Chapter 6 #2
It had been four years. I should’ve been used to this by now. Somehow, though, it always hurt. Their harsh words, their disapproval—all of it…hurt. It just really hurt.
I made my way down the stairs and into the back yard— if you could call the space between the apartment building and garage that—sitting on the stone step and examining the evening skies above.
I was tempted to shift, my wolf nearly whining to get out, but shifting on a Saturday night was a bad idea.
Everyone would be out drinking, and I would only become a target.
Throwing glass bottles at me was a game everyone seemed to enjoy around here.
“Effie.”
I stilled as a shadowed figure stepped up to the chain-link fence of our pitiful back yard. Then again, it was the only one I had known. The large spacious ones on television were something out of a dream and completely unattainable.
“Yeah?” I asked softly.
“It’s me. Frankie.”
Oh. Frankie from school.
I crossed my arms around my knees. “Oh, hey, Frankie. What’s up?”
“I haven’t seen you in school for a while.”
It didn’t surprise me that he’d noticed my absence. Frankie had always been relatively nice to me. Not a friend by any means, but he’d once given me a pencil when I’d forgotten my own, so that was cool of him.
“Yeah,” I said, trying to sound casual. “Decided to do school from home.”
“Because of Mars?” he asked, cutting right to the chase.
“Yeah,” I admitted.
“I wish I’d known it was that—”
“Frankie, what the fuck are you doing talking to this fucking weirdo?”
My metaphorical hackles rose at the sound of a female voice that belonged to someone who hated me. I couldn’t even remember her name, but the cruel voice? Couldn’t forget it.
A group of kids around my age gathered around the fence as Frankie offered me an apologetic look. They were on their way to the bars for the night, something I had no interest in.
“Just saying—”
“Nothing,” I announced. “He wasn’t saying anything.”
I slipped inside right as a bottle cracked against the door, causing me to whimper. I looked up, hearing Theresa’s show still blasting, and sank against the wall in the dirty hallway. The light flickered as tears once again leaked from my eyes.
Was it always going to be like this?
I knew now the answer was ‘no.’ And while I’d been miserable at the time, it had given me a perspective I was now thankful for.
As I blinked my eyes open, I let out a surprised gasp.
Dakota was kneeling in front of me, his arms on either side of my hips as he studied my face.
The rest of the car was silent, and it took me a minute for me to realize that everyone was staring at me in concern.
I swallowed uncomfortably, my fingers lifting to brush the tears from my cheek.
“Bad dream,” I said, hoping the simple explanation would be enough.
“How bad?” Tore asked.
“Not horrible,” I promised. “More about how lonely I was.” I knew it sounded pathetic, but I also knew that my mates wouldn’t judge me for it.
“Dakota?” Caedmon asked. I knew it wasn’t that he didn’t believe me, but Dakota’s reaction did make it seem like it was worse than—
“It was fucking bad,” Dakota said roughly. “The people in that pack deserve to die.” He shook his head and came to sit next to me, adding, “But she’s not wrong, that’s what it was about.”
Ryder let out a low, dark noise as Julian tightened his grip on my hand and pressed a kiss to my shoulder. I loved how close we were in this car, but at the moment, with all their attention focused directly on me, it felt overwhelming.
Luckily, it appeared fate was on my side because at that moment we passed through a pair of gates. My mouth dropped open as I looked out the window, all other thoughts and memories wiped away by pure shock.
“It’s a palace. Your home is a palace, Ryder.”
The driveway, which was nearly as large as the runway we took off from, was lined with manicured gardens.
The shrubs were lit in a way that showed off their beautiful geometric structures, adding a luxurious ambiance to the experience of driving up to the marble castle.
The house was both classic and somehow modern, transcending normal expectations and size.
I literally couldn’t see where it ended, the massive obsidian doors taking up most of my attention.
Well, that and the attendants running outside in the rain—nearly twenty of them.
“Damn.” Dakota whistled.
“No shit,” Julian muttered.
Their reactions made me feel moderately better, and even Tore appeared surprised.
Caedmon seemed intrigued but not surprised, which confirmed everything I needed to know—that Ryder and he lived very similar lives, ones that I couldn’t even begin to grasp even though I was now deeply involved in them.
“It’s not my home,” Ryder got out roughly, motioning for me to come across the car towards him. I crawled over the others and placed myself on his lap, burying my nose against his throat.
I wouldn’t lie, I felt like a chicken right now. I didn’t want to go out there, but I also knew that if he was here and holding me, the experience wouldn’t be nearly as intimidating.
“And what is your home?” I asked, breathing in his scent.
“With you,” he said immediately. “And wherever we decide to make a home—wherever you want to live, kitten.”
I loved that. I knew Kirkwall wasn’t the place for us—at least not the permanent place—I just wasn’t sure what was the place.
As an attendant came to the car and offered us an umbrella, Ryder instructed them about the bags. Instead of bringing them in, he had them put in another car, which told me we wouldn’t be here for long. Something I was more than comfortable with because his place scared the heck out of me.
A line of attendants stood outside the front doors to welcome us into the palace, and without missing a beat, Ryder led me inside.
My shoes made a squeaking noise against the marble and I flushed, feeling completely underdressed for the occasion.
Luckily, the others were dressed casually as well, so it made me feel moderately better.
“We’re going to handle this quickly,” Ryder assured me as he led me down a hallway. “My parents will show us where to go.”
I nodded, feeling on edge about meeting his parents and not for the same reason I’d been nervous to meet the others.
No, this was because he and his parents had a relatively okay relationship—at least not a bad one like my other mates had with their parents—which meant I wanted them to like me, and I knew I wasn’t the best at first impressions.
We turned and stepped into a private office decorated with gold wallpaper and ornate cherry furniture.
His parents were in the middle of a discussion and didn’t notice us at first, so I had a moment to study each of them.
His mom looked just like Aanya, from the dark, almost purple hair to her elegant, lean stature covered in an expensive black dress.
She had a grace about her, almost ethereal.
Ryder’s dad, who looked similar to his son, had a power signature that vibrated in its intensity.
The two of them made a picture perfect couple.
“Ryder!” his mom exclaimed as she finally noticed us, moving across the room so fast it surprised me. He’d said she was human, right? I wasn’t positive she was just that though.
I tried to step back, not wanting to interrupt their hug, but Ryder kept me by his side with one arm as he wrapped the other around his mom in greeting. “Mom, glad to see you and Dad are doing okay in this prison.”
“It’s not that bad,” she promised, though her eyes were filled with sadness. Then she caught sight of the others behind us, and the sadness disappeared as quickly as it’d arrived. “Hi, boys. I’m so happy to meet you—any friends of Ryder’s are welcome here.”
My mates exchanged greetings as his dad approached, drawing my attention. His head tilted, studying the group. “Ryder, your sister—”
“Is not here, and we won’t be for long.”
“Your grandfather will be livid,” he said, his eyes moving to me. “Especially if you took the jet and left him stranded.”
“That’s right, he went for the mate announcement,” Ryder’s mom said to herself, then looked at me with a soft smile. “Which means you must be Effie.”
So they knew about me being Ryder’s mate? Had he told them? Had his grandfather? Or had Aanya mentioned it? I knew she talked to her parents fairly often.
“It’s nice to meet both of you,” I offered, hoping that was truly the case.
“It’s nice to meet you as well; I just don’t understand why my son would bring you here,” Ryder’s dad bit out. “Son, you know the risk associated with involving her in any way—”
“We need access to the Homura Stone.”
Both of his parents froze, an odd look coming over his father’s face. “What? Why?”
“I can’t explain,” Ryder said, “but it’s why we came here, even though we don’t have much time before he returns.”
“Something is going on,” his mom said softly, looking between the two of us.
“Something big,” Ryder confirmed.
With a sharp nod, his father looked towards the door. “We’ll show you where you need to go, then.”