Chapter Eighteen
Alpha Karklen PV
Sitting in the choir in my personal office mothe manor, Held the cell plume pressed to the side of my face. Though I normally didn’t lover such
Imeline schend was away from the park Filbern in my after fan nung mua the work piled in front of me when the damned had gone
By the thud tuur.Trealizeita wauit going to shit rqc in die confronted by the voice of my daughter
Toyda had grown in arwagly wontied about the lather slie hadn’t seen some the night of the Text. Truthfully, me our huid seen me since then. Dico save the next mamming. Til woken igits the wonnan attengiting to sneak out of my room. The serosal Til dested her back into the house fil
nammediately placed the manner in his kolon Quite lacnally ton Everpur macloghishden front coming onto tie pen Aervandkan Wattions combi leave.
dy, just astone of the
So of course my danglner was understandably distressed when she came for a visit fit was barred trance. At first, she’d calmly accepted the denial. ́avine dealing with my issues, but it’d gotten wisse overtime. Tod been almost a week sine thadondered the warriors tu barall from the riznince,
dexing her frightened. And her bear bail only me reased when Laylaljud tried to mundlink me, only for me in close the tour on her. By this point slucid become tan fighteneilat wheit could der going on, she reachedline by the only means sher bil. My phone
chúc scectic,” Inied to stress for the imprecalctine since Landeered the plone, in the logies she’d accept the truth
Lavlagospelin esasperation. Think lar toime, daddy. I knew something, we going on with you. It’s been live days. You haven’t come out of that house-
til no one is allowed to come in Even Larkestold me you’il rejected to allow him income naihe jimperiy
Ensitieved under my breath Ekurie this would be difficult for my claldern to process, especially when it came to my daughter. I took a deep breath Tin dealing with your mother’s death in the only way I know home. Give me kohe · Layla Everydung will work our ”
“Stop!,” Froared angrily into the receiver of the phone, my anger getting the better of ine at the half spoken statement. I didit need to be a mind render to know precisely what die’dberu hinting at with her spuestions. “I don’t want sy talk about an
“It’s been nearly two weeks, Layla stubbummly forgeddon, herhand headedness made a impossible to be cowed down by her father, “I know you are still sealing with everything but people need to kiume the truthi Vinccan’t keep bucking it away from everyone!
Acmaichard I loved my baile girl and unssed her this last werk, I regreties picking up the phone. “Thove to go. Hold her. Then before Layla could think le angor Elming supe the phone, then quickly times off the ringer. Tossing the phone down on the desk, my mind became a bundle of raw nerves milie thought of the conversation. The last one I wanted.
I stalled at the knowledge that the woman hadn’t thought to pick up the tray of our food. Thus was a change. Following the first morning. Von had a complete change of aminode, at least tocamextent. Though she was no more happy than she’d her at the start, she’d followed through on the
expectations. Every morning she was deaning as tacoke from sleep, served all of my meals and my room was spotless. In fact, there’d been quite a few times when the woman was rangli tidying up the manor, The Alpha Manor was the cleanest ever seen a before, not even Sarah Beth kept it
So why now? Had it all been a nose? To enable me to believe she’d accepted the terms of our bord, so fal finally let my guard down. It’s what I would ve slumr if our roles were reversed, Getting angry at the thusaght she could be playing me for a fool. I stormed through the manor. I wasn’t sumpened upon arriving at her bedroom to find the senistan seas nanciere to be seen.
Where is she? I demanded.
or warriors replied.
“Is the yard,” one of the want
Too angry to be thinking straight, I immediately reversed the course of my direction, headed antude, Stalking around the yard I was wondering where the woman could be hiding, not finiling her anywhere. Chaly to be brought to an abrupt hals when 1 reached the back, near my wife’s old rose gardens. I found Van küreling in the most dirt, whauling a lively nine as she cut away the weeds and overgrowth. A tune I found familur
“What are you doing?” I roared savagely.
I wasn’t listening Enraged at the thought that anyone would dare come near this garden, a constant reminder of the wife I’d lost. Iyanked her off the ground “Who the buck gave you the right to come here!“.
Von was vinbly trembling in the face of the rage I presented to her, fear leaping to life in her rare eyes. “Im sorry,” she broke down in a fit of crying, tears were linrightening her already too bright eyes. “The roses were so beautiful, I coulddat stomach the thought of them dying.”
The evidence of her frams only served in passing me off more than I already was, outraged at the pain I caused her. Immedutely dropping the womanto aheap at my feet, a hand closed aromal hier neck. “Get this through your fucking head, you will never be my mate. I never wanted a mate,
wanted you. You are nothing more than a means to an end, to ensure my own survival. The sooner you accept that the better off both of us
The angry in the face of what happened with orders for her to grade I stalked off toward the trees. The second I disappeared into the woods actically tour my d clothes from my body, allowing my will be emerge. Taking control before lavage could think to come out of hiding. I took
1607
off running into the terrs. As the paws of my rome grey wolf pounded on the ground. I raged at what Ţaldur Hated myself
Von had done everything I’d asked of her, having submitted to my every demand even how defused the must ve Tell Their jau says she’d down everything I wanted ad her, accepting the terms of the bond Id plated usinuler. Rather than the Luna, my rightfulqueens, dand been forced into servace od nie, jubetter than a slave Of course, she hadn’t argued her placement. And the one time she tried to do something suitsude of the deinandi I placed, I practically bir her bead off. It want her fault that those gandem were a painful memory for me, the reminder of the wOLDLIFE wherd loved them
“Um, sure!” a warrior spoke.
“What?” Ismopped
He took a deep breath, controlling his panic. “Well I thought youd like in know that woman, the one you were fighting with Shell go inside The you ordered her to.”
“Where is she?!
“Headed to the month border.”
Cursing the sinpidity of my own actions toniglu, Tiinmediely flapped my body in the direction of the north Of coune, Following the rage i presented in her Von would take the opportunity to fee while I wasn’t around. All because I stupidly allowed my emotions in get away from me. I tached out at her when she hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Find her.” Isent in the link.
“She didn’t come this way? Northiem patrol sud.
South came next, “Nupe, no one here.”
For the next twenty
ty minutes, my men continued tri
cature in the the girl laitat attempted to reach the honder. The entire territory was patrolleil by more than a humudred men, none having seen hide uur hur of her Leaving in to wonder where he won had disappeared off to when not event my men found her. At least I knew she was still within my temtory somewhere, probably running off to vent her own pain-
Thoth came on. “Um sire, a girl is in the reinetery”
“What?” This I wasn’t expecting.
My gamina was decidedly distressed by this. “Ah yeah, this strange girl came running out of nowhere, right passed me. I don’t know who she is, but she looked really familiar”
“Im on my way.” I promised him.
When I reached the border of the trees on the outside of the cemetery, I immediately picked up the sernt. Davies, summer breeze and something that way akin to liglaning. Von was there. Shifting back into my houman form I sistebed up the pants Gamma Thom extended out to me. Scupping up the buttons as I stepped out of the trees, I ordered all of them to vacate from the nearby cemetery. I didn’t know what was about to happen bat didn’t want any of them to overhear something better left quies,
There was no need for privacy. As I reached the location of the cemetery I found all 100 familiar, it was to find her curled up on the ground. Her eyes “were shat and her breathing shallow, evidence shed fallen asleep where she lay. The tears still slipping down her face were proof that she hadn’t
simply fallen asleep, she’d possed out from pain, I stacked in a deep breath at the kuwledge I was the one responsible, I was the one that hurt her. No matter how angry I was or my determination to turn a blind eye, I hated that I hurt her;
Only thoughts of my own galt fled as I bent down to pick her up to find her hand clutched onto a headstone. In the midst of gently extracting her fingers away from the marble stone. I was provided the chance to see the headstone. To read the message left behind by loved ones.
In Loving Memory of Sara–Beth Marie Lincoln Black, Mother. Daughter and wife, she shall be forever missed
What the fuck
Why had she come here? To my wife’s grave? It couldn’t have been a coincidence that she’d come to this cemetery and fell to the ground at this specific gravesite. I couldn’t miss the way she was clinging to the headstone, much the same way a loved one would do. What was I missing! And I was most definitely missing something. Something important.
