His question causes me to go into an existential crisis. I take a step back, clutching my chest tightly as I attempt to look for the right words to answer him.I would've told him about the kids eventually. But eventually, it would've taken a long time. What is wrong with me? Why did I do this to him?I can see as he watches me, hoping that I have a different reaction to his question than this, but what can I do? I can't lie to him anymore, so I let out a sigh, blink every single trace of tears from my eyes, and swallow a deep breath."I don't know." I answer him quietly, and the wind whistles around us. It's like the world knows my mate and I are at odds, so it technically pauses for us.It's like we're frozen in time. At least that's how I feel as I watch Harry's reaction to what I just said, which is absolutely no reaction at all. I think I broke him. I look at his chest to see that he's still breathing, but I can tell that his mind and soul aren't here.With me. They're elsewhere.
"Are you okay?" Sandra asks me, as she notices that I haven't been flowing with the current conversation that she has been leading.I let out a sigh. "I wish. I wish I was okay, but I'm not. And I'm not sure that I'll ever be." I say in a very depressed voice, and she slouches her shoulders as she stares at me, thinking of something to say to me that'll lift my spirits.It's how it's been between the two of us for almost a week now. I was sad and depressed about everything, and she was trying to make me feel better. Though she hardly ever succeeds, yep, I'm one incredible tough nut to crack."Isla, it's going to be fine. You can wallow in sadness for the rest of your life, and you're going to have to deal with it soon. And by soon, I mean by tomorrow." She says, and I snap my attention to her face.Well, that's new. She normally leaves me to my devices with all the ‘it's going to be okay', 'don't worry', 'I'm here for you', and ‘we'll get through this' talk. She's never actually told
Wait a second. Why is my daughter behind a tree with that troublemaker? As I get closer, I see him leaning towards her, and Lilah's cheeks are tinted red.My jaw drops at that little rascal. Before I can get close enough to pull him off her, he places his lips on my daughter's. It doesn't last more than a second before he's wretched away from her furiously.I'm only less than five steps away when I see that Harry is the one who jacked Simon off of Lilah. My lips parted as I watched him make a fist of the boy's shirt. Oh, heavens, this mate of mineI know how well he didn't like Simon in the first place, and now this. I'm sure that all hell is about to break loose."You little piece of shit, how dare you place your slimy lips on my angel?" Harry questions the boy in a pissed-off tone, and Simon scoffs, puffing out his chest as he places his tiny hands on Harry's own and tries to get it off his own."She likes me, and I like her. What's your problem, old man?" Simon says in a gruff tone
"Get your hands off me." Harry's voice comes out like a slow poison that first hits my nostrils, then slides into my mouth and makes its way to my heart to spread around it, causing the organ to shrivel and die.I don't know how, but my fingers slowly crumpled on Harry's chest, forming a loose fist and then sliding down from his chest. I breathed in rushed pants all throughout, trying so desperately to calm myself down but to no avail."I'm sorry," I force out of my mouth in a strangled tone. I summon up the strength to keep on looking deep into his piercing, emotionless eyes.He wants to say something; I know he does, but I know that whatever he has to say would kill me and bury me right where I stand. So instead of waiting for him to speak first, I open my mouth and let stupid words spew out of it."You shouldn't have regarded Simon like that. He's just a kid, a stubborn one at that, but you threatening him and his parents all over the place was wrong." I make my point, and from the
Sandra came bright and early to get me ready for the trial today. She might not be working as a maid anymore, but she still sees it fit to dress me up because she thinks that I can't get ready on my own.I can, but I just don't want to. She forces me into a black power gown with ruffles at the rim, but not so much that it's weird. It's fitted from my neck to my waist but free downwards, and it has a square-shaped neckline that's not afraid to show the top of my breasts.I wear my hair up in a messy bun with jewellery draped across my open neckline and shoes that fit comfortably under my gown. Sandra stares at me in pride when she's fine, but I frown deeply at her efforts."It's a trial, not a ball." I say in a dry voice, and she rolls her eyes, spinning my dressing mirror chair so that I can face her directly. Then she rests both her hands on my shoulders and wears a happy smile."You're the Luna. You have to look like this for either occasion. Besides, everyone there would be dressed
"I want them banished from the Blood Moon pack." I say in a calm and firm voice, evoking gasps from all around me."What?" Harry asks me but doesn't even give me the opportunity to answer. "You just want them to go like that? No punishment, just to banish them? Are you even thinking straight right now?" Harry tries to keep a calm voice, but by the time he continues speaking, his tone escalates, and he raises his pitch as I see his wolf eyes flash."Harry, I—" I want to explain my side to him, but he cuts me off before I even get to say anything on the matter."You what? You feel sympathy for them and believe that ending their lives immediately would be a waste. Surely, you must be aware that they launched an attack on MY pack," he says, using the word 'my' like the pack belongs to him alone and I'm not even part of it. "They helped my psycho brother target my kids, and they had the audacity to deceive me." Listing their crimes like that does sound terrible."Sorry, Isla. But they're n
Harry is the only one present at the funeral, for obvious reasons. I don't think any member of the pack would even be comfortable here with the conditions Jeremy put them through.It's going to take a while for the fear people have to fully subside. He put a memorable dent in their lives, literally. As werewolves, our funerals aren't as straightforward as human ones. For humans, they either cremate their loved ones and keep the ashes with them or spread them in the ocean.Or they bury them the old-fashioned way, six feet deep. For werewolves, it's different. More ceremonial, if that's the word. For respected and high-ranking members of a pack, they are buried on ancestral grounds with the oldest member of the pack, who blesses their remains. For normal members of the pack, a cremation ceremony is held, where the eldest in the family carries it out and blesses the soul of the dead.But for the scorned and shamed members of the pack, their remains are cremated and cursed into the soil f
The next morning, I woke up to a warm, empty bed. I jerk into alertness as I look around me. No Harry. I shouldn't be surprised, as I am, but I am. There's a pang in my heart.'Let me use you, Isla.'He didn't forgive me. He just wanted to use me so that he could feel better. And I let him. I even wanted him to, and I still want him to use me. Anyway, that's what he wants, just so he won't feel bad anymore.He said he had nightmares about Jeremy. About killing Jeremy. I can't imagine how that might feel. He feels haunted. I should talk to him and try to get him to see a therapist. That's the best option at this point.I won't let him drown in self-loathing and depression. I rise up from the bed and go to my dressing mirror. I see that I'm rough and there are patches of dirt all over me.That's what I get for having sex in the middle of the forest. A shy smile forms on my lips. Harry wants me. Harry needs me. I just need him to see how much.I have a nice and relaxing bath, then change