67

Evander
The sun was setting when the girls came up the back porch arm in arm, leaning on each other for support. Millie's red-rimmed eyes indicated the tears she had shed and the forgiveness she had given to Aurora. Aurora’s eyes were not without puffiness and I quelled the urge to wrap her in my arms and change her current mood. Though sadness still lingered in them both, they were smiling and giggling and plastered. Why did I leave them alone? Because of this sisterhood, they both thirsted for. Aurora passed me the empty bottle, and I shook my head taking it. I put in an order via linking Shelley to bring us something for dinner for three.
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“So,” Aurora asked as the girls dumped themselves onto a bench. “How’s the fruitcake fairing?” I looked at her strangely before I realized I’d heard it once before when referring to my brother. “Dominic has fallen in line, so to speak. Evan and Elijah dumped him in a stall with a pitchfork and told him he wasn’t coming out until it was clean. When he was done ranting and crying about life's unfairness, they pointed out he didn’t have room to talk about it. They said he stared at the pitchfork for an hour before he got up and started working. He cleaned all the stalls before nightfall and skipped dinner,” I reported. A small sense of peace washed over her. Her punishment held its own weight. As she nodded, she wrapped her arms around, Millie, who leaned into her. “All is not lost, tidsear, (teacher),” she said soothingly. I felt her pulsing assurance into our friend as I put her use of the old language aside.

“I guess it’s my job to sober you, women, up?” I asked with a grin. They both rolled their eyes. “What did I miss that needed doing today?” Aurora asked as she hooked an arm through Millie’s. I prepared some things and scouted some trails for hunting. “I’m riding. We can go further if I'm on a horse.” She said with an air I felt left little room for discussion. A sour taste hit my mouth. “You really trust that filly enough to hunt with her?” I questioned. Cold pale green eyes met mine, and I took a step back. Ok, we were definitely not questioning that. Millie laughed, then slapped both of her hands over her mouth in surprise. She had just witnessed something unheard of. I never backed down. The overbearing Alpha in me stepped aside for his mate and I was not ashamed.

‘It’s nothing, Millie,” she is my mate and wife and this is her castle. Would you test her?’ I linked coming up behind Aurora and pulling her hair back behind her shoulders, running my fingers through it. My mate's eyes closed as my fingers stroked through her hair, gently removing tangles here and there. Millie's eyes watched the movement before looking back up at me with a solid shake of her head. ‘No… but not that I fear her, rather I adore her,’ she mushed. ‘Careful teach,’ I teased, ‘She’s MINE!’ Millie grinned. ‘I’m aware, it is hard not to be in awe of her, not just what she is or what she can do. She’s just so good, only someone truly evil couldn’t fall deeply in love with her. Treat her well Alpha, or else I may send Dominic on his way’ Millie answered with a tease. ‘Should I be worried about your intentions?’ I joked, still sinking my fingers through the thick lush tendrils of her hair. Eyes closed, she tilted her head back into the sensation, appreciating the feeling. ‘For now, no,’ Millie said honestly. ‘I still have faith,’ she added looking at Aurora. ‘Maybe more than I should, but somehow, she gives me new hope.’ I looked down at the relaxed fine features of her face. ‘I can totally get that, she’s an unexpected miracle in all of our lives.’ Millie nodded in agreement.

She had leaned into my attention, her chin turned up, her eyes suddenly opening, meeting mine. ‘I don’t want her alone, I don't trust him yet.’ she spoke softly in my mind. Blake and Whinnie had taken Millie during her last stupor, and Elijah and Evan had Dominic to deal with. So that left us, which would prove for a dull night, but under the circumstances, there were only 6 of us now who knew everything. Right now, I couldn’t just pass her off like she didn’t matter. “You are staying here tonight. Shelley will send dinner. I’ll tell the boys to prep your mount,” I said thinking I had dutifully won something in my diligence before she corrected me. “No, Dominic can attempt that,” she replied with an almost menacing grin. Oh, she was rolling hard. That coiled something in me that wanted to pounce. I shook my head remembering the company we were in. Millie looked at her appalled. “It’s a lesson Mills, he has to work to earn the respect he craves. Who better to teach him than that Spitfire of a filly?” Aurora explained. “My mate is going to die tomorrow.” She scoffed. Aurora shook her head. “Only if he is dumb enough to harm her.” Aurora said.

A knock at the door brought food and as I passed the jars around, something caught me off guard. “We have to expand soon,” I said with a sigh as I sat down. The weight settled heavily on my shoulders. Aurora reached across and took my hand. “My love, we will get there. Do not think my mind has been idle. Once we get past the present tasks, we will worry about the rest.” She assured. My shoulders relaxed as I realized the burden was not mine alone.

As we settled into the jars of stew, homemade bread, and Aurora, her ratatouille, all of our minds drifted deep into our own personal thoughts. Aurora’s hands took one of mine across the table and one of Millie’s who sat next to her. Her eyes flickered as she met each of ours. “We will get through this, all of it.” she assured. “Don't worry Mills, I’ll be with her the entire time. I won't let her hurt him. Just know things may get worse before they get better. Millie let out a long breath before meeting Aurora’s eyes, then nodded. These 2 were becoming steadfast and my heart, even my soul, swelled as an Alpha, knowing that each person she touched was a step closer to completing our pack. I reached across the table as Millie did and we sat like that together in the comfortable silence of friends, and the vow we would get through this together.

After we ate and pulled out a cot for Millie, I hesitated. It had been years ago, but Dominic’s faint scent still lingered. Could it be my imagination? I pushed the thoughts aside as Aurora lit the fire with her magic and piled blankets up for Millie, while I cleaned up dinner. “Night Millie,” I said, before I disappeared up the stairs. I heard Aurora’s voice speaking softly. “This is going to be hard for you but you can’t hide from him Mills, he needs to see you. I know you want him to change so you can take him back, but you have to realize that rests on his shoulders, not yours. Fathoming how either of you lives with the pain is unintelligible.” She admitted. “He’s in pain?” Millie asked in whispered shock. “Why do you think he's doing what he does? He’s chasing the memory of you. Nothing fulfills him, nothing compares, but he can’t have what he wants, so as asinine as it is, that is how he copes with his loss.” Aurora offered.

Hmm, that was a good way to put it. How had someone so new to our situation hit the nail on the head with that one? “How do you know?” Millie asked. “Lonely knows lonely even if we aren’t all that lonely anymore, Mills. His anguish fuels his rage and bitterness. He needs to see you, remember, you and what you once were, needs to come clean to his family about why he strayed and how he allowed those things to destroy those he loved.”

I continued up the stairs, deep in thought. How had I allowed it to come to this? How could I have prevented those unimaginable events of years ago? It was true they had tricked Dominic in a way, but the cost of those deceptions were, not easy to forgive. Neither was how he betrayed his mate and pack in the process. I’d have to tell Aurora soon, of the intricate plot that had unfolded. It didn’t change his guilt. There was blood on his hands and it was not the kind of blood any man who held an ounce of morality would want on his consciousness. He was now a puppet that allowed me to evade the world I was trying to hide from. It was a cruel punishment, but at some point, if he did complete his penance, I would be forced to allow him to choose his own path, and that would leave me once more responsible and forced into a life I didn’t want, one I didn’t want for us, but fate the treacherous hag, had placed a moment in time for us which we couldn’t walk away from. I would not waste any of our quiet time here and now, knowing it would not last. Duty shackled Dominic as a vendetta for his betrayals, and suddenly I realized that was part of the problem. Being forced to be something always ruined the beauty of things life had to offer. I should have realized that from the beginning.

As I heard Aurora coming up the stairs, I turned, my eyes meeting hers. I couldn’t comprehend the world she came from where she was hidden away, all the power and beauty she held within. My eyes trailed over the features of her beautiful face as she approached me. I never wanted that for her again, but what was I doing here, hiding from something I should be the solution to? “What’s wrong, my love? I sense your brooding” she asked, noting my unease. “Just realizing that eventually, we will all have to come out of the shadows and into the light of the world we were intended to be a part of, instead of hiding away in the peace we created in our own world.

“Dominic created his shadows, and I’m watching you force him to the light, but to me, love, you are my light and you remind me of who I’m meant to be. In time, we will have more storms to weather and I’m afraid our peace will be tainted with the world beyond.” I answered. She reached up stretching up on her tiptoes, cupping my cheeks, my beard rough against her soft hands. I bent down to her grinning a little, realizing I would always bend to her in everything besides her safety, of course. “What is it?” I asked. She stretched impossibly higher nuzzling the tip of her nose to mine. She would always meet me, never forcing me to grovel to her, though she held the power to destroy me, mind, heart, soul, and body. “We weather our storms together, no matter what. We hold our peace in each other, as we will never deny each other, no matter what we must become in this life or the next. I will find you in the shadows.” She whispered. “And I will reach for your light.” I answered. She leaned back cocking her head. “Just know when I fall to shadow, I will always rise full of light to seek you out.” Her voice was breathy, vulnerable.

I kissed her then, soft and sweet, tasting the honey of her mouth. Something deep within me felt like this was a conversation we had had once before? “Easy, Alpha,” she teased as we parted. “What?” I asked gripping her ass. She glanced back at my hands gripping her ample buttock, before meeting my hungry stare. “You forget, we have company, with sensitive ears. My Love, you must survive the night with simply cuddling.” I groaned, and she chuckled. The agony that awaited me! Sleep couldn’t come fast enough with her barely clothed body pressed against mine. At points, she fidgeted and whined in her sleep. She growled even. She was dreaming, and I knew better than to wake her.