Chapter 41 - Moving on from love

LENA WOKE UP in the early hours of the morning to only the birds singing. None of the movement she had grown used to at the pack house was there and it made her realize how incredibly alone she was. She sighed as she looked around her house and everything she still had to get done to make it safe and comfortable.

But the thing that hit her the most was the realization that her parents weren’t there. Imagining that they had gone on a trip wasn’t going to cut it. She had to make peace with the fact that she was there alone and they weren’t going to come back. She sighed as she got up and she walked over to the window to see if anyone was hanging around the camp.

The camp was quiet and she could take the chance of going down to the river to grab some fresh water. She couldn’t use what she kept at home because it wouldn’t be enough if she had to start cleaning. She was also in serious need of a cup of tea. She hadn’t been feeling very well the past couple of days and all she could think was that the stress of escaping was finally getting to her.

Sneaking out of her home, she slowly made her way down to the river and filled her bucket with water before making her way back home. Of course, as fate would have it, the one person she didn’t want to see was wondering around the old coven grounds as soon as she returned. Because of Alaric, she couldn’t go back inside! When she left, she knew there was a strong possibility that someone might be there when she returned, but she had hoped she would move about undetected.

Alaric looked up for a moment and she felt the pull to run to him, but she hid behind the bush and kept a close eye on his movements. He kicked at something and when he turned to look in her direction again, she could see the utter pain in his eyes. Could he actually be in physical pain? Lena closed her eyes, unable to look at the man she loved. She was doing this for both of them. She just had to keep on reminding herself that it was necessary. That their lives together would never work out.

ALARIC LOOKED AROUND THE COVEN GROUNDS, but there was no sign that Lena had been there. Could Rebecca have been right? Did someone take her away? Some birds took flight just a short distance from where he was standing and he looked up sniffing the air, but there was no scent.

Birds in this part of the forest were so damn jumpy! Since the war, it has been as if they could feel the spirits roaming the now dead village. Lena warned him that because they couldn’t find all of the bones of the coven, some of the spirits might still be wandering around there and he almost laughed at her. He wished he could stay there all day, but he had to get back to the pack house. They were preparing search parties early this morning, but he felt he needed to come here first this morning.

When he was there, it felt as if he was closer to her … Taking one last look around the dead village, he shifted and sprinted in the direction of home.

LENA BREATHED A SIGH OF RELIEF at the sight of Alaric shifting and sprinting away. It was a close call and she would have to be careful in the future. She knew the spell hid her tracks, but she wasn’t sure when it would wear off.

Slowly making her way back home, she knew Alaric probably wouldn’t have seen her when she walked, but he would have seen her when she opened her house. She made sure to close the door properly so nothing strange could be seen from the outside and she started the enormous job of cleaning up the place. Noticing that she got tired a lot faster than she used to, she took a short break and made herself a sandwich and some tea.

She felt incredibly nauseous again when she had the sandwich but forced it down, knowing she had to keep her strength up now. She couldn’t afford to become weak while she had to keep her wits about her. She spent the next week ducking Alaric’s morning visits by staying indoors until he left and spending the rest of her time cleaning up the house. It kept her mind off things most of the time, but every now and again she would find herself wondering how Rebecca was doing. She didn’t have to worry about Alaric as much, since he came around every morning at the same time, almost as if he was waiting for her return or something.

ALARIC SIGHED AS HE looked around the coven grounds. There had been no sign of Lena at all. They searched everywhere and from the evidence they'd gathered, nobody had taken her either. It was as if she had just disappeared into thin air and the small voice in the back of his mind was getting louder.

Lena had run away and this time, she made sure nobody could follow her. He no longer believed that anybody had taken her because there was no sign of it. Rebecca was now convinced Lena was taken by witches who could hide their tracks and, although Alaric wanted to believe Rebecca’s theory, something told him Lena ran away. He really didn’t want to believe it, but he just couldn’t help it.

That would also explain why they hadn’t found any trace of her. He sighed again, looking around the coven grounds, but there was no sign of any life. Coming here was more to soothe his wolf. They would have to make peace with the fact that she was gone. He couldn’t spend the rest of his life wondering what happened to her. With one last look at the coven grounds, Alaric decided not to go back there again.

He shifted and ran into the forest feeling the cool ground pressing against his paws. The air blew threw his fur as he realized he was going to miss her terribly, but he had to be strong for his pack. He could feel that he was getting a little weaker with her gone, but he had survived it and thought about the story that he could die if he didn’t accept his mate!

Whoever came up with that idea?! As he ran, he shook his head, thinking how incredibly stupid he had been believing that he could die if he didn’t accept her! He fell for what was probably some old wife’s tale! By the time he walked into his office at the pack house, his mind had been made up. Lena left him, which in his mind meant their union meant nothing. She was out of their lives and, since she was a lone blood witch, he couldn’t see the council asking him to harm her in any way.

They would probably be scared that, since they were actually mated, if he did kill her, he would die as well. The problem he had when he brought her home had worked itself out. He would never have an heir and he couldn’t see himself taking another female as his mate and he knew he was actually still pretty emotional about it all, but life had to go on.

He called off the search for Lena to the surprise of everybody in the pack, stating that he felt she had run away. When Rebecca protested, he simply informed everyone, specifically his little sister, that they had all been duped by the blood witch and it was probably her plan to run the entire time. It physically hurt to say these things, but he fought through the pain. He convinced himself that in time the pain would go away. In time, all of them will heal and move on with their lives.

It was what was best for all of them. He couldn’t allow his pack to live in the hope that they would find the Luna only for their hopes to be dashed over and over every day when they didn’t find her. When Max came to speak to him, he told him the exact same thing he told everyone earlier that morning and he got a little irritated that Max thought he could question him.

Dammit! He was the alpha of this pack! It was time all of them remembered that! Deciding it was time to show it to all of them, he stormed out of his office and into his mother’s old library. He looked around the library and called Max through the mind link.

“I want each and every book in this library to be burned.” Alaric growled as soon as Max arrived. Max opened his mouth to say something but immediately closed it before disappearing. Alaric kept a close eye on everything as the group of omegas carried the books outside. He was going to make sure that Rebecca didn’t take a single one.

They won the war against the blood witches. Now all he wanted to do was get rid of the magic they used and then Rebecca would have no other choice but to focus on becoming a wolf!