24. Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chris
I was camping out by the daycare center the next morning, when I got a text message that brought me out of my thoughts.
Luna Bellarose: I need to speak with you. Please come see me in my office.
I hesitated. I didn’t want to leave Violet potentially exposed, but I couldn’t tell Luna Bellarose that I couldn’t come to see her because I was stalking her little sister. I shot another look at the daycare, hoping to catch a glimpse of Violet moving across the windows, but I didn’t have much luck.
I made my way to the alpha office, but stopped in my tracks when I saw the door was open a crack, and I heard Violet’s name in the conversation.
“So, Violet is dating Elim, now?” Alpha Cade asked from inside the room.
My heart hammered in my chest as I strained to hear.
Please, say no. Please, say I’m not too late. I can’t live without her.
“I don’t think she agreed yet. Elim came and asked me for help. He wanted a room where he could set up a movie night with Vi tonight. He also asked for my blessing in case she agreed to date him after,” Luna Bellarose explained, making my heart sink.
The man was making his move and I might already be too late.
“And, you said yes?” Alpha Cade sounded skeptical.
“I said no one has the right to tell my sister who she can love, and he was lucky I wasn’t blabbing on him for thinking anyone needed a blessing for someone other than Violet. Then, I told him the conference room at the beginning of the hall was empty, so he could set up whatever he needed there tonight.”
Fuck. This can’t be happening. I still don’t have a plan to get her back.
“Are we Team Elim, now? What about Chris? I thought we were Team Chris all the way?” Alpha Cade continued to question.
His words surprised me and gave me hope, shortly before Luna Bellarose crushed it.
“He can’t get his head out of his ass, and my sister can’t keep pining over him. I love Chris, and I think he’s perfect for her, but if she needs to move on to be happy again, I’m with whoever she chooses. I’m Team Violet all the way.”
“I was so sure he loved her.”
I fucking do. So fucking much!
“I thought so, too, but I guess not enough. Now go away! He’s coming over, and we can’t be caught gossiping.”
I ducked into a conference room and waited until I heard Alpha Cade leave. I waited another minute to calm my racing heart before I knocked on her door.
“Come in,” Luna Bellarose called out.
“You wanted to see me?”
“Yes, I heard you have some experience with bottling?”
“Umm... some. I brewed some beer during college as a hobby.”
"We’re going to start bottling the wine next week. Are you able to help? The number of experienced people is low, and I can’t risk having anything go wrong.”
“Of course, Luna,” I answered.
“Thank you,” she replied, her eyes moving back to some documents she was filling out.
I stood there waiting for a moment for her to continue.
“Was that all you needed?” I asked.
“Oh, yes. Sorry. You can go.”
I walked away and returned to my post by the daycare.
Violet had a date tonight. She would be in a room with dimmed lights and a movie playing. Elim was going to be sitting close to her. What if he made a move? Would she let him?
I was so lost in my thoughts, that I almost missed when Alpha Cade and Beta John came and picked up Violet and Adamat the end of the day. They always showed up early so Violet had someone with her when parents came to pick up their pups. They also kept Violet and Adam between the two of them the entire walk back to the pack house, and I was grateful they took protecting her seriously.
I knew she was heading upstairs with Adam and Luna Bellarose to play with the rabbit until dinner, so I waited a bit on the ground floor before I walked up to my room. I skipped dinner, unable to stop the scene of the kiss Elim gave Violet last night from playing on repeat in my head.
Was that when he asked her out? Was that when she agreed? Would she give him the kisses I so desperately needed and missed?
I heard Violet come into her room after dinner, and I started pacing in my room. I lost count of the times I went to the connecting door, and stopped. I was still pacing a moat into the rug around the bed when I heard the door lock engage and the shower turned on.
My body shuddered as I thought about Violet showering just a few feet away from where I was.
Then, my mood soured. She was showering for her date.
For her date with Elim.
I continued pacing, fighting with myself to not break down the door and beg her to choose me. I wanted to beg her not to go.
Did I have a right to do that? To put her in a tough spot with Elim after she already agreed to spend the evening with him?
Probably not.
It wasn’t fair to put her in that situation. Elim was her friend. Hell, I thought he could have been mine. I didn’t want to hurt the man.
But, he wasn’t her mate, either. He was there the night of the full moon. I was sure he’d gone to see if she was his, just like I did. If neither of us were her second-chance mate, then what was the saying? All’s fair in love and war.
He may like Violet, but I was in love with her. So, fuck Elim. I didn’t mind the vampire. I knew he was a good guy, but he wanted my Violet.
My Violet.
The thought of Violet being mine set my body on fire. The thought of someone else touching her with the soft, loving touches I wanted to give her, made me want to punch something.
Finally made up your mind? Titan asked, lowering the block as he felt my emotions settling .
I still don’t think we deserve her, I told him. But maybe I’m enough of an asshole not to give a shit, and enough of a man to know I’ll be working to earn her for the rest of my life if she’ll let me.
Then, what the hell are you waiting for? Go grovel to our mate!
She’s n—
She could be if you stop fucking up and letting your head lead instead of your heart. For fucks sake, werewolves are emotional creatures! How the fuck did we end up being the only ones that overthink this shit? We love her, and she could have loved us. I don’t want to do this anymore, Chris. I don’t want us to be miserable and alone. We deserve to be happy, and I know we can make her happy. So, I don’t fucking care if you have to crawl to her and beg. She’s worth any humiliation she needs to see to know that we’re serious about her, Titan’s arguments were solid, but...
What if she closes the door in my face? I asked, fear seizing my body and refusing to let me take a step.
Then, we beg through the fucking door.
I took a deep breath and walked into the bathroom. I made it all the way to her door with my hand on the doorknob again, before I started losing confidence.
What if she’s already moved on?
Then, we deal with that somehow. But first, we fight like hell for her.
Okay.
I took a deep breath and turned the doorknob and pushed. The door wasn’t locked, and I felt a moment of hope, until I pushed the door all the way open after knocking softly to warn her I was coming in.
“Violet?” I called out.
Silence was the only thing that greeted me. I walked into the room and looked around. The internal lock to the hallway wasn’t in place, the closet door was open, and her tablet was on the nightstand.
She must have left while we were talking, Titan sighed, his voice dripping with disappointment.
I sat on her bed, feeling despair engulfing my soul.
We’re too late. She’s on her date with Elim.
I was going to be alone for the rest of my life, because I knew deep in my soul that there would never be another woman for Titan and me.
The fuck we are! We’re not too late until she chooses him! Go find her and beg her, Titan snarled.
Eli—
Can go fuck himself. No one is going to love her like we can.
Knowing it was now or never, I stormed out of the room and down the stairs as fast as my feet could move. I needed to stop this date before Elim made his move, and I lost my chance to make things right. I ran toward the offices and burst through the door, ready to do whatever it took and beg Violet to give me a chance.
Except she wasn’t in there.
The room looked cozy. A movie menu was on a projector against the wall. There was a tray of food on a small coffee table next to a blanket on the floor surrounded by pillows. Candles were lit around the room. It looked intimate and romantic, and my knees almost gave out, thinking Violet had left with Elim already.
Instead of sinking down to the ground, I turned around, intending to search for them and try to make my case, no matter how much of an asshole that made me. A crumpled piece of paper lying on the ground by the door caught my eye. I picked it up and straightened the paper.
Violet,
Don’t freak out. I didn’t do this for us. I did it for you and Chris. Don’t be mad, but I saw him watching you last night, and that’s why I asked you to trust me and kissed you. He’s always watching over you. You two love each other. It’s clear to anyone who sees you together, and I’m not going to try to get in the middle of that.
I did meddle a little, though. I hope it works. If Chris doesn’t burst through the door wanting to kill me, and whisk you away as you deserve in the next twenty minutes, text me, and we’ll have that friendly movie night as we planned, and stick pins into a voodoo doll. I have a piece of his shirt with some blood to make it work. If you don’t text me, I’ll assume this worked, and things will go back to normal for all of us.
Hugs,
Elim
Fuck. I knew I liked that guy. But then, that begged the question: Where was she? Did she read the note and run off when she thought I might run inside looking for her?
I didn’t have long to wait for an answer as I heard tiny, delicate sniffles approaching the conference room. Violet stepped into the room, and froze when she saw me. Her eyes were rimmed red, and she was holding a black trash bag in one hand.
Was she upset Elim didn’t show up?
“What are you doing here, Chris?” she demanded, snatching the letter from my hand and putting it in the trash bag.
She walked over to one of the candles and blew it out. She stopped and looked around, grabbed a cup from the coffee table and poured the melted wax into it before dumping the candle into the trash bag.
“I wanted to talk to you,” I answered, as she kept her back to me and methodically snuffed out candle after candle, dumping the wax into the cup and putting the candle into the bag.
“You have until I’m done cleaning up to talk,” she warned.
“I—” I took a step toward her, but stopped. “Can you stop and look at me?”
“No. Talk, then leave,” she replied, and I could hear the quiver in her voice.
My heart sank to the ground.
“I’m sorry.”
“You already apologized the day you broke up with me. If that’s all, I’d like to finish cleaning in silence.”
Fuck. This wasn’t what I hoped would happen. Hell, apparently it wasn’t what Elim hoped would happen, either. But, I couldn’t give her up just like that again. If I wanted a chance, I needed to prove to her that I loved her, and I wouldn’t just walk out the first time someone said something to me. The only way I was walking away was if she said she didn’t want me anymore; if she told me she had already moved on.
“Violet, please, hear me out,” I begged, feeling my voice crack with fear that I’d really lost her.
She stopped. She stood with her back to me for a while before she shook her head, and finally turned around. Fuck if my heart didn’t break to see the tears in her eyes.
“I love you,” I blurted out.
Her eyes widened, but then she scoffed and angrily wiped a tear falling from her face.
“If that’s what you do when you love someone, I hope you never hate me.”
Okay, I deserved that.
“Please—”
“Please, what, Chris?” she snapped. “What the heck do you want from me? Do you think I’ll tell people what you did, and it reflects badly on Crescent Moon or your parents? Don’t worry. I’ve sworn anyone that knew about us to secrecy. Do you want me to forgive you so you don’t feel guilty? There’s nothing to forgive. I’m the one who practically forced you to kiss me in the first place, and basically bullied you into giving me a chance. I’m the one who’s sorry, so you can stop feeling guilty.”
Bully me? Did she not know how many times I’d dreamed of those kisses? But, I didn’t get a chance to correct her, though, because my fierce, tiny warrior wasn’t done speaking.
“You can stop sleeping in front of my door, and sitting outside the luna office, and stop watching to make sure I’m safe through the window of the training arena, and in that tree by the daycare.”
My eyes widened, and I felt heat coming to my face. I thought I was pretty sneaky.
“I have survived a lot in the last year. So, don’t worry about me. I’ll survive you, too,” she finished angrily, but the quiver in her lip gave me a tiny bit of hope to hang onto.
“I don’t want you to survive me. I want to be with you, Violet,” I told her quietly, begging her with my eyes to believe me.
“Because Elim tricked you into being jealous? No thanks. I don’t need any more pity kisses, that will just end the moment someone feels like they have a right to an opinion on my life. I have a little bit of fucking dignity left,” Violet snapped, another tear running down her cheek.
Is that the first time Violet cursed? Titan asked me, but I ignored him, even though the thought crossed my mind, too.
“Those weren’t pity kisses. Violet, I love you. I have for a while.” I took a step forward. “But we’re not mates, and I thought maybe you were better off finding your second-chance mate. I thought I was doing what was best for you.” Then, because I knew it wasn’t fair to use her an excuse to hurt her, I added, “And, because I was a coward, afraid of getting my heart broken if you ever left me.”
Violet shook her head, anger filling her eyes again, telling me what she thought of my reasoning.
“You don’t get to decide what’s best for me. One person you didn’t even know said something disapproving, and that mattered more to you than what I thought. It mattered more to you than what I felt. You didn’t listen to my responses to what she said, you didn’t let me talk when you broke up with me. You said your piece, and you walked away. Why should I believe you now? Why should I believe the same thing isn’t going to happen when the next person judges what we have? Or the one after that?” she challenged.
“Because I can’t live without you—” she scoffed again, but I kept going. “—Because, I finally realized I’m selfish enough to want to keep you for myself. I need your light, Violet. I need your love more than I need anyone’s approval. I need you more than I need air to breathe. I don’t care who I have to fight to be with you. I don’t care who thinks badly of me for wanting you. I don’t care if you or I have a second-chance mate out there. I don’t fucking care if someone deserves you more than I do. No one, not even a second-chance mate, will love you as much as I love you. I will reject any person the Goddess chooses for me, because I will always choose you.” I stalked forward, stopping just before her and dropping to my knees.
“Choose me, Violet. I’ll beg you every day for the rest of my life if I need to. You’re all I want. You’re the only person who makes me happy. You’re it for me and Titan. We choose you.”
Violet didn’t respond, and I continued to wait for her as I watched more tears falling from her eyes. I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking, and my heart sank when minutes passed by in silence. I reached for her hand, ready to continue pleading my case. When my hand made contact with hers, Violet let out a sob. I brought her hand to my lips, kissing it before clasping it in both of mine.
“Choose me one more time, Violet, and I promise I will never let you go. I’ll wake up every morning and ask you to choose me for one more day. Every day, I’ll prove to you how much I love you, so you can choose me again the next day. I will fight alongside you, for you and against everyone, every day from today forward, because I already know how it feels to lose you. Please... choose me.”
I was putting my heart in the palm of her hands, and waiting for her to crush it or give it life again. I closed my eyes when she reached out with her free hand, and wiped the tears that slipped from my eyes as I told her what she meant to me.
“If you break my heart again, I’ll sic all my family on you,” Violet finally whispered.
I opened my eyes and looked up at her, hope blooming in my chest like a flower that hadn’t seen the sun in way too long, and was now feeling its warmth again.
"They can’t do anything to me that would be more painful, than the last two weeks of thinking I’d lost you and knowing it was my own doing,” I assured her.
“What if you find your mate?” she whispered, her lip trembling as she said the words.
I kissed her hand again before I placed it over my heart.
“Choose me, and I’ll never go near a full moon celebration for as long as I live. I don’t need a second-chance mate. You’re the only mate I need.” I let her see the truth of my words as she searched my eyes.
“Okay,” Violet finally agreed, and Titan howled with joy in the back of my head.
“Okay?” I asked, needing to verify what I thought I heard.
“Okay. Now, kiss me.”
I stood up, not needing to be told twice. I pulled her into my arms, marveling at the warmth and joy that spread across my body at the contact. Just holding her made my heart begin to mend itself back together. I dipped my head until I could reach her lips and kissed her. I pulled back after a count of two, needing to hear the confirmation that she wanted me. Needing to hear her ask for another kiss more than I needed food to live. I smiled when she pouted up at me.
“A proper one. I want a proper kiss,” she demanded.
“Yes, ma’am,” I whispered, before lifting her up and slamming my mouth back onto hers. She wrapped her arms around me, pulling me as close as our bodies allowed. Keeping one eye on her and one on the floor, I walked the few steps and lowered us to the nest of pillows and blankets as I pushed my tongue into her parted lips, and explored her mouth.
Two weeks was too long to go without her taste, her touch. Too long to go without her love, and the light that filled every dark corner of my soul with happiness. I pulled back to let her breathe, but began placing small kisses of thanks and love all over her face while we caught our breath. When my lips touched the sensitive part below her ear, she moaned, and I felt my cock harden to steel at the sound. I stopped and rested my forehead on hers.
I didn’t want to push her. After everything she went through, I knew we needed to go slow with anything more than a little making out and light touching. So, I willed my cock to behave and kissed her again.
“Was that better?” I asked.
“Yes,” she managed to answer as she caught her breath, and then buried her face in my neck. “You were late,” she mumbled.
“What?”
She pulled her head up and stared at me, as we held onto each other.
“You were late. Elim said in his note that you would be here within twenty minutes. I waited half an hour before I gave up on you coming, and went to get a trash bag to clean up,” she explained, letting out a stuttered breath as if she was struggling not to cry again.
“I sat in your room thinking I was too late, until Titan told me to man up and interrupt your date,” I admitted.
“Can we go back upstairs?” she asked, her beautiful hazel eyes hopeful.
“You don’t want to watch a movie? Elim spent a lot of time setting this up for it to go to waste,” I told her as I looked around the romantic setup of the room.
She shook her head, though.
“I just want to hold you and practice more kisses, and maybe some other stuff...” she trailed off in a breathy whisper and a blush.
And fuck, who was I to deny her?
We stood, and I helped her finish cleaning up. We took the blankets, pillows and food up to her room. I dumped all of it on the side by her nightstand before I pulled her down onto the bed with me. I’d barely eaten in two weeks and I’d hardly slept, but I wanted nothing to do with either of those activities right now. I just wanted to touch her and hold her.
My Violet.
“What do you get when you cross an angry sheep and an angry cow?” I pulled back from our kisses long enough to ask.
“What?” she asked, a small giggle escaping from her swollen lips before she even heard the punch line.
“An animal that’s always in a baaaad mooood,” I finished and stared in awe as she threw her head back and laughed.
Fuck, I loved my mate.