Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Eli
This is a bad idea. Why the hell did I agree to help her?
I just can’t believe this shit. Three hundred and fifty fucking years, and she just lets him back in her life.
Emery has purchased a new apartment building, and I am fine helping her move her belongings over to it.
I am not prepared for a fucking family reunion, though.
Dropping a box on her desk, she comes rushing behind me, closing the door.
“Look, I know you are pissed off.”
“Is this why you asked me to fucking help?” I snap at her, knowing she has pack members who would have willingly obliged.
“What, no. I wanted to spend time with you. I didn’t think he was going to show. He only got here yesterday.”
“And you’re just going to let him back in your life after three hundred and fifty years, Emery? Have you forgotten what he did? I can’t believe you,” I tell her.
She may be my sister, but right now, I want to slap the stupidity out of her.
“Exactly, Eli, it has been three hundred and fifty years. He has changed. He just wants forgiveness,” she says, and I scoff at her words.
“How much? How much does he want?”
“He doesn’t want money, Eli. He just wants to get to know us, be a part of our lives,” Emery pleads, yet how could she even speak to him after what he did? What he was going to do?
“How long have you been speaking with him? Don’t you think it is a little odd that he just comes back after three hundred and fifty fucking years?”
“I reached out to him a few months ago. I was curious, and we spoke. I told him I was moving, and he offered to help,” she says, sitting on the edge of her black desk.
“Is this why you wanted me to come here?” I ask her.
She looks away guiltily.
“You may forgive him, but I never will. Keep him away from Adeline, or I will kill the bastard.”
“Eli, he is our father.”
“He is no father of mine,” I tell her, heading for the door to go back home to my mates.
“Mom died. She died three months ago,” she says, and I stop, my hand still on the door. I look back at her over my shoulder.
“He just wants to make things right, Eli.”
“It doesn’t change anything. He still did what he did. How can you forgive him? After everything he did? He had his pack hunt us for years, Emery. He was willing to kill his own kids.”
“Eli, just wait…”
I ignore her, instead walking out and slamming her door. I make my way to the foyer before heading out the glass doors. My phone rings just as I step outside the doors. It’s Cyrus.
“Everything okay? It’s 4AM.”
“No, something isn’t right. Just get home,” he says, hanging up.
I look over at the truck and spot Calum helping carry the furniture inside. “Calum, run me home,” I tell him.
He stops what he is doing and runs over. “Yes, Alpha,” he says, and I shake my head.
“I’m not your Alpha anymore.”
“That won’t change for some of us. Emery is our Alpha now, but only because you allow her to be.”
He pulls his keys from his pocket, unlocking the car parked in front of the truck.
“This moving at night is bullshit,” he says as we climb in the car.
“Unfortunately, that is what happens. Trucks would block the streets and bank up traffic. I don’t understand why she insists on having a packhouse in the center of the city.”.
He nods, turning down a street. “You look pissed off.”
“You’re surprised?” I ask, and he shakes his head.
“No, I find it odd, too. Why now? Why, after all these years, he suddenly pops back into her life?”
“God knows. Just keep an eye on him for me. I don’t trust him. Something is up,” I tell him, and he nods.
Calum loves my sister, even if she is too blind to see it. He is a good man and would be a good mate for her if she would just choose one.
Pulling up, I catch the lift upstairs, and the moment I step into the flat, I am smashed by Cyrus’s frantic emotions as he approaches me. My own overshadow him for a moment until I catch sight of him.
“What’s wrong? Where is she?” I ask, panicked.
“In the shower.”
I let out a sigh of relief, yet that doesn’t explain why he is so freaked out. I toss my jacket on the counter and the keys and card for the elevator.
“So, are you going to tell me or just pace?” I ask him.
He stops, pinching the bridge of his nose and letting out a breath before looking up at me. “Why are you upset?” he suddenly asks, looking at me.
“It can wait. Tell me what’s wrong,” I ask him, walking over and pulling him to me.
He leans on me, and I can feel his anxiety dwindling slightly from my touch.
“I can hear her,” he says, making me pull back.
I listen and can hear the shower running, not understanding what he means.
“Huh?”
“No, Eli. I can hear her thoughts,” he says, and I take a step back from him.
“But she is our mate.”
“I think the bond is… I don’t know. Maybe it’s getting weaker or something. I don’t know. I just know this isn’t normal.”
“It’s not getting weaker. I can feel her just fine, and she us.”
“We need to change her. I don’t like this. I can only hear those that aren’t my mates. Why can I suddenly hear her?”
“Woah, slow down. She is fine. No need to jump to conclusions and change her. I will have the doctor come check her out.”
“Then why hasn’t her heat left if she is fine? I won’t lose her, Eli. We need to change her now.”
“No, let the doctor see her first, then we can decide. I will ring Emery,” I tell him, grabbing my phone from my pocket and ringing the one person I have just run from. I can tell this day is going to be shit, and it has barely started.
* * *
Adeline
Something is wrong with Cyrus. He is almost manic with how he keeps following me around the place.
I eventually give up on trying to tell him I am fine.
I lock myself in the bathroom to shower.
To escape him snooping in my head, him freaking out is starting to make me worry.
The door suddenly opens, the handle twisting and snapping off because I’ve locked it, and it hits the tile floor with a thud.
Eli steps into the bathroom, and I let out a breath of relief.
I can see blood on his neck, telling me Cyrus has fed on him, which eases my anxiety slightly.
He tugs his shirt over his head and strips his pants off before opening the shower screen and stepping in.
I can feel something is off about him. He pulls me against his chest, his nose running across my shoulder to my neck before he runs his tongue along my mark, making me moan.
“Well, it’s definitely not the bond weakening,” he says before smelling my skin again. “You do smell different, though.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, grabbing the soap and washing his chest.
“Your scent is stronger. Probably just the heat.”
“What’s wrong with you? I can see you’re mad about something. Cyrus?”
“No, just a bad night. I am fine,” he answers before pouring shampoo into his hand.
“Turn around,” he says, and I do. Eli washes my hair, and I almost fall asleep as his fingers run across my scalp, massaging the shampoo in.
“You can rinse it out,” he says, and I turn around to rinse it out, only for him to lather his hands in soap and start washing me.
I raise an eyebrow at him as his hands run over my breasts, his thumbs flicking over my nipples, making them harden.
“You alright there? I can wash myself,” I tell him with a laugh.
“I know. I just like touching you,” he says, pinching my nipple between his thumb and finger and rolling it, making an airy moan leave my lips.
“I like your reactions,” he says, stepping closer and grabbing my neck.
He turns my face up so he can kiss me. His tongue forces its way into my mouth as he kisses me deeply, his tongue playing with mine before he bites my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth.
I wrap my arms around his neck as he pulls me flush against his chest, feeling the hard lines of muscle pressing against me.
I can feel his erection press against my stomach as he pushes me against the tiled wall.
His hands grab my thighs, forcing my legs around his waist. He growls before moving his hips, and I feel his cock press to my entrance before sliding into me.
His lips go to my neck as he nips at it before pulling out and thrusting back in.
His hands grip mine, shoving them above my head onto the cold tiles and holding them in one of his.
His other hand goes to my hip while his mouth moves lower, wrapping around my nipple as he thrusts into me.
I roll my hips, meeting his thrusts; his grip tightens as he thrusts into me brutally, like he is trying to get rid of his anger by using me. His claws sink into my hip painfully, making me cry out.
“Eli, slow down,” I tell him, and he stops, realizing he is hurting me.
“Sorry,” he whispers, kissing my lips and letting my hands go.
I wrap them back around his neck.
“What’s wrong with you?” I ask him as he slows his pace. He doesn’t answer, instead just kissing me as he moves in and out of me. Yet I can tell he is holding back, for which I am grateful; my hips are stinging from his claws.