Chapter 74

Chapter 74

“Life is an awful, ugly place not to have a best friend.”

Sarah Dessen

As much as I enjoyed sunbathing (naked) in the woods with Ambrose, it was only a matter of time until we had to go back to the castle. Our responsibilities didn’t disappear when we walked outside, as much as it may have seemed so under the light of the full moon.

Ambrose had a meeting with Akeem, and I needed to find Rae.

Now that I was fully-clothed with clarity on Ambrose’s complete past, it was time to deal with my best friend. More specifically, with the fresh heartbreak I knew she had to be experiencing from Joseph’s abandonment.

Fortunately, finding her didn’t take long. I’d known Rae for a long time, which meant I also knew her favorite spots for sulking alone. Even in the new surroundings of the castle, I managed to track her to the garden within minutes.

“This place is a little more impressive than that sad little vegetable garden we had back home, right?” I called out as I approached.

The garden had changed dramatically since the first day I’d toured the castle with Ambrose. Gone were the sad, empty and cracking stone pots and plant holders that used to decorate the bare space.

Through the careful attention of a few gardeners from Akeem’s pack (and a dash of Ambrose’s magic, I assumed) the place had blossomed. Literally.

Vibrant flowers, herbs, and vegetables that I weren’t even sure were in season (or capable of growing here) adorned the wide courtyard. In the middle of it sat a few lone stone benches, and on one of them, hunched over with her back to me, was my best friend.

She didn’t even bother turning around at the sound of my voice, but I could’ve sworn I heard some sort of grunt of acknowledgement at my question.

I didn’t bother asking if I could join her, and instead, plopped down on the other side of the stone bench. I turned to look at her – and suppressed a flinch.

If someone had asked me for a visual representation of heartbreak in that moment, I would’ve directed them to Rae.

She was hunched over, her head propped up on her palm, and staring into space. Technically, she was staring at a rose bush, but she might as well have been looking right through it. Her clothes, the same as last night, were wrinkled, and her skin had an unhealthy pallor to it, like Joseph had sucked the life out of her when he’d left.

I didn’t say anything, and silence hung in the air around us.

I wanted to talk, to comfort her, but I couldn’t quite find the right words to say. She hadn’t lost some young, puppy love that she’d eventually grow out of. Joseph had been her mate, the person that werewolves considered their one-and-only.

You weren’t supposed to get over a mate.

At least, not while you were young and healthy.

Mate connections were supposed to last till death did you part.

The thought of Ambrose leaving me like Joseph had stung to even think about. I snuck another glance at my exhausted-looking best friend, and cursed Joseph silently in my head.

“I’m not going to drop dead if that’s what you’re worried about,” she broke the silence between us, and her voice was hoarse and croaky, “So you can stop worrying.”

“Of course I didn’t think you were going to drop dead,” I replied, “You’re stronger than that, and even if you tried to, I’d never let you.”

She let out a puff of air as silence descended over us again.

Finally, I said, “On a scale of one to ten, how pissed would you be if I dragged Joseph’s ass back here? He’s only human, so he couldn’t have gotten very far…and maybe we can try that hostage thing for real this time. I mean, I’m pretty sure I read somewhere that stockholm syndrome is a real psychological condition, which meas he couldn’t resist you forever.” I was half-joking as I said it, although I was pretty sure I’d do just about anything to put the life back in my friend’s eyes, including kidnapping.

Rae chuckled but there was no humor in it. It was as hollow as she looked. “And you think that’s what I want?” She asked, turning to me with dull, lifeless eyes. “You think I want to force someone to love me? Because that turned out so well for me last time I tried to force his hand. You saw how he reacted when he found out we were mates. He was disgusted with the idea.”

“Only because he doesn’t understand it,” I shot back, “And for the record, after you left last night, I took my shot at explaining it…but he’s got a stubborn streak to rival yours.” I almost included the part where he outed Ambrose as a witch, but opted not to. That was its own can of worms to open up at a later date.

More silence, and then she said, so quietly I almost didn’t hear it, “How am I supposed to get over this, Ollie?”

Wordlessly, I took her hand in mine.

“I don’t know,” I replied honestly, “But I promise I’ll be here for every moment of it. You won’t have to get over it alone.”

She squeezed my hand, and neither of us said another word.

Despite the heaviness of our conversation, the air was quiet and peaceful as we sat in the garden for the rest of the morning.

I still had no idea how things would get better for Rae or how I could help, but I still felt calm. Maybe I was still reeling from last night, from the newfound information I had about my mate.

Either way, I still felt at ease.

At peace.

Unfortunately, what I didn’t know at the time was that moment, in the garden, would be the last time I’d feel anything close to peace for awhile.

I didn’t know it yet, but my troubles were only just beginning.