Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
Adeline
“No, they came on our land wanting to do an assessment, assign one to us or some crap. I said no, they left, and then our kids started going missing. We thought maybe they ran away for civilization, but then this man Pete came out by chopper and said he would return the four kids if we grew him wolfsbane. I said yes so I could get them back, then it was more and more herbs each time, and they would bring stuff out to help us. The pack wanted to keep working with them, afraid that more kids would go missing or turn up dead if we stopped.”
“Did you say, Pete?” I ask, and Maverick nods.
I turn to Eli, who seems deep in thought.
“How long?” Eli asks.
“About ten years, I think. I tried to get help but lost contact with my assigned hunter, Michael. I told him about the deal with Pete, and he said he would try and help, but then he never came back. That crop you burned was meant to be delivered this week. You just signed all our death warrants,” Maverick says.
I am still stuck on the name Michael. “Do you know Michael’s last name?”
“Not sure. I think it’s Parse or Pace. It was a long time ago, Addie. He was assigned not long after the first shipment, but he didn’t like Pete or Jamison.”
“Paisley?” I ask, and he clicks his fingers.
“Yes, that’s it. Do you know him?”
“He was her father,” Eli tells him.
“Your father was a hunter?” Maverick seems taken aback, but I nod.
“Well then, your father tried to help and was going to notify the supernatural council for me, but he never returned. I hold no ill will against your dad. It was a bit of a predicament to get involved in, especially to go against your own organization,” Maverick says.
“Her father died nearly nine years ago,” Cyrus says, and Maverick looks at me.
“Yes, he died when I was sixteen. Hunters said he was in a car accident, yet we never believed it. Now I think I know why he died,” I tell Maverick.
All while Pete pretended to be a friend to my father, and now I’m wondering if he had something to do with his death.
“When are you supposed to deliver the herbs?”
“By the last day of each month,” Maverick tells Eli.
“Where?”
“The forest line on the road. They come in trucks.”
“Do they know Addie is here, that Cyrus and I are here?”
“No, I wouldn’t tell them that, Eli. Please, I would never harm your mate,” Maverick tells him, patting my hand.
“I will handle the herbs, but you should have gone to the council, father. They would have put a stop to this,” Eli says.
Maverick sighs. “It took me months to get a hold of your sister. I wouldn’t have had a clue how even to find them.
That’s why I was relying on Michael, but when he never returned, I knew we were on our own.
After a while, we started becoming reliant on their help.
In case you haven’t noticed, there isn’t much wildlife out here besides boar.
There is nothing left, the forest barren of wildlife.
We need them not just for protection but for food.
Other than what we grow, nothing is left out here.
In winters, our people would have nearly starved if it weren’t for the supply dropped. ”
Eli nods before looking at Cyrus. “I need the phone,” he tells him, and Cyrus nods, going to retrieve it.
“What are you going to do?” Maverick asks him.
“Ringing the supernatural council. As for the forest, maybe it is time this pack joined Emery’s. Let her have it. I can’t run this pack forever. Addie won’t stay out here forever,” Eli tells him, and his father sighs.
“It may be the only choice. I did quite like some of the humans’ inventions.
Their houses are a lot more comfortable with their heating and cooling.
I also like the box that has the pictures; a TV, Emery said it was.
Plus, I find the phones quite handy. No letters to post and no waiting for a reply,” Maverick says, and I chuckle.
He has definitely been living in the wrong century all these years.
Eli shakes his head at his father before walking outside to make some calls.
* * *
The next couple of weeks pass by quickly. Eli takes care of the herbs and has wildlife cameras set up with the council’s help, who supplies the shipment to catch the hunters. They are doing their investigations into the hunters’ organization and gathering more evidence.
I manage to finally get a hold of my mother and warn her of Pete.
She makes sure to ring me every day, so I know she is okay.
I also train every day with the pack kids, which is growing increasingly more difficult.
I am getting bigger and bigger and am unable to stand for long periods of time.
I need to take breaks and have been napping heaps.
I am always so winded, having trouble breathing.
The supernatural council sent a doctor out to check on me, and I would soon have no choice but to head back to the city.
It is too risky for me to give birth here, being that I am a human, and they said I didn’t have long left.
I dread returning to the city. Emery is also back but leaves every few days to go back to her pack. She and her father are planning to merge the packs after this business with Sam is over.
Rolling out of bed, I sit up from my nap. Cyrus is lying beside me, playing Solitaire with a deck of cards.
“Are you feeling alright?” he asks, scooping the cards up.
“Yes, just hungry.”
“I will go make you something,” he says, but I shake my head.
“Not for food,” I tell him, and he looks at me worriedly.
“The amount of blood you are consuming is starting to worry me,” he says, looking at my belly. “It means you are getting closer and closer. This baby is growing alarmingly fast.”
“Aren’t they supposed to?”
“Yes, Lycan pregnancies are only three months, but this baby is growing too fast, being a hybrid, and I worry it is taking too much of a toll on your body. Humans aren’t meant to consume blood,” he says, brushing his thumb over my cheek and under my eye where a huge bag has formed.
No matter how much I sleep I am always exhausted.
Eli walks in the room before sitting on the bed.
“How was your run?” Cyrus asks him.
“Good, but some people reported picking up odd scents again. By the time I got there, the scent was gone, though,” Eli says, pressing his lips in a line.
“Supernatural council, maybe?” Cyrus says, and Eli nods.
“Yeah, probably collecting the data from the wildlife cameras,” Eli says with a shrug before rolling on his belly. He presses his lips to my round belly before rubbing the side I am not lying on.
“You look tired, you get enough sleep?” he asks, and I nod but still yawn.
“Maybe no more training with the kids. Just rest until we get back to the city,” Eli says.
I like training to kill the boredom, but I am always left way more exhausted afterward.
“We will be leaving for the city next week. You are getting too far along now. You will be more comfortable there,” Eli says, and I nod.
“Can I go see my mom?”
“Not yet. Soon. I have organized a place with the supernatural council. We will be staying at the compound till you give birth and Sam is caught. A chopper will pick us up.”
“And also because Cyrus is going to change me,” I tell him, and he nods, smiling sadly.
“You promised, Addie. You said, after you had him, you would let him change you,” Eli says.
“I know, but I won’t be able to see my mom once he does. I want to see her beforehand,” I tell him.
“That may not be an option. Maybe I could see if she can come to visit at the council,” Eli says.
I feel myself become choked with emotion. If I can’t get the bloodlust under control once I get changed, I may not see her again or Maya. Cyrus says it takes centuries for some vampires to control it.
“Hey, don’t cry. Everything will work out. I will make sure you get to see her again,” Cyrus says.
“I’m not crying,” I tell him, and he smiles sadly. Stupid hormones. One minute I am fine; the next, I am blubbering like a baby or ravenous. Makes no sense.
“I will make you something to eat,” Cyrus says, getting up.
“I told you I am not hungry for food.”
“You still should eat. You may not be hungry, but you can’t survive only drinking blood,” Cyrus says before walking out.
Eli sits up before patting his lap. “Come on then, but please eat, too.”
I roll my eyes before straddling him. He runs his nail down his neck; I have been feeding on him so much it has actually scarred him, which even he finds strange because he heals so quickly.
Eli has barely moved his hand away before my hunger takes over, and I bite into his neck.
He groans before hissing at my blunt teeth.
Yet even feeding on him is a major task, and Eli has to slice his neck open a couple of times before the hunger inside me, that is our son, dies down.
I pull my mouth from his neck, and Eli wipes at the blood on my lips before pressing his lips to mine.
Now that I have fed, I just want to go to sleep again. My eyes drift closed, and Eli pulls away, chuckling, when I don’t kiss him back, instead leaning on him. Cyrus comes in with a sandwich, but I shake my head, crawling back on the bed and lying down.
“No, Addie,” Cyrus says, handing the plate to Eli to hold. He pulls me up into a sitting position, and I whine, needing to nap.
“You are growing weaker from not eating enough. Now up, or I will force-feed you,” he says, sitting behind me.
I lean against him, sparks rushing over my body from his skin.
“Addie, Cyrus is right. Eat,” Eli says, bringing a piece of the sandwich to my lips. “Open,” he says, and I groan before opening my mouth, forcing myself to chew and swallow.
Cyrus and Eli shake me awake when I start dozing off until I finish the sandwich.
“You can rest now,” Eli says, but I am already starting to drift off.
“I don’t think we should wait a week. All she wants to do is sleep,” I hear Cyrus say.
* * *
I am awoken by the phone ringing next to my head.
I groan, feeling around for it in the darkness.
I find it next to my pillow and squint at the screen.
My vision blurs as the screen lights up, making me squint at its brightness.
My mother’s name pops up on the small screen; I find it a little odd.
I rarely get reception in the bedroom when I realize the window is open; the draft is a little chilly, and I pull the blanket over me, shielding myself away from the cool breeze as I tug it over my shoulders.
Sitting up, I realize Eli and Cyrus must be out having dinner with the pack.
I press the answer button, pulling the antenna out, so I can hear better, not wanting to go outside in the cold.
I always get so excited speaking to my mother, I almost feel normal and look forward to talking to her every day when she gets off work.
“Hey, Ma,” I say tiredly, covering my mouth with my hand as I yawn.
She doesn’t say anything, and I look at the screen to make sure I haven’t dropped reception but I have two bars. I also check the antenna is all the way out before placing the phone back against my ear.
“Mom?”
“Hello, Ada.”
My blood runs cold at the sound of his voice.
He sounds the same, the exact same voice that haunts my dreams; I cringe, memories of the cabin flooding my mind, before I push my walls up, not wanting Cyrus to see into my head.
I do my best to keep them away, so he won’t accidentally overhear or see my thoughts.
“Sam?” I choke out. Why is he using my mother’s phone?
“Miss me? I have missed you, though I am quite mad you got yourself knocked up,” he says.