Revised: 1/28/2019
AUTHORS NOTE: If you're reading this and haven't read "Blind and Free", it would be in your best interest to go read that first. This book won't make sense unless you read the first one in the trilogy.
But I mean if you want to read this one first go right ahead - don't let anything stop you from achieving your dreams.
Enjoy!
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Song: Split Stones by Maggie Rogers
Corvo
Four months after the recapture, I still couldn't get L's shrill cries from my dreams at night. She haunted every despondent moment whether awake or under the care of heavy blankets in the dead of night. L's slick hair tousled around her shoulders, the grin on her face wider and wider each time she showed up. In my dreams, L could see and the bright cobalt eyes I could hardly recall from the moon in the sky. But every morning I rose from the deep, suffocating slumber and found myself alone again in a dark room full of memories I wished I could erase. No matter the sleeping pills I threw to the back of my throat every night, and as many prayers I sent up into the sky, my dreams refused to cease. They attacked every sense I had until the nerves in my fingers went numb.
I sat up in bed and tossed a couple fingers through the tangled mess atop my head. The hairbrush in my bathroom went unused for days at a time. At the catch of a knot, I pulled my hand out and replaced it on my sunken eyelids threatening to close. I rubbed furiously to get dried over skin and sand from hidden crevices but they didn't budge without a little extra leverage from fingernails. A yawn forced my jaw wide and I stretched out, joints popping and shoulders shifting as I did so. Another day alone, facing a pack still mourning the death of my father. Four months later Alej couldn't rest in his grave without whispers from angry mourners at the foot of his headstone. They would never know what truly happened, only the tale I webbed to keep their curious and intuitive minds at ease.
A brief double knock on my closed door set my hands back on the bed. I grabbed a nearby shirt halfway on the bed and pulled it over my head to cover myself from whoever entered. After I shoved my fingers through my hair one more time I stood, legs pulsing slightly as I stretched up onto my toes. The hardwood beneath me was cold, a chill that stretched up through my feet into my legs.
"Coming," I muttered and scooted my way across the room. The knocking commenced again before I pulled the door open. Ethel stood with Damien, their frowns too apparent to ignore. My younger sister by several years had her mousy brown hair pulled back into a knot near the bottom of her scalp, with a couple combed through curls around her ears. Damien, on the other hand, resembled neither me or Ethel. Our adopted brother from a family of humans, Damien had slick black hair and narrow eyes with iris' the same color as his pupils. But he stood taller than Ethel, and only an inch or two below me. At their entrance, I turned on my heels and returned to the heart of my room. I replaced my backside onto the bed and let my shoulders fall onto the mattress. Above me the same blank white ceiling stared back, the miniscule spikes threatening to break from the plaster and pierce through my eyeballs at the right moment. At least then I'd have something in common with L. The thought sent a pained pinch through my nerves most likely delivered by my wolf, Zane, but I ignored him.
"What do you want?" I called toward my siblings who made their way into the dark room. Ethel split off from Damien and pushed the curtains open, a beam of sunlight that burned directly into my corneas. Her unusually casual outfit revealed itself at the introduction of light. She normally dressed like a college town sorority girl but today her dark gray jeans and black Tee revealed a normal side of Ethel I didn't get to see often. Damien, however, looked like he just crawled out of bed like me.
"Hey!" I yelled over to her but the small girl ignored my protest and proceeded to open the rest of the curtains around the room. "I had those closed for a reason, Ethel."
"It's time to wake up. You get no sympathy from me, she did the same to me and Allison," Damien huffed from inside my closet. "Alpha Tyler from Sapphire is coming today to talk peace between our packs. He'll be here in an hour." I rolled my eyes and fell back onto my bed with just my legs dangling over the side. Sapphire's Alpha since his father stepped down, Tyler, shared too many of his father's traits. I had zero desire to negotiate with a spoiled rich kid intent on getting his way but without Alej here to fight the Alpha battles for me, I was forced to stand alone and face Tyler myself.
"Send him home. I don't want to deal with his bullshit today." I grabbed the nearest pillow and smothered myself with it, the air in my lungs depleting with each passing second. "You know the last time him and his father were here Tyler insisted on having his own chef come in and replace Erin? He said cooking from Emerald didn't compare to Sapphire's?" I used a mockingly similar voice to Tyler's but ultimately my siblings didn't catch the reference.
"Corvo!" Ethel growled and pulled the pillow off. Ethel climbed onto the other side of the bed and sat cross-legged behind my head. "No time to off yourself right now. You need to get your ass in something other than boxers and the same shirt you've worn for the past four days, and welcome your guest with open arms." She clapped the tops of my shoulders until the stinging from her palm forced me to sit up in bed. Damien returned shortly with a pair of dark slacks and a black button-down over his arm. "And anyway, Tyler isn't a stuck-up snob like his father was – he's kinda sweet." The twinkle in her eye could hardly be ignored. I sent a fitting glare to wipe her iris' clean of any admiration for the visiting Alpha. Damien and I both froze, eyes narrowed at Ethel's endearment.
"Tyler is from a well-off family and will appreciate the luxurious gesture." Damien tossed the clothing next to me. I huffed and grabbed the pants, slipping them on as I stood. "And no," he pointed to our sister. "You are not allowed to find him 'sweet'" he said.
"You mean he's a rich boy who's had everything handed down to him?" I laughed, allowing Damien to take the reins on the whole brotherly defense of our sister's innocence.
"Tyler just took over as Alpha, same as you, and its time for Emerald and Sapphire to end the stalemate." Ethel snorted. "Neither of you are allowed to tell me who and who I can't see in my free time."
"Dad started it." I hissed and buttoned the shirt up, tucking it under the waistband of the matching pants. Damien tossed a belt my way and I secured it with a slight tug. "He and Josef hated each other after that whole deal went south."
"Did he ever tell you what that whole ordeal was about?" Damien asked from next to the nightstand while Ethel continued trying to dress me. I shooed her hands away from me but her insistence caused me to drop my resistance and drop my hands to my sides.
"Only that it involved another pack but he never said which one," I shrugged.
"Which is why," Ethel started, straightening the tie she shoved over my head. She pulled it tight, my Adam's apple struggling. I coughed. The thin smile on the edges of her lips was barely noticeable. "You need to be on your best behavior and get along with each other."
"Where'd you learn how to tie a tie?" I loosened the knot she secured around my neck and shoved Ethel away from me to grab shoes from my closet. "You just want Tyler to visit more." I hissed back her way, quiet enough that the comment would pass without retaliation from either her or my younger brother. "What's your fixation with him anyway?"
"And fix your hair! Mom's going to flip if she comes back from Florida and you look like a Yeti!" Ethel barked out orders before retreating toward the door. I poked my head from around the corner with brows raised. She completely ignored my question and went for the door leaving Damien behind to pick up the pieces of her intrusion.
"I do not look like a yeti."
"You look like one of those guys in fashion shows whose hair is messed up on purpose," Ethel called from the hallway. Damien huffed in a laugh from beside me, his shoulder pressed to the doorframe. I shot him a glare before shaking my head.
"You at least brought me coffee, right?" I hoped a mug materialized behind his back but alas he shook his head with empty hands in full view.
"Sorry bud, you have to get that yourself." He said with a grin and made his way to the door. I finished the knot on my shoe and hurried to catch up to him. "We charge extra for room service." I sighed my eyes and went back to the mirror for one more glance to make sure the gel held in my hair before chasing after him.
"How hard is it to get good service around here?" I said with a grin. Damien's head shook ahead of me as I fought to catch him before he headed down the hidden stairwell hiding the Alpha floor from plain view.
"Have you heard from mom?" I asked as we made our way down the hallway together. Our mother, Penelope, left soon after her arrival back at Emerald. The reintroduction proved too much for her so she retreated down to one of my family's homes in Florida with her second-chance mate, Andy. I hadn't met him yet but my siblings mutually agreed he was a good choice for her. That, and if he rejected her our mother would be left on a suicidal path due to being rejected twice by both of her chances at happiness.
"She and Andy are having fun, that's all I know," He shrugged. "She needed a break."
"I still don't know about him. He came out of nowhere and swept her off her feet." I hissed and crossed my arms, the fabric on the shirt tightening around my biceps.
"He's her second chance, Corvo."
"He's human, and he doesn't know about our kind," I warned.
"And? Your mate is basically human." Damien said. "Not all humans are ignorant to 'other'. He may be accepting but we'll never know if you show up and puff your chest out like a big bad wolf and scare him off."
"Don't bring her up." I bit back a growl, Zane in my head biting at the seams to get out. "You and I agreed both L and Allison are off the table for discussion."
Why are you letting him talk about L like that? Zane barked.
Chill, Z. It's not worth it. I'm just getting my relationship back with my family.
Doesn't mean they can insult her, he growled.
I closed the connection between Zane and I and came back to the surface of my mind to be met with Damien still talking about something I'd zoned out on earlier.
"What?" I tossed the words out before I could think and Damien let out a huff before speeding up toward the stairs. He stopped at the landing and cast a glare, his foot hovering over the first stair.
"If Zane wants to fight me he can come out himself." He spat. "You and I may tolerate each other but what you did to dad..."
"I know," I let out a breath and followed Damien downstairs. The sour topic came up at least once a day, and each time I played it off with an apologetic look in hopes to ease the conversation before it headed south. The aftermath following our father's death led Damien and Ethel to distance themselves from me. I didn't blame them. I would've done the same. But now that Emerald began to settle back into an order I needed every opportunity to come clean and make up with my siblings the best I could.
I split off from Damien once we reached the second floor. He headed downstairs to find our sister or Allison, and I retreated into the Alpha office - my office. It still stung thinking the room no longer belonged to my father. His old belongings were long since gone but there were times I still saw the enormous portrait of Claire hanging above one of the couches in the room. The portrait disgusted me, the first to go of many things. But I never truly made the room mine. Just a blank slate with my father's desk, chair, and a couple of green velvet couches that matched the ones downstairs in the living room. Books lined the walls on shelves that hadn't been dusted in months, however, I didn't bother calling anyone up to clean.
I gathered up my computer and a mug from the other day and followed my brother's shadow down the grand staircase at the front of the house. Once on the first floor, I found the kitchen where my siblings chatted. Ethel sat at the island bar with Damien next to the groaning coffee pot. The kitchen was splashed in pearly white hues and stainless steel appliances. Other than my brother and sister the kitchen was deserted. Most pack members were still asleep or off on their own agendas during the week. Only on the weekend did the house flood with people begging for Erin to cook for them. I set my computer down and replaced the old coffee-stained mug in the sink before grabbing another from a doorless shelf above the coffeemaker.
"Good to see you alive this morning," Ethel stated, taking a bite from an apple in her hand.
"Is that all you ever eat? I don't think I've ever seen you with a piece of bread in your hand," I muttered and poured the freshly brewed coffee into my cup. Hazelnut aromas struck my nose with a blast of steam from the pouring liquid. I internally groaned and made a note in my head to have Erin fetch decent coffee to replace the flavored rubbish.
"I like starting out my day on a fresh note unlike you," Ethel responded with a grin. At her words, as if they didn't register at all, I grabbed a muffin from a nearby plate and sunk my teeth into it without thinking about the wrapper. I tore off a chunk of the top and turned back to my sister who stared, one of her eyebrows cocked. "Point proven," she said and returned to the waxy apple.
"Wha-," I said, mouth full of muffin. She giggled but ignored me. Damien remained quiet while he sipped from his own mug. I shrugged and continued my attack on the banana nut muffin in my grasp. It didn't last long before I was forced to set my coffee down in order to get the paper wrapper from the bottom. "You know this has fruit in it too," I noted.
"And sugar," Ethel said without looking up from the magazine on the counter. She scanned the pages effortlessly. "Erin doesn't skimp on those things,"
"As she shouldn't," I said. "Where is she, by the way?"
"The store probably," Damien said. "We're out of milk and cereal, and she said something about a roast later on this week," he said happily, a hand over his stomach at the thought of dinner so early in the morning.
"Right," I said and pulled my phone from my pocket. I sent a text to our head housekeeper, Erin, with the same message I made sure to remember from earlier. My mornings wouldn't be the same without quality caffeine. She didn't respond, but the 'delivered' message changed to 'seen' shortly after I clicked send. "What am I even supposed to say to him?" I asked, referencing our incoming visitor.
"Aren't you already supposed to know that?" Damien rebutted with his own question. My lips pursed and I picked up my coffee again to escape having to answer that.
"Tell him how wonderful Sapphire is, and how much you really liked his father," Ethel suggested with a sly grin but she still didn't look up from the reading in front of her.
"I'm not getting on my knees to lick his feet," I scoffed. "If he's expecting that he can turn his car around right now."
"Well then I guess you'll have to wait and see, won't you?" Damien grimaced. He poured the rest of what was left in the coffee pot and left toward the living room on the other side of the entry hall. I hesitated, pondering on whether to follow him but decided to camp out in the kitchen until Tyler showed up with his band of men in tow.
Double French doors at the front of the house flew open, nearly busted at the hinges. I turned my ears up and jumped from my spot at the breakfast nook in the kitchen. Jax came around the corner from the main staircase; I joined him in the hallway just as Tyler and several of his men arrived with their caravan of vehicles. Jax and I stood at the bottom of the stairs with our hands behind our backs while the SUV's rolled up in front of the house. He cast a couple glances my way before the bustling of feet came from the porch. Two Emerald guards held the front doors wide open as a warm gesture to our visitors. Jax's head snapped and he bowed his head slightly as a tall dark-skinned man with curly black hair came through the door followed by who I assumed was his Beta and Delta. His chest was wrapped up in a tight coat with a zipper down the middle. His second and third followed close behind, careful to keep three steps between the Alpha's feet and theirs. Their faces were hard as stones, nearly cracked with age, and their limbs stiffened with each step against the hard floor beneath them. Both the Beta and Delta dressed in the same dark blue garments and matching leather boots with pants tucked into the tops. If I didn't know any better I would've assumed they were with the US military.
"Alpha Tyler Montgomery," I called toward the visiting Alpha. Jax greeted Tyler with a quick handshake and scooted to the side allow for Tyler and me to greet each other. "Welcome to Emerald House." We shook hands, but he overtook mine. His fingers were longer than mine, and the palm was easily twice as thick as mine.
Tyler cast his eyes up and down, analyzing my clothing and whatever flaws he could find. He clicked his jaw, underneath the harsh stubble on his cheeks and chin I could see his mandible move.
"Thank you for having me." His voice echoed through the chamber, vibrations battling in my eardrums. The Beta and Delta remained near the entrance where Jax found them and began a conversation separate from Tyler and I's. After a moment, their shoulders fell and the three men retreated into the kitchen, hints of smiles on their lips. A weight fell off my shoulders, building blocks that were topped too high and toppled off from the top. I let out a quick breath of relief and refocused my attention back to the Alpha in front of me.
"Come upstairs, Tyler," I motioned for him to climb the stairs. I started up first, pausing halfway up the grand staircase as he started from the bottom. My feet carried up to the second floor and I headed toward the office.
Once Tyler reached the second-floor landing I stepped into my office and headed behind the desk so he could take one of the two armchairs in front.
"Please," I held out a hand for him to enter my office. "We have much to discuss."
"Yes," his tone remained hard and he entered. The door clicked shut behind him. Tyler removed his coat and slung it over one of the two armchairs, and took a seat in the other. He moved about uncomfortably until he reached behind his back and pulled the decorate pillow from the base of the chair, and stuffed it with his coat. After he situated I started up the small talk I knew he despised.
"How were your travels?"
"Cold, and the highway this time of year is dreadful." Tyler cast his eyes around the room before meeting mine. "Traffic was absolutely packed and nobody realized that a caravan full of black trucks were more important than them."
"The Appalachian trail is opening back up, and students are leaving the nearby colleges for spring break," I mentioned and grabbed a spare pen from the desk. Maybe it was the nervousness or fear for the man in front of me but I couldn't help but let my fingers entwine and play with the rollerball until my fingertip turned blue from staining ink. His comment about importance slipped my mind; I didn't want to engage him on his level of eminence. Tyler couldn't handle a blow to his ego.
"At times I wished I lived a human life," Tyler grunted but cracked a grin through his dark lips. "But then I remember I'm Alpha of Sapphire so I let it go."
"Touching," I rubbed the ink together with my fingers, smudging the concise lines until the nearly dry ink fell into the crevices in my fingerprints. "I'm glad you came; our packs haven't been getting along for a long time now."
"Several years, your father and mine had different morals and plans for the future. Alej's diagnosis didn't make things any easier." Tyler mentioned the illness that ultimately led to my father's untimely demise.
"Yes, I know." I let out a sigh. "Whatever plans they had blew up in their faces but that was then and this is now."
"It's time to end this, Corvo." Tyler leaned forward in the seat, his dark maroon tie bending at the clip. "My people are tired of the feud and... we need help."
"W-what?" I pulled my brows together. "You need help? Your father was the last man to ask for assistance."
"I'm not my father," he snapped, a bright gold gleam in his chocolate eyes. His wolf scratched at the seams and the side grin on my lips didn't help my situation. "After I took over a group of rogues decided to cross the border. My injured warriors are in the hospital but we've been left without several members for some time. Our borders aren't as strong and quite frankly my pack members are fearful of what's to come next if the rogues decided to come back for a sequel."
I met his gaze, the gleam of his wolf etching its way toward his pupil and break the barrier between man and wolf. But Tyler held firm, his fingernails scribblings permanent designs into the wooden claws on the chair. I watched the furniture and his nails.
"How many do you need?" I offered my men without hesitation. Anything to heal old wounds and blur out the scars of the past.
Tyler blinked and let the seat breathe for a minute. His back hit the cushion behind him and a breath left between his barely parted lips. It seemed it wasn't just me holding my breath about this meeting.
"At least ten, but as many as you can offer, I will take. There are lodgings available in my pack house and the surrounding area. If your warriors are willing to go back to Sapphire with me until mine are healed, I'd be in your debt."
I nodded once, the pen in my hand no longer the issue. Tyler held my attention – I couldn't allow him to remain unprotected while I had spare fighters in the background itching at a chance to sink their teeth into something. I had at least twenty I could spare, if not more. Our borders were well secured by the trees, and the border patrol I had worked well together. They were a team I didn't dare split up.
"Consider this the last stitch in a wound our fathers tore open when they decided to end the pack treaties." I stood and held out my hand. The other Alpha hesitated a moment before standing. "I've got twenty you can take until your own are healed."
"Thank you, Corvo. The help is much appreciated." Tyler met my movements and took my palm into his and shook for a second. "It's about time Emerald and Sapphire reunite. This feud has lasted long enough." He moved around the chair and headed for the door the same as I.
A complete grin etched onto my lips and I went for the door to pry it open but Tyler's hand caught the wood before I could muster any strength and pull it open. I lifted my gaze to his, he towered over me at least four inches, his chin at my nose. I pulled back and removed myself from his path to get a better view. Tyler cleared his throat once and flipped the lock on the door. I switched between the brass plating and Tyler's form but couldn't decide on which to place it. He couldn't betray trust just like that – I refused to believe it. We had a chance to reunite the packs and for him to end it all just after an agreement was struck... I couldn't handle the thought. His face was hard as stone, and for a moment I could see his eyes glaze over while he spoke with his wolf or through a link with his pack. I watched and waited for him to say something, unwilling to make the first move in case he had any ulterior motives he hadn't let on before this moment.
Tyler spoke up, voice scratched and hollow, "I want to help."
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Hey all!
I'm back with book two! I know the wait must have been absolutely horrible and I apologize for that! I'll have the second chapter up tonight and then after that, you'll have to work with me as I continue to write as I'm nowhere near as caught up as I'd like to be. Motivation this winter plummeted as I got sick days before my brother's wedding and I had to deal with that.
But now I'm back!
QOC: What do you think Tyler wants to help Corvo with?
Comment, like, and follow if you liked the chapter!
Much love,
Kate