Chapter 25
He runs a hand through his beautiful hair. Seeing him makes the images leave my mind, freeing me from their temporary chains.
“Haven’t we been over this?”
“Over what?”
“The fact that you are a terrible liar.”
I cross my arms. “Well, maybe you just excel at catching lies. It was a dream again. I couldn’t go back to sleep afterward.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t think when I told you to go back without me.”
The concern in his eyes makes me curse myself. “You shouldn’t have to.”
He sighs. “You have to get more sleep. I’ll stay with you—”
“No. You probably have a lot to do with what happened. I’ll be fine. I’ll distract myself.”
***
Henry and I walk around outside, as he refuses to stay in and rest his ankle. He is the only bandaged one between us, for my head has healed to a point where a wrap is no longer needed. The grass is dry, and we travel through it on a random path to nowhere. Henry wanted to come outside and enjoy the last bit of fall before winter comes and coats the grass white with its harsh winds and endings. Today, the weather is nice—not too cold as if the sun has decided to shine one last time before night takes over.
I did not look out the window this morning. This morning, I realized something. If this alpha is going to come for me, there is no point in hiding. He has killed an innocent man, and I am sure he is willing to commit such a crime again. Staring paranoid out a window will not keep me anymore safer than I am outside. It is silly to believe that walls will keep the danger out. Danger always finds a way to creep in and attack from behind when you are least expecting it.
I notice Henry studying my face.
“You look tired. Did you fight and sleep apart?”
I roll my eyes playfully, though I do not feel playful at all. I feel crummy, worn out, and irritable like a child who has been kept awake for too long.
“I didn’t sleep well last night. That’s all.”
“I heard about what happened last night. I heard that you went along,” he tells me, reminding my nostrils of the unforgettable smell. “Was that your first time seeing a dead person?”
“Yes. This may surprise you, but I haven’t had the chance before.” Sarcasm drips from my voice. “You wanted to come out here only to walk. Not that you can do much anyway, but we’re right beside the house.”
“Sebastian asked me not to go on any adventures until I’m fully healed up.”
Amused, I smile while watching his face. “And you listen to him?” “Don’t you?”
“Well, yes, but he is my mate. I know he only wants the best for you and me, but you’re brothers. How can you obediently follow?”
“He probably knows what’s best, so I might as well listen. It would be hard to move around in the forest anyway, and if anything were to happen, I wouldn’t be able to get away like I did last time.” He admits, realizing the points behind his brother’s orders. “He spends more time thinking. I spend more time doing.”
“I might be in that boat with you.”
“Oh, but you’ll have to learn to think things over before you act upon them. You’re the alpha’s mate, the luna.” He brags as if he has gotten away scot-free.
“And you don’t?”
“No, because I don’t have any official title. Hence, no official authority. So I get to act right away.”
I sigh and cross my arms jokingly. “Well, that’s not fair. What if I want to act recklessly?”
“You can’t. You’re the alpha’s mate,” he chants.
“If you weren’t injured, I would push you over. I don’t feel like leadership material. I’m not courageous, witty, charismatic, mindful, strategic—”
“Ruthless,” Henry cuts in.
“Yes. I’m not ruthless.”
“Does it bother you that Sebastian is?”
I stop walking and glance up at Henry. His eyes are gazing somewhere else.
“He does what he has to do and what he feels is necessary.”
Henry looks back at me. “People change each other.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“It’s just a thought.”
We turn around and head back towards the house. The temperature for the day has reached its peak, and soon, it will come tumbling down in preparation for the night. The leaves on the trees are blown about, sending a whooshing sound through the air.
“What will happen to the body? What do they do with it?” I ask him.
“They might bury him if he has no family. If he does, the family will decide.”
“I hope he has a family.”
“Me too.”
The house draws closer until I find myself climbing up the steps and entering with Henry at my side. Marina is in the kitchen, preparing for dinner, and I sit and watch her from the counter, never once looking out the window. Henry chats casually as I lean back and observe.
I could have been that man last night, cold and alone with no family to bicker over what to do with my body, no sobbing and uncontrollable emotions surging through them as I lie empty. If I stayed with Grandmother, would I have died alone? What if there was never a pull convincing me to cross the stream? What if my grandmother passed and left me to perish slowly until an abrupt and final end? I am hoping that the man did not feel this way. I am hoping that he was surrounded by friends if not family before the attack.
It is always easy to convince yourself that the positive option is the truth, but it is easier to believe that he did indeed die entirely alone. It is even easier to trust that I would have too.