Chapter 20
Arabella Baine
I checked with the wounded pack members, checking on the casualties and whatnot. The doctors have thankfully noted me of no deaths on the Grant pack. I cannot say the same for the Baines.
“Luna,” a child cried out, running to me. “You’re alive!”
“Of course I am, Lilian,” I smiled as the all too familiar bouncy, brunette curls came into view. I opened my arms and let her hugged me tightly.
“Oops, the baby,” she pulled away, rubbing my stomach soothingly. “I hope I didn’t hurt him.” She cautiously stepped back, looking at the ground in shame. Her cute gestures made me laugh, causing me to wince in slight pain. I’ve probably bruised a rib or two, but it was nothing big.
“Don’t worry my sweet,” I knelt in front of her, tilting her head up for her eyes to meet mine. “The baby is fine. Can feel him playing inside my tummy.” Relief washed over her eyes and was quickly replaced with excitement.
“Can I feel him kick? Mumma made me feel her tummy when Lulu was kicking. It looked so funny too,” her eyes danced with happiness as she giggled. “But after Lulu came out, I couldn’t do it anymore. Can I feel him please?”
“He’s not big enough for that,” I kissed her temple tenderly, hearing a throat clearing in the background. I straightened myself before meeting his topaz eyes. “Lily darling, I think that your mum is looking for you.”
“No she’s not,” she giggled innocently before looking over Rylan. “Mumma told me to call you. Said it’s impotent.”
“Impotent? Don’t you mean important?” Rylan cut in, watching Lilian frown slightly.
“Yes! That word,” Lily bounced, taking his large hand in hers. Rylan’s eyes grew wide, watching Lily tug on his huge fingers. “Come! Mumma is waiting!” She tugged me along too.
I kept my eyes down, not wanting to meet Rylan’s questioning gaze.
“Mumma!” Lilian shouted, clinging onto her mother’s leg.
“Hello Leslie,” she gave me a sad smile before pulling me into a tight hug.
“Oh Luna,” she gasped out. “Little David is fighting for his life.”
“What?” I pulled away quickly, searching her face for any sign that give off that she was deceiving me. The poor boy was the best we’ve got.
“He was instructed to watch over Ella when it happened,” she whispered, clinging onto Lilian.
It couldn’t be. Damn it. Children and women were instructed to stay indoors. The poor child has suffered enough in his life. “Where is he?”
“Right this way,” she guided me towards the children’s infirmary.
“Oh gosh,” I choked out at the sight of the wires and tubes attached to the once perky and energetic boy lay motionless, barely breathing. “What happened?”
“Beta Jake ordered him to stand with Ella while he sorted something out in the Sauron pack house,” she breathed out, stroking the boy’s pale cheeks. “He was there when they attacked. He defended her just like he promised.”
“I’ve always known he had a fight in him. He’s make a great Alpha,” I murmured, lightly kissing his forehead.
“He doesn’t deserve any of this,” Rylan whispered, looking at the little boy with horror and sadness in his eyes. “He doesn’t…”
“Of course not,” I was stuck in a trance at how beautiful this boy was with his golden blond hair and soft skin. “It has always been Jake’s fault. Isn’t that right, Leslie?”
“I wouldn’t say-“
“Was he not the one who ordered the boy to stay and fight for Ella? Was he not the one who defied my orders and left his mate to die?” Out of the corner of my eyes, I watch Rylan flinch and sink back after every single word I’ve uttered. “Does he not deserve all the blame for his careless decisions?”
“He must not have known that this-“
“He was well informed that Baine knew about Rylan going into coma. The scouts have also informed us that Baine was moving in on the territory, but he still left her,” I cocked my head to the side, looking over Rylan’s guilty expression. “Does he not deserve all the blame, mate? I’d love to hear your thoughts about this matter.”
“I…I believe that this should be discussed privately,” he choked out, looking at the boy helplessly.
“It’s settled then. Leslie please take good care of the child. I will come back later,” she nodded and I turned back to Rylan. “Shall we?”
“What?” He asked, wide eyed. His hands trembled slightly as he balled them into fists.
“Talk about these pressing matters in private,” I urged on.
“We don’t have time, Arabella. Let us first try to get everything settled and under control.”
“This is why I’m just a Luna,” I chuckled lightly, before stepping out and looking for Ella’s room.
“She’s in there,” Jake nodded towards the orange door. “She’s still unconsciousness. The doctors said she’s healing really fast. She might be up tomorrow or the next day.”
“That’s great to know,” I nodded curtly before entering her door.
“Luna,” the doctor walked over to me, placing her hand on my shoulder. “I advised everyone to just stay out for the rest of the night. She’ll need to stay in a peaceful environment. Her wolf is a bit unstable right now, so please come back tomorrow. Her wolf needs to rest. She has done a great deal of healing today.”
“Thank you doctor. I will come back.”
“What did she say?” Jake pushed himself off the wall and looked at me pleadingly.
“No visitors tonight. Her wolf needs to rest,” I turned and walked away. I couldn’t bear to look at Jake right now.
“Where is Nicolai?” I noticed that all of the wounded have been carried to the infirmaries or their rooms. Many healers and doctors came in to aid the pack while the women brought peace and order in the place. The pack house was back to normal. Rylan did a really good job at this.
“He is currently undergoing examinations,” Rylan answered, looking at me pleadingly. “Take a walk with me, please?”
“Sure,” I nodded.
We walked side by side in a comfortable silence. I took in the beauty of the garden, running my eyes over the lush green trees and colorful flowers. My wolf felt at ease, despite having our abusive mate steps away from us.
“Everything is taken care of,” he sat plopped down onto a bench, motioning for me to join him. I seated myself far away from him, earning a look for hurt and disappointment. His eyes scanned my face before slowly making its way down onto my stomach. I have noticed the grown over the past two weeks. Protectively, I place my arms over it and turned away from him.
“We both know what you’ve heard. Are you going to question me who the father is? After all, I am a whore, “ he flinched, giving me a sense of satisfaction.
“I didn’t mean any of that,” He shakily got up and knelt in front of me. Taking my hands in his, he pleaded for me to look him in the eyes.
“I do not care!” I glared at him, feeling m wolf surface.
“I want to be there for you, Arabella. I want to father that child. You are not-“
“Do not say that! Don’t! You are exactly like Jake. That bastard! He deserves to be hung or maybe beaten to death or-“
“I did it, Arabella. I caused everyone all this pain.”
“W-w-what do you mean?” I stuttered, looking at the tears fall from his eyes.
“That damned blood promise caused all of this. Jake would’ve never left if it hadn’t been for the bond. I swear to you, Arabella. I didn’t even remember about the promise until today. I didn’t know how strong its effects were,” his body shook lightly, making my heart tighten at the sight of his vulnerability.
“Stop crying now. What if the others see you?” I pulled my hands out of his and wiped his tears away. “So long as you regret everything and try to make things right, everything will be okay.”
He sniffled slightly, looking over me with wide eyes. “No slap? No reprimands? Not even a shout?”
“I could do all three if you wanted me to,” I laughed at his baffled expression. “At the state that the pack and you’re in, it’d be best if you try to right all of your wrongdoings.”
“I will. Starting with us,” he took a deep breath before laying his heart out in front of me. “I believe that I’ve fallen deeply in love with you, Arabella. What I’ve done to you was unforgivable and you really didn’t deserve any of it. I judged you wrongly and condemned you before you even got to defend yourself. I even took away your trust by forcing myself upon you. I will also love that child unconditionally and will never knowingly hurt him or try to make him become just like his good for nothing father. I’m sorry Arabella. I know none of this would make up for it, but you have to know that I will spend my whole life trying to make it up to you.”
“And that starts now?” he nodded.
“Right now.”
“I’ll believe it when I see it,” I shot out of the seat and hurried inside, clutching my chest tightly. Why was my heating beating wildly for him? Why did his words affect me greatly? Confusion took over me, before I reprimanded myself once again. Just like his affections before, this was all temporary.
Watch me break a damn plate in half and earn a slap from him. I laughed to myself before getting busy with checking over the pack members. I guess I’ll be bunking here tonight.
I found a small spare room at the attic and spent the night in there, thinking about Rylan’s declaration of love and apologies. Did he really mean it this time?
“Stop being a fool,” I scolded myself before trying to sleep once again.
The morning was uneventful. I managed to help Jackie cook the breakfast for the wounded members and was allowed to visit Ella. After eating breakfast and checking in on the other members. I made my way into Ella’s room.
Her croaky voice stopped me midway in my step. “Get out!” I heard her shout as Jake pleaded with her.
Quickly, I reached for the doorknob and threw the door opened. The machines went crazy with the beeps as Ella glared at Jake murderously. “Out!”
“I will handle this,” I ordered him to leave and he reluctantly did so.
Ella wiped away the tears from her eyes and looked at me. A bubble of laughter came out of her mouth as her hand pointed to the closed door. “Did you see his face?”
“Damn, you are a better actress than I gave you credit for,” I shook my head at her. “I take it that he’s finally confessed?”
“Some dumb blood promise? Yes,” she sighed, looking at me worriedly. “What will happen now? David is practically dying and-“
“He is not,” I murmured, looking at her amusingly. “If I staged the fake death of your daughter, what makes you think I cannot do it again, this time with David?”
“Why?”
“You wanted to start a new life. Your daughter is safe at a secret Magical Realm. You will be able to come there as soon as Plan B is set to motion.”
“I don’t know, Arabella….” She trailed, looking at me with guilt written all over her eyes.
“You know about the plan. You promised me and now you need to follow through. I will make sure no harm comes your way. Cry,” I ordered, making her chuckle lightly.
“Are you really that mad?”
“No,” I whispered, frowning at the sound of the all familiar footsteps a few feet away from the door. “Cry now.”
Realization struck her as she began to ball her eyes out. “There there, you little actress.”
“Three…” She wailed loudly, trying to hide her laugh.
“Two…” She clung to me as if her whole life depended on it.
“One…” She whimpered, looking helpless. Looking like a mother who just lost a child. For a split second, I actually believed her tears of woe and desperate cries of bringing her child back. It brought a small smile to my face. He’s in for a real treat.
“Show time,” I winked as her heart monitoring machine went into overdrive. “Calm down,” I cooed, looking over the machine. Damn it. The thing needed to be unplugged! It mught just ruin our-
“Ella?” Rylan’s head popped in through the door, looking at her pleadingly. “May I have a word with you?”
“Sure you may,” her voice sounded raspy from all of her (fake) crying.
“Here’s some water,” I helped her take some sips of it and placed it back on the table. “I’ll be back later.”
I gave her a hug as she gave me a slight whimper. No doubt about it that this was the first time she’d ever lie to an Alpha. Well, I technically lied for her the first time, so this is her absolute first.
May the spirits give her strength. The plans have been set in motion. If everything goes well, these worthless mates would never know what hit them.
----------------------------END OF CHAPTER 20-------------------------------
These scheming femme wolves! >:) Following chapters will reveal the plan and what really went down between Ella and Arabella.
What do you think of the little twist? Jake and Rylan will have to grovel on their knees with these two as tag team partners.
Not much detail. Just something to combat the really sad chapter before this.
point out the mistakes. Chapter 20 is here, so it means it's editing time!!!! :D