Corvo
Radio silence filled Emerald house after the Ryan incident, thus leaving my mother to vacation pictures and a bottle of wine by herself, locked away in her bedroom with no more tears left in her body. Not a day went by without a word or mention of him, but even the thought of his name brought her to her knees. My mother, abandoned by both of her mates, was left with nothing. A shell emptied by those who used her and refused to accept her as she was. I stood outside her door and listened to the gentle sobs filling the bedroom situated at the back of the house. While the rest of the hallway was lit by bright lamps on the walls, the door to my mother's room and the crack underneath was darkened by whatever depressed aura hid inside.
"Mom," I pushed my finger at her bedroom door. It creaked open and I slipped through it before it got too wide. I shut it behind me, leaving the two of us in the darkened room further blacked out by shut curtains and dead lights. She was at her window seat, legs pulled up into an arch while her elbows balanced on top of her knees. A blue satin robe concealed the pajamas underneath but her legs were exposed, a pale figure in an otherwise dark world.
"Corrie," she muttered but didn't turn her head, instead kept it propped on the curtain. The blonde curls on her head were tousled and slept on and her skin screamed for a shower. Her bed was unkempt, a raggedy mess of pillows and blankets, and clothing was strewn throughout covering almost the entire floor. Striding toward the back of the room, I only stopped once to click on a light near her bed. A bowl of cold soup sat next to the lamp, with the spoon as dry as it was when it came from the drawer. My mother hissed at the light and moved one of her hands up to shield the side of her face. Once the lamp clicked twice I finished my way over to the window seat and sat next to her feet, the side of my thigh just covering her toes. "Your sister said something, didn't she?" She asked, her fingers fiddling with the thick curtains next to her. Thick bags hung under her eyes, and what was once dazzling iris', were now dull and void of feeling.
"You're not eating," I said, frowning. Erin brought food upstairs every day but it got pushed around on the plate more often than not. "You can't survive off sleeping pills and cereal forever, mom."
"I can try," she snapped back. "It's all that'll stay down."
"It's not healthy."
"You don't get to tell me what's healthy, Corvo." My mother pulled her legs in closer to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Still, she refused to look at me but swiveled her head to look into the room. "You turned on the lights," she noted and stood probably for the first time in hours and went across the room to flip it back off. Aside from the obvious numbness in her legs as she walked, her stride was normal. "Please leave me alone," she said after the room darkened again. "I don't want visitors, especially not from you or your siblings." The statement burned at my heart but I refused to fight with her when she knew her life was coming to an end.
I stood without question; I learned a long time ago not to argue with family. "Fine," I said once I reached the door. My mother hung by the light, hand still up in the shade while she waited for my departure. Silence hung between us, my head dipped low. She cleared her throat once and that alone forced me to swing open the door and leave. Once clicked back shut a muffled sound came from the other side followed by the sliding of the internal lock. Just over the doorknob, my hand hovered hoping maybe she'd change her mind and come out for the first time in days but instead she retreated away from the door. Even though I knew she wouldn't emerge, I waited at the door a moment longer and listened, ear pressed to the door. No noise except the rustling of satin sheets and soft whimpers. There was nothing I could do. The light clicked off.
Down the long hallway on the fourth floor of Emerald House, and down the staircases until I hit the first floor, I traveled alone. My family's voices echoed from the living room and I couldn't help but follow them until I stood at the double-door wide entry, shoulder pressed to the wooden frame around the entrance. Ethel and Allison were as far apart as ever: on opposite sides of the room while their eyes diverted everywhere except on each other. Damien played the mediator between the two and sat alone despite his obvious desire to stick close to his mate. Allison curled underneath a throw blanket knitted by one of the pack grandmothers a few years ago. She wafted in the smell, pockets of scent hidden in the fibers and when she squeezed gently with just enough force a little escaped and filled her nose. My opinion of Allison hadn't wavered from hatred but she was still my brother's mate and I intended to make peace as long as they were together. Ethel flipped through a magazine previously forgotten about on one of the three coffee tables situated around the room. The edges were torn, used and read over and over yet my younger sister treated each page like a feather. She flipped the thin pages gently with two fingers and read slowly, eyes fixed on the page when she wasn't scanning the room. At a stopping point, she turned her gaze up from the page and landed on me. Damien couldn't see me but I was sure he sensed my presence even though I had yet to speak with any of them.
"How's mom?" Ethel asked, cuing Damien to swivel his head and acknowledge my being in the room. I shrugged in response and accepted the invitation to join in. I hopped over the back of Damien's couch and sat two cushions away, careful to keep a distance from him. His nostrils flared at my actions but he settled quickly back into his lazed position: feet on the coffee table in front of him and arms spread over the back of the couch. Images danced over the ignored TV, abandoned by all eyes as they waited for me to say something more than a physical cue.
"She's coping," I said finally after I found a comfortable spot. My legs spread slightly and I leaned back into the suede cushion behind me. Ethel let out a breath and flattened her leather skirt down while she adjusted her own seat. Her legs pulled up beside her while one arm rested on the armrest next to her. She tossed the magazine aside. "I tried turning on a light but she wasn't into it and ordered me to leave."
"I took her soup at lunch," Allison squeaked from her side of the room. Dangerously large red curls sprouted from her head in all directions and the freckles on her face lit up the room but in all honesty, she was the most callous person I had ever met. Lies came naturally to her; she didn't blink when she said them and people believed her without a thought otherwise. I was one of those people once but I learned better to trust someone who could lie with a smile on their face and a glimmer in their pupils.
"It was on the nightstand," I noted from earlier. Allison frowned and pulled the blanket further around her shoulders.
"This isn't fair to her," Damien muttered. He turned to look up at us but Ethel turned away before he could grab her attention for too long. But he had mine.
"Yeah," I said.
"She's so,"
"Damien," Ethel hissed. She swung her head back around, the broken curls on her head slapping her chin as she moved. "This isn't the time," she made a move to glower at Allison but she stopped herself before it became too noticeable.
"We're going to have to talk about this eventually," he remarked with a heavy frown. His pale skin stood out against mine and Ethel's tanned flesh. The only similarity to us was the dark hair but his stood stick straight. Ethel used heat to control hers and me products.
"Just not right now," I said. Everything around us spun as we stared at each other. Even Allison couldn't look away from the enormous elephant dangling in front of us, neck snapped by a hidden noose. Our mother's depression hit an all-time high and there was nothing any of us could do. To the Lycan world, she was useless, a rejected female wanted by nobody. But to us, she was our world, but no matter how many times we whispered it in her ears she would never have believed it. A mental block she couldn't control kept Penelope from seeing her worth. That's what rejection does to a person. Their insides slowly start dying, rotting from the muscle out. They keep to darkened walls, a burden on others around them. We could knock on her door forever and she would never open it. If we continued the fight to get our mother back she would grow to hate us. I wasn't willing to take that risk and neither were my siblings. Instead, we watched our mother decay from afar, a hollowed out tree used by everyone around her. Used and refurbished by the people in her life only to end back up on the same thrift store shelf she came from after our father left her. It wouldn't be long now.
The kitchen tile clicked with loafers. Sterile lab equipment wafted into the room: the smell of hand sanitizer and soap. I grinned. "Dean," I stood and turned as he entered the room. In his hand was a small dish of pasta salad. He had a fork at his teeth, several noodles speared by the metal tongs. Our pack doctor and head surgeon went away after L was taken. He said he needed time to think and process everything that happened last year. I knew he had returned from his trip away, but I didn't have a chance to see him at his office. "Good to have you back, you've missed a lot since you've been gone."
"I read the paper while on the coast," he said and took my hand in his but I brought him into a hug before he could impersonally shake my hand like we hadn't been friends since middle school. He graduated three years before me, but we were close despite the age difference. "I wanted to talk to you about what it said," his gaze met mine and for a moment I could see the inner workings of his brain. All the gears turning at once. Before L escaped from the pack prison he had taken care of her. Dean took it the hardest after she left, resulting in his impromptu vacation.
"Later, Dean." I slapped him on the back and returned to my spot on the couch. The desire to discuss other matters that would bring me to the brink of tears wasn't on the plan for the rest of my day but I knew Dean wouldn't drop it until we spoke in private. Dean joined the small gathering in the living room and sat in an armchair next to Allison. They exchanged a quick smile on both ends but otherwise ignored each other's existence. Dean held the same loathing toward Allison as me, but he had a harder time controlling it. The distaste on his face was clear as day; he scowled heavily and shot a murderous glare her way. But Allison didn't budge, her gaze rested on the newest arrival to the party.
"How was your trip?" Damien spoke up. He crossed one of his legs over the other.
"Refreshing," Dean smiled. "It was nice to get away from pack business for a while."
"And the twins?" Ethel asked.
"Growing up so fast," Dean laughed. "Have there been any signs of Cole and Rod?" He flipped the subject before anyone could ask anything else about his trip. Damien took an intake of breath, as did Ethel and swiveled their attention to me. Allison cocked a brow and buried herself deeper in the pile of blankets that covered the majority of her body. If nobody else was in the room I would have smothered her with it but I kept still in my place and chased the visual from my head.
"Not yet," I sighed. "I should have forced them to join the pack before we went to the trial," I shook my head. "We would have found them by now but they're completely off the radar."
"What about L?" Ethel asked bluntly. She clicked her tongue, the disapproval toward L apparent in her tone. My desire to keep L out of conversations tarnished quickly. A wet and heavy feeling fell on the room, and the elephant dangling by a rope in the middle of the room gained a friend, equally as dead and blue.
"No news," I answered. "The council search crews raked the water and beach looking for bodies but they came up with nothing so they're either alive and on the run or were swept off farther into the Atlantic." Just thinking about L's dead body swimming at the bottom of the sea, fed off of by sea creatures and the elements made Zane shake with anger in my brain. Holding him down was hard, but holding the visible exhaustion was harder. Three months of my life I spent dedicated to hoping she was still alive, all while Lena invaded Emerald with her long pointy fingernails.
Ethel muttered something under her breath and while I could make out a few words I kept my mouth sealed. Zane barked in my head, anger rising in his throat. Around Ethel I kept topics neutral about L and our father - she still blamed L for his death and I couldn't blame her. For a long time, I did as well. I knew she wanted me to say something horrible about L but I couldn't.
"Have Lena's visits clued you in on anything?" Dean asked, breaking the silence Ethel caused. She tapped her fingers on her knees one at a time while she listened to our conversation.
"She's been pretty cold during her time here," I scoffed. "Something to do with Jeffries' death or something."
"I mean if one of my coworkers was killed in front of me I'd be pretty bitter too," Ethel said and stood up. "You can defend a killer all you want but don't expect me to join in on the party."
"Ethel," I started but she put a hand up.
"She killed our dad and it's about time you accept that and see her for what she is. She's a psychopath waiting for her next target to come along. It won't be long until she ruins someone else's life," Ethel rolled her eyes and retreated from the room.
"Ethel!" I barked and stood but she raced up the stairs before I could catch her in the hallway. "Ethel!" I yelled again but the door to her room slammed. I winced back at the sound and slumped, hand tight around the wooden ball on top of the hand railing at the bottom of the stairs. Under the weight of all the pack's woes and Ethel's draining anger toward my rejected mate, I collapsed onto the bottom steps. Dean emerged from the living room, and I looked up at him but I couldn't hold my gaze for long. At the angle I looked up at him from Dean was a towering figure with shadows underneath his eyes and a scowl on his lips. But as soon as I stood up after I gathered the strength, the scowl vanished and was replaced with a look of worry and concern. Ethel's rant hit the room like a flash of lightning through windows on a dark evening and everyone in the room witnessed the contact.
"She'll find a way to forgive," Dean said. He was right, I knew that, but the arguments and subtle digs every time we spoke were getting old. Damien figured out how to put the past behind him but Ethel continued her rampage through me with every effort in her body. "She will, she has to," Dean said, making his way back to the living room. He gave one final glance my way before retiring back in the room. Conversation started back up but with my head spinning in a hundred directions I couldn't focus on a single topic let alone several. Instead, I charged through the front door out into the early afternoon air. My legs stopped at the edge of the porch, freezing with the tips of my shoes dangling off the top step. Maybe a part of me wanted to walk off the porch and leave, find some abandoned cave and rot for the rest of the day - maybe the next week until Ethel's lightning storm burned out and she went back to ignoring everything wrong in our lives. But I stayed. Something in my muscles, my brain, told me to stay and swallow my pride. There was nothing I could do with Ethel: her anger toward me and L would simmer until all that remained was a thin layer of grease streaking the bottom of the pan. She would scrape at it with her nails and teeth but it'll do no good.
An hour of looking out at the empty front yard proved useless. A couple of kids ran through, and patrol wolves swept the area, noses near the ground as they trotted along, but other than them the yard was a wasteland of green. The wolves were large and varied in color. The front, my beta Jax, was the brightest of the lot and the largest of the four wolves. His dark paws padded the ground in front of him and he paused once to look up and glance over at me. We shared a moment of validation; the large wolf nodded his head and turned it back to the ground once more to resume his patrol. I waved him off but by the time my hand whooshed through the air he and the other three wolves tailing him were headed back into the woods in front of the house.
Just as the last tail slipped underneath the growth between the trees a scent caught the breeze. I lifted my face, jaw toward the sky as I inhaled deeply. Pine and frost, but the kind just melting as winter's hold slipped and allowed life underneath to flourish in its wake. I took another lungful in to confirm the odor.
Did you smell that? Jax linked me before I had a chance to do the same with him. I nodded despite his inability to see me and responded quickly.
Yes, I said through link and stepped off the porch just as an engine rumbled through the trees beyond the house. The driveway to the right of the house followed into the woods, a stark black path that consumed every ounce of life in its path. Headlights came up the drive: bright LEDs blinding the trees on either side of the narrow road with a soft blue hue. All the green under the luminescence shifted into sea green, and the bark on the trees lit up as if they were on fire.
Were you expecting anyone? Jax asked, his wolfish head poking back through the trees. One by one the other patrols came back into the front yard either still in their animal forms or human. Jax's head vanished for a moment and returned as a human seconds later. He buckled his jeans and situated the cotton shirt he pulled on while under the cover of trees and came to stand beside me.
"I wasn't," I finally answered once he was within hearing distance. The other patrol wolves came up beside me and the ones who had changed back into their human forms greeted with gentle hellos before getting into formation behind me, Luis and Mattias being a part of the group but they were much closer than the rest. They were on my left and Jax on my right: my most trusted friends.
The car pulled up and stopped in the turn-around. The engine quit and the driver's side door swung open. A tall African-American man stepped out and straightened the light bomber jacket around his shoulders. He shut the car and locked it once, a shrill beep sounding through the yard.
"Tyler what brings you back over here on such short notice?" I asked, stepping forward away from my pack. Jax went to take a step with me but I motioned for him to stay, a subtle hand gesture behind my back. He obliged quietly and replaced his hands behind his back and feet slightly spread.
"You went silent on your end after our last chat," I continued, crossing my arms. "Why is that?" He promised to help and relay information about L during our last physical talk but I never heard from him afterward. For a while, I wondered if I dreamt the conversation.
"Things got shaky up at the Council and Mia had to lay low," Tyler said once he stopped a couple of feet short from me. "I need help getting her back and I know you've been down in their prison underneath the compound."
"I have," I said. "Briefly but I was there long enough to get the general layout of the place. Have you not heard from her?"
"Not since the trial, no."
"Funny," I huffed and looked elsewhere for a moment. "Her and I didn't leave on the best terms."
"What do you mean?" Tyler's dark brows scrunched together and he came at me quickly only to be stopped by Jax stepping in between us.
"You're on Emerald land, Tyler." Jax snarled and shoved a bare palm into the Alpha's chest to force him back. Tyler agreed and allowed Jax to push him back to his original spot.
"My sister is in that compound and I have no way of contacting her," Tyler admitted with a sigh. "If you have any information... I'd be in your debt." His pleas were almost heartbreaking but I shook my head.
"When we arrived she offered to help me see L one last time," I said. This caught Tyler's attention but I knew it wouldn't last. "The trial and planned execution went... haywire and just before we pulled out of the parking lot Mia and I got into an argument. Her whole demeanor had changed."
"So it's your fault," Tyler snapped.
"What?" I asked, dumbstruck. How dare he accuse me of his sister's absence and lack of communication? "What exactly are you saying, Montgomery?"
"She helped you and now she's in some fucked up mess because of it."
"Yeah she helped us but it was on her own terms!" My voice raised. "She came to me," I pointed at my chest. "She came to me and offered her assistance; I didn't even know who she was until she introduced herself.
"What do you mean her demeanor changed?" Tyler's voice shifted as he realized I had nothing to do with her sudden disappearance. "What did she say?"
"She was monotone like the rest of the lot," I rolled my eyes. "They're all the same up there, Tyler. It's time you accept your sister made her decision to join the gentlemen's club. Even if there was a chance to get her back she'd never be the same Mia you once knew."
"You're wrong," Tyler growled, almost taking a step forward but remembering Jax's quick movements from before he backed off before he did something he would later regret. "You're wrong Corvo," he said, shaking his head in disbelief. "She's not gone, my sister is not gone!" He yelled and flung his arms into the air. This time it was I who stepped back. I didn't want to be anywhere near him when he lost control and his wolf took over.
"You need to calm down," Jax said. Luis and Mattias stepped up in agreement with my Beta. "Come in the house, Tyler. You need to sit down, OK?"
Tyler's wolfish, gold eyes gazed around the property. They dangled on one person for a little too long before he flipped his attention to someone else. After about a minute he finally rested his attention on Luis who got the closest.
"Hey," Luis outstretched a hand. "I know how you're feeling but you're not gonna accomplish anything going full-wolf in the middle of a driveway."
That seemed to do the trick as the red veins drained from Tyler's sclera. The gold flakes in his iris' went back to their normal cocoa brown and his shoulders slumped while his human side took back control.
"I-," he started but Luis shook him off.
"No need to apologize, man." He grabbed Tyler by the shoulder and led him toward the house. I mouthed thanks to him and received a bright flash of teeth back. Mattias followed Luis into the house while I watched from my place next to Jax.
"Was that true?" Jax asked once they were out of earshot.
"Which part?" I questioned back, earning a shove in my shoulder.
"That his sister is a lost cause," Jax chose his words more carefully but he trailed off at the end.
"Probably," I said. "It's better Tyler find out now than try and hunt Mia down and find her knees deep in Council bullshit."
"Do you think that's best?" Jax challenged my idea. I shrugged and kicked some stones around with my feet. Dust puffed out from the movements on the ground, but it settled as quickly as it escaped. I flattened out the area I unearthed with the bottom of my shoe and looked back up at my Beta.
"Telling him? Do you have a better plan?" A little bit of Zane popped into my tone but Jax brushed it off without offense. He fumbled with his weight next to me, going between either foot while we watched the rest of the small crowd of Emerald soldiers either return to their postings or retire into the house.
"I mean it's either tell him that or let him believe his sister still has a bit of her soul left," he shrugged. "Either way it's probably a lie."
Jax was right but there was no way I would admit it out loud. Zane held my tongue at the back of my mouth, and instead of saying anything else I started up toward the house, linking Erin to start a pot of coffee for Tyler. She responded quickly and got the work. It wasn't long until the fresh smell of roasted coffee beans wafted through the house and settled the nerves in every person present. Erin came from the kitchen with a tray in her hands. A solid deep emerald-colored teapot and cups were situated on the tray as well as garnishes for coffee including sugar cubes and a saucer of off-white creamer. Tyler sat in the middle of the couch in the living room. As soon as the tray hit the table he reached for a cup and poured the steaming coffee from the pot.
"That'll be all, Erin. Thank you," I nodded and dismissed her from the room. She bowed her head once and returned to the kitchen. If it weren't for Tyler being in the house our demeanors with each other would be much more casual but visitors meant formalities. I watched as Tyler filled his cup with cream and sugar, and lifted the porcelain lip to his mouth and took a long drink from it, clearly ignoring the searing in his gums. Something must have clicked in him or else he wouldn't have agreed to come inside, accept Emerald hospitality, or agree to a visit longer than a few minutes. It was unusual for him, for anyone from Sapphire, and I wasn't about to allow him to leave Emerald without getting an answer from him. Either the dim glimmer in his eyes or the way he sped here led me to believe he was hiding something underneath his tongue. All I had to do was wait him out and hope he caved before I did.
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Hey,
Another chapter for y'all! I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you're excited for the last several chapters and how they're going to play out.
QOC: What do you think will happen to Penelope now that she's lost both of her mates?
Comment, like and follow! I love all the feedback and comments I get.
Much love,
-Kate
_._._.
Here's some Damien smolder for you
<3