Chapter 28

HOME

Jason.

Early the next morning, Hayden’s men and I hiked down a hill. We were to go hunting first before heading down to my pack to strategize on how we were going to attack Clyde’s Pack.

After a very hearty meal of wild bulls, we headed back east to where I could sense my fighters from a distance—they had returned victorious from the battleground! Joy stirred the workings of my heart; we were on the path to regaining all we had lost.

After the celebrations, I decided to go visit my grandmother before we proceeded into battle. While my pack members and the ones from the Tysee pack sat and talked in my living room, I walked into my bedroom, picked up my phone, and dialed Elijah’s number.

“Mr. Jason? What a surprise! When did you get back?” His voice came through.

“It’s been barely a minute; can you please put Grandma on the phone?” I inquired.

“About Grandma, I have something really serious to tell you.” Elijah spoke in a shaky tone. I could hear his breath through the speakers, hard and unsettled—hhe was afraid.

“Elijah, what happened to Grandma?” The whole thing was not sounding nice at all.

“She’s at the hospital. I don’t know how to explain it, sir; you’ll have to see for yourself.”

Elijah’s voice was saying that something terrible had happened to my Grandma while I was away. Why am I just hearing about this now?

“I’ll be right there.” I said, trying to contain my emotions. I rushed out of the house again, entered my car, and sped all the way to the hospital.

On reaching the hospital, a nurse approached me smiling too broadly,

“Good afternoon, Mr. Jason; it’s quite a pleasure seeing you back.” She said, twirling her blonde hair, I had no time at all for shameless flirting.

“If you’ll excuse me, I’m here to see my grandmother. What ward is she in?”

Having realized I was not in the mood for her, she deflated as she directed me to where my Grandma was. Walking in to see my Grandmother impaled with a number of needles that were connected to IV bags made my heart stutter. Elijah stood at the far end of the hospital bed, his hands at his back and his eyes in combat with the tiled floor.

On the other end of the bed was the gorgeous woman I had employed to take care of my mother. She looked scared, and she had a bundle of clothes and a hot water flask in her hands.

Welcome, Mr. Jason,” they both echoed.

“Welcome?” “Welcome?” “Can somebody tell me what happened to my grandma? I know she was sick, but it wasn’t this bad.” I was breaking down. Although my Grandma could be difficult, she was the person I loved most in the world, and seeing her like that was a huge shock. Grandma has always been very strong. She must have been boiling with rage underneath the illnesses that restricted her.

“I can explain,” said Elijah. “Grandma Carter has been giving us a lot of trouble when it comes to her medication; it seems the only person she listens to is you, believe me Mr. Carter, we tried all we could to get her to take them…””

“Why didn’t you call me? You know how important those drugs are; I trusted you to inform me if anything happened. Did I walk off the face of the earth?” The sirens were going off in my head. What if Grandma did not survive? What was I going to do?

“I’m very sorry, Mr. Jason,” began Elijah, the woman still standing at the other side of my mother’s hospital bed, quietly.

“Sorry for yourself, Elijah; I trusted you, but I am just disappointed.” I stated, I was so scared and angry at once, I left my house with a healthy grandmother, and I returned to a paralyzed one, what was I expected to do? Keep calm and watch it all play out?

“Mr. Jason, if I may speak,” Began the woman.

“No, you may not speak. Both of you are dismissed.”

I said, and I went closer to my grandma and took her cold hands in mine. Please be alright. Please be alright. I prayed.

Clarissa.

He looked different from when I first saw him; he was slimmer, and I could now notice the tattoos on his biceps: a gray wolf with a pendant on its furry neck. And a tulip with an inscription in Gothic font that read “Carter”. There were other tattoos but I didn’t want to stare too hardly to figure out what they represented, I was also pissed by the way he addressed Elijah and I like we were both two incompetent fools, whom he needed to discard as urgently as possible.

He presence was like the presence of a tall tower on top of a quiet stream, his anger heightened the intimidation his aura effected, his jaw had perfect edges like a sculpture

And his eyes were a light gray, and his anger made them dart around like an albino’s. Maybe he looked different because I had not seen him angry; he was handsome, but that still did not mean he could talk to Elijah and me that way. Why was he acting like he did not know how hard-headed his grandma was?

“I am afraid I must speak, sir. You and I know how much Elijah tries for Grandma Carter; she does not make it easy for anyone to take care of her, and you know it.” I was determined to give him a piece of my mind, his grandmother was obviously the cause of her own problems, he was just blinded by his affection towards her.

“I would shut up if I were you.” He warned me and glared at me, his teeth on edge as though he were ready to attack me.

“I will not shut up! Don’t you tell me to shut up? If you care so much about your grandma, why don’t you quit screaming at everyone and stay home and take care of her yourself? And you can’t dismiss me; I dismiss myself!” Mr. Carter was taken aback; he stood with his jaw agape, and his eyes followed me as I stormed out of the hospital. By the goddess, I was not having nonsense from anybody, especially not from him, whose mother I had sacrificed my pride as a former beta and delta of the strongest pack recognized. I had a family and a life of my own to handle.