Chapter Forty-Six

Finley

I was led from the conference room to another one that looked eerily similar. One man and one woman sat at the table and they stopped talking as I walked inside with the woman that escorted me.

“Miss Blake,” she said and stepped out of the room.

“Good morning Miss Blake, I’m Oracle Lily and this is Council Member Woodruff, we’ll be overseeing your oath,” she said and smiled warmly at me.

“Okay,” I said and sat down on the chair she indicated.

“It won’t hurt,” she said and winked at me.

I felt slightly better knowing that and wondered what this oath consisted of. I didn’t know what to expect and I had no idea where Damon was or what would happen to him, only that he was going to prison. A prison for the supernatural.

“This document stipulates the oath, that you swear to not reveal our existence to any outsiders or discuss what happened here today with anybody that is not supernatural,” she said.

“Okay,” I said again and felt stupid because that’s all I kept saying.

“Give me your thumb and I’ll make a small incision, once there is blood just press your thumb down on the bottom of the document. Supernatural beings like us will be able to sense that you are a familiar and you’ll be able to sense supernatural beings around you as well,” she said.

I extended my hand to her and she made a small painless cut on my thumb and I pressed it down on the paper. I looked at my thumbprint as the blood seemed to seep into the paper and then disappear altogether.

“It is done,” she said and smiled at me again.

“Would you like to have your memory of Damon Woods removed?” she asked me.

“No,” I said and looked at her.

“You might want to reconsider, they will be removing you from his memories, it’s standard procedure in cases like these,” she said.

“That doesn’t matter, my memories of him aren’t bad and I’d like to keep them,” I said to her.

“Very well, you might feel slight pressure and light pain, nausea, dizziness and headaches as the bond weakens and breaks from his side,” she said.

“So he’s going to completely forget me?” I asked her.

“Yes although if your bond is really strong, then he will recognize it should you see one another again,” she said to me.

“What happens now?” I asked her.

“Now we discuss your relocation,” she said as she sat down opposite me.

“Can I go home?” I asked her.

“You can go wherever you want,” she said to me.

“I’d like to go home,” I said to her.

“We will arrange for two warriors to escort you back,” she said and stood up again.

“My things are still at the hotel,” I said and she nodded.

“You’ll spend the night there and tomorrow morning, whenever you’re ready, you’ll be taken home,” she said and opened the door.

The same woman from earlier stood in the hallway and she nodded as the Oracle instructed her to take me back to the hotel. My phone was given back to me at the reception desk and as I looked at the woman that greeted us at the elevator I instinctively knew that she was also a jaguar. The realization had just popped into my head without me even thinking about it.

I couldn’t sleep as I lay in the bed not knowing anything about Damon but the woman had made sure that I understood what I would feel when they broke the bond between us. I couldn’t cry but I felt empty knowing that I’d never see Damon again and that he wouldn’t remember who I was or what we went through together.

“Hello,” I answered my phone with my eyes still closed.

“Finley Blake! Where the hell are you?” she yelled at me.

“Harley?” I asked.

“Who else would it be, or did you go out and make new friends?” she asked me loudly.

“It’s six am, why are you up?” I asked her.

“Because I haven’t been able to reach you for days!” she yelled again.

“I’m sorry, I’ll be home by tonight,” I said to her.

“Have you spent all this time with Damon?” she asked me.

“Yes but we’ll talk when I’m home, I promise,” I said to her.

“Fine, call me as soon as you’re home,” she said.

“I will,” I said.

“Okay, love you,” she said, sounding more like herself.

“Love you,” I said and we ended the phone call.

I groaned as I rolled onto my back and decided that I should just get up and start the process of going home. I’d feel better once I was home or would I? Seeing Damon’s house from across the street every day might not be so easy.

Two hours later I was ready to leave and I had cried as I packed Damon’s suitcase and took it with me. I planned on calling Kat when I was back home so she could get his stuff that was still at my house too. The same woman that had escorted me to the hotel came to pick me up again but this time there was a man with her as well.

“You’ll be back in St Albans City at about two pm,” she said as I climbed into the backseat of the SUV.

We drove in silence for six and a half hours while I stared out of the window wondering what my life would be like now since I couldn’t write about any of them anymore, well at least just the things I knew about.

I was still consumed by my thoughts when the woman opened the door and I realized that we were in front of my house. There was a truck parked in front of Damon’s house that I didn’t recognize and I had to tear my eyes away as I climbed out.

“Good luck Miss Blake,” the woman said as she climbed back into the car and they drove off.

I turned towards my house and unlocked the front door and gasped audibly when I did so. Someone had been here because everything was back in its place and it didn’t look like my house had been ransacked at all.

“Finley?” I heard his voice and turned around.

“Hi Connor,” I said as he walked into the house.

“I’m glad to see you’re back and safe,” he said.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“I’m packing up Alpha Damon’s stuff,” he said and looked down.

“There’s some of his stuff in the guest bedroom,” I said.

“Are you okay?” he asked me.

“I don’t know, Connor,” I said to him as I sunk down onto the couch.

“Do you want me to call Archer?” he asked.

“No, I’ll be fine,” I said to him.

“I can stick around for a few days,” he said as he looked me in the eye.

“You should get back to your life Connor,” I said.

“Six months isn’t that long you know,” he said and tried to give me a smile.

“It doesn’t matter, they’re going to break our bond and make him forget me,” I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

“Shit, I didn’t think they’d do that with you two being bonded halves,” he said.

“I’m human, I guess there are different rules for me,” I said sadly.

“If you need anything, we’re not far and as Damon’s mate we’ll always help you where we can,” he said.

“I appreciate that but I’ll be fine, really,” I said and gave him a halfhearted smile.

“I guess I’ll go grab his stuff from upstairs,” he said and took the stairs two at a time.

I took a deep breath and blinked the tears away. Connor was a good person but I shouldn’t get too involved with them. It was better to cut the relationship short before more people got hurt because of me.

Connor was quick and he came back down the stairs half an hour later with Damon’s duffel bag and placed it at the foot of the stairs as he looked at me. I didn’t want to talk anymore, I just wanted to curl up in my bed and sleep, preferably forever.

“Do you know what the role of a Gamma is?” he asked me.

“Connor…” I said as he looked at me.

“I don’t feel right leaving you all alone here, it’s my duty to protect you,” he said.

“I’m not his bonded half anymore so you’re free from that obligation,” I said to him.

“He’d want me to look after you,” he said.

“He won’t remember me. You need to go home, find your own bonded half and keep all the crazies out there in check,” I said to him as he laughed softly.

“Are you going to stay here?” he asked me.

“I don’t know, there’s so many memories here, but I’ve always liked torturing myself,” I said to him and this time I did smile genuinely.

“I’ll come check in on you,” he said as he picked up the duffel bag once more.

“You don’t have to do that, I’m sure you’ll be really busy with Damon away,” I said.

“I don’t mind, I’ll sleep better at night knowing you’re okay,” he said as he walked to the front door.

“Have any of you talked to Kat, told her what’s happened?” I asked him.

“I’m not sure really, Jared hasn’t even appointed a Beta yet,” he said.

“Take care of yourself Connor, you’re one of the few good ones,” I said and a slight blush crept up his face.

“You too Finley, I wish things worked out differently,” he said.

He closed the front door behind him and I stood watching him through the windows as he put the duffel bag in his truck and climbed inside. He left soon after that and I took out my phone, not knowing what I was going to tell Harley, Wells and Mimi. I couldn’t tell them the truth of everything that had happened but I also didn’t want to lie to them. My voice of reason told me to speak to Kat and Archer first, she deserved to hear it from me.

“Hello?” Kat answered her phone.