Page 31

Elijah

“ P lease, Papa! Please don’t!” A child’s voice shrieks in horror. I frown. Where am I? I scan my surroundings; I am in some sort of room – a garage. There are tools and weapons around the side, many that are stained with the colour of dried blood. My stomach twists with unease, my gaze snapping to the table in the centre, one that is covered with bloodstains, some old, some new.

My gaze is forced up when I see movements and my attention falls to a man I recognise, one who smashes a child’s head into the floor repeatedly.

Stop!

Anger blazes through me as I run over, making to grab the man only for my hand to swing right through him. I try again but it is futile. Is this a dream? I stare with horror at the child, who is covered in so much blood, her tiny hands clawing at the monster’s wrist. A child I’m unable to help, a little girl.

A girl.

Through the blood, I recognise strands of strawberry blond hair and fear-filled sage green eyes.

I back away, my heart thudding as realisation hits me hard, bile rising in my throat.

No…

This is not a nightmare; it’s a memory. Scarlett’s memory.

My world spins as I watch helplessly as Zidane drags her by the hair across the room before picking up a large jug of liquid and flinging it over the little girl. I blanch as I rush to her side once again, her screams piercing my heart.

“Stop this!”

Scarlett!

The colour drains from my face as I try to shield her, my eyes sting with desperation and suffocating agony at seeing her suffering like this. Wolfsbane burns her skin as she writhes on the floor, trying to find reprieve from the pain. I try to reach out to her, but my hand simply goes through her.

“Bastard,” I growl, looking at the man who is watching the child, his head tilted to the side with a manic glint in his eyes as he relishes in her pain, his eyes sparkling as the wolfsbane burns her.

I shout for him to stop, the hatred I have for him growing, but I’m unable to do anything but pray to the Goddess to ease her suffering.

After a few moments of watching, he turns and leaves the room, leaving the child on the floor. I watch her, wishing I could give her some sort of support as her body convulses in agony before me.

Seeing her like this, I can’t breathe. The pain in my chest is too much and I press a fist to it trying to breathe. Why hadn’t I been there for her? Why did she have to go through this?

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” I whisper to the child who cannot hear me as she continues to writhe and tremble on the cold, hard floor, whimpering in pain. Tears trickle down her cheeks as she tries to breathe. “Fuck, I’m sorry.” My voice breaks, unable to hold back my own tears. All I can do is watch her suffer.

“…lijah! Elijah!”

My eyes fly open, my heart thudding in my chest, looking at Scarlett through blurred eyes in the dim light of the first rays of dawn that peek through the crack in the curtains. I suddenly look her over, my heart hammering, and I bolt upright, running my hands down her arms.

She’s ok. She’s here. She’s safe.

Concern floods her face as she cups mine. “Elijah… are you okay? Your eyes…” Her heart thuds with concern as I struggle to rein in my emotions: fear, anger, pain.

I open my mouth to reply, but nothing comes out and I pull her into my arms tightly, pressing her head into my chest. I’m unable to remove the image of that little bloodied girl from my mind.

I take ragged breaths, trying to tell myself he can’t hurt her anymore. But he has already hurt her way too fucking much. I stroke her hair, realising I had been able to smell the taste of metal and blood.

And I could do nothing.

“How did you survive it all?” My voice is barely above a hoarse whisper as I hold her close, wanting to shield her from everything. She stiffens in my arms, her heart thumping.

“What? You… shit…” She pulls away and I realise she’s putting it all together. “My nightmare… you… I’m sorry.”

I gently shift her body so I can cup her face. Guilt. She’s feeling guilty because I had to see that.

“Hey, hey, don’t think like that, and don’t you ever feel guilty,” I murmur softly before my voice becomes a menacing snarl. “That bastard is going to fucking die, and I swear I’m going to put him through hell.” She doesn’t say anything, but I can see she’s conflicted. “Hey, I’m fine.”

I’m going to treat her so fucking good because this woman deserves the fucking world and more after what she’s been through. She wraps her arms around my waist as I slowly lay back, taking a deep breath as I hold her close.

“I’m sorry you had to witness that,” she whispers. I kiss the top of her head, rolling on my side and pulling her completely against me.

“Like I said, don’t ever apologise,” I say, placing another kiss on her cheek. She has nothing to apologise for.

Inhaling her scent, which now holds a little of mine, I try to calm my raging emotions. “Go to sleep, sweetheart. I’m sorry I woke you,” I murmur, unable to string a better sentence together. Wait, am I sorry? Was she suffering this and would she continue to see it if I didn’t disturb her? The thought makes me sick.

She nods, but I can still sense her hesitance as she rests her head against my chest, my arm underneath her head, unable to remove those images from my mind.

Scarlett

I wish I could somehow block him from seeing those horrible memories, because that one wasn’t even the worst, there are so many that are a hundred times worse. If this affected him this much, then what about those that still make me want to throw up?

I wasn’t able to sleep, allowing him to fall back asleep. I am too scared that another nightmare might haunt him, so I stay awake despite how tired I feel. Only when his phone rings in the morning and he wakes up do I let myself catch a quick nap, telling him to shower first. I promise myself I won’t let him carry my burden for me. He doesn’t deserve that.

It is much later, and we are about to head back. A lot of our pack members have found mates and Elijah is organising exactly who is returning and who is going straight to their mate’s packs. The only female not to go with her mate is Angela.

Liam and Fiona did not find their mates. The other wolves were shocked to find out Elijah and I were mated, and some were even more surprised we didn’t reject each other. I walk over to Angela, who is bidding Cassandra farewell. She’s reserved and keeps her distance.

“I can come with you to your pack, I could stay at a hotel or-”

“No! No, you shouldn’t come to my pack,” Angela says.

“Oh. Ok.” Although Cassandra acts like she’s completely fine about it, I know she’s hurt.

“Well, I better get going then… bye.” She looks at Angela, making a small step forward when Angela steps back.

“Goodbye.” She smiles at her, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Cassandra gives me a smile before she turns and walks off.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask Angela. A smile crosses her face, but I know her better than that.

“Of course I am!” she says, tossing her hair. She looks at my neck, seeing my mark, and a genuine smile crosses her face. “That mark is gorgeous!”

“Thanks, it feels good to have that horrible mark gone,” I say, running my finger along it. A soft smile crosses my lips and my stomach flutters, remembering our night.

“I’m happy for the both of you,” Angela says. I give her a gentle smile. She clearly wants to draw the conversation away from Cassandra.

“Cassandra seems like a nice woman,” I offer quietly.

“Hmm, guess so,” Angela says. “I don’t know… anyway, enough about me.” I don’t push it, knowing she doesn’t want to discuss it. Just then, Elijah comes over, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind, and kisses my neck.

I want Angela to come with us in the car , I tell him through the mind-link.

Sure, sweetheart , Elijah replies, glancing up at Angela. “I’ll get Liam to join us, you should too.”

“Really? Like, you don’t mind me tagging along considering you two... you know... might want to be alone?” Angela asks. Elijah looks at her, his head now resting on top of mine.

“I can share her, now that I know she’s mine forever,” he says, making me smile slightly, knowing he is doing this for me.

“Okay, great!” Angela says.

Liam

Elijah looks over at me just as I’m about to get into one of the cars.

Join us, since we’ve got a third wheel, anyway. I look between Elijah and Scarlett, feeling a pang of sadness seeing how happy Scarlett looks in his arms, but I smoothly give Elijah a nod. I’m not going to make this harder for him or her. One person hurt and upset is enough. I don’t need to make this awkward for Scarlett. That’s not fair to her.

I grab my bag and make my way over to them. Why does Angela look upset?

We all get into Elijah’s car, with me and Angela in the back, and Elijah muttering he’s glad to get away from this place.

“I wonder how your mum and dad will be with you two being mated,” Angela wonders once we are out of London and on the motorway.

“Too bad, we’re mates. I want to see exactly what he does now,” Elijah says coldly, his eyes flashing in the rearview mirror.

“Elijah, we’re mates. Let’s just let everything go and try to come to peace with one another. Now that we are mates, no one can stop us from being together,” Scarlett reasons. Her reasoning is logical, although Elijah’s ego clearly proves he isn’t going to just let anyone who made things difficult get off easy.

“Does anyone know you two are mates?” I ask.

“Back home? Yeah, Keira announced it to the world, so I’m guessing everyone knows, and Indy was going crazy on text,” Elijah answers as Scarlett looks at him with a cocked brow.

“Really? She only sent me one, and it said ‘Congrats! He’s my brother only now’.”

Elijah smirks. “Well, I never really considered you my sister from the start.”

“Ouch!” Angela says as Elijah and Scarlett kiss.

Angela sighs softly, but I catch it as she sits back. I look over at her, knowing that her situation is pretty daunting for her. She doesn’t really share much, but I’m certain this might have something to do with her mate being a female.

My cousin lives next door to the Jacobs and they are pretty conservative, and I know Haru’s made some backhanded remarks about his young son, Taylor. Taylor’s still young but he does gravitate towards things like dolls and playing house, something I know Haru Jacobs doesn’t approve of.

We all fall silent, listening to the music that is playing, and Scarlett rests her head back. I see the way Elijah looks at her, with concern and love in his eyes. He brushes her hair back tenderly. She probably didn’t get much sleep. Not many mated couples do on their first night.

Elijah’s phone rings and he answers it through his earpiece.

“Elijah Westwood.”

I take the chance to mind-link Angela.

You know, I know she wasn’t what you were expecting, but did you not feel attracted to her?

I did, I mean, it’s something I’ve never considered, so I just need time. How do you feel? That you didn’t meet your mate and with your feelings about Scarlett? she asks. I look out the window at the passing cars, sighing. I do wish no one knew, but things like that don’t stay quiet. I just wish I had told Scarlett before others had found out.

In a way, I’m glad I didn’t. I’m not ready to accept someone when I love someone else. I think it’s for the best. So when the time comes and I meet her, I can be the guy that my mate can be proud of, but now isn’t that time.

She’s silent and I look over at her.

I hope so too…

Give her a chance. Love is love. She has a mate, a woman who I know could treat her right.

She sighs softly, looking out the window. Maybe.

Is this… about how your family will react?

She stiffens, her eyes snapping to mine, but it’s the change in her heartbeat that confirms my assumption.

How did you-

My cousin Gale lives next door, remember? Your brother’s made some remarks about Taylor, and he’s just a kid.

Wow, I’m so sorry that he has! She looks upset and annoyed.

Hey, I’m not telling you so you feel bad about it. I just… if you decide to go with Cassandra and you want someone there when you tell them, then let me know. I’ll be there to support you and no one will need to know anything.

Why? She looks confused, but there’s a gentle smile on her face as she asks me.

Because I know you won’t go to Scarlett and I’m not of rank, so it might be easier…

Thanks. I appreciate it. She reaches over and gives my hand a squeeze. And if you just need someone to talk to, I’m here too, alright?

I smile across at her and nod. Deal.