25. Swear An Oath By The Gods
Haera
Haera was sure that she’d told her traitorous best friend never to come back to her home. But here she was, standing just beyond the threshold, turning her pleading brown eyes down at her. Haera’s blood was a tempestuous sea within her, roiling and raging and demanding revenge. She swallowed the urge. She watched Alanis peek over her head into the living room, her nose moving up and down quickly as she sniffed. Theos. She was checking for Theos. The sea boiled.
“I told you not to come back here, and I meant it.” Haera’s voice was unrecognizable to her own ears. She had never heard herself sound so uncaring. So utterly detached.
“Haera, I just wanted to –”
“Get off my property!”
She slammed the door and stepped away from it, her chest heaving with the force of her breaths. All the grief of betrayal was igniting anger in her belly like she had never felt before. Exactly as she expected, Alanis pulled the door open from outside and walked into the cottage.
“I’m not leaving.” She declared, taking up an intimidating stance.
Her ex-best friend put on the prettiest pout she could muster, trying to put on a convincing show. She batted her eyes and reached for Haera’s arm. Haera backed away. Manipulation. It was all manipulation. Alanis’ shoulders were tense. Her fist was still clenched where her other arm hung at her side. She didn’t mean anything she was saying. She didn’t mean anything she was doing.
“I wanted to tell you the good news,” she continued, lowering her voice .
“The only thing I want to hear, is an oath by the gods that you will leave and never return.”
Tears were filling the brown eyes that looked at her now, and Haera retreated even further when Alanis tried to reach for her arm again. Nothing. She felt nothing.
“But –” Alanis’ voice cracked.
She felt nothing but rage.
“I’m pregnant. Nickolas and I are having pups.”
A twinge of pain pierced the haze of anger in her chest. Her heart softened a fraction, and she saw the recognition of it in Alanis’ eyes. Heard it in the way she rushed to continue. She thought she had her. She thought she was going to get into her head again. Use her. Keep her tied to her.
“We want you to spend time with us.”
She let Alanis take her hand this time, and she stared into her ex-best friend’s eyes at the self-satisfied glint that lived there. The assurance that she had won. The contented realization that Haera was a fool that fell for everything she said – that was caught as simply as a tame rabbit. How had she not noticed that deceptive, snake-like precision in everything she said? How had she missed the disdain in her eyes every time she looked at her ?
Grief. It was a blinding thing. When you were thirsty, you would fall at the feet of anyone, offer them everything you could ever give, barter your soul for a drop of blood – a drop of blood to quench your thirst.
“You know, like old times.”
Old times.
Before Theos
Without Theos.
Haera braced for a pang of longing – for some recognition in the deepest part of her belly that it remembered the good times. That it would miss Alanis. That it would long for their company; their love. The pang of longing came. It wasn’t for old times. It was for Theos. She wanted her mate to come back. For the werewolf in front of her, she felt nothing. She snatched her arm out of Alanis’. Her best friend’s expression faltered. Shock filtered into her eyes. Nothing. She felt nothing.
“We can be just the two of us, just you and me.”
Nothing except rage.
“Take oath by the gods that you will never return, or face their wrath. ”
Alanis’ face crumpled into a show of sniffles and tears, one of her hands coming up to press against her lower belly. Haera forced her eyes to stay on Alanis’ face. She would not be caught in that trap of empathy, whether or not she was pregnant. Though Alanis cried and slobbered, she still didn’t make the move to leave. The sea of anger turned into molten earth. Shards of crystal prickled under her skin, finally piercing it to release the anger.
Reaching around Alanis, Haera pulled the door open, shoving her best friend out with one swift move. As Alanis tumbled into the snow, Haera slammed the door. This time, she bolted it.
“Wrath it is.”