Chapter 127: Rhys
A week had passed relatively slowly. We gradually were getting back into the swing of things, but every time I felt like we were close to something, I felt like we were going further from it. Like maybe everything was just a distraction. I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what the true purpose of any of this. Why were kids being raised the way they were? Why had Grace been separated? How long had this been a plan? What were we missing?
I stared at my coffee cup, letting my thoughts swirl around in my head. All these things weren’t adding up, but honestly, they weren’t the main things consuming my thoughts. I was worried about Grace. She was talking again, but she still wasn’t herself. At least, how I had known her since I had realized she was my mate. I knew that she hadn’t really had the time to find herself, and I loved her no matter what, but I didn’t like this version of her. I wanted her to chat with me. I wanted her to laugh. To smile. To be happy. And she wasn’t happy. That much was obvious.
I looked across the dining room to where she sat in a window seat with Alana as they looked at something on Alana’s computer screen. I wondered what they were up to, but they were having girl time, and I knew I was being a little clingy. Grace could have her space, but she was not leaving my sight.
“Hey man,” Leon greeted as he sat down, blocking my view of Grace.
“What do you want?” I growled in irritation.
“Stop snapping at me.” Leon shot back tiredly. “I’m not who you’re mad at.”
“And who do you think I’m mad at?”
“Yourself.”
The answer was so simple, like he really believed it.
“Now why would you say that?” I sighed.
“You blame yourself for what happened. But Rhys, you couldn’t have known what was going to happen. You were trying to do what you thought was best for her, and it didn’t work out. And I’m sorry for that. But stop moping around. You can’t make her happy if-”
“I can’t make her happy.” I interrupted him. I was the Alpha King. I was cruel. I was heartless. I had dislocated people’s joints when torturing them just for fun. I wasn’t what she needed.
Leon looked at me in disbelief but there was also a look of sorrow and understanding in his eyes.
“She just needs time to heal.” Leon said after a long moment. “She’s had a rough life, and thinking it’s just going to get better because she’s here isn’t real. We are at war, Rhys. And she might take a lifetime to heal from that. But she needs her mate to help her through it, not carry guilt that destroys you both.”
I looked at my best friend. He had been there from the time we were young with me. Life was brutal. We weren’t raised by loving and caring people who gave to shits. We were raised to carry burdens and be warriors. We were raised to wear our scars proudly. But what he was saying didn’t match that. He somehow managed to come out of everything almost normal.
He had found his mate young, and had kept her a secret, knowing his father would have killed her. I saw all the beautiful ways Heather had changed him, and I had wanted it for myself. He understood this mate thing because he had lived it... He and Heather had always been nearly inseparable. I hadn’t even noticed when that changed.
A pain suddenly shot through my chest. He wasn’t saying this just for my benefit... This was his truth... This is not just what Grace needs from me, her mate, but what he needs from his. That’s why he understood this so well.
“I’m sorry I let Caleb come back.”
Leon shrugged and gave me a small smile. “I’m not mad about it.” He answered. “I understand. He’s changed; anyone can see it. He’s your brother. But I do think he’s starting to lose it a bit stuck up there with all the kids. Maybe we should really try and figure out what to do with them now. And maybe, it’s time to accept Caleb back into the pack.”
I looked at Leon in shock but tried to keep my features schooled. “You really think I should do that?”
“You’ve been locked away with Grace, and that’s fair and understandable. But I’ve been with him helping with the kids, and Sawyer has been on Red Blood pack tracking, and Caleb has been helping me. He’s trying.”
“And is that enough for you?” I asked hesitantly.
“I think it has to be.”
I nodded, thinking over his words. Currently, my brother was upstairs in the Alpha suite, probably in the middle of the lunch chaos that hopefully would end soon. I couldn’t understand how he had changed so much so quickly. But then again, I had for my mate, and I couldn’t imagine having a daughter I didn’t know about either. His whole life had changed in a matter of moments, and maybe that was enough.
I looked around Leon so I could see the person who had changed me forever. I blinked. She was gone.
I frantically looked around the room, but there was no sign of her. The window seat was now empty. She wasn’t in line at the buffet station. She wasn’t making coffee or tea. She was not in the room at all. Where the hell had she gone? I reached for the bond, but I was blocked a I had been so often these days. I don’t even think she was doing it on purpose. It was just one of those things that she did to protect herself. But I hated it. I hated it so much. And now she was gone...
I couldn’t help it, the words came out broken, but I didn’t care as I asked the question that was eating me alive.
“Where’s Grace?”
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
