the pack-house and the packs woods. A few places where she'd written her name were still there, in the library her initials were carved into a book shelf or a skirting board, told him it was where she'd sat to read or study, sometimes draw dresses.

It was in many trees around the woods when she'd been running, usually where she had fallen down exhausted. There was one on the agility course itself, along with her time, carved right into the last wooden support post for the bamboo rods to be crawled under, her initials and her fastest time in completing the course, along with her age she'd been 18. It was right before she'd scented him out.

Brad looked at it for a long time, then stood up and looked right down at her. "Challenge accepted." He smiled right at her. Piper smiled right back. "Good luck, I'm small and fast"

"I'll never stop trying to beat you," He chuckled.

"I'll sit and watch." She actually chuckled right back at him "if you do manage to beat me, I'll accept it as a challenge to beat you once more."

He was really laughing now, then he just yanked her into him and hugged her. "Deal." put her away from him a little "now is this everything."

Piper looked away from him and bit her l!p. "No, there are two more inside the pack-house, if you haven't remodeled the rooms."

He was frowning down at her now. "Where?" didn't look like he liked her hesitation.

"Might not want to know that. Punishable, I'm guessing."

"I'm not going to punish you Piper. Not ever. Spoil you rotten if you'll let me, but never punish you."

"Hmm.. don't know about that." Piper stated, for there was one in his office and one in his actual bedroom, places no-one was allowed to go, let alone Write your name into. "Spill it." He murmured.

Piper sighed "Your office and." looked away from him, couldn't even get the other words out.

"My office...and" He was already tugging her along next to him, then he suddenly chuckled "Why Piper, did you lay claim to my bedroom?" Sounded fully amused to her. "Maybe," she whispered, a little embarrassed.

Heard him really laugh now. "Come on, I want to see where." Brad sounded very happy to her. She was taken to his office, and stood watching him look around the room, shook her head, there had been some changes in here, a lick of paint and all new flooring, a new couch and coffee table, but his desk was still the same one he'd been using when she'd been here last.

He looked at her many times and she just bit her l!p and tried not to laugh. If they had ever found it when she'd been here, likely would have ended up in the cells, was not going to help him out. It was funny watching him look around the room. It had been here for 10 years now and he'd not seen it. Likely wasn't going to either.

"Sit at your desk. It might help you find it from there." I was all she was going to tell him, said it after he'd been prowling around his office for ten minutes.

Saw him do just that, was looking at everything.

How often did you come in here?"

"In here, just once. Sat right in your chair." Piper openly admitted.

He was frowning "Is it still in here? I remodeled a few years ago."

"It is." She nodded "Let me know when you find it." Piper stated as she glanced at her watch and realized just how late it was, nearly midnight 'I'm going to turn in.

"Hey, wait, my suite?" Brad stated as he stood up.

"I'm not sleeping in there." She frowned at him.

"No." He shook his head. "Where in my suite?"

"Might not be there anymore. If you've remodeled," Piper stated and headed out of his office.

Brad fell into step with her. "I have not. Kept it exactly the same as the last time you were in it." His hand found hers once more.

That raised her eyebrows and her eyes moved to his questioningly.

"Wanted it to be the same for when I found you, brought you home."

"Oh," was all she said. "Let me know when you find it."

"You could just tell me where it is."

"I could." Piper nodded, smiled to herself "Or let you search everywhere, and loose sleep over it. That is more fun, I think."

"I will you know."

"I get that feeling," she chuckled.

Brad walked her back to her room, and opened the door for her. Benjamin was stretched out on the lounge, got up and smiled at them. "He's a good boy, out like a light too." strolled out passed them. And she heard him actively smell her, rolled her eyes. What he thought or was checking for had not happened.

Stepped inside her suite "Enjoy the hunt, Brad." Piper smiled right up at him.

He shook his head, but was smiling right back at her "Night Piper."