16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Bellarose
I half expected my parents to show up and drag Violet back home this morning, when they called asking why they hadn't heard from her and demanding to know if she was okay. My sister forgot to call them, and they were panicking. I think they were getting ready to fly out to pick everyone up, but to everyone's surprise, Violet was the one telling them to relax.
She told them she was making progress here, and she was afraid she would fall back into old habits the moment she went back to Crescent Moon. She wanted time to keep improving, and she wanted to keep helping. I felt so proud of her as she laid out her case, and I could see Chris and Cade were, too.
After she hung up, Violet sat back and looked at us. “That was something.”
“Very well articulated,” Cade agreed.
“Yeah, well, I would make sure Ada has her last will and testament up to date before you take her home to Kara,” Violet chuckled.
“She could have killed you,” Chris stated before I could.
“Yes, and I’m sure Mom and Dad will make sure she knows how upsetting that would have been,” Violet told him, flashing him a smile. “Are we having breakfast before you leave?” she asked Cade.
“Yep. I’ve got the plates in the warmer, just waiting on the verdict to see if I needed to add cake. I’ll go get them.”
“I’ll grab Adam, and then help you,” I told Cade.
“I’ll take Violet to the conference room,” Chris told us before looking over at Violet, and I thought I caught a twitch of his lips.
I walked up to check on Adam, but before I could make it to his room, Cade caught up with me, pulling me back into his chest and kissing my neck. He’d slept in my room over the last two nights. Well, with the exception of the night Violet was pushed. We weren’t sleeping when we heard Chris roaring. We’d gotten dressed and ran down the stairs to find Chris about to rip Elim's throat out, thinking he pushed Violet. Once Cade took hold of Elim, Chris went straight to Violet, checking her over, barely breathing with relief when he realized she was still alive.
“Did you notice?” Cade murmured into my ear.
“Notice what?” I asked, turning around to kiss him.
He pushed me to the wall, grabbing my leg and pulling it up to wrap around him, grinding into me.
“Something’s changed between your sister and Chris.”
I pulled back, grabbing his face between my hands as he tried to push forward to kiss me again.
“Really?”
“You didn’t see the little looks?” He spoke through smushed lips.
“No! I was too busy pacing the room.”
“Something is changing between them, Princess.”
“Do you think they’re second-chance mates?”
“I don’t know, but if Chris lost his mate, too; maybe they’re healing each other.”
“She has come a long way,” I agreed.
“He’s good for her. She’s becoming a fierce little thing.”
“Maybe she’ll help Chris relax.” I moaned when I felt his hand pinched my nipple. “I have to grab Adam, or we’ll be late for breakfast.”
Cade pulled back, sighing.
“I know, I just... I’m going to miss you, Princess.”
“Get shit done so you can come back quickly.”
“Are you going to tell Violet about us while I’m gone?”
“Yeah. I’ll do another girls’ night.”
“Get the dirt on her and Chris.” Cade grinned down at me.
“Are you looking for gossip, Alpha Cade?”
“Damn right, I am. I’m invested.”
I laughed and knocked on Adam's room.
“Are you ready, monkey?” I called out.
Adam opened the door, his backpack in hand. He smiled up at me, making my heart melt.
“Are we having breakfast with Violet today?”
“Yep! And Cade and Chris.”
“Yeah! Will you carry me?” Adam asked me, giving me his big eyes, and reaching up for me to pick him up.
“I’ve got you, bud,” Cade said, grabbing his little hands and pulling him up.
My ovaries twitched, and Coyo was practically panting as we followed them. Once we got to the ground floor, Cade put Adam down and let him run to the conference room where Violet and Chris were. I walked to the kitchen when I saw him run in, grabbed the tray Cade passed me and we went back to the conference room.
As we ate, I saw it. The looks Chris and Violet were giving each other. How close they were sitting. My sister definitely had a lot to talk about and a heart to break. By the way Elim reacted to seeing her hurt, and how frustrated he seemed when he wasn't able to go with her to the ER, the man was falling for my little sister.
“Did you apologize to Elim?” I asked Chris as the thought suddenly popped up in my head.
“What? Why would he apologize to Elim?” Violet asked.
Cade coughed to cover a laugh when Chris blushed.
“Elim is the one who saw you falling. Chris found him looking over you, and thought he hurt you. He almost killed him.”
“You did what? How could you think he hurt me when he’s been nothing but helpful?” Violet glared at Chris.
“There was no one else around! I was only gone for two minutes!” Chris defended.
“I would have thought the same, Violet,” I told my sister. I would have killed anyone who put his hands on her.
“Well, did you apologize?” Violet asked, crossing her arms.
“I haven’t seen him, yet,” Chris mumbled, clearing his throat.
“But, you will apologize?”
“I will apologize for hurting him, not for trying to defend you,” Chris grumbled.
That was different, too. Since when did Chris grumble or talk back? He was usually the epitome of a stoic warrior. He never complained. Maybe Cade was right. They were good for each other.
After breakfast, I went to see Cade off, growling as the bitch was dragged into his truck. One of Cade's warriors was accompanying them. Not that I was worried. I saw the way Cade looked at her. He hated the woman. It was an awkward goodbye for us, though. I wanted nothing more than to kiss him before he left, and I could see that he did, too, but all he could do was ruffle my curls.
I watched the truck drive away and I felt like a little piece of my heart left with him. I sighed and did what I did best. I pushed everything down, and went to work.
That evening, Elim came to find me after dinner.
“Luna, I was hoping I could have a few minutes of your time.”
“Sure. Let's go to my office.” We walked over to the alpha office and sat down. “How's the throat?”
“Healed. He didn't do much damage.”
“Have you seen him today?”
“No. I texted Violet earlier, but she was still working, so I went to check on the borders.”
“Oh, did you find something?”
“Yeah. It's the weirdest thing. When I patrol the borders, I can smell your scent markers. They're as strong as any alpha's,” he said, making Coyo beam with pride at the compliment. “But, when I step across the borders, even two feet away from where I could smell the scent markers, they're gone.”
“What do you mean gone?” I furrowed my eyebrows.
“I can't smell anything. It's like it doesn't exist.”
“How's that possible?”
“I'm not sure, but I can show you.”
“Okay. Let's go.”
Elim and I walked toward the borders in the dark. I could smell the scent markers Coyo and I left after Brandon died to ensure the property was still protected against rogues.
“Pretty strong here, right?” Elim asked. When I nodded, he added, “Come this way.”
I followed him around the dirt wall I’d placed as a second barrier. A few steps past it, I stopped and frowned.
“How is this possible? We’re not even upwind,” I said, looking back at where the border was.
“This is what I’m telling you. I think this is why the rogues keep crossing the borders. They can’t smell it until they’re inside,” he explained.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” I grumbled as I walked back and forth along the border. Inside the pack grounds, the scent was strong. Two steps away from the border, the scent was completely gone.
“No, but it has an easy solution.”
“What’s that?” I whipped my head to look at him again. I would kiss him if I could get the council to remove the warning tag attached to our pack.
“You could scent mark outside your borders.”
“Hmm, that’s not a bad idea. There are no other packs to insult.”
“That was my thought,” he replied, smiling.
“I’ll get on that in the morning. How’s the dog hunt going?”
“Not great. I’ve caught his tracks a few times but he's damn fast. I might call Uncle Lalo or Adrien to come help me.”
“Well, let me know if you want me to help. I can grab a few of us and try to corner it.”
“Will do, Luna.”
We started walking back through the woods until we heard a strange sound. I looked over at Elim and he nodded, so we headed toward the sounds. I stopped when I saw the creature Violet had drawn, very well, I might add. It hissed when it saw us and ran off, leaving a very dead bobcat behind.
“I’ve gotta go. Be careful,” Elim said, dashing off after it using his vampire speed. I walked back to the pack house, wondering what the fuck was going on in my pack.
‘How was your day?’ Cory linked, later that evening.
‘Not bad. Cade arrive with Ada?’
‘Yep, met the woman who tried to kill my little sister. She’s spending the evening with Mom and Dad, then we’re going to have a conversation tomorrow. If she’s still alive, anyway.'
‘Mom and Dad won’t kill her, but send me the video. I’d love to watch it with some popcorn.'
‘I turned off the cameras,’ he chuckled. ‘ How’s everything going?'
‘Well, Elim just figured out what’s happening with the rogues, but it just raises more questions.’ I went on to explain what was happening and Cory agreed to ask around to see if anyone knew what could be causing my scent to vanish.
‘Hey, I’m going to send you a drawing of the thing in the forest. Can you show Uncle Helios? He’s got more knowledge of weird beasts.'
‘Yeah, send it over.'
‘How’s the teething going?'
‘Better. They’ve started sleeping through the night, so at least we’ve gotten some sleep.'
‘Give them big kisses for me.’
‘Always. How’s everything else?'
‘Not bad. We should be done with the harvesting by the end of the week, then I can start processing it. The trucks are coming in a couple of weeks for about seventy-five percent of the wine reserves ready for the stores.'
‘That’s great, Bells. Will you be able to come visit soon?'
‘I don’t know, Cory. Maybe if Cade ends up staying here for another couple of months, I’ll be able to visit.’
‘Grandpa wants to meet Adam. He might head your way soon. He’s getting desperate.'
‘The old man is retired. Tell him to get his butt up here. I need my grandpa hugs.’ There was silence for a while and then I sighed. ‘Cory?'
‘What’s going on?'
‘Would it be so bad if I adopted Adam without a mate? You think he would resent it one day?’
‘You have enough love for a whole brood of kids, Bells. Everyone over here already calls him your pup.’
‘Really?’
‘Yep.’
‘You don't think I’m too unstable in my life to give him a good life?’
‘Has he been suffering while you’ve taken all of this on?'
‘Well, no, but...’
‘Just love him, Bells. That's all he needs.’
‘What about a father figure? Who's going to teach him to shave and give him the talk?’
‘You’ve got plenty of males in your life to do that.’
‘You’re all so far, though.’
‘We visit, plus you know what I’m going to say.’
‘I can’t Cory. I can't give up.’
‘I know, but it's an option. But, it doesn’t matter, anyway. We’re always going to be here for you. We’ll make it work.'
‘Love you, Cory,’
‘Love you too, Bells.’
I was scrolling through my phone when I got a mind-link.
‘Rose, honey, I'm home.’
“Fuck,” I said out loud before I answered. ‘How was your trip?’
‘Great, other than the fact that you accidentally booked me in the economy section. Don’t worry, though. I used the pack card and made them upgrade me.'
‘Martha, we’re literally scraping by right now. Everyone’s trying to save as much as we can.’
‘I’m sure we’ll figure it out. Anyway, I’m tired so I’ll be taking a nap. Can you make sure someone wakes me up for breakfast?’
‘I’ll see what I can do.’ I cut off the mind-link and growled.
I was getting tired of this woman. Cory was right. I owed her nothing anymore, and I was past the point of caring. Every time I made some progress, it was another trip, another expense. It was like she was purposely sabotaging me.
I struggled to stand, the wound on my shoulder trying to mend itself. My hand slipped on the hardwood floor covered in blood, so I crawled toward my mate, pulled out the blade from his chest, and plunged it into the body of our attacker.
Once I was sure there was no threat to us anymore, I let the tears fall from my eyes, wetting my shirt as I moved to cradle my mate's head in my lap, and watched the life leave his eyes.
A sudden sharp pain rippled through my abdomen. Coyo's howl as I felt blood soaking my pants was deafening, as was the sob that tore from my throat.
I looked down at my mate, wanting to beg him not to take my pup with him, except the face before me wasn’t Brandon's anymore. It was Cade’s, and I felt my heart break beyond repair at the sight.
‘Bells, wake up.’
I looked around the room as I heard my twin's voice. Sobs wracked my frame as I gathered Cade’s body in my arms. His body was still warm as I twined our fingers together.
“Come back to me. Please. Come back. I need you. Cory, help me!” I screamed out the last part.
‘Wake up, Bells. It’s only a dream.’
“What?”
‘WAKE UP’
I sat up in bed, my hands on my abdomen.
“Cade?”
I got out of bed, intent on going to look for him. I needed to make sure he was alright. I needed to see for myself.
‘Bells?’
I stopped, Cory’s voice cutting through my panic.
‘Cory?’
‘I’m here. It was just a dream.’
‘Why is this happening to me?’ I sobbed. ‘Why do I deserve this?’
‘You don’t, Bells. You don’t deserve any of it.’
‘I must have done something, Cory. Why did I deserve to be exiled and given Brandon as a mate?’
Over the last year, Cory was the only one I’d been able to tell some of the things I’d gone through with Brandon. I made him swear not to tell anyone.
I knew now what it was. Gaslighting, abuse, physical and emotional. I didn’t understand why the Moon Goddess would do this to me. I thought if I sucked it up, I would eventually find out why. Or maybe if I loved him enough, he would change.
Cory’s been asking me to see a therapist, but I couldn’t. I needed to put on a strong face for the pack. They wouldn’t stay if they didn’t trust me.
‘You didn’t deserve to be stuck with that asshole,’ Cory growled . ‘I wish you had told me when he was alive. I told you I would bring you back.’
‘I didn’t want to worry you, Cory. I thought I could handle it on my own.’
‘You’re never on your own, Bells. Come home.’
‘I need to see this through. I’m sorry I woke you.’
‘No need to apologize. Do you want to talk about this one? It felt worse than the rest. You’d gone almost a week without them.'
‘Just more of the same. I just couldn’t make myself wake up. Cade still there?’
‘Yeah, he’s off to look at properties tomorrow. I’ll let you try to get back to sleep.’
Cade was alright, and that alone made my emotions calm.
‘Okay, love you, big brother.’
‘Love you, sis.’
I tried going back to sleep, but when I couldn’t, I snuck out of the room and walked to Cade’s. Making sure no one saw me, I used my key to enter and stole one of his shirts. I changed into it when I got back into my room, and finally managed to get some sleep.
“Morning, Luna!” Lindsay greeted me the next morning.
“Morning. What are we making this morning?”
“Breakfast casseroles,” she answered, pushing a bunch of stuff for me to start cutting.
We had a mutual understanding by now, so I didn’t need to be making a fool of myself every time they asked me what I knew how to cook. A while later, I noticed Lindsay yawning and looking more tired than usual.
“Are you getting enough sleep with the midterms coming?” I asked. “Charles and I can get through a few breakfasts by ourselves if you need to study more.”
“No. Classes are fine. It’s just...”
“What?”
“Martha woke me up with food requests in the middle of the night.”
“Lindsay, tell me you didn’t get up to do her bidding?”
“It’s easier than arguing, Luna.”
“I still can’t believe she did that. Our Luna never would have done that,” Charles growled.
“Mom never did that either,” I told her.
“Martha wasn’t even our Luna,” Lindsay grumbled, making me pause.
“Wait, what?” I asked.
Brandon never said anything.
“Alpha Renly was widowed. His mate died in a car crash.”
“Martha isn’t Brandon’s mother?”
“She is. Alpha Brandon wasn’t Alpha Renly’s biological son. A few years before he died, Alpha Renly found his second chance mate. Martha already had Alpha Brandon. I don’t remember why Alpha Renly never made her his luna, but he did name Alpha Brandon his heir before he passed.”
I sat back in my seat, lost in thought. Coyo looked pensive in the back of my head, too. Before we could get too lost down the rabbit hole, though, Elim came in from outside.
“Luna, I thought we’d get the scent markers down while the sun is still down?”
“Oh, sure,” I said, then thought about it again. “Wait, why?”
“In case rogues show up. I’ll run the perimeter with you.”
“You’re too nice.”
“Just doing my job, Luna,” Elim answered, blushing.
“You guys okay to finish?” I asked Charles and Lindsay.
“Yep,” they both answered.
I shifted and followed behind Elim. We started at the eastern end of the property. I still didn’t understand why the scent stopped inside the borders. No matter which way the wind blew, it wasn’t permeating past the wall.
The sun began peeking out as we neared the end, and I started to hurry. I could see Elim becoming uncomfortable, but he was refusing to head back.
‘Eric, I need a hoodie brought to the eastern borders by the processing plant. Stat please.’
‘Yes, Luna. I’ll be right there.’
Blisters were beginning to show up on Elim’s skin as he tried to remain in the shade, when I saw Eric approaching in his wolf form, a bag in his muzzle. I walked to the forest and shifted, grabbing a shirt and pulling it on.
“Elim, put the hoodie on, and then I want you to climb on Eric and let him take you back.”
“I can make my way back once you’re done, Luna.”
“No. I don’t want to risk it. The sun is almost fully out. The clouds are the only thing protecting you right now. I appreciate you looking out for us, but Coyo is a strong wolf. If someone does attack me, we’ll be fine. You’re already swaying from the sun exposure.”
“Okay,” he said, a strange expression passing over his face that I recognized.
Defeat. An emotion I knew too well.
“Elim, you’re not failing.”
“Being a vampire has too many drawbacks some days,” he sighed.
“Every race, species and religion has drawbacks. You’re just feeling them hard right now, because you’re not among your people.”
“I’m never among my people, Luna. That’s the only way my mother can stay dead.”
Right, Elim had been isolated his entire life.
“You’re headed to Guardian Moon after this. Those are your people. You have family there. There are other full-blooded vampires there, too. There’s night training and everything. Just hang in there.”
Elim nodded, and with another defeated sigh, he climbed on Eric, and they set off.
‘Thanks, Eric.’
‘No problem, Luna. He seems like a good lad.’
‘He is.’
I was almost finishing the scent marking when Eric mind-linked me again.
‘Your sister and her warrior took Elim to his room.’
‘Thanks, Eric. I’ll see you in a little while.’
I went to check in on Elim when I got back. He was fine, if a little red in the face. Chris and Violet were in there with him. Violet was fussing over him while Chris looked a little jealous as he stood to the side, but let her do her thing. Elim just looked embarrassed.
I left them to deal with whatever was going on with them Violet told me she would stay to make sure Elim was okay and would just grab something later. I'd get the scoop from Violet later.
I woke up my monkey and we went down to breakfast.