Chapter 31
I followed her into the living room, her back was to me as she sat slumped in the chair. I growled outraged at her even talking to another man.
“I’m sorry Warren I have to go, thank you for calling me. I think I have her sister’s number somewhere I will make sure it gets to the super or the morgue,” Who died, I wondered, concerned for her and what she was going through, “or whatever when I get home. I’ll be there in a couple of hours. I’ll knock on your door then,” she was making a date with this guy after she just got out of my bed? How long had she been seeing him? My wolf’s fury fuelled me, “If you can find out who I need to contact in the meantime. I will call a few funeral homes in the morning,” she must have been close to this person if she was arranging their funeral. I felt guilty and selfish for being angry at her, “after I’ve spoken with her sister. Thank you for calling I really appreciate it.” The wrath of my wolf overpowered me before I could stop myself.
“Who the hell is Warren? Are you fucking him? Or is that just Elaina? Exactly how many people have been between your legs while I was wasting away here waiting for you?” I snarled I wanted to stop, but my jealousy and my wolf’s outrage were too strong. I saw the moment my words resonated within her, it was written all over her face, how hurt she was and then almost instantly how pissed she was.
“Not that it’s any of your fucking business, but he is my neighbour. And who the hell do you think you are talking to me like that? I’m not your girlfriend, I’m not your wife, I’m just another plaything you were amusing yourself with.” Her words hit me, sharper than a knife, I felt Ben move uncomfortably behind me. It was him, his fault, she thought I was just using her. The realisation made me feel sick, even if I could convince her, it wasn’t like that with her, would she ever forgive me for the horrible things I had said to her? I doubted it, I was an asshole. “Oh, and before you fall off that high horse onto your face, I never slept with Elaina either. I was only stupid enough to sleep with you, and not even on the first date. Because you never asked me on one, you coerced me, brought me here, fed me a bunch of bullshit and fucked me. So don’t you dare act like the injured party now! But I should have known better than to sleep with my boss. Don’t feel guilty. I certainly won’t.” I didn’t know who I was angrier at, Ben or myself, I really had fucked up. She stormed past me enraged.
“Where are you going?” Ben was the one to ask, his voice worried.
“I would rather wait at the end of the road than be anywhere near him.” She slammed the front door behind her, and I gave in to my wolf. The resentment and misery were too much to cope with. I didn’t even undress, I shot my brother a scathing look and shifted, barrelling through the closed front door. We howled our despair to the moon, stood in the garden, alone in the moonlight. The icy air matched the pit in our stomach. We started running, neither knowing where we were going just feeling the need to run, before we turned around and disembowelled our brother. We ran and ran until when we picked up her scent, it was faint, but it was there. Almost on autopilot, we followed it, like a siren song, we needed to see her again, make sure she was safe, if nothing else. We needed her to be safe. We ran harder and faster than even I thought possible. We got to the end of the road to the estate, just as she got into a car, I didn’t make the decision, we just followed her. We couldn’t let her go, not yet. We followed her all the way home, staying in the treeline and the shadows. We watched her get out of the car, her face wet with tears, and climb the steps to her doorway. A few moments later a light came on in one of the upstairs apartments, I closed my eyes and pictured her inside that tiny apartment. I tried to leave but I couldn’t, I stayed until all the lights went out in her apartment, only then was I able to finally tear myself away from her and head home. I was almost halfway home when it hit me, I knew where her portfolio was, I decided to take it to her and beg her for another chance, do whatever needed to be done. I would make her see that she wasn’t just a fling or a meaningless fuck. She was my mate, my world, my everything.
Ben couldn’t move, the guilt was eating away at him. He had ruined things between his brother and Charlie, it was one of the worst things a wolf could do to another. Daniel’s agonised howl filled the house through the shattered front door. Ben shuddered involuntarily at the sound. He couldn’t believe he had lost his temper and made Charlie think she meant nothing to Daniel. He had to do something, anything to make it right. He just had no clue what he could do. He stumbled out of the house in a daze, shedding his clothes as he went. The only thought resounding in his skull was to get to Maria, she would be furious with him for what he had done, but she was always his best advisor, he needed her desperately. He shifted quickly in the cold air, running as fast as his legs could carry him, towards his home and mate. In a matter of minutes, he was at their door, naked and muddy. He threw open the door in a frantic need to see her, she stood in the kitchen, stirring a pot on the stove, her eyes full of love and confusion at the state of her husband.
“What’s going on? Is something wrong?” She asked him as she abandoned their dinner and hurried towards him. He had barely taken two steps inside the house, partly because of how filthy he was, and partly because every time he saw her, he was taken aback by her beauty. He wrapped her in his arms and allowed himself to fall apart. Unable to speak, he just held onto her, inhaling her scent until he was calmed. Knowing her mate, she allowed him the time he needed to arrange his thoughts, she could feel his sorrow and guilt through their bond. But nothing could have prepared her for what he told her. He unloaded everything, the argument, his frustration with his brother, the awful things he said, and the devastation it had caused. When he was done, sat in front of her begging her to help him right his mistake, she felt overwhelming misery, for her Alpha, whom she loved like a brother, her husband and herself. She had no words of wisdom, no idea to help him fix what he had broken. And she knew that if the bond couldn’t be mended, Daniel would have to step down, and Ben would have to take up the Alpha role. Their children would be the heirs and Daniel would most likely, not survive the loss. She didn’t have to say any of this aloud to Ben, he knew the laws as well as she did, better even. She had only one thought, one way they could avoid total catastrophe. They would have to make Charlie see the truth, Ben would have to explain how he could have said what he did, and not mean it, and for that, he would need Maria by his side. A plan formed in her mind, she sent Ben upstairs to get showered and pulled out her phone. If she was going to make it work, she would need reinforcements.
Charlie POV
By the time I got out of the car, my tears had stopped but, I was exhausted and felt empty. Losing Mrs Shapiro, the first friend I had made in the city was hard enough, but losing Daniel and my job as well was devastating. I climbed the steps to my front door in a daze, everything felt like it was too much to cope with. I considered knocking on Warren’s door, but I didn’t have the energy to speak with anyone. I opened my apartment door and allowed myself to break down. Safe within my home, I sobbed until I couldn’t anymore. I went into the bathroom to wash my face but decided I needed to wash the entire day off me. I felt dirty and used and I needed a fresh start. I turned the shower on and made it much hotter than usual, I scrubbed my skin until it was raw and pink. I needed to erase his scent from my skin, his touch, everything. By the time I was finished, and in my softest flannel pyjamas I felt up to talking to Warren. I headed downstairs and knocked on his door, determined to get what I needed and do whatever I could for Mrs Shapiro.
“Charlie, hi, I wasn’t sure you were still coming by. Would you like to come in?” He offered with a wide smile.
“Oh, I’m sorry I can’t, I still have to call Mrs Shapiro’s sister, I was hoping you knew who I had to contact? Once I’ve told her I would like to start the preparations for her funeral as early as tomorrow morning. Jewish custom dictates her funeral happens immediately, and I want to make sure her shiva goes ahead with as few issues as possible. I know she wanted to be buried with her husband, but her sister will need to fly in, and I still need to inform the synagogue.” I replied.
“Wow, I’ve lived here for eight years, and I barely knew her name, you learned all that in six months? You must have been a good friend, I had no idea, I’m sorry.” I shrugged, unsure how to respond.
“She was kind, and I liked listening to her stories, she and her husband were married almost fifty years, he died two months before their wedding anniversary. They had a son, but he joined the army and never came home. She had seen a lot of sorrow but was still faithful and content with her life. I envied that a little, I’ve never believed in anything the way she believed in God.” I realised I had been rambling and blushed a little embarrassed.
“That’s a really nice way to remember her though, and even if she isn’t with her husband and son, at least you can rest easy knowing she believed that’s where she was going, so she wouldn’t have been scared.” I smiled, it did make me feel better knowing she hadn’t suffered, and that if there was an afterlife, she was with her family. “Anyway, the morgue number is...” he reached behind him and pulled out a notepad, he ripped off the top sheet handing it to me, “on here. Once you and Mrs Shapiro’s sister pick a funeral home, they will arrange to pick up the body, I told the cop who was here you had a number for her next of kin, and gave him your number, he said he would call you. And there’s nothing else that you haven’t already thought of. Do you need me to help you make some phone calls? Or when you’re done, we could grab a drink? Or a bite?” He offered with a hopeful smile.
“That’s really sweet, thank you, but I’m exhausted, I think I’m going to call it a night after I’ve called who I can, I will take a rain check though, maybe some other time.” I smiled before I headed back to my apartment.
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
