Chapter 41
Chapter Forty-One
Cyrus
She is determined to escape us, but we know the mate bond will force her back to us.
It takes me a little bit to convince Eli to let her go.
Explaining to him we will just let her go and let the mate bond bring her back to us.
I just pray it would work, and my assumptions are right that it would be impossible for her to resist the bond.
No one has before, but she is also the most stubborn person I know besides Eli.
I hold her hand the entire plane trip, knowing it is probably the only contact I would get out of her.
I don’t think she even realizes she hasn’t let go till the plane lands.
Eli doesn’t say a word the entire trip. It is killing him, and I know he is struggling to keep his Lycan side at bay.
Werewolves are possessive and dominant creatures.
Giving her up is no easy thing for him. It is almost unbearable for me, but he would truly be struggling.
I let her hand go and thank the pilot, telling him we will be back in a few hours.
We have no choice but to go back to deal with Sam.
I just hope that she will be ready to return to us by the time we are done.
Addie reaches for her suitcase, but I see Eli grab it from her before taking her hand and kissing it.
No reaction. It is like she has shut down to us.
I can’t understand half the feelings that come through the bond with her.
I can tell her emotions are tormenting her as well as her new fear, which is us.
She fears us, probably men in general, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less, knowing she wants nothing to do with us right now.
Walking down the stairs, I see the car waiting. The driver opens the back door, and I watch as Addie slides across the seat, and Eli hands her luggage to the man. He puts it in the boot, and I walk around to the passenger side, hopping in the front.
“I’ve organized for you to work on our floor,” I tell her, reaching into my pocket.
I give her the keys to our offices, not that she would really need them, but just in case, along with passwords to everything, including both our computers.
“You still want me to work up there by myself?” she asks.
“Yes. We will be working remotely, but everything will be getting sent to that office till we rebuild the one in Soya,” I tell her.
She nods, taking the keys from me. “What happened to the office?”
“Fire. Sam burned the place down,” Eli tells her, speaking for the first time.
The way she cringes at the mention of his name doesn’t go unnoticed by either of us.
The driver hops in the car and starts driving to her address—ignoring us, like he is paid to do.
“Did you message your mother and tell her you are coming home for a while?”
“She knows I am on my way. Here,” she says, handing me my phone back that she used to text her mother earlier.
“Keep it, so we have a way of contacting you,” I tell her, and she nods, putting the phone back in her pocket and looking out the window.
“You will ring us and keep in touch, right?” Eli asks her, and she looks at him.
“Maybe,” she says, knowing we will be able to tell she is lying.
I see Eli’s jaw clench and unclench as he bites back what he wants to say.
I can feel him fighting with himself. He wants to stay with her, and so do I, but I also understand her need to be on her own.
She just wants to forget what happened, and that means forgetting us.
Even if she doesn’t realize it right now, we will never be gone from her life.
Pulling up out the front of her house, the driver gets out, grabs her suitcase from the boot, and puts it on the sidewalk.
“Come pick us up in an hour,” I tell him, and he nods, hopping back in the car.
I watch the car leave, and for a second, Addie panics, thinking we aren’t leaving.
“He is coming to get us in an hour,” I tell her, and Eli grabs her bag.
The front door bursts open, and Maya comes rushing out, having seen Addie out the window. The little girl throws herself at her, and Addie catches her, squeezing her tight and picking her up.
“You have grown,” Adeline tells her.
Maya has definitely had a growth spurt since we were last here. The screen door opens again, and I see Debbie walk out. Adeline, noticing her, puts Maya down before standing.
“Mom!” she says before throwing herself at her, grabbing hold of her mother like she is her lifeline.
Debbie hugs her, like one hug could mend her.
“You’re home now, you’re home,” she tells her, and I watch as my mate breaks down into a sobbing mess, tears running down her cheeks as she clutches her mother.
Addie pulls away from her eventually, and Debbie turns to us.
“How could you let this happen? Where the fuck were you two?” she asks.
“Mom, it’s not their fault,” Addie defends us.
“I know it’s not their fault, but if you were here, it never would have happened, and to find out from Pete of all people,” she says, making Addie look at us confused. But we are just as confused.
“Oh, you think I don’t know who you are, what you are? I knew from the moment you two showed up that here she was your mate. That’s why I am pissed off that you let this happen,” Debbie says.
“Wait, you know?” Addie asks, stepping away from her mother.
“Of course I know. Your father and I had no secrets despite the hunters’ organization’s stupid rules.
I have always known, but I also know you being their mate means you would always be protected and off-limits.
How fucking wrong was that assumption?” she says, scoffing at her own words.
“Then that leech Pete rings me and tells me Sam—”
She doesn’t finish. She doesn’t have to. We all know what he has done, but no one would mention it around Addie unless she says it herself.
“It doesn’t matter. Just come inside,” Debbie says, tugging Addie’s hand.
We follow them inside. Eli takes her bag into her room while I go to the kitchen with Debbie and Adeline.
“Wait, why didn’t you tell me you knew?”
“Didn’t want to risk them erasing my memory for one like they did to your sister though that time I didn’t mind.
Taylor is doing great, thanks to you, so thank you.
But don’t think I don’t know you have used it on me.
I am missing a few days,” Debbie says, pointing her finger at me, and I give her a nod.
“So Pete rang you?” I ask.
Debbie nods. “Yes, he gave me the mundane version of what happened. The story everyone would get if it was ever made public.”
I nod. “So, Michael told you?”
“Yes, like I said, we had no secrets, and he often spoke of you two. That’s why I didn’t mind when you both showed up here. My husband was always a good judge of character. Unfortunately, it is also what got him killed,” she says as Eli walks back downstairs.
“Where is Taylor?” Addie asks.
“She should be back soon. She just went to get milk,” Debbie says.