40. Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty
Violet
W e walked into Bells’ room and found her exactly where we left her earlier: curled up with one of Adam’s stuffed animals. I’d packed most of his stuff already, knowing she wasn’t ready to go through it all. I got rid of nothing, knowing she would go through it, when she was ready to grieve that part of his life.
“Bells, we have food, sweetie.”
Bells sniffled and sat up, taking the plate of chicken tenders and mac and cheese.
“Thank you,” she answered, barely above a whisper.
We ate in silence, Bells picking at her food and eating very slowly, as if she was forcing the food down. I didn’t like it, but I was well aware of the grieving process, and as long as she ate something, I wasn’t going to push her.
“I have something I want to show you both,” Chris stated into the silence once Bells was no longer eating.
“I don—”
“I know, but I’m asking you to trust me.”
Chris stretched his hand out to Bells, and she looked at it before she looked up at him. She sighed and took his hand, and I saw the relief in Chris’ eyes when she did. Despite all his progress, he still wondered if he really belonged at my side. Having Bells trust him when she’s feeling this low, meant a lot to him.
Chris took my hand in his free one and led us down toward the end of the hall. I was confused, while Bells was tensing beside me.
“Chris, I don—”
“Just wait. Please. Trust me on this.”
He let go of my hand, opened the door and ushered us in. This was the first time I was seeing Bells old room since I spent a week here with Chris after my rescue. It looked the same. Bells refused to donate any items from the room, claiming they were cursed, and she wouldn’t wish her life behind these doors on anyone else.
The days I spent here were dark for me, but I knew this room held even more dark memories for Bells, so I was curious as to why Chris brought us here.
He guided us both to the middle of the room and turned us around to face him. He placed a pair of safety glasses on us, then a dust mask. Even I was confused about what was going on by the end. But, then Chris walked into the closet and came out with two sledgehammers, and I started catching on.
“What are you doing?” Bells finally asked.
“Therapy,” Chris explained, handing her a sledgehammer. “This whole pack house is going to be gone in two days and with it, your chance for closure. This room holds a lot of bad memories for you, Bells. This is your chance to let that go. Fuck it up, Luna.” Chris grinned at her before handing the smaller hammer to me. “Fuck it up, Little Warrior.”
We stood there for a moment without moving a muscle, but Chris wasn’t done. He took out his phone and a few moments later, music began to blast out of it. I recognized the song right away, and thought his plan was brilliant.
“I was 19 in a white dress
When you told me I’m your princess,
So, I played right into your fantasy,”
Bells eyes watered, and she started looking around. I thought she needed some more encouragement, so I lifted the hammer, aiming for the bed.
“Side to side!” Chris blurted, making me roll my eyes, and smile at his overprotectiveness.
“Was your good girl, so I’d sit tight
And if I don’t speak, then we can’t fight”
I swung, side to side, hitting the dresser next to the bed, leaving a giant hole on the side.
“Looked in the mirror, now I can’t believe
I forgot I was a bad bitch, tragic”
I jumped when I heard Bells’ hammer hitting the headboard of the bed, taking one of the bed posts with the swing. I grinned at Chris, who winked at me.
“Cinderella’s dead now, casket
You thought the shoe fit, but I
I forgot I was a bad bitch”
By the time the song was over, Bells was swinging everywhere, letting out all the rage and bad memories on the room that held them. I was still swinging, but it was mostly for show. I knew how good this would be for Bells, and I wanted her to get it all out.
After the first song was over, Chris kept the music blaring.
Look What You Made Me Do by Taylor Swift was next, followed by Pretty Distraction by SkyDxddy. Bells and I were both belting out the lyrics as we destroyed the room. The next song brought us to a halt, surprised by the Spanish lyrics that came out of the speaker.
“Rata inmunda (Filthy Rat)
Animal rastrero (Creeping Animal)
Escoria de la vida (Scum of life)
Adefesio mal hecho” (Badly made eyesore)”
Bells giggled, and I looked at Chris, who shrugged with a small blush on his face.
“Mom plays it when she’s mad at Dad,” he explained.
I threw my head back and laughed, then joined Bells when she started screaming out the chorus.
“Alima?a (Vermin)
Culebra ponzo?osa (Venomous snake)
Deshecho de la vida (waste of life)
Te odio y te desprecio (I hate you and I despise you
Rata de dos patas! (Two legged Rat!)
Te estoy hablando a ti! (I’m talking to you!)”
I hadn’t heard Bells singing so loudly before, and I could feel the catharsis running through her as she did.
‘I hope you never sing this about me, Little Warrior, though you do have a nice singing voice,’ Chris mind-linked me, making me grin and wink at him.
Bells was sweating, but smiling by the time the alpha room was mostly rubble. She looked around at her handy work with a grin, and then back at Chris.
“The alpha office next,” she giggled, making Chris chuckle.
“Sounds good to me, but give me those. I’ll carry them down.”
He extended his hands for the sledgehammers. Bells rolled her eyes but complied, knowing how overprotective Chris had been since we found out both of us were pregnant. I loved him the more for it, especially since he was extending the same overprotection to Bells.
We walked down to the alpha office, and Chris handed Bells the sledgehammer. I stood to the side. This room was too small for two people swinging.
Bells grinned when Chris turned the music back on and Taylor Swift’s The Man started blasting from his phone. With the battle cry of a wronged woman, she swung the sledgehammer at the cabinets by the wall.
‘You’re good at picking the right songs. Maybe you can be a DJ on the weekends.’
‘I’m only available for weddings and special occasions,’ Chris deadpanned, making me giggle.
“Luna office next!” Bells yelled out excitedly when she was done with the room. She was smiling and giggling now, giddy and wanting to destroy everything that caused her bad memories.
Perfect by Pink began to blast from Chris’ cellphone and Bells went nuts in there. There wasn’t a piece of furniture or window intact by the time she was done. Chris almost stopped her when a piece of glass scratched her face, but I pulled him back and shook my head. That wound would heal in seconds, the wounds she was trying to mend with her actions were years old.
Bells was panting when she was done and stray tears were falling from her eyes, but she smiled at us, dropped the sledgehammer and crushed both of us in a hug.
“Thank you.”
We started making our way back upstairs. Chris dropped the hammers in the living room, but Bells suddenly stopped on the second floor, looking down the hall.
“Bring the hammers. We’re not done quite yet,” she said, walking down the hall.
“Go. I’ll be right there,” Chris urged me.
This was another room Bells had refused to go through: Martha’s room. Chris showed up a few moments later with both sledgehammers and safety glasses. Once he was satisfied we were as protected we could be, given the circumstances, he pulled out his phone for some inspiration.
Bells laughed when she heard the song start.
“Fuck you and your mom and your sister and your job
And your broke-ass car and that shit you call art”
“I fucking love you guys. That’s perfect,” she laughed before she picked up her hammer and swung. We were halfway through the song when it suddenly stopped. “Hey, I was into that song,” she whined.
“Sorry, but what’s that?” Chris asked, stalking over to the closet wall.
There was a weird light spilling from the crack.
“Closet?” Bells suggested.
Chris opened the closet door, but it didn’t expand to that side. He tried to turn on the light, but nothing happened, so he turned on his flashlight and felt around the wall. After a minute, there was an audible click and the wall cracked open a sliver, spilling more of the same weird light from it.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I don’t know. It looks like magic shit? I think it’s an altar. Wait, Bells—” Bells pushed past Chris and into the room so I followed behind them.
The room was lit by a small lamp. A table against the back wall was the only thing outside the lamp in the room. The table was full of items and candles surrounded by weird runes. The walls, floor and ceiling were covered in the same weird runes and symbols. I’d like to think they were made in brownish-red marker, but I knew the truth was likely more sinister.
“Hey, that’s my bracelet!” Bells said, reaching for it, but Chris pulled her back. His phone was still in one hand, illuminating better than the little lamp.
“You don’t know what any of that is,” Chris warned her.
“She can’t hurt me anymore, Chris. She’s dead.”
Bells grabbed her bracelet while Chris and I looked over the items. It was all very creepy looking, and I shuddered, not wanting to touch anything.
Chris and I walked back toward the door while Bells continued to look around. She looked back at me and winked, before raising her hammer and bringing it down on the table. A blast of air hit everyone as the altar crumbled, and I looked up worriedly at Chris.
“That was spooky,” Bells giggled and walked out.
I was about to follow when I saw something beneath the table.
“Viole—” I pulled away from Chris, and grabbed the box. I brought it back out with me, while Bells looked around the room.
“Come on, big guy, start that song over,” she urged.
Chris sighed and shut off his light before turning the music back on. He looked at me, then at the box in my hands, worriedly.
“Let me open it, please,” Chris begged when I removed the clasp from the lid.
“Okay,” I humored him.
Chris kissed my temple gratefully and took the box from my hands. We set it on the sink while Bells was going nuts with the hammer in the bedroom. Inside the box was a book. There was no name or title on the binding, and as soon as we opened it, Chris closed it back.
“Nope. I’ve seen the entire Mummy franchise. We can give it to Gamma Zi or Alpha Helios, but we’re not reading from it.”
I giggled at his words but also agreed. I, too, watched enough horror movies to know not to read something I didn’t understand, and those words on the paper were definitely not English or Spanish.
Bells went to sleep by herself that night. I was hesitant, but when she showered and ate a full dinner, I figured the “therapy” session, as Chris called it, was just what she needed. Cory didn’t call me that night, either, which told me he finally had a satisfactory conversation with his twin.
I woke up in the morning to my alarm, and I groaned. I just wanted to sleep some more. It was the first time I got a full night of sleep, and I wanted to enjoy it. After tomorrow, we would have two days of nothing but driving.
“It’s time to get you fed, Little Warrior. You and our little one,” Chris tried to get me out of bed.
“Half an hour,” I grumbled.
“Don’t people usually ask for five minutes?”
“I’m not dumb. I can’t go back to sleep in five minutes,” I countered, making him chuckle at my shenanigans.
“Come on, let’s get you up and ready, before I tickle you.”
“You wouldn’t dare.” I opened one eye and glared at him.
He lifted his hands, letting me know he was more than ready to come through with his threat.
“You used to be nice.” I pouted and sat up.
He pulled me into his arms and kissed my temple.
“I’ve never been called nice, Violet.”
“That’s not true. You’re very nice,” I assured him, then so he knew I was still annoyed, added, “Usually.”
“What did the janitor say when he jumped out of the closet?” he asked.
I snuggled closer to him, my annoyance disappearing.
“What?” I asked, already smiling in preparation for the punch line.
“Supplies!” Chris shouted and started tickling me.
“Ahh! No fair! Stop!” I laughed, twisting, trying to get away from him, but it was futile. My warrior was merciless. “Mercy! Mercy! I’m going to pee my pants!” I screamed through the laughter.
Chris laughed and stopped, rolling us over until I was sitting on top of him. “Will you choose me today, Little Warrior?”
“After that?” I asked, faking mock outrage, then I smiled and leaned down to kiss him. “Of course I do.”
“Then, let’s go make breakfast,” he replied.
“Ugh, fine. But, I want eggs over easy today.”
“Nope. Has to be well cooked.” He shook his head.
“But—”
“It’s only for a few months, Violet.”
“Then, I better get extra bacon,” I grumbled, laying my head on his chest.
“That I can do,” he said, standing with me still on top of him, and carrying me to the bathroom. He kissed my cheek and went to grab fresh clothes, while I brushed my hair. He came back in just as I finished brushing my teeth. I changed while he got himself ready, and then I let him drag me down to the kitchen.
We found Bells cursing at the pan on the stove.
“What are you doing, Bells?” I asked.
“I was hungry so I wanted to make us all breakfast, but this thing won’t cook!” She pouted, pointing at the pan as if it was purposely offending her.
“You have the back burner on, not the front one,” Chris chuckled.
“Did I mentioned I was also sleepy when I came down the stairs,” Bells countered sheepishly.
“I’ve got you. Go sit with the other pregnant lady.”
“Ugh, you’re the best. Violet, hang onto this man.”
“I plan to,” I chuckled.
Bells’ phone rang as Chris was dishing up the food and after a brief conversation, she jumped up and down happily. “What’s up?”
“The inspection passed and the buyers have signed all the paperwork. They have to leave the country soon, so the real estate agent is picking up the keys today instead of the day after tomorrow. We can finally fucking leave!”
“Cool! When’s he coming?” I asked.
“In an hour. Eat up and go pack. We’re blowing this joint!” She stood and did a little shimmy in between bites, but then she swayed on the spot. “Whoa.”
“Are you okay, Bells?” I asked.
“Yeah, I think I just moved too fast.” She shook her head and smiled at me, sitting back down and grabbing her fork. “I’m just excited to get out of here.”
I eyed her but said nothing. Instead, I turned to Chris.
“We’ll go finish packing after breakfast?”
“We should shower, too. We won’t get a chance again until we pull over for the night.”
“Good idea,” Bells said, munching on her food with renewed enthusiasm.
We were on the road three hours later. Bells called Cory and Mom and Dad, while Chris drove her truck. She made sure to ask for a private dinner when we arrived. She didn’t want an audience right away.
I was sitting in the passenger seat, while Bells made herself comfortable with one of Adam’s stuffed toys in the back. Chris already warned us not to ask for the keys. He didn’t want the pregnant women to be stressing over traffic. I’ve never driven a truck, so I was okay not having to deal with it, but Bells insisted that she was more than capable of driving when she wasn’t even showing yet. It wasn’t quite true, her usually flat and toned stomach was already showing signs of a bump, and her overnight bag had nothing but loose shirts to hide it.
Not very far into the drive, Bells fell asleep against the window, and it was just Chris and I mind-linking the whole drive so we didn’t wake her.
I tried waking her when we stopped for gas, but she refused to get off the truck. She slept until we stopped at a diner for lunch, and I struggled to wake her and convince her to join us.
“Are you sure you’re alright, Bells?” I eyed her falling asleep as we ate our burgers.
“What? Yeah, I’m okay. Just tired. Growing these pups is tuckering me out. Cory mentioned this happened to Evie with the twins, so that’s probably just what’s happening.”
Although I was more in my head than anything during those days, I did briefly recall Cory asking Dad about it, so I let it go. Once Bells finished her burger, we used the facilities, fueled up, and continued on our journey. Bells fell asleep minutes after the truck hit the highway again, and remained that way until Chris pulled over at a hotel for the night.
“How can I help you?” The receptionist greeted us at the front desk.
“We need a room with two king-size beds, please,” Chris answered.
“What? No. You guys need privacy. I can take another room,” Bells called out behind us, ending her sentence with a yawn.
“Just one, two king-size beds,” Chris confirmed.
Bells harrumphed, but I could see she was grateful for it. We filed into the room after checking in, and Bells was the first in the shower.
“I’m worried about her,” I whispered, eyeing the closed door once the shower came on.
“She could be right, but I feel better having her near in case she needs us.” He sat down and pulled me to him so I was standing between his legs, resting his head on my chest.
Chris was the last to shower, and by the time he was done, Bells was already sleeping soundly again. Something felt off about it, but we’d be in Crescent Moon tomorrow, and Mom could help me ensure everything was progressing well with her pregnancy.
I was tempted to call Cade, but that was quite the bomb to drop over the phone. “Hey Cade, remember how my sister wouldn’t consider you being her chosen mate because she didn’t want to be Luna? Yeah, so she’s pregnant with your twins and I think something’s wrong with her.” Even if Bells hadn’t put a gag order on me, I didn’t think it was a conversation I had a right to have.
I didn’t sleep very well that night, waking every hour to check on my sister. She slept soundly through the night and, thankfully, in the morning, she seemed to have more energy. But, it didn’t last very long. By ten, she was out like a light, and didn’t wake up until we were approaching Crescent Moon.
At that point, the truck filled with nerves and anxiety. All of us were nervous about what my parents would say when they found out we were pregnant. Chris was nervous over our meeting with Cory, and knocking me up without marking me.
In our defense, they were the ones who asked us to wait. That was my story and I was sticking to it, even if Chris thought it was a weak excuse. I didn’t want to tell them I mathed wrong.
As soon as we crossed the borders, I felt Cory connect to Chris and me.
‘I want you both in my office after we get the greetings out of the way.’
‘Yes, Alpha,’ Chris answered.
‘Co—’
‘Not negotiable, Bug,’ Cory stated, and cut off the mind-link.
Chris side-eyed me a little worriedly and twined his fingers through mine, squeezing them tightly.
We started slowing down as we approached my parents’ house. Mom, Dad, Cory, Evie, Lucien, Cecilia, Brenda and Gabriel were standing outside, looking excited to see us.
“Shit, when I said private, I didn’t think your parents were going to be here, Chris. I’m sorry for what’s about to happen,” Bells apologized in advance.
“I don’t think things will get that bad, will they?” Chris asked, worry lining his brow.
“No. No. Just a bit of screaming. Mostly Cory, I’m guessing. He’s not going to be happy to have been kept out of the loop... again,” she answered, biting her lip with worry.
We pulled to a stop, and I took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth. Bells opened the door and slid out, Chris doing the same, but coming around to my side to help me down. I was considerably shorter than both of them, and I’d never been very fond of heights.
‘It’ll be okay,’ Chris said, kissing my forehead as he helped me down. He took my hand and pulled me after him.
As we approached, and Cory eyed our hands clasped together, his lips turned into a thin line.
Mom approached Bells while Dad came up to me. He pulled me into a hug, then froze.
He pulled back, and I could see the question in his eyes before they glazed over. I peeked over and saw Mom doing the same while she held Bells at arm’s length.
Here it was. The moment of truth.
“Maybe we should step inside, and discuss this in private,” Dad said.
“What’s going on?” Cory asked.