Chapter 47 A New Life
forty-seven
A New Life
*BENJAMIN*
Iwake up to an annoying beeping sound and a throbbing headache. My first instinct is to worriedly reach out to my wolf, just to realize he is still there, just asleep.
“Benji? Goddess, you are awake!”
I blink at hearing that beautiful voice, finally forcing my eyes open. “Lori?”
Lori instantly bursts into tears. “I am so happy,” she sobs.
I reach out my hand to touch her hair, only to wince in pain. “Every bone in my body hurts,” I groan. “What happened?”
She looks at me. “You don’t remember? You saved Maddie by jumping out of that window.”
Her words cause my memory to return with full force. I sit up abruptly, only to groan in pain. “Is Maddie alright? How are Silas and Marc, and Nova?”
“Everyone is fine,” she reassures me, forcing me to lie down again. “It’s been two days by now. Aloysius is dead. Everything is over. And Nova is fine. She’s officially announced Beta by now, and she and Julianus went public with their relationship.”
“And Maddie?” I ask carefully.
“She was in shock, but Sheila and everyone else in the pack have made sure she is okay. Guess what? Silas’s other nephew visited, too, with his mom.
Now that Aloysius is dead, they are safe to roam around.
The plan is for them to stay here if they want to.
I think the mom is happy to have family around, and Silas is eager to make sure they are well cared for. ”
“Wow, I missed a lot!” I say. “But that’s awesome news! Does Maddie know now that Silas is her uncle?”
“Yes, they told her. For her, not much has changed,” Lori chuckles. “She called everyone in the pack uncle after all, but Silas can dote on her much more now, without being scared to alert his brother.”
“I am so happy for him,” I sigh.
Silence engulfs us. “I was so worried,” Lori says all of a sudden. “I thought I would lose you.” She pauses. “Can we stay together from now on? Like, with everything that’s part of being mates.”
Her words make me sit up again. “Of course! Thinking about you is what kept me going!”
“So…“ She looks flustered. “Would you move in with me? The cottage is our joint project anyway, but I want to make it yours, too. And if you want, you can mark me. I would be very happy to carry your mark. But you don’t need to if you don’t want to be with a human like that.”
I take her hand. “Lori, I love you, and I want nothing more than to mark you! I adore the cottage and would love to move in with you.”
She looks happy, but doesn’t get to answer because the door opens and Marcellus peeks inside. “Look who is awake? Our hero!”
“Don’t call me that,” I groan.
“But you are, deal with it,” he grins. “Happy to see you so lively,” he adds.
Lori gets up. “I can start with moving your things,” she offers. “If that’s okay?” She turns to Marcellus. “Benji will come with me once the doctor gives his okay.” It’s almost like she is scared I will change my mind, or Marcellus will say something against it.
But Marcellus simply beams at her. “Finally! I am so happy for you both.”
“I hate putting all the work on you,” I say. “As long as I can go back home with you, I don’t mind if my stuff has been moved or not.”
Lori beams happily. “Don’t worry! I will get it done. I think Micah and Lucian will help. And if they don’t want to, I will make them.”
Marcellus grins. “I bet you will.”
“Don’t get up too early,” she tells me. “When I am done, I will come back. Oh, and I will grab some cake on my way back!”
“Just go,” I laugh. “The sooner you leave, the sooner you are back!”
Lori grins. “I like how you think.”
I watch her leave, well aware she only left so suddenly to give Marcellus and me some privacy, without it being awkward. “This might sound weird,” Marcellus says. “But I just wanted to tell you that I’m so proud of you. You did amazingly. Nova told me everything. And Atticus, too.”
“So, he indeed was on our side?”
“Well, he jumped sides because he likes Juniper,” he answers.
“No way!” I exclaim. “You know, I had a feeling there was something between them. When he forced me to fight, I felt like he was happy when my wolf finally surfaced! So, he is Juniper’s beloved?”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Marcellus says. “She is with his child. But I don’t think she is ready to take him as her beloved. There is still too much between them.”
“So, what’s happening now?” I ask. “Silas is not leaving to take over the coven, is he?”
“No,” Marcellus smiles. “He is staying. He said he has all his people here, in our joint coven and pack.”
“And Maddie?”
“She will stay with Sheila. After all, she has adopted her and has been her mom ever since Maddie was a baby. But Silas will be much more involved from now on.”
“That makes me happy,” I admit. “What about Silas’ old coven?”
“Alex will take it over and clean up there,” Marcellus explains. “He and Silas just decided on it earlier today. Juniper will stay with Alex and help him as his new lieutenant and right-hand.”
“And Atticus?”
“Atticus is going to travel around and try to prove himself worthy to Juniper,” Marcellus chuckles. “His words, not mine. He wants to be involved in the baby’s life and is eager to prove himself to her. It might take a while, though.”
“And you?” I ask. “What about you and your brother?”
“I think we somewhat moved past our history,” he says.
“Eugene is my brother; he always has been. But he isn’t my best friend anymore.
I think it’s slowly dawning on him that I am not going to move back to his pack, ever.
There is no future that involves him and me reigning together.
Things changed, and I think it’s okay that they did.
It will always be a bit awkward between us, but he is back in my life now, and it doesn’t look like he is easy to get rid of. ”
I laugh.
“Next week I want to announce you officially as my gamma,” Marcellus says. “Are you ready?”
I look at him and nod. “I am ready.”
Lori scribbles down a few drafts, showing them to me.
Since I left the infirmary and moved in with Lori, we have been planning how to further renovate her cottage.
Or rather, our cottage. We want to expand it a little to have more room.
Lori wants a place for her art as she recently picked up handicrafts, and I want a small office.
Both Silas and Marcellus offered us a great sum to fulfill our plans.
Now that Silas has access to his full savings, he has made it his goal to shower the pack with luxuries.
He keeps saying that this is his coven and pack too, and as a leader, he wants to make sure everyone lives comfortably. He also pushed me to keep my money for Lori’s and my future.
“Do we have everything?” I ask Lori while I pack some bags into our car. I finally decided to get my own one so I wouldn’t need to rely on the pack’s jeep anymore.
“That’s the last one,” Lori says.
“So many decorations,” I chuckle.
She smacks me playfully. “Don’t complain, you will love it.”
I grab her hand, kissing it. “I am sure I will.”
She blushes slightly. “What do you want to eat tonight? I thought I could cook something for us.”
“A homemade meal?” I blurt out. “That would be amazing!”
“I am not that good,” she admits. “I can only do the basics.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I hurry to convince her, my heart skipping a beat at the thought of a date night, with a home-cooked meal. “I will love anything you cook. I can help, too.”
“You can help by unloading the car once we are at home,” she offers. “I think both of us together would certainly ruin this cooking adventure.”
“You are right,” I grin. “Remember last weekend when Silas wanted to show us how to prepare a turkey?”
“Poor Lord Silas,” she grins.
“Poor turkey,” I add.
We both chuckle. “Let’s wait until his lessons have finished before we try something fancy together,” Lori says.
I close the trunk and take her hand. “Come, there is one more place I want to go with you.”
“And where’s that?” she asks curiously.
I don’t say anything and instead lead her to a jewelry shop. I researched it previously, making sure it’s a place that’s worthy enough to get a gift for my mate. Tomorrow is my gamma ceremony, and Lori and I have made sure to both get new outfits. Now the only thing missing is accessories.
Lori is stunned when I lead her into the shop. The shop clerk looks up, smiling when he sees us. “You must be Mr. Morris.”
“Thank you for having us,” I say, shaking his hand. “This is my girlfriend,” I say, gesturing towards Lori. “I want her to pick something.”
No, Benjamin, I can’t, she links me.
Of course you can! I say with emphasis. I love you, and I want to gift you something. Just pick something you like. It would make me so happy!
Really? She asks. No one has ever… She pauses. Really?
“I want her to choose something she truly likes,” I tell the shop clerk.
I have talked to him beforehand and insisted he not look at the price.
For an hour or so, he and Lori go through several pieces until she has found a beautiful set, a necklace and bracelet with fitting earrings and a ring.
It’s an intricate design set with beautiful sapphires.
I am so happy she allowed me to buy something for her.
“You know this wasn’t necessary?” she asks me.
“It doesn’t always need to be necessary,” I say. “A lot of things aren’t. Yet I want us to have them.”
She smiles. “I am so used to only getting the bare minimum that this is new for me. Oh, and you bet I will give you something in return!”
“Honestly, you literally are the one renovating our cottage,” I point out. “That’s much more than I am doing. It’s not transactional. You accepted me despite your past and my past, and while I was still a nobody.”
She looks at me thoughtfully. “It’s not transactional,” she says. “But you never were a nobody. I instantly felt drawn to you.”
“Really?” I ask,
She bumps her shoulder against mine. “Really.”
We both laugh like two silly teenagers, only stopping when we come across a well-known couple. “Nova!” Lori exclaims. “And Julianus.”
Nova and Julianus are walking hand in hand. “Such a funny coincidence,” Nova beams. “Running some errands?”
“Yes, and you?”
“We are running some errands, too,” Nova says. “And then we will go on a date. Things are very busy around the pack, but you won’t believe it. Guess who offered to help?”
“Who?”
Nova waves at a young woman who’s just leaving a store. It’s Isla.
“No way,” I exclaim.
“I was surprised, too,” Nova says. “Ever since I returned from our ‘adventure’, she has tried to be more helpful.”
Isla steps closer, greeting us politely. Her gaze falls on the small bag from the jewelry shop that Lori is carrying, but she doesn’t say anything. We all exchange a couple of polite words before Lori and I take our leave.