43 - Deliberate

43 - Deliberate

~Hannah’s Point of View~

The rational part of my brain was completely at war with my heart. I just knew that I couldn’t leave the last place I’d seen Parker, I couldn’t leave without him. But after multiple searches they all finally convinced me it was time to pack it in. Rafe left a note at the battle site and at the camp we’d had with some sort of “bro code” that would tell Parker we were in fact going back to Nightwind.

“So, Reign didn’t exactly tell us to come but he didn’t say not to. Your mom is still so pissed but the idea of her babies being slaughtered by rogues was likely too much to bear. We actually had to turn people away. Well over a hundred showed up, wanting to come out. He absolutely had to know we’d go, he’s a fucking coward. But if anything, it proved that your father is losing his grip on the pack. The next generation backs you fully and that was on display for all to see.

After all we’ve done to fight the Rhodes clan, rogues in general and especially when his sons’ lives are on the line … he’s going to be a pussy? Fuck all that, we were gassing up the vehicles the minute we got your note,” Seth explains.

After not having any help for so long, anyone so loyal, it warms my heart to know that my mates have that not only with Seth but so many others.

We’d been in the car now for nearly ten hours, stopping only for gas and a quick meal. I wasn’t sure how riding in a van and literally not moving was so exhausting but surely it must just be everything hitting me all at once.

Isaac is actually dead, and I’m still just not sure how to feel about it.

“Appreciate that man, really. I wasn’t totally sure how it would all go. But Isaac essentially going all suicide wasn’t something I saw coming. And now we’re on to yet another obstacle in getting rid of these bastards. It just never ends,” Rafe admits, rubbing his face.

I fall onto his shoulder, and he wraps his arm around me.

“And his last act was to defy his father, or … it’s another trap,” Frederick says, turning around from the front seat of the van.

My mind flashes to all the many lines he’d used on me over the years as a form of control. Is giving up his father his true last stand? A way to make amends with me? It would likely end the Rhodes clan for good, give me peace.

Though certainly not if they hurt Parker. My eyes begin to well at the thought, and I feel my mother’s hand pat my arm.

I’m finally so close to having a real, whole family. But nothing is ever just that easy for me, it can’t be can it?

Nightwind is literally the last place I want to go right now, but it’s on the way to Nevada and I have to confess, I desperately miss Scarlett. My whole being is so exhausted that it takes no time for me to find sleep nuzzled against my mate.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

My body jerks up with a start and I blink rapidly. Scarlett’s face is in the window and Rafe is already waving happily at her.

“It’s about time,” she squeals, as she finally gets the door open and she practically throws herself at Rafe.

Once we’re out of the car, my brothers quickly come to my side as I embrace Scarlett.

“Oh? And who do we have here,” she asks, beaming. I make the introductions and if I’m not totally hallucinating, I could swear Oliver blushed at her. Ugh, this is all I need!

“Where’s my Parker,” I hear, and my smile quickly fades, only to meet Luna Patricia’s worried and bandaged face. I’m more than willing to bet she won’t let anyone see her face until it’s fully healed. The beast part of my brain seems to snarl, because I find that my fists are balled and my gums hurt. I remember how it felt to slash her flesh and even though she’s not really a threat I can’t forget. I’ll never fully trust her, no matter what.

“Mom, let’s talk,” Rafe says, signaling for Pax to join them. Seth and many others leave to get cleaned up.

“Hannah,” Scarlett asks, jerking her head up at me, tears pooling in her eyes.

I pull her into me, and begin to lead her down toward the picnic spot by the water where they often have meals. My brothers follow without question, especially since I doubt they know what else to do with themselves.

Once we’re at a picnic table, I sit and pull her into me.

“He’s not dead but… he was taken,” I say, no sugarcoating it. I stroke her hair and expect her to burst into tears, expect her to be dramatic as I’m certain her mother is doing. But no, she surprises me.

She sits up abruptly and scowls.

“Well what are you doing to get him back? I’ll have their heads on a stick! I’ll gut them like a fish and send the bones to their mamas,” she snaps, leaping to her feet and waving her hands around. She’s in a modest plaid dress with high white socks capped with lace trim and saddle shoes. Her hair is in braided pigtails and she’s absolutely beautiful. But certainly not intimidating how she is trying to behave.

My eyes immediately move to my brothers who stare at her with admiration. A female they don’t even know. Ugh, this is gonna be trouble.

“While I love your enthusiasm, you’re not going anywhere young lady. Rafe and the guys will get a plan together. We know where to start looking at least. We’re just stopping here to refuel and get supplies,” I say.

“Hannah? Where can I freshen up,” I hear, and turn to see my mom and Frederick.

Literally every cell of my body says there’s no chance I’m going in the packhouse, so we make the trip to Parker’s cabin. The very moment I step inside, I lose it.

“There, there honey,” mom says, cooing and cradling me.

She pulls me to the couch and all I smell is him. The entire place is woodsy and is alive with heavenly aromas like moss and earth. It’s so comforting to me and yet I can’t stand it. My brothers fall at my feet, and each holds one of my knees like they would after one of Isaac’s assaults. When I look into their eyes I just still can’t believe I have them back and they’re safe.

But because my life is always one foot in and the other out, I get them back at the expense of something else. Someone else.

Before I know it, we’ve all showered and eaten, gone through the motions. But I’m just not sure I can leave the cabin. Even in the short time I was here with him, all I see is us together. On the couch, on the kitchen counter… in the tub. In the bed. No place has ever felt more like home and it's because he’s here.

As I’m about to step out of the kitchen, I push away from the counter and feel something stuck to my hand. I wiggle it without much thought, but still feel it.

“Is that a string,” I mumble, annoyed.

“I’ll get it,” my mom says, grabbing my wrist and finding it. Her eyes immediately narrow and then … she sniffs it.

Without a word, Frederick appears, and he takes it from her and does the same.

“This isn’t yours. Does your mate have another long haired blonde in his home often,” my uncle questions. I cock my head to the side and immediately fume at the idea.

“The hell he does,” I snap, as my mind wanders to cleaning the kitchen one of the last times I cooked in here. Parker keeps the house immaculate, and the only other female that would have been in here lately might be Scarlett. She may have come in here if she was missing him.

I snatch the offending strand and bring it to my nose, honestly shocked that my senses are so heightened now. That I can actually catch a person’s scent from a hair.

“Rafe sent me to get you guys, all set,” Pax asks, popping his head inside. My feet are moving on their own already, and with my free hand I grip his shirt and yank him toward me.

“Whose is this,” I shout, as my entire body heats. He makes a face that says he’s stunned, and it takes him a minute to fully see what I’m holding.

“Uhm… is this a trick question,” he asks, confused.

A hand lands on my shoulder and in my mind I hear, “relax” in my head.

I pinch my eyes shut for a second, and as if a vision hits me, I see the person who I know without a doubt left this hair in my mate’s house.

“Motherfucker,” I snap, as my brothers scramble off the couch and come to see what’s going on. Thankfully Scarlett went back to the house to see Rafe.

“Whoa pissed off lycan coming through,” Oliver teases.

“What,” Pax demands, clearly frustrated.

Search, I say in my mind, directed at my family. Without a word they both begin to move and carefully examine the rest of the home. After a minute, I find my mother, standing over the bed in Parker’s room.

“The scent is concentrated here. She laid in the bed… recently. Maybe in the last couple of days,” she says, then turns to look at me.

“Who was doing what now,” Pax asks, still confused.

Then he lowers his body and begins to sniff the bed. He may not have the senses to pick her up from a single hair, but he’ll get it from the quilt and pillows.

I raise my hand to see my claws have sprouted, and I feel my heart pounding in my ears. There is absolutely zero reason for anyone else to have been in this house. In the very bed where my mate and I had been intimate so recently.

It was deliberate.

But why?

When Pax lifts his head, it’s obvious he’s already mind-linking. But I’m not waiting for anything or anyone. I spin on my heel, and run right out of the house with a clear mission.