Chapter 8 Chapter 8
Chapter 8
\- Jason -
The chair groaned as I slumped into it, my head falling into my hands. The office felt too quiet now, Natasha's absence leaving a void that echoed with accusations.
Elena.
Just her name was enough to unravel me.
I closed my eyes, and she was there, laughing as I carried her over the threshold of our new home. Six months. That's all we'd had. Six months of morning kisses and midnight conversations. Six months of her humming while cooking, of finding her asleep on the couch with a book on her chest, of her fingers tracing patterns on my back in the dark.
Six perfect months before they tore her away from me.
The memory crashed over me like a wave: coming home to find the door broken, her scent mixed with blood and fear. Following the trail to the forest. Finding her body, cold and still, our unborn pup dying with her.
Rogues. Three of them, looking for easy prey. One would expect that the Alpha's wife would be well guarded, not realizing I'd foolishly left her alone while handling a border dispute.
My greatest failure. My eternal regret.
I'd hunted them down within hours. Tore them apart with my bare hands. Made sure they suffered. But their screams hadn't brought Elena back. Their blood hadn't washed away my guilt.
"I was going to tell you that night," she'd whispered in my dreams later. "About the baby. I'd made your favorite dinner."
The dinner I never came home for. The announcement I never got to hear.
A soft knock interrupted my spiral into darkness.
"Come in," I said roughly, expecting my Beta or another pack member.
But it was Aria who entered, moving carefully, her hand protective over her stomach. She looked better than yesterday, less pale, steadier on her feet. Her dark hair was pulled back, revealing the bruises on her neck that were slowly fading.
"Alpha," she said quietly. "I wanted to thank you. For everything."
"No need." My voice came out colder than intended.
She hesitated at the door. "The doctor said I'm healing well. The baby is strong."
"Good."
Silence stretched between us. She shifted uncomfortably, clearly wanting to say more.
"Did you need something else?" I asked, not looking up from the papers I was pretending to read.
"I... I wanted to know what happens now. With me. With us." She took a tentative step forward. "You said you'd protect me, that you'd claim me, but—"
"You'll be safe here." The words were clipped, professional. "We'll discuss the rest when you're fully healed."
"Oh." The disappointment in her voice was clear. "Of course."
She turned to leave, then stopped. "Can I ask you something?" And waited for me to give the go ahead.
"Tell me."
She studied me for a long moment. "Are you okay? You seem to be in pain."
"I'm fine."
"No, you're not." She moved closer. "I recognize grief, Alpha. I've been living with it for years."
"I already told you I was fine. Don't push it." The words came out sharp enough to cut.
She flinched but didn't retreat. "Watever it is worrying you, you can at least share it with me. We have a bond now."
My hands clenched on the desk. "You don't know what you're talking about."
"Maybe not." Her voice was soft, understanding. "But I know even though the whole mating this is official, I still feel what you can feel. And I want to share in it because you helped me. Maybe I cannot do much but I can offer some comfort. Maybe..."
"Can you just stop?" I looked in her direction curtly, cutting her short. "I don't need any of that from you. Stay in your lane."
Aria stepped back, her eyes wide but not afraid. Just... sad.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't mean to—"
"Just go."
She nodded, moving toward the door and walked out, closing the door softly behind her.
I sank back into the chair, her words echoing in my mind. But what could she possibly know about me or what I was going through to want to help me? I do not need her help. She needed me. Or we needed each other but for something entirely different.
Not what she was trying to offer. Comfort? I scoffed. What comfort could I possibly get from the regret of the dead of the only woman I ever loved?
None.
But I would only learn to live with it for the rest of my life. Elena's ghost remains with me, the pain of loosing her and my unborn child.
I shouldn't have spoken to Aria that way, but I could not help it with thoughts of Elena clouding my mind and she was all I could think of.
Aria looked upset and I felt sorry. I should apologise to her, and to Natasha too even though she had caused this knowing it would break me to hear anything about Elena. If only she had not brought it up.
I hissed lightly and returned to the papers on my desk. I have to deal with the matters at hand and part of it was Marcus, oblivious of his rejected mate in my pack.
He was still trying to cause some troubles at my borders, trying to gain entrance. I'd tackle him down and by the time I am done with him, with all the evidence I had gathered and the well crafted plans I had put in place, he'd be left in shambles and know better than to mess with me.
And Sophie, that she devil. I will make sure she pays for all her crimes. She ruined my relationship with my brother and eventually left him for someone else. Chris had been shattered.
He had followed all her counsel, to rebel against me so he'd have the throne, but when he couldn't do it, she said he was not enough.
Chris had thought I wouldn't spare him and took his own life. I clenched my fist in anger. I'd make them pay, all of them.
But while I struggled to focus my mind was forged with the same thing, Elena...and then Aria.