Chapter 32
I can't find it within myself to open the door.
I know that it's her on the other side of the door, the real, unpossessed her, but I can't help but feel wary. It's weird, because I'd been bitching about not being able to see Olivia, but now I'm here I can't get my palms to stop sweating.
I'm half tempted to just tell Kaden that I'm tired and my back is cramping, play the 'im pregnant' card even though there are no physical signs of it at the moment.
Hell, I haven't even had morning sickness yet so he'd know something is up.
But, I've been using the same half assed excuse to not go in there since he tried to bring me to see her three days ago.
I can't help it, because everytime I picture her on the other side of the inch thick wood, the scar on my stomach burns, bile rising in the back of my throat, my head hurting at the thought of the memories missing from my mind.
"I don't think I can do it today." I wince, screwing my eyes shut and clenching my fists togehter tightly. It's like they're just under the surface of my brain, desperately clawing at my head to get it to remember what happened. "Kaden can we try tomorrow?"
I feel his warm, slender fingers open up my right hand and lace between mine, the gentle pressure in his squeeze almost calming my racing heartbeat.
I almost want to rip my hand away, knowing it's clammy as hell and is probably really gross for him right now, but the look in his stormy grey eyes lets me know that he's not going anywhere.
"We've been trying tomorrow since Monday, Lola.
You can't keep putting this off because she's your best friend. "
His jaw tightens as he looks at the door, like he's looking through it, and I watch as the grey in his eyes darkens like clouds before a storm.
"I'm just as worried about this as you, hell more than you because I'm not the one being targetted by this psycho, but I doubt he knows you're alive if he's gotten what he wants and isn't keeping watch anymore. "
Kaden kisses my knuckles softly, nodding to the guard on the door of Olivia's new bungalow accomodations.
I inhale heavily and take a step forward towards the door, my grip like iron around Kaden's hand.
The guard pulls a glove over his hand and pushes open the door, the eye watering scent of wolfsbane causing my nostrils to sting.
I'm guessing the door is laced with it to stop Olivia from leaving, which I'm guessing is a precaution Kaden came up with.
"I'm right here." My mate whispers softly in my ear, his hand leaving my own only to settle on my waist and tug me flush into his side. It puts me at ease, knowing that this time I have someone to protect me from any potential danger. Or potential possession and another knife into my chest.
I walk into the living room where my best friend is sat on the sofa, her fingers wringing together in her lap.
She doesn't look good, heavy bags settled underneath her dull eyes.
She's without her signature red lipstick, making her face more subtle and showing off her natural beauty, even when she looks exhausted.
She senses my presence and tenses, but when she looks up the dull look in her naturally brown eyes breaks away, pooling with a build up of unshed tears.
"Hey, Lola." She says quietly. Her voice is the same, if not more tired, but her voice reminds me of the laughs we've had, how important she's been to me.
"Olivia." I sob, and rush across the room to wrap her up in a hug. Screw being afraid of her, screw the feelings I had before entering the room. This girl is my best friend, and regardless of what happened, she's still the same girl who stole a place in my heart.
And no amount of creepy necromancy is going to change that.
I spent the whole day with Olivia just filling her in on everything that she's missed out on.
She's been away for the pack for over a month, so she doesn't know anything that's happened.
I told her about the increased guards, the intensity of training, the possessiveness of Kaden and how he's hell bent on protecting me.
Kaden growled slightly when I started lightheartedly bashing him, but he quickly shut up when I let him thread his fingers through mine.
It's no understatement that she cried until she physically couldn't anymore when she found out she almost killed my pup.
She didn't even remember it happening.
She told myself and Kaden that she went downstairs to get the drinks, when her mind went black, next thing she remembers is waking up to Jasper and Thomas forcibly restraining her, her hands dripping with blood that she knew instantly wasn't hers.
I stayed with her until the sun dipped below the tips of the forest trees surrounding her house.
We talked until she had nothing else to ask me.
I told her Atticus had taken over her responsibility of DawnStar security, how the council room had been renovated to accommodate the old CrescentMoon generals.
We didn't move from our spots in the living room, Kaden sending either Thomas or Bianca to go and get food when we opted for take out.
Eventually I knew that it was time to go, my eyes drooping with fatigue.
Olivia looked equally as tired as myself, leaning against the ark of her sofa to rest her head.
"Olivia." I ask quietly, running my fingers through her hair.
"Are you sure you still want to stay here?
You are not a threat anymore, and I doubt this necromancer is dumb enough to possess you again. "
"I'm... I'm still not comfortable being around people after," I can hear the thick and heavy emotion in her voice.
I watch as she swallows heavily, her eyes looking anywhere but at myself.
"after what I did to you, what I caused.
I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for taking Shiva away from you, and I'd have never forgiven myself if you'd lost your baby. "
I hug her close to my body, allowing her familiar scent to envelope me, remind me of how she used to be and why I shouldn't be afraid. I sense Kaden tense beside me, but she's not going to hurt me and I think deep down he knows that.
"Well." I sniffle, releasing her from my iron grip. "We better get off, we've got some stuff to follow up on."
Olivia nods, wiping underneath her reddening eyes. I stand up from my seated position on the sofa and Kaden does the same, extending a hand to her and mumbling some words to her that I can't hear.
It seems to perk up her mood, and she sends him a watery smile before we turn and leave.
The guards with the gloves open the doors and we slip outside, the cool night refreshing my warmed complexion.
"What did you say to her?" I question my mate curiously, turning to face him when we're both seated in his car. A small smile is playing st his lips, and his icy eyes seem to be melting when he looks at me.
"I said that she'll always have her place as general of security if she wants it back." He says to me, and I can't help but smile at the kind gesture. "The position has been in her family just like the alpha position has been in mine. It wouldn't be right to give it to another bloodline."
I smile at his gesture, and the smirk on his face lets me know full well he knew telling me would get this reaction. "Stop smirking to yourself Kaden and drive."
The drive through the woods is quiet, streaks of moonlight breaking through the dense canopy and dancing on the road below in pretty patterns.
The soft light highlights everything good about my mate's face; the sharpness of his nose, the slope of his jaw, the brightness of his smile.
It makes his eyes look almost white, a colour I instantly decide I love more than anything else.
"Kaden." I say to him, watching as his gaze moves from the road ahead to me, and a soft smile takes up most of his face.
"Mmm." He hums to me, the smile getting larger on his face when I roll my eyes at him. "Yes Lola?"
"I..." I let my eyes wander to the road ahead, and scream. "Kaden watch out!"
I grip the door handle and squeeze my eyes shut, the screeching of tyres and the scent of burning rubber invading my senses.
Kaden's arm comes across my chest, trapping me against my seat, as the car crashes straight into the person stood in the road, and their body flies straight into the windshield.
Kaden refused to let me out of the car until he knew it was safe to let me out of the car.
We were both unharmed, but we couldn't say the same for the front of his truck and his windshield, and the person that almost went through it.
Blood had caught between the broken shards of glass, and it was dripping down onto the leather of the dashboard in large enough amounts to have me worried.
This person, or thing, couldn't still be conscious.
I hear the sound of crunching glass underfoot, followed by a weight being removed from the truck, has me breaking out of my panic and unbuckling my seatbelt with shaking fingers.
I slide out of the car and walk up to Kaden, who's body is hiding whatever was on the road and went through our car.
He's pacing backwards and forwards, his eyes glazed over and I know he's talking via his mindlink.
"Kaden?" I ask quietly, watching as his head whips round and he glares at me.
"Lola I told you to stay in the car." He narrows his eyes before sighing and calling me over. "Although, I should've known you wouldn't listen to me. I do give you credit for staying for five minutes however."
I walk over to him slowly, and he steps aside so I get a better look at our victim.
It's definitely a he, considering he's not wearing a shirt, revealing his pale skin and strong build.
He's a werewolf, his body halfway through a shift with his canines extended and his fangs biting into his lip.
His body is covered in cuts and bruises, large gashes covering a large proportion of his body, including black veins protruding from the small scar below his bellybutton; a wound that mirrors my own.
Blood has matted to his body hair, clumping all of the hair on his arms together, and making the colour of his hair almost unrecognisable under the dark crimson liquid.
There is a large open wound on the left side of his body, blood leaking from it like a fast flowing faucet, explaining the large amounts of blood in the car.
There are large pieces of glass sticking out of the gash, and his body smells like wolfsbane, which explains why he's not healing and that he's shaking whilst releasing small howls.
But I'd recognise him anywhere, from any distance away, by the ugly hole through the side of his neck, and the crescent moon scar travelling the whole way down one side of his face.
"Why the hell is he still in the territory?" I hiss angrily at my mate, looking at his darkened eyes. "Are we going to forget that your old third tried to kill me?!"
Kaden drags his hands through his hair angrily, pacing away from me before coming back. "We can't just leave him here, Lola. Despite what he's done, he was my best friend once."
"Then he's not going to be anywhere near me." I growl, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring at his body. "If you're going to be in the same car as him, I won't be."
Kaden growls at me, pulling me towards him. "You won't leave my side, do you hear me."
I laugh crazily at him, wrenching my arm from his grip. "Don't you dare make me go anywhere near him."
Cars start to pull up, big black SUV's with wolves pouring out of them draw up to the side of the roads and block off both directions.
"Spread out!" Kaden barks, his voice carrying into the silence of the night. "I want every inch of this woods combing through until we find what did this!"
I watch as a few of the wolves here, including Brett and Zac, grab the bloodied mess that is Carrick and throw him into the back of one of the nearest SUV's.
I also watch how it drives away without Kaden in it.
"If you don't want to be in that car, then I won't go in it without you.
" Kaden's voice mutters in my ear, his strong arms wrapping around my waist. I feel his hands settle against my stomach, his lips at my neck.
"You're my priority and I shouldn't be getting annoyed at you for hating him.
Too many times he's hurt you and I forget that. "
I kiss him softly on his cheek, resting my hands atop his. "And I forget he was your best friend once, I'm sorry."
He smiles against my skin, the prickling of his stubble against my cheeks familiar and soothing. "I shouldn't be putting him first. Come on," he starts to steer me towards a car with Jasper behind the wheel. "I want to go home."