Chapter 69

(**Rayne’s POV**)

Rayne waited for her turn to be questioned by Julian or Lenore. They had taken each of them out on the deck one at a time to go over the events that led up to Daniel’s death. Parker has already been questioned, so he is making lunch for everyone. Edmund is out there now with Lenore. Julian wants to interview Ryan last, which means she is next.

Ryan sits facing the kitchen with his back to the deck. If she must gage his mood by his expression, it would have to be a mixture of guilt and sorrow. He regrets taking the life of his best friend, who has been his Beta since he became Alpha of Crystal Dawn. The sorrow he feels comes from a past that could have been different if he had just gone to Jade Moon fourteen years ago.

Both emotions will get him nowhere. Daniel is dead and there is nothing he can do about it. Emotions got the better of Ryan when Daniel threatened Rayne’s unborn baby. She must admit that what he did surprised her since she honestly didn’t really take the threat seriously. Between Parker, her father, and all her friends, there was no way Daniel would have a chance to kill her child or her mate.

The sorrow Ryan feels is understandable but again will get him nowhere. The past can’t be undone. If he had come to Jade Moon fourteen years ago, things may have been different, yes, but there are no guarantees it would have been for the better. The life she has now is all because of the past she survived. Listening to Parker sing badly in the kitchen, she knew without a doubt that she wouldn’t change a thing.

Meeting Parker in that seedy hotel in the middle of nowhere was the start of her new life. This little house on the beach is her own slice of heaven. Shadow’s Retreat is her way of making neutral ground for all supernaturals. The silent part they play with their allies in the war on The Collectors is worth every beating she took from Wilson. Each life they save is a step forward to their victory.

Rayne can’t say any of that would not be possible without her because the war has been going on long before she became aware of The Collectors. What she can say is that Parker and Shadow’s Retreat wouldn’t be in her life if her uncle had come to Jade Moon all those years ago. He would have taken her home with him to Crystal Dawn. What her life would be like right now is hard to say, but she can imagine it would differ vastly from the one she has. Thinking about it, the conclusion she has come to is simple.

Her life is what it is because she made it out of Jade Moon alive.

“Rayne, we are ready for you outside,” Julian says from the doorway.

Nodding her head to him, she stands up and walks out onto the deck. Her eyes going instantly to the bloodstains as she walks to the railing. They would not be able to get the blood out of the wood. It would remain, no matter what they did to it. Violent deaths have a way of lingering in the place they happened. Daniel’s death would stay with her home forever.

“Walk us through what happened from the time Ryan and Daniel arrived at your house until the murder took place.” Lenore says after Rayne takes a seat on a bench.

Without hesitation, she tells them everything that happened that day. By the time she finished her version of events, the Drakos couple were merely nodding their heads. From their expressions, she can tell that their decision divides them. It looks like Lenore wants to side with Ryan while Julian is not so keen on calling the murder justifiable. They ask her to go back into the house so they can discuss the case alone.

Feeling a little tired from all the stress of the situation, she goes to lie down until they are ready to decide. Once she was comfortable on her bed, she closes her eyes. Images of the bloodstains on her deck make her open the again. Rubbing her hand over her flat belly, she calms down.

“Hey there, little one. You have amazed me by being in there. I want you to know that I will do everything I can to make your life a happy one. Your daddy will help keep you safe. Your grandpa will spoil you rotten. All your aunts and uncles will teach you terrible things while your mommy scolds them. I will love you more than anything in this world.”

She grabs the notepad with the list of baby names off her nightstand. Looking over the list, she takes the red pen and puts an x-mark next to all the names she doesn’t like. Parker has already done the same which leaves them with nine names they agree on. That narrows it down significantly from the thirty names they had collected from all their family and friends. Nine names were still too many. Three boy names, three girl names, and three names that are gender neutral.

Rayne already has three names that she favors over all the others. She can also tell from the little birds Parker drew near a few names he has his favorites too. One of them they both like a lot. Rubbing her belly one last time, she gets up from the bed to go into the kitchen for food. It is time to feed her belly.

“Ah, there you are. Did you enjoy your nap?” Parker says when she hugs him from behind while he cooks.

“I never really slept. The moment I closed my eyes, all I could see was the blood on our deck. We will have to rebuild it.”

“I already have that covered. I called the guys, and they are all willing to pitch in to help tear it down and rebuild. Then we should see if Arabella will do a cleanse for the entire property.”

“Do you think we should have her extend the wards to include the garage and the deck?”

“The garage is a good idea now that we have family living out there. I want to have your dad protected like we are in the house.” Parker says as he turns the burner off.

She watches him drain the pasta noodles, add the grilled chicken, toss it all together with the Alfredo sauce then plate it up. He makes it all look so easy, which makes her happy that he enjoys cooking so much more than she does. As she helps him set the table, she is grateful for the everyday task to distract her mind from their current situation.

When the Drakos couple joined them for lunch, conversation flowed easily between them and her father. It was like no time had passed between old friends. She learned her father met Julian while they were all at the training camp that all Alpha’s and Beta’s used to be required to go to before they can take their title. The camps ended after the Pack Wars and never got started up again.

Over the years after the training camp, Julian, Wilson, and her father remained close friends. They were there for each other when they found their mates, attended mating ceremonies for each other, and were there for the announcement of pregnancies. The Pack Wars changed all that. Wilson became a recluse after the war. Since he told everyone that Edmund had died, Julian stopped attempting to stay in contact. It was clear to Rayne that her father was the glue that held the trio together.

The irony of how close her father was with Sebastion’s father makes her laugh. Had the wars ended differently, would she have met Sebastion sooner? Would they have been friends growing up like their fathers were? She wants to think they would have been friends even if the Moon Goddess had never paired them together as mates.

Looking up at Parker as he squeezes her hand, she smiles at him. For him, she would keep her life just how it is. He was with her today, tomorrow, and for their future. With the baby they made together, their future looks good. If they can escape the shadows of the past that keep creeping in to haunt them both.

“That was fantastic chicken Alfredo, Parker. I really enjoyed the spicey kick to the sauce.” Lenore says. She pushes her empty plate away with a smile.

“My friend Lynn taught me how to make that. She used to own a diner here in town.”

“I would love to meet her to get the recipe.”

“Well, I hate to bring the meal to an end, but we should get back to the reason we are here.” Julian says. He stands up from the table and walks back into the living room.

Lenore looks at her husband’s retreating figure, then she looks at Ryan who had mostly been silent throughout lunch. She looked like she wanted to say something but shook her head, then stood to join her husband. That look doesn’t bode well for Ryan. Leaving the clean-up for later, everyone else at the table follows Lenore into the living room to await the decision.

Once they are all seated around the living room, Julian turns to face Ryan. “After listening to everything you all had to say, we are divided. We both know that this wasn’t a premeditated crime. Your emotions were high after learning that Wilson killed your sister. When Daniel threatened to kill her grandchild, you snapped. I understand that, I really do, but I am not sure I would call this crime a justifiable one.”

“There were other options you could have chosen rather than kill him. Your heart was in the right place, wanting to protect your niece. However, since we are divided on our decision, you will be required to come to Europe. Your fate will be determined by the council now.” Lenore tells him.

“Will they require us all to go? To testify for him?” Rayne asks.

“No, we recorded all your statements, so that will be enough.” Julian says.

“When do we leave?” Ryan asks. He stands up, then walks to the sliding glass doors.

“In the morning,” Lenore tells him.

“I will need to call my family to let them know what is going on. My son, Felix, is training to take over for me. He is ready to take the title if the council strips it from me.”

Felix? Rayne didn’t know that she had a cousin. Looking for her mother’s family never crossed her mind after she was told they didn’t want her. Now that she knows the truth, it would be a good idea to get to know them. How many cousins does she have? Now seems like the wrong time to even ask that question.

“Your Luna and children can meet you at the council. I am sure they will need to be there if the council decides against you.” Julian says.

A somber silence falls over the room as Ryan continues to stare out at the bloodstained wood. Lenore decided it would be a good idea to head to their hotel but said they would be back early in the morning to pick him up. Once they were gone, Rayne and Parker cleaned up the lunch dishes. Edmund took Ryan up to the loft so he could rest.

Rayne offered him one of the guest rooms, but he declined. He wanted to spend some time alone, so Edmund offered him to the couch in the loft. Then, since they all still had jobs to do, Edmund and Parker left for the bar, leaving Rayne at the house in case her uncle needed anything. She was not happy being stuck as a babysitter for a grown adult but stayed behind anyway.

She would take this time to look at furniture for the baby’s room. Thirty minutes into her online shopping, the total in the basket was staggering. Getting up from her laptop, she grabs a pad of paper to make a list of all the things she wanted. Then took half of the items out of the shopping cart. The total still made her cringe, but it was all needed, so she paid the price.

Parker was going to have fun assembling everything she bought. Now on to the next task. Paint colors. Shaking her head, she decided that was a task for them both to do. She logged off her laptop and headed to take a much-deserved bath. Knowing she had the house to herself for the night, she lit a few scented candles in the bathroom, added some lavender to the bath water, then sank into the water with a happy sigh.

The warm water, quiet house, and soothing lavender causes her to fall asleep soon after getting in the tub. When she wakes up, she is bundled up in a blanket in the middle of the bed with a sticky note on the pillow next to her. Parker’s lingering scent tells her he came back from the bar to check on her. Reading the note, she let out a laugh.

*Rayne,*

*You were turning into a prune when I found you in the tub, so I put you to bed. There is a steak on a plate in the microwave for your dinner. Malcom sent it home with me saying you need red meat to have a robust baby. I will be back in the morning.*

*Love you*
*Parker*

Knowing there is a steak in the microwave with her name on it, Rayne hops out of bed. She stops when she realizes she was still naked from her bath. After getting dressed, she heads into the kitchen to devour the steak Malcolm sent her. After eating, she walks to the sliding glass door to look out at the ocean.

A shadowy figure on the deck makes her jump and a scream to tear from her throat. When the figure moves into the light, she sees it is her uncle. Opening the door, she joins him outside. His eyes are watery as he keeps looking at the bloodstained wood. Taking his hand, she guides him off the deck to the beach.

The sound of the waves lapping against the shore always calms her. Sitting down, she motions for him to join her. He looks so lost that she doesn’t quite know how to help him.

“Tell me about my mother. What was she like as a kid?”

That single question made him smile as he told her about Mia. Here was another link Rayne has to her mother. They spent the rest of the night on the beach as Ryan talks about his sister. The love of a brother for his sister warms Rayne’s heart as she learns more about her mother.

Will the Werewolf Council understand why Ryan killed Daniel?