...
Adrian
...
"You are just intending to hold it and keep it safe, correct? Not wear it yourself?" Even though Liam, and then Casper himself assured Silas and me that holding Cassie's leash won't be harmful to my special little belly nugget... It still seemed like maybe I should call in and check with at least one of the nurses down at the clinic... Most of the staff there are enriched with the history of Casper and his family line from having them so close for so long... And not just because they performed the amputation that left Casper a much happier man than he apparently had been before Liam convinced him to take the plunge and get his cursed leg removed... But also because Dr.Paxton himself has a great grandmother that was mated to a witch.
"Um... Yeah. I would just be holding it. Like... In my pocket I guess? Or close by?" I know I sound unsure and maybe a little unsteady... But I don't think anyone could blame me after the past 24 hours with everything that's happened... Mason getting shot... Me ending up dehydrated and scared needing an IV... Hearing my mother-in-law suffer from the injuries granted to Mason... And then watching my sweet, loving, impossibly strong, and beautiful alpha of a soulmate crumble and allow himself multiple displays of tears and overwhelming emotion over the fate of his parents and the thought that someone might be hunting Timberwolves...
"You should be fine, Luna Adrian. Just don't put it on." With everything else going on... Calling the clinic to ask Nurse Mel if it's safe to carry around a cursed object in my pocket while pregnant seems a bit unreal... But no more unreal as the rest of what's happened so far, "Is there anything else I can help you with today? Any questions for Dr.Paxton? Or would you like to come in and visit Mr.Ashwood to check on him? I can set up a time for you specifically as Luna to visit him even though he's still unconscious."
It genuinely takes me a moment to blink and figure out who exactly Nurse Mel is referring to when I have Silas right here by my side holding my free hand while he stares into space listening along... His whole body having gone tense at the nurse's suggestion...
And then it hits me... "No. I will not be visiting my father-in-law today. I-... He..." I have no idea how to give a good reason as to why I won't be sitting vigil at Mason's bedside...
I'm glad that he's stable and that he's hopefully begun to heal... But getting hurt like this still doesn't automatically turn him into a good person... It doesn't undo all of the pain and emotional damage he caused to my mate... Getting hurt doesn't mean that everyone automatically forgives you for a lifetime of systematic neglect and abuse.
Heck... Not even helping us like he did at the conference when Alic tried to grab me can wash away his sins... Not in Silas's eyes... Which... Honestly... Is who I'm currently deferring to when it comes to making my decision not to sit vigil today.
"I might show up when he's awake. With Alpha Silas. But for now, he'll probably heal faster if he's alone. He prefers it that way." I bite my lip after adding in that very last comment... But with the emotions I'm feeling stumbling through my mate bond with my sweet Daddy, I know that I'm not being considered sassy or wrong when mentioning it... Because it's true.
Mason does prefer to be alone.
...
Silas
...
It's hard...
The mix of emotions I'm tasked with unfurling and coping with at the moment...
It's hard.
On the one hand...
I do want to go to the clinic and wait and wait around for Pop to wake up... I feel like I need to see him up and awake and swearing at everyone for being too close and being an ass to the nurses for having the audacity to touch him long enough to have put in the IV for him yesterday to help replace the blood and fluids he lost and then again at them having to take it out... I want to know he's okay...
As much as the bastard never gave a single fuck about me growing up.
I want to make sure that the jackass isn't going to be taken out by a bullet of all things when I literally remember his beta hitting him with a truck when old Mason had made a charming comment about said beta's pregnant mate putting on weight and then wouldn't listen and shut the fuck up like Uncle Alfred told him to.
I want to know he's okay...
But I also don't want anything to do with him.
I just wish that when I had told him to leave... That Pop would have just fucking taken off like he usually does... Even if he really doesn't have anywhere to go...
If he had though...
What if I had gone on a run? What if it had been me who had gotten shot? Would I have been able to make it back to the house the way Mason did? Would I have even tried, knowing that Adrian would most likely see me the way we had witnessed the downfall of my father, the great and mighty Mason who bows to no one?
What if the poachers had gotten closer to the house while we were still unaware of them?
What if it were Liam who had gotten hurt?
Or Casper?
Or Agatha?
Or Quinn?
Or Archie?
What if...
My pregnant mate had gone outside to stretch his legs and never came home?
What if, we had all been outside and working and someone had shifted during break time and the hunter ended up spooked enough to just start firing at all of us...
That is...
If they aren't already aware of shifters... There is always that chance that what happened wasn't an accident... And that someone is trying to bring down a few Ashwood timbers... And possibly the mates and children of said timbers.
In a weird way... I feel like I owe Mason some strange debt for getting shot and hauling his ornery ass back to where it doesn't belong... Because he managed to, albeit very dramatically, brought attention to a very real possible problem we had not been aware of.
"Oh, Honey, we know how ol'Mason is. I just thought that it was only right to give you the option. I wasn't sure if since he's the ex-alpha if you would feel the urge to comfort him? I've never been quite sure if he is still part of the pack or not or if Omegas-Turned-Lunas still took on comforting duties." it should shake me up just a tiny bit, hearing that my father truly is notorious for being an asshole, even in the opinion of the pack's medical team... But it doesn't... It just feels like it's par for the course with how he behaves most of the time, "I'll make sure to call y'all when he comes 'round. I'm sure Alpha Silas will need to talk to him and start in on the investigation of what on Earth happened! Until then, please make sure to call or stop in with any more questions or concerns you might have. Especially regarding the baby. I don't care how silly you think the question might be, it never hurts to ask."
Addy is sweet to Nurse Mel, just as he is sweet to every person he comes across, as he says his goodbyes and disconnects the call from his phone before sliding it into his pocket along with the very necklace we had called in about... That damn leash already giving me a headache even now with it out of sight...
Though...
If I'm honest...
Maybe it isn't necessarily the necklace causing my temples to ache...
Maybe it's the casual mention of me having to talk to Mason... And that it's going to fall on my shoulders to figure out what happened and how it went down.
I know that realistically... Even if I didn't have the most wonderful mate in the whole wide world, I wouldn't ever end up being alone in this responsibility. Liam would have always helped me out.
But now that I do have my sweet Addy-Baby with me, along with all of the true bonds and friendships that he so gracefully wraps me up in so that I know I'm not ever alone unless I genuinely want to be... I know that I can lean not only on my Beta... But on my friends... And their mates... And maybe... Even the pack itself.
It might be uncomfortable...
I may cringe and have weak moments and find myself unluckily reminded that I have more in common genetically with Mason than I care to think about on a regular basis...
But I'll be doing it.
I have to. I cannot allow a possible poacher to encroach on my territory and be a threat to my pack. I can't allow my mate and our children to be in danger. My wolf simply will not allow for it to simmer for any longer than necessary.
If for no other reason than to make damn sure that my sweet Princess never loses another loved one. Not to gun violence. Not like his parents.
Not our child.
Not his best friend.
Not his Grandmother.
Not Liam.
Not Cassie.
Not Archie.
And not me.