Chapter 10 - Brooks
The first thing I notice when I wake up with the longest breath I’ve ever taken is that I’m undressed. Frowning, I look down as my hands pat the places where I’d been hurt, discovering that I’m miraculously healed.
How long was I out for?
How am I still alive?
And most importantly, why am I almost naked in the middle of the forest?
I could have sworn that I was about to die, unless I’ve just woken up in the Moon Goddess’s humble abode in heaven.
That isn’t hard to believe when I turn my face to find her lying right beside me. Except, she’s wearing Rissa’s avatar, and her eyes are closed.
Reaching out to touch her, an electric spark shoots through my arm from where my fingers graze her cheek, and I realize that it is Rissa lying beside me, knocked out cold, her face pale as if she’s been exhausted.
Is she the reason why I no longer have any injuries? Or why I feel as strong as ever, as if the demon hadn’t attacked and left me for dead?
The encounter with the malevolent spirit comes as flashes in my mind, and I recall the way Rissa lashed out using her magic. But as my eyes land on her hand beside her face, I lift it and find the residue of a sticky substance left on her fingers and palm.
She healed me. Somehow, she healed me so much that I feel more alive than ever, suddenly compelled to do everything in my power to bring her ease and comfort.
It’s not just about helping her through her heat, but giving her the space she needs to process everything she’s learned, and allowing her to figure out that we’re destined to be together. Though she isn’t there yet, I’m sure that if I give her time, she’ll come around.
Pulling myself together, I sit upright and assess my condition. Every wound inflicted on me by the demon is gone as if I never suffered it at all, but now I’m in nothing but my boxer shorts.
Chuckling softly, I shake my head as I turn to Rissa, sliding my arms under her and lifting her as I stand up. She feels featherlight in my arms, fitting so perfectly that I begin to wonder why I hadn’t accepted this for what it is from the beginning.
My only reasoning for pushing her away was to appease my pack, and especially my parents. They would have never accepted her as my mate because of her status, and I cannot imagine that my pack members would have accepted it either.
The original Blackmaw Pack, before it merged with the others to make up Snehvolk, thrived on ancient rulings that prevented our forefathers from taking mates of low standing. My parents were firm believers in upholding those values passed down to us through generations, and I felt no differently.
Gulping on that thought as I carry Rissa through the south part of Girdwood, where most of my pack members reside, I try sticking to the shadows so we’re not seen.
But as I get closer to my house—a free-standing double-story building near the edge of my side of the village—I spot a few members of the pack hanging near the porch.
The first one who lifts his head is my beta, Connor, whose brows furrow as he leaves the group and jogs toward me.
“Alpha Brooks!” he calls out in a concerned tone, immediately shrugging off his leather jacket as he approaches. “What happened? You’ve been missing since last night.”
I grunt as I accept the beta’s attentive gesture as he flings his jacket over my shoulders. But when he offers to take Rissa, my arms get tighter as I pull her closer to my frame.
“That won’t be necessary,” I say sternly as I embolden my stance, raising my chin. “You don’t wanna know what happened out there. The demon attacked us twice.”
Connor breathes out heavily through puckered lips, his eyes widening with worry. “Well, I’m glad you’re still alive.”
“Barely,” I sigh. “If it wasn’t for Rissa…” I lament as I turn my gaze down to her sleeping face.
“Your disappearance was a big thing here in Girdwood,” Connor informs me, following me as I proceed to the house. “News got around that you and Rissa will be mated soon. And when you both went missing…” he clicks his tongue.
I pause to let the information sink in, slowing down just as the group notices my arrival.
“They know?” I ask, stunned that the word had already spread before I could address it myself.
What kind of alpha will I appear to be to the others?
I can feel my sense of control slipping through my fingers as my heart sinks when the group of soldiers approaches.
“Alpha Brooks! Oh, my Goddess! You’re back!” one of them cheers with relief evident in his sigh.
“We couldn’t find you, and we’ve been put under lockdown,” another informs me. “We’re not allowed to travel beyond Girdwood for now.”
I glance at Connor. “Have the other witches had any visions?”
He nods. “Luna Aurora sensed that there was some kind of danger approaching. I’m guessing it had to do with you two.”
“Is Rissa okay?” Josh, one of the soldiers, asks as he squints his eyes at her, sparking my protectiveness over her, along with my curiosity, when he steps forward.
“She’s fine. She just needs some time to rest.”
“Phew!” Josh blows out relieved breath. “We were all worried about her when she disappeared from the clinic.”
“You were?” I ask with a frown that’s met by the others confirming this and explaining how much Rissa has done for them and their families at the clinic.
Stunned into silence, I glance at my beta with a firm nod that tells him that I need to be left alone.
I need some time to myself to process what I’d just learned.
How could the others not accept me being mated to an omega when she’s done so much for them? They speak so highly of her, and they’d naturally accept her as my luna.
I was so wrong.
The realization has me riddled by guilt even as I gently and cautiously carry her inside my house. It seems I was the only one who’d been against Rissa all this time, and the only one who started any bullying at all.
Shit!
I curse myself under my breath as I carry the omega into the main bedroom, laying her down and carefully covering her with a blanket. Shaking my head in bitter contrition, a sense of self-loathing washes over me, keeping my gaze pinned to Rissa.
How could I have been so blind? So foolish?
No one else in the pack has ever outwardly shown hostility toward Rissa, except for me. In my determination to keep her away, I’d pushed her so far back that now she hates me.
She hasn’t felt the full effects of our destined bond, and it’s probably because she hasn’t unlocked the full extent of her powers yet. I’d heard about this from Alpha Elias and sub-Alpha Dawson when they discovered that their mates were not just witches, but their fated mates.
Patience.
That’s what I need to exercise, even if it’s the most painstakingly difficult task I’ve ever had to face. I want nothing more than to wake Rissa up with an embrace, press a kiss to her forehead, tell her that I’ll never leave her side, and will stand by her as she discovers more of her magic gifts.
I curl my hands into fists to stop myself, knowing that as soft and vulnerable as she is, she also has a feisty, fiery side to her. A side that I created because of my constant belittling of her. She had to adopt that side of her as a means of defense and protection.
Though I’m in charge of protecting her now, I know she won’t just easily accept it. But the least I can do is keep her here, under my watchful eyes, where no harm can ever come to her again.
That’s why I retreat to the guest bedroom in my own house, not wanting to frighten her if she finds me asleep in the same bed.
***
After a very restless night, I find myself in the kitchen, preparing breakfast just as the sun comes out and warms Girdwood.
As I flip the sizzling pancake over in the pan, I hear gentle, hesitant footsteps making their way down the stairs, and I mentally brace myself for another verbal sparring match with Rissa.
I’m not looking forward to it, but I’ve already given myself a pep talk to prepare for this. I wait until she’s already in the kitchen before turning around slowly.
“Good morning, Rissa,” I bid with a warm smile, nodding over my shoulder at the stove. “Pancakes?”
A frown flits over her face as she hangs by the island table, wringing her hands together as she clears her throat. “I, er—we’re in your house,” she comments as her eyes wander the kitchen, as if pointedly avoiding making eye contact. “How did we get here?”
Flinching as I turn back to the stove, I deliberately avoid meeting her eyes as I explain how my injuries miraculously healed last night in the woods, and how I found her lying beside me, and carried her back to the village.
“I think it’s best if you stay here for a while,” I suggest, bracing for impact. “Your cottage is way too close to the forest, so it’s not safe for you out there.”
To my surprise, Rissa’s outrage doesn’t come, even when I turn back slowly and set a plate of pancakes in front of her. Instead, she remains cold and dissociated as if she didn’t just hear my suggestion.
I was expecting her to fight me over a decision I’ve spent all night mulling over.
Instead, she says, “I would just like to visit the lunas today.”
“Of course,” I reply instantly, relieved that she isn’t fighting me. “I’ll take you to them—”
“No,” she shakes her head as she looks up and meets my eyes with a cold glint in hers. “I would like to go alone. I need to speak to them privately. I need answers.” She shrugs nonchalantly. “I need to figure out what all of this means for me.
Gulping to digest her request, I slowly nod as I accept her need for space. I promised myself that I’d give her all the space she needs. At least she hasn’t declined my offer to stay at my place for her protection.
“S-sure,” I stammer. “I’ll arrange for your belongings to be brought over.”
Rissa nods in acceptance, but doesn’t say anything more, her lips pressed into a firm line.
As soon as she leaves the house without taking a bite of the pancakes I prepared for breakfast, it’s as if a part of me walks out the door, leaving me feeling empty.
The pang of longing I feel to be near Rissa is what cements something I already knew. But it’s something Rissa doesn’t know yet. She needs her friends now more than ever, her allies to help and guide her through this overwhelming time.
All I can do is let time run its course and bury these feelings that I have always been denying.