Page 69 of Alpha's Revenge Luna
“Is everything okay? How are you?” I ask.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but Dion’s men came,” she tells me. “He killed a lot of people before fleeing.”
“That’s nonsense,” I reply quickly. Dion’s hand tightens on mine.
“You need to come see me, and I’ll explain everything.” Sighing, Dion gets up to answer the door. I peer over at it to see it’s Kyrio.
“I know what the rumors are, Grandma, and our pack attacked Dion. He only went there to help. Mom and Dad, they…” I don’t even know how to tell her that I know they killed Trinity, that Mom and Dad are bad people.
“They killed her, Grandma,” I whisper. I’m met with silence on the other end.
“Killed who?” Grandma asks curiously.
“Trinity, Dad killed her for coming to Dion. Killed her because she went against them,” I admit.
“Is that what he told you?” she asks, and I blink back tears. In the quiet that follows, my mind races with possibilities, each more unsettling than the last.
“He’s telling the truth. I know he is,” I assure.
“No…” she pauses for a second. “You’ve let him mark you, haven’t you?” I chew my lip, hearing the disappointment in her voice.
“He’s telling the truth,” I repeat. Dion’s attention is on whatever they’re discussing. I glance at Dion to see him step out the door and close it to talk to Kyrio.
“No, you need to get away from him. He has you brainwashed. Them Hybrids have mind control powers and influence. It’s okay, I can fix it, and we can reverse it. I… I will find a way once I get you back home. You’ll understand once I explain everything,” she tells me.
I press the phone tighter to my ear. “Explain what, Grandma?” I ask, my voice stronger now. A knot forms in my stomach, coiling and uncoiling with anxious energy. What could she possibly reveal that would cast a different light on the horrors I had witnessed?
The line crackles with static.
“Grandma?” I call out again, but only silence answers.
“It’s not safe. I will explain once I get you back. We don’t need your new mate overhearing,” she finally speaks, and I sigh. I will find a way to convince her and show her Dion is not the bad one once we have evidence.
Wanting to change the subject, I ask about Caleb.
“How is Caleb? Can I speak with him?” I ask, my voice barely rising above a whisper.
There is a pause on the other end, and then, “Oh, he’s…. Ah… He’s at a friend’s sleepover, dear. He’s having a good time.”
I frown, confused. What friends? Caleb had no friends. He rarely left the house, and I’d never seen him play with a single kid. Our parents forbade it, and most of our pack was dead.
“He has no friends,” I say, the unease apparent in my tone. My brother was always the quiet one, and nervous, too. He didn’t do well with the few children he had met, and those were from a distance. He would always hide behind me.
“We’ll talk later,” she says.
“Grandma, wait—” But it is too late; the line goes dead.
I stare at the phone for a few moments when I hear the door open as Dion steps into the room backward. I furrow my brows, only for him to turn around.
Dion is holding two bowls in his hands. The overhead light casts a warm glow on the caramel that is drizzled over one of them, while a luscious darkness envelops the other.
“Made these for us,” he announces, coming in and setting them down on the bedside table with care, his presence easing some of the tension after the call.
“What did Kyrio want?” I ask, and he shrugs.
“Organizing what time we’ll be leaving in the morning,” Dion tells me, and I nod.
The scent of sugary toppings curls through the air, but it can’t sweeten the sour thoughts fermenting in my mind.
My hand hovers between the choices, eventually gravitating toward the chocolate, its velvety depths mirroring the murkiness of my thoughts.
With each spoonful melting on my tongue, I should be tasting comfort, but all I can digest is the strange tone of my grandmother’s voice.
“Are you okay?” Dion’s question cuts through my reverie, his voice a gentle tether drawing me back from the precipice of my worries.
I glance up, meeting his gaze.
“Grandma sounded... off.” The words spill out awkwardly. “And my brother—he’s supposedly at a sleepover.”
“Isn’t that a good thing?” Dion asks, and I raise an eyebrow at him. “Okay, is that unusual?” Dion tilts his head.
“Highly.” The spoon clinks against the bowl as I set it aside, my appetite waning with each thought of what might be wrong. “He doesn’t do sleepovers. He’s never even been on one—”
“I’m sure he’s fine. Your grandmother wouldn’t put him in danger,” Dion tells me.
“I don’t know. I feel like something is wrong,” I mutter to myself, more a confirmation than a revelation.
“Her voice,” I start to explain, then hesitate.
“Talk to me,” he coaxes gently. “What is wrong?”
“Caleb has no friends,” I whisper, my brows furrowing. He is scared of his own shadow and grandma was always an outcast within the pack, so whose house was he staying at?
“I think something is wrong. Grandma sounded nervous. What if the pack has…?”
“Has what?” Dion asks. I have no clue, but I can feel it. Something feels off with how she spoke.
“I don’t know,” I sigh, rubbing my temples.
He lets out a sigh, its weight carrying the concerns of an Alpha who shoulders the burdens of many, and yet, in this instance, it holds a singular focus on me.
“I was going to surprise you,” he begins, his voice steady, “but I was planning to take you to visit her tomorrow.”
The sudden rush of relief sweeps through me, chasing away some of the cobwebs of dread that had begun to weave themselves around my thoughts. Yet, even as the tightness in my chest loosens, the tendrils of unease refuse to be banished completely.
“Really?” The word emerges half-breath, half-question.
“Of course,” Dion says, reaching across the space between us to capture my hand in his. His thumb caresses the back of my hand soothingly.
“Thank you,” I murmur.
“See, you have nothing to worry about; you can find out everything tomorrow. See Caleb, maybe she’ll let him come back here for a few days,” Dion says, and I smile at the thought. That would be nice.