Scarlett's Guilt
Osprey
Godric nudged Serena for the millionth time as we continued to run toward our sleuth, pushing the rest of Havana as hard as we could. It had taken us twice as long to get near our destination as they were all grieving from the loss of Logan and Giselda. We may not have been linked with them, but both Scarlett and I had felt the pain of loss through Annie’s link. We also felt her suffering, which was killing Scarlett. She wanted to go back and find Annie. She wanted to hunt Gerald down and end his life and I fully agreed. He was going to die. It was only a matter of time. Enough was enough.
I thought I had made the right choice before by trying to address his feralness, but I had been wrong. So wrong. I had failed Annie. Fuck Havana. Fuck Logan. Fuck GIselda. As much as I liked them as people, Annie was my sister. I had sworn to protect her. Not anyone else involved in this situation. Just her. And because I failed her, she had lost her mate, her best friend, and her sleuth all at once. Well, technically not her sleuth. I prayed that I could find her before Gerald hurt her anymore or worse, killed her. She was going to need Havana and they would all need her. She was, after all, their Alpha Sow.
I sent up a loud roar, calling to my family as we crossed over our border. Within seconds, Toya and her mate, Jarrod, led their pack to surround us, guiding us to our sleuth house where my parents stood outside waiting to greet us. Dozens of other bears stood below the porch with clothes gripped in their hands for our new boars and sow. Once everyone was shifted back, and clothed, I wrapped an arm around Scarlett’s shoulders as I led her upstairs to my parents. I nodded at the terrified, heartbroken new arrivals with my eyes narrowed on my parents.
“This is the havana sleuth. They lost their alpha and betas,” I told them, barely managing to keep a tight leash on my anger. “You should arrange their lodging and then we need to talk.”
My father eyed me for a moment before nodding, surprising me. I wasn’t expecting him to give in to my order so quickly.
“Your office in half an hour. Scarlett and I need to check on our daughter and shower before we talk,” I said.
“Ok. We will be there, son.”
I stiffened at his words before rolling my eyes. I quickly led Scarlett up to our room where Elena was changing little Roma’s diaper. She smiled sadly at us, and I didn’t miss the tear that rolled down her face.
“I take it that you couldn’t go after Annie?” She asked.
“No, we couldn’t. We knew that Gerald wouldn’t kill her for a while, and we made a promise to get her sleuth here safely. We are going to gather the warriors we need and go after them. How did it go while we were gone? Did you find some places to check for them? I know we were each left cabins. Did you find the coordinates of his?” I inquired.
“Yes. I also found some other unused locations that our family owns. If he didn’t keep her on our sleuth land, I’m not sure where he would take her. We will just have to find them the old fashion way,” Elena answered as she picked Roma up.
She gently handed the newborn off to Scarlett who instantly lifted her up to sniff her, using our daughter’s scent to soothe her own pain. She raised her eyes to mine, her eyes flashing at me as she put her cheek on Roma’s forehead.
“I hate him, Osprey. I liked the Havana leadership team. They were good for Annie. Giselda and Logan didn’t deserve to die at his hands. Annie doesn’t deserve any of it either, nor does she deserve what he is doing to her now. He is an asshole and we need to kill him,” Scarlett whispered as tears started pouring down her face, making me even more furious that he had made my mate cry.
It was only making his death harder. I took a deep breath as I wrapped my arms around her, cradling her against my chest while being careful not to crush our tiny daughter. I kissed her forehead.
“It’s going to be okay, Letti. I promise you that he will lay dead at our feet very soon,” I told her softly.
“And we will bring Annie home.” She raised her tear-filled eyes to mine. “You have to bring Annie home. You have to save her. Promise me that you will.”
“I swear to you that we will do our best, Scarlett. I want to save her too.”
She leaned against me for a moment before pulling away as she smiled down at Roma. “Come on, little one. You can sit in your vibrating chair while Mommy showers, and Mommy will sing to you. Would you like that, sweet girl?” She cooed as she walked toward the bathroom.
I grabbed the vibrating chair to take it into the bathroom for her before taking Roma from her to get her settled while Scarlett disrobed. I got Roma situated in her chair before turning toward Scarlett as she started the water. I walked over to her to put my hands on her shoulders before sliding them down her arms.
“I know this is hard baby, but I just want to let you know how proud of you I am. You are so strong, and I love you.” I kissed her neck. “You are the most incredible alpha sow, Letti. There is not one better than you.”
She linked our fingers together before squeezing my hand. “Thanks for that, but I know better. I am a coward. I am weak. I could have helped Annie. I should have told you to kill him, but I asked you to do everything that you could to keep him alive.” She wiped her face. “He’s alive because I begged you to keep him so. You wanted to kill him. You wanted to be done with this whole thing. But I just had to beg. This is all my fault. This is on me. Making Annie and Havana lose Logan and Giselda, that’s my fault. I did that.”
I slowly turned her around to pull her close to my body. “No, baby, it’s not. It’s my parents. I told them. I warned them. I begged them to listen. They didn’t. This whole disaster is their fault. Not mine. Not yours.” I kissed her softly. I know that you feel guilty. I do too. But you shouldn’t blame yourself. You’re not at fault.” I kissed her lips again. “You shower, and I’m going to go talk with my parents. Do you want me to leave Elena here?”
“No. Take her. Little Roma and I will be okay. The only threat right now is Gerald, and he’s too consumed with hurting Annie to care about coming after us. Besides, with Elena by your side, they might actually start to believe you,” she said.
“Alright. I’ll be back as soon as I can. I love you, Letti.”
“I love you too, ‘Sprey.”
I walked back out into the main room, smiling tensely at Elena as I nodded to the door. “You’re with me, Lena.”
She rolled her shoulders back. “Lead the way, brother. I have your back.”
“I know you do, Lena. Thank you.”
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