Vivianna
Tapping on the door to Neveah’s room, I waited to see if she would let me in.
A few moments passed and Nick cracked the door, but when he saw it was me, he pulled it open, motioning me in.
The room was dark, with only one small lamp casting the room in enough light to move around in.
It took me a moment to find her curled up in an armchair, backed into a corner, chewing on her thumbnail.
“She hasn’t really spoken much but I knew she would want to see you,” Nick said in hushed tones. “I don’t think she’s slept at all and won’t eat. What the hell did he do to her?”
I reached out and gripped his arm, trying to reassure him.
“He gets inside your head and messes with everything you think you know. I doubt the strongest mind would be able to withstand his tactics. It’s like he knows just where to hit that will do the most damage.
” Nick’s pained expression told me that this whole event had hurt him almost as much as it had her.
“Why don’t you leave her with me for a bit and get yourself something to eat and spend some time with the guys? ”
Hesitating, he glanced between me and his mate, but eventually let out a sigh and slipped out the door.
Moving forward, I tried to walk as confidently as I could, but with only one seeing eye, I found my depth perception was off.
Adding on this was an unfamiliar space, it made it a little trickier to navigate, but once I got close, I just sat down, leaning my back against the side of the chair not saying anything.
Instead, I let my alpha energy fill the room, indicating that I was there to protect her as well as comfort her.
Our gift as leaders was to be able to provide comfort as much as dominance over our pack, and Neveah was absolutely part of my pack.
In some ways, I felt like as we grew closer, she would be like a sister to me.
“How do you do it?” Neveah whispered, her voice scratchy. “How do you continue to live each day like you have it all together after having spent seven months in their clutches?”
Unable to hold it back, I let out a huff of laughter.
“What makes you think I have it all together? Because I’ll tell you right now, that is the last thing I would say for myself.
As a matter of fact, I just had one of my mates scold me for trying to throw my life away too easily.
I might look like I’m functioning like a normal person, but that is far from the truth.
I’m fueled with spite, revenge, and the knowledge that I will kill my enemy with my bare hands.
I would definitely not call that functioning. ”
“My mate, Nathan, was the strong one out of the three of us. He died protecting me during that raid on our camp. He sacrificed his life for mine, and I don’t understand why.
How is my life more important than his? My father wanted him to take over the pack when he got too old to do it, and I couldn’t have agreed more.
Now, here I am, left to survive this life with half my heart missing, and that’s not fair to Nick.
That poor man has lost a brother and a mate in one fell swoop. ”
My heart broke for Neveah, understanding exactly what she was going through.
I couldn’t help but smile a little as Rik’s words echoed through my head.
“In many ways, I am right there with you. Having lost Violet and Hope taken from me, how can I deserve to be their mother? Shouldn’t I give up everything for them in atonement?
Believe it or not, our mates don’t care how broken we are.
They love us all the same, wanting to be there for us to pick off the pieces left of our heart.
I know you won’t believe me that it’s worth putting it back together, because I’m not sure I believe it either.
What I do know, is that I have seven men who refuse to ever let me give up, and a daughter who deserves a mother who will love her enough to keep going. ”
“Seems that Nick and your men have that same logic in common,” Neveah muttered. “Did they tell you about Diane?”
“Only that she didn’t make it.”
Neveah uncurled enough to slide out of the chair and join me on the floor, reaching out to take my hand.
“They promised her everything she asked for to give them information about you, the rebellion, and where Violet was. She didn’t tell them anything, and they killed her for it without blinking.
Snapped her neck and left her there to rot on the floor at my feet, her dead eyes looking up at me.
Then they were going to start with Kate, since they were together, but I knew she wouldn’t be able to handle what was going to happen next, so I drew their attention. ”
“What did you do?” I asked curious, having seen snippets of Neveah’s temper.
“I spit right in that bastard’s face and told him to go to hell,” Neveah announced proudly, before her face started to fall once again.
“It worked. I definitely had their attention at that point. I tried to hide behind my rage as Vadik taunted me, telling me things I never knew about my father and how he’d turned his back on me, along with the others in our pack.
That the ambush was my fault for trying to turn more of his people against him to join the rebels, so he slaughtered us.
My father knew it was going to happen and let it, knowing it might kill us all. What kind of father does that?”
“Oh, you do not want to talk to me about daddy issues. That is a deep dark rabbit hole you do not want me to take you down. Let’s just say, I too have a bastard of a father, who did horrible things my whole life,” I shared, leaning my head back to look up at the ceiling, refusing to think of where he was or even if he was still alive.
“Do you have a plan?” Neveah questioned, pulling me out of my own thoughts.
Shifting, I turned to look at her face-to-face for the first time since I came in the room, and she gasped seeing my eye.
“The plan is still in the works, but let’s just say, I have a new motivation to add to the mix.
Why don’t we get you out of this room, and we can put our brains together to figure out how exactly we want to repay these pricks for what they’ve taken from us. ”
Standing, I reached out and pulled her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her as we walked out of the room into the bright morning light-filled hall.
It was odd to have to use the banister to walk down the stairs, feeling unbalanced, but rationally, I knew in time, I wouldn’t even notice it.
Lots of people manage life with one good eye and I was blessed to still have one that worked perfectly.
We found the guys in the kitchen, with Kate and Rik cooking, but everyone paused when we walked into the room.
“What’s for breakfast? It smells amazing,” I asked, my stomach growling in agreement.
That’s because you skipped a few meals yesterday. Didn’t we have a talk about how that wasn’t going to be allowed?
Yesterday we almost died. I don’t think that counts as an average day.
Could have fooled me. Seems you now like to push things to the limit to see just how close to death you can get. Let me just say, I’m not a fan. If you want that kind of thrill, go skydiving or something.
“Breakfast is pretty basic this time around, since we don’t have a lot stocked in the house,” Kate said, bringing over bowls of oatmeal. “I do have lots of fixing to put on it though.”
“That and sausage we found in the freezer,” Rik shared, as he dumped the links into a dish. As he walked to the table, he stepped up and kissed the scarred side of my face. “Everything alright between us?”
It was sweet to see him unsure after having one of our first real fights. “More than alright,” I answered, giving him a peck on the lips before taking my seat.
The table fell into a comfortable silence as we dug into our food, just enjoying the fact that we were all safe and back together again.
Even though I’d only known these people for a few days, they were becoming like family to me, or what I pictured family was supposed to be.
There hadn’t been an ounce of hesitation in the choice to go after Kate and Neveah, and that told me so much about these people I was letting into my life.
Now, we just needed Maria to round out the whole situation.
“Did the others get back safely?” I asked once I’d finished my bowl and was on my second cup of coffee.
Christian nodded, his mouth full, but he swallowed quickly to answer. “Yes, I got word that everyone was unharmed and safe, lying low for a few days. Oh, and Maria is on her way with Tim. We thought it was better to leave Nicole at the other safe house, since she isn’t really involved in this.”
I nodded, agreeing with his choice. “Does he know about Diane?”
“That wasn’t something I felt we should share over the phone,” Christian explained.
“I’m more than happy to explain what happened, since I was there. I’ll be able to help with his emotions,” Kate offered as she started picking up dishes. “He needs to know that she did the right thing by the rest of us. It won’t help much, but I feel it’s important to be said.”
“Personally, I think that will be something he will want to hear,” I agreed. “Do we still feel the need to stay here at this location if Diane didn’t give anything up?”
“It’s the wisest choice. There’s no way to tell what Vadik knows at this point. He had Kate, so he’s aware of who she is to Christian, and where they live, so it’s best for us to keep out of sight. Maria is bringing us things we left behind at the motel before we went to get Tim,” Darius voiced.
Feeling restless, I got up from the table and started to slowly pace the room. “Tim already hinted at the location. Did we ever find that energy signature he told us about?”