Whole Again Chapter Eighteen - Landry POV

With our arms still wrapped around one another, we make our way out of the bunker, and I make a mental note to let Maggie know I’ll personally clean up the bunker. Cleaning up visiting wolves’ sexcapades is not my idea of a fun time, but cleaning up my own just seems appropriate and sensible, and still should count as packhouse work, so it’s a two birds, one stone kind of deal.

As we exit the bunker and make our way into the packhouse I feel a sense of familiarity and apprehension come over Jennifer, which confuses me. Her steps begin to slow, and I start to look around for the reason when my eyes fall on two familiar faces pacing in the hallway. I take in a deep breath and hold Jennifer close and try to prepare myself for the abuse I’m probably about to receive. Jennifer’s dad, Craig, gently brings his wife to a halt and encourages her to notice Jennifer and me.

Yeah, Craig and Melissa are one of the few mixed-species couples to actually get married. Supernaturals don’t really do the wedding thing because there’s no point. We mark our soulmates and that binds us for life, a wedding is just a piece of paper, and given the divorce rate among humans, it means very little and isn’t very binding. But apparently, Melissa wanted a human wedding, which I understand because she’s human. She also wanted it for her parents’ sake, since Jennifer informed me that her grandparents on her mother’s side don’t know about the supernatural world, which makes it a good thing that Jennifer can’t shift because it means she can’t accidentally expose herself, but I hate that she has to hide what she is from her own family.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Melissa exclaims in relief. She rushes over and pulls Jennifer into her arms, and I respectfully let go and step back, not wanting to offend Jennifer’s mum.

“What’s going on?” Jennifer asks in confusion.

“We heard you went into heat, and we were so worried about you,” frets Melissa, cradling her daughter to her chest as Craig walks over, giving me an uneasy look.

“Don’t worry, Lan, if they start any drama, I’ll put a stop to it, you can rely on me,” Beatrix says confidently.

“You don’t need to start anything with her parents, but I appreciate the sentiment,” I say graciously.

“You’re our animai, we protect what’s important to us,” says Beatrix assertively.

“Jen’s parents are important to her too, so please don’t cause problems,” I plead.

“I’m with Bee on this. We won’t let them disrespect our bond,” Matthan says adamantly.

“Guys, I know you mean well, but I’m putting my foot down on this and it’s a no,” I try to say firmly. Matthan just scoffs and turns his nose up at me, while Beatrix sits back on her hind legs and sulks like a wounded animal. I sigh. “Your coat is looking very beautiful and shiny today,” I say sincerely and watch her tail start to wag as her ears perk up.

“You think so?” She preens.

I nod affirmatively, “Without a doubt. I think that rest did you a lot of good.”

“He’s right, you’re especially luminous today,” Matthan gushes, only making Beatrix preen more. Good, that’s one crisis averted, now I can tune back into the conversation.

“Have you two been worrying about me for the last three days? I was perfectly fine, I was with my Lan,” Jennifer says happily, “And the ranked members were very good at getting us everything we needed.”

“What about food? I’m sure you need a big meal, heats exert a lot of energy, probably even more so for you,” Craig says with concern for his daughter. I never thought about that. I guess I figured her heat would be the same as everyone else’s. Is it different for Omegas? Or maybe it’s different because she’s underdeveloped.

“I’ve eaten plenty,” she says with a giddy smile at me, “Landry cooked me so many meals and kept me well-fed. He was an angel,” she gushes.

“You left her alone?!” Her dad snaps, causing Jennifer’s eyes to blow wide.

I don’t like confrontation, but I look at the man in disgust and great offence at the implication I would ever leave her in her time of need. Is that really how low he thinks of me?

“Sir, I never left her alone for a single moment. The only time we were apart was when we used the bathroom. I requested a hot plate and used it to make various meals for Jennifer and myself because despite my past actions, I love her with all my heart and I only want to take care of her,” I say adamantly. I’m not confident in a lot of things, but when it comes to how much I love Jennifer, that I’m confident in.

Jennifer leaps to my side with a bright smile and takes my hand in hers, her touch instantly bringing me comfort while I feel pride and love emanating through our bond. I look to see the taken aback looks on her parent’s faces and wonder if I overstepped.

“You didn’t overstep,” Jennifer assures me, “You have every right to defend yourself, and they need to see in you what I do. I want them to know what a kind and caring man you are.”

“Here, here!” Beatrix cheers.

“There, there!” Matthan cheers, causing us to all freeze in confusion, and Beatrix to cock her big head to the side. “I was just trying to be different, that’s all,” he says with a timid shrug that makes us all suddenly laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Melissa asks in confusion.

“Nothing, Matthan just said something funny, that’s all,” Jennifer explains between giggles.

“Is Matthan your wolf?” Craig asks, and I nod. “That’s a very nice name… perhaps Matthan and Amandus could go for a run together sometime,” Craig awkwardly offers.

Jennifer and I stand frozen in shock, but I can see how excited Matthan is at the thought of running with other wolves, even if it is his in-law.

“I’m surprised you two haven’t spoken in your wolfy world,” I say.

“I’ve wanted to, but we both felt it wasn’t appropriate to do so behind your backs. We wanted to wait until you were both comfortable. I’ve already told you, Landry, we are loyal to our humans above all,” he reminds me, nuzzling me through our bond and making me feel warm and comforted by his affection. Matthan is one thing I’ve never doubted or questioned. No matter how low I was or how stupid I was, he never turned his back on me. He never abandoned me. I know I will always have his love and support and I couldn’t live without it, so for his sake, I want to put in a little extra effort.

“I think Matthan would love that, and so would I,” I say appreciatively.

“In that case maybe we can make a day of it,” says Melissa hopefully, “We would love it if you both came over tomorrow for lunch or dinner,” she says before letting out a sigh, which prompts Craig to take her hand. “We admit we’ve felt very uneasy about you after what happened to Jennifer, but Jennifer is a good judge of character and if she says we should give you a chance then we want to do that. We don’t want to make things harder, we just worry about our daughter,” she says with an emotional glance at Jennifer. I can tell Jen is trying not to tear up.

“Mr and Mrs Ryder, I promise no one hates me more than I hate myself for what happened, but I swear I just want to make your daughter happy,” I swear with all the fervency I can muster, while Jennifer grips my hand tight for support.

“We’re starting to see that, and so we’d love to get to know you better. If you’ll let us,” she says with uncertainty.

“I would really like that,” I say hopefully, which makes Jennifer bounce with joy and jump up and kiss my cheek.

“Then we will see you kids at our place for lunch tomorrow. We’ll let you go, I’m sure you want to get home,” says Craig as if reading my mind, but then again, he has had experience in this department before.

“We will be there tomorrow with bells on,” Jennifer chirps.

Melissa chuckles and kisses her forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay, sweetheart.”

Jennifer continues to radiate joy as I watch her parents make their way to the dining hall and I finally let out a large gush of air as my entire body relaxes. I hadn’t realised how tense I’d gotten.

“That went surprisingly well,” Beatrix acknowledges.

“Bet you’re glad Landry held you back now,” says Jennifer smugly.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Bee replies with a roll of her eyes.

As I let myself finally start to relax and listen to Jennifer and Beatrix bicker playfully in my mind, the voice of Alpha Amelia calling out an unusual name catches my attention. I look towards the entrance to the packhouse, and I notice Alpha Amelia greeting that same irshiust from the other week. I don’t know much about irshiusts, but she looks like hell. She looks exhausted, there are circles under her eyes, her golden eyes are all bloodshot and puffy and even her skin colour, which if I remember correctly, was a soft mocha colour, now looks a little ashy. Although the golden glitter in her skin is still catching the sunlight like a disco ball.

I nudge Jennifer, direct her attention to the doorway, and note her surprise alongside my own. Alpha Amelia asks her if she’s alright, and immediately tears begin to fill the woman’s eyes and I can feel the concern growing inside of Jennifer. We tentatively walk a little closer as Amelia escorts the woman inside, while she gives Amelia a sniffy thank you.

As they enter, a warm and comforting sense of calm and peace comes over the room and I suddenly feel all my cares melt away, and my body become relaxed, now feeling light and airy.

Amelia guides the woman towards the stairs just as Beta Vitali and Gamma Calix make their way down the stairs. Gamma Calix is from the Aurum Obscuro Pack and is here with his Alpha, Jasper, and other members of their pack for training. The members of their pack who are visiting rotate every few weeks, and now it’s Alpha Jasper and Gamma Calix’s turn. I haven’t interacted with them much, but so far their pack members seem like good people.

“Hey, Yildiz! Visiting us again huh, we must be special,” we hear Vitali gloat, which makes Jennifer roll her eyes in amusement.

“I won’t deny that Invictus is a very special pack,” says this Yildiz woman, her voice is like the sounds of meditation bringing calm to my nerves, but the words themselves come out listless like she’s just trying to be polite even though it’s hard for her.

“You hear that, Calix? And she can’t lie, so you know she’s telling the truth,” Beta Vitali says with his chest puffed up while nudging Calix playfully.

“You know the whole point of this training programme was to bring the packs together, not ascertain which pack is better,” Calix admonishes.

“I know. Still feels good though, right Amelia?” Continues Vitali.

“Not now, Vit,” says Amelia, trying to ignore him as she guides Yildiz past Vitali and Calix further up the stairs.

“Party pooper,” Vitali mutters, even though we can all hear him just fine. Jennifer tugs me to encourage us to walk away, and just as we turn to walk away we hear Vitali speak again. “Oh Yildiz, can you tell Nuray I say hi? It’s been ages since I spoke to her,” he says. It’s the sudden sound of wood splintering that forces us to turn back around. Yildiz’s eyes are clenched tightly shut and her grip on the banister is causing it to splinter under her force, but given what I know about irshiusts, she must be holding back, otherwise, that banister would be dust by now. Jennifer’s heart fills with sadness, and I understand why when I see tears streaming down Yildiz’s face.

“I can’t,” she whispers.

“Why not?” Vitali asks in confusion.

“Because Nuray died a week ago,” she chokes out while turning to face him. Amelia lets out a gasp and so does Jennifer, clutching her hand to her mouth, and just like everyone else, I’m staring up at this woman in utter shock. Did she just say a member of the Delegation died? I didn’t even know they could die, I thought they were immortal. “She was killed. I’m sorry to be the one… to tell you. I know you two were close,” she finishes with a shaky breath.

Tears begin to fill Amelia’s eyes and Vitali just continues to stare up at Yildiz in shock and confusion, like the words aren’t sinking in, and I don’t blame him. It sounds unfathomable.

“How is this possible?” I ask Matthan.

“I don’t know,” he says in disbelief, “I’m as shocked as you. Aside from the Gods themselves, they’re the most powerful beings on earth. Who could possibly be strong enough to kill an irshiust?”

“Could it be a God then?”

Matthan shakes his head, “I’m no expert, so I can’t say for certain, but Goddess Zarseti is like a mother to them as Morrtemis is a mother to us wolf spirits. I imagine another God murdering one of her children would be enough to start a war. I just don’t see it being likely.”

“But then who could be strong enough to kill an irshiust if not a God?” Jennifer chimes in.

“Sometimes it’s not about strength, Chickpea. Catch someone by surprise or set a good enough trap and even the strongest people can be defeated,” Beatrix explains.

“But… I don’t understand,” Vitali slowly whispers. I only now notice Alpha Jasper standing in the doorway looking horrified with Delta Mei standing beside him with tears in her eyes. She looks so tiny beside him.

“I’m so sorry,” Amelia says softly, holding back her tears as she attempts to comfort Yildiz. I now understand why she looks so terrible. She looks how I felt after my mum died.

Yildiz gives her a nod and continues back up the stairs, wiping away her tears with Amelia quickly following behind her.