Wolf Prince [Moon Bound Book 2]

19 -

For hours Eleanor stared at the mark on her shoulder through the vanity mirror.  When the door opened, she sat up and turned. Even though, she was far from in a happy mood, she still smiled at Isaac as he escorted Noah into the room. Noah ran toward his siblings to play on the floor beside Eleanor's bed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She picked at the nail polish on her nails before lifting her gaze from the floor and meeting his eyes. "No. I'm far from okay."

Isaac grabbed her forearm and led her out of the room, but kept the door opened; the kids could not be left alone a second. Last time Eleanor did that, she returned to find all her walls with the art created with their crayons.

"What is it?"

"I...I saw Walter." The expression on Isaac was exactly what she expected. He was looking at her as if she had grown a second head. "I'm pretty sure it was him...except...his eyes were different, but it was him."

"Eleanor—"

"No! I'm not loosing my mind. He was baring our mark—and Lexi saw him too. Explain to me that. How did my daughter see him if it was all part of my imagination?"

"We buried him. I know it's hard, but you have to accept he is gone."

She shook her head, running her shuddering fingers through her hair. "Lexi saw him."

"Maybe he looked somewhat like my brother, but Eleanor, Walter is gone."

"And the mark?"

At that he said nothing.

"Isaac—"

"Eleanor, don't do this. It wasn't easy burying my brother. I'm still living with the pain—"

"And you don't think it's hard as well for me? I still cry every damn night. It feels like it was yesterday and not years ago, but I'm telling you this was him. But, he seemed confused."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...he told me that he thought he was the only one left of his kind."

Isaac pondered for a moment before speaking. "I'll look into this. If Walter is in fact alive and somewhere, we will find him."

She hugged him. "Thank you. I really have a feeling it's him."

"Just keep in mind that it might just be someone that looks somewhat like him."

When she glanced down the corridor over her shoulder, she pulled away; Jazmin was staring at them with accusative eyes, as if they were doing something more than just hugging. Isaac gave her a kiss on the cheek, clearly unaware of his wife down the hall. When he turned, he froze for a moment, then began to walk toward Jazmin. He tried to grab her hand, but she pulled it away and walked away.  If Jazmin continued acting the way she was, Eleanor doubted their marriage would last.

Adrian ran to her and pointed at his sister when Eleanor returned to the room.  "Lexi says she saw our Dad."

Eleanor had no idea what to say. How could she tell them that it was when she wasn't sure herself. "Who wants ice cream?" What way to avoid answering, but it worked; all of them got excited and ran out the room, yelling the flavor they wanted.

Eleanor was happy when Adeline came to the house and took the kids out shopping; she needed the time alone. As she was walking out the front door, the guard meant to protect her followed her.

She turned and faced them with a smiled. "I'm just going for a walk."

They looked at each other, as if thinking if it were a good idea for her to be alone, but they nodded and stood in front of the house, arms crossed like statues. Eleanor headed into the forest, loving the peace it brought. As she walked through the places she had with Walter, the memories brought tears to her eyes.