Chapter 95 - Their Cursed
The next few days passed by in a pleasant blur. Ryker and Pip were consumed by each other, so we cut our day short and headed back to the packhouse. I wanted to enlist Nicole and Gentry’s help anyway. When we got back, they disappeared, and I hadn’t seen Pip since. I went to Nicole first, asking her if it was okay to do everything at the packhouse and use the kitchen. She was elated by my request and told me she would even help me prepare all the food. Then I went to Gentry, figuring he was my best bet at getting the twins to show up. Their track record was abysmal recently, but I hoped maybe this could turn things around.
I was delighted to actually have people to spend a holiday with. When Pip suggested this, I didn’t think she was serious at first. She had been so zealous in learning about Thanksgiving and Christmas then planning everything. My only worry now was that she would be too busy with Ryker to remember.
I was thrilled she got a second chance mate. Seeing as there was no drama surrounding this one and Gentry seemed content with his sister’s mate situation, I took it as a good sign. She deserved a good one.
I left the conference room that Nicole and I had decorated and set up for our dinner. Everything was in place and perfect. I headed down to the kitchen to finish prepping the turkey to cook tomorrow, carrying the gift boxes for Gentry, Carson, and the twins. My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out to see a message from an unknown number.
UNKNOWN
| I’ll come to your dinner party. What do I wear?
It had to be Elias. I smiled as I quickly sent him a message back. I never really explained to Carson what was going on, but he had agreed readily. After I finished making sure all the food was ready for tomorrow, I just needed to deliver the boxes with the clothes Pip and I picked out for the guys. Gentry would give the twins theirs in the morning when they inevitably ended up at their desks. He assured me he would get them there for me.
When I got to the kitchen, I was amazed to see Pip sitting at one of the stools along the long island. She turned her head and smiled at me as I entered. “You look smiley today,” she said.
“And you look flushed,” I told her, noticing her rosy cheeks. I sniffed the air and then looked at her with wide eyes. “Pip!” I yelled.
“I know! Remi, oh Goddess, he is so perfect! Now I know why the twins wouldn’t ever let you go. This is leagues better than what it was with Zeus!” she exclaimed.
“Do your parents know yet?” I asked.
“It just happened a few hours ago, so no. We told them right away that we were mates. He called his mom too. Luckily, he has his own place, so we were not under the watchful eyes of any parental figures,” she giggled.
“Congratulations! I am so happy for you!” I told her sincerely.
“Thanks, Remi,” she smiled radiantly.
“Is Ryker joining us tomorrow?” I asked.
“Is there enough food?” she asked. “And sorry, I sort of bailed on helping. But, I promise not to leave you hanging for the next one.”
I laughed. “It’s okay. And yes. I may have already made sure Ryker had a place at the table.”
“You are the freaking best!” she yelled. We both burst out laughing.
-
When I got upstairs, neither of my mates was in our room, but I didn’t expect them to be. I showered and tied my hair up before curling up on the couch with a book. I was still too excited to go to sleep just yet, and part of me hoped maybe I could be awake when they finally came to bed. I went through the plan for the next day in my head a hundred times, knowing that I didn’t leave anything out. I read for a little while before I drifted off to sleep.
I woke up the following day in our bed, but neither of the twins was with me. The bedsheets still smelled like them, so I didn’t think it had been long. Calder came out of the closet, fastening his tie. “Hi, baby,” he said, coming towards me. He leaned over the bed and gave me a quick kiss.
“Hi,” I said. He picked up a jacket that was sitting at the end of the bed and shrugged it on. “Why are you so dressed up?” Cullen emerged from the bathroom now, also wearing a suit.
“We have a meeting in the Ordinary Realm today,” Cullen explained. My heart dropped. Not today, Gentry promised.
“We should be back later this afternoon,” Calder said, catching onto my disappointment.
“Okay,” I said softly. Cullen came over now and kissed me too.
“Please don’t be sad. It's important, or we wouldn’t go,” he murmured.
“I know. I just…” I trailed off. I missed them, and I couldn’t understand how they didn’t know. Cullen gave me a strange look, waiting for me to finish my sentence. “It's alright. Be safe,” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. He gave me a gentle smile and another kiss before standing up and heading for the door. Calder came over and kissed me once more as well before following Cullen. I scrambled out of bed to get my phone that was lying on the couch. I dialed Gentry, and he answered before it finished ringing the first time.
“I know. I know. I’m going to fix it, Cinderella,” he said quickly. I squeezed the phone in my hand.
“You can get them back here in time?” I asked, my voice quivering.
“Yes. The meeting is early, so I should be able to rush them back here. I’m going to do everything I can,” he assured me.
“Okay,” I said softly as I hung up. I prayed to the Moon Goddess that Calder wasn’t going to break his promise for once, and they would be here this afternoon for me.
Calder
“Entertaining foreign businessmen is not my idea of a good evening,” I groaned as we left the restaurant. Our morning meaning had turned into an all-day affair. Things were looking up for our international expansion, but I was feeling off before dinner, and Magnus was acting weird.
“We could just stay here tonight,” Cullen suggested.
“But Remi is at the packhouse,” I countered.
He sighed. We both have been working nonstop and have barely had any time for her. She truly was perfect with how patient and understanding she had been so far. “It’s probably too late to have someone bring her over the Boundary, huh?” he thought out loud.
I looked down at my watch. It was almost 10 o’clock now. She was probably getting ready for bed. “Let’s just head back. We did tell her we would be back this afternoon. At least she can wake up with us in the morning this way.”
“Call her,” Cullen said as he got onto the highway so we could head over to the Boundary.
“Good idea. Magnus has been weird all day,” I said.
“Maximus too,” he said. I got concerned at his words. When I looked at my phone, I realized I had multiple missed calls from Gentry, Pip, and my mom.
“What is going on?” I muttered as I dialed Remi first. The phone rang and rang, eventually going to voicemail.
“What’s wrong?” Cullen asked.
“She isn’t answering, and I have missed calls from Mom, Gen, and Pip,” I said. Cullen pulled his phone out and looked at it.
“Me too. And one from Carson,” he said. I dialed Gentry quickly.
“Now, you pay attention! What in the actual fuck is wrong with you two?” he yelled when he picked up.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know we all have a lot on our plates right now, but come on! Are you really just not paying any attention to your mate?”
“Gentry, what is wrong with Remi?” Panic was rising in my chest.
“You two find the most perfect girl to love both of you, and then you do this! I would give anything to have Sam right here with me. I am starting to wonder if you two actually do deserve her!” He was seething.
“Gentry, what is wrong with my mate?” I yelled at him now.
“Did you even open the boxes I gave you before you left?” he shot at me. I looked in the back seat of the car where two small gift boxes sat with ribbon neatly tied around them. I had forgotten he told me to open them after our meeting this morning. I reached back and grabbed the one on top.
I yanked the ribbon off and started pulling the box open. “What does this have to do with Remi?” I looked inside to see a black dress shirt and gold tie neatly folded inside the box. There was also a note. I picked it up, and my insides crumpled as I read Remi’s neat writing.
“Shit….” I gasped.
“Yea. Shit. You two have messed up. Pip finally got her to stop walking around here, pretending not to be sad that you two were completely ignoring her, convincing her to celebrate her holidays. She planned this whole dinner thing, even cooked everything with your mom. It never even crossed your mind that your mate might want to celebrate something she grew up with, did it?” He wasn’t pulling punches, and guilt was sprouting from each blow. “Goddess, Calder. I had to walk into that room and look into her hopeful face just to absolutely crush her. I promised her I would get you there. Goddess bless that girl too, because even though I had to come in there and rip her heart out for you, she held herself together and was an immaculate hostess. She played her role perfectly. She was the epitome of an understanding mate. I think she was honestly going to forget about the fact that you two have barely deigned to acknowledge her presence for weeks now if you just showed up for her today.”
“I’m sorry-” I started.
“I’m not the one you owe an apology to. Do you want to know what Pip told me? She said that Remi’s parents kicked her out right around this time of the year. Not only that, but these are her favorite holidays, and she hasn’t celebrated them since. How do you think she feels right now? She didn’t want Carson, Pip, or me there. She wanted you two idiots. She called me panicking this morning right after you left, and I still stupidly promised her you would be there.” I could hear Gentry breathing heavily as he finished shouting. I looked over at Cullen, who could hear everything. He pushed the car faster, knowing we needed to be home now. I was silent, not knowing what to say. Magnus was whimpering in my head. As soon as we crossed the Boundary, we would be able to feel exactly how our mate felt right now.
“If you were just going to be selfish with her, you could have left her alone. She was fine in her world before all of this. You better hope she can forgive you because I am not sure I would.” Gentry’s words were like a sword sliding into my chest.
“Where is she?” I asked quietly.
“Right after dessert, she excused herself. I think she is up in your room, but the doors locked, and she wouldn’t open it for Carson or me,” he told me.
“We won’t be long,” I said before hanging up. Cullen and I were quiet for a moment. I thought back to the last few weeks, realizing we hadn’t spent any real-time with our mate in at least a month. My mind flicked back to the last time she came into my office. She was so hesitant to come into the room. When she sat in my lap, I just wanted to push everything away and hold her. But I hadn’t. I sent her away because it was so hard to concentrate completely when she was with me. My attention would always go back to her.
“She just wanted our attention,” Magnus whimpered. I kept telling her I would be done shortly, or I would come to get her when I was finished whenever she did come to try to find me. I kept letting her down. If I got to our room first, I always found her restlessly sleeping. I was constantly waking up to her already awake, holding me tight to her. This was made far worse by the fact that Cullen and I had both done this to her. She wasn’t dealing with one mate abandoning her; she was dealing with two.