The Blood-Book III

Chapter 48: Garden

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Ethan 

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One year.

One year and sixty-five days had gone by since she left. It was thirty days before Evan convinced me to get my act together because our pack was asking questions–questions he was tired of answering, sixty days when we emerged to talk to her–to the devil herself and broker a deal that allowed us to leave the shelters. It was sixty-five days since that day until the packs emerged to see our land left completely untouched. She said that she spared our packs as a sign of good faith to us that we could coexist.

Five days after that I finally went home after sleeping in my office, home that I didn't want to walk into because the scent of her brought me to my knees in agony.

It was all agony.

She had her own pack house built in the middle of the packs, right where the corners of the four packs touched; Levi's, mine, Jaxon's, and Ajax's. A large monstrosity that made me an instant pyromaniac upon sight of it.

It was hell.

Some alphas more or less surrendered instantly out of fear or because they really were bastards. Our packs ended up having to surrender to her as well–she still out numbered us with her rogues and new allies. We had to submit to her, let her built that damn pack house, pay her monthly to 'protect us,' and 'declare war' against the vampires–which is exactly what Alex wanted until he realized the cost. Until Derek said that he more or less became extremely depressed with the situation–I didn't give a shit, as far as I cared that vampire could still die a slow death.

We were home but as I passed the new flag pole every day that had a flag with a rebel brand on it flying in the wind, I knew we were far from being home.

The vampires had banded together, but we had a secret agreement with them–we being the original five packs that fought against Aurelia. We also had a secret alliance with Bernard's coven and Callista's; we had to smuggle Bernard and the other witches out in the middle of the night to Shirley's diner, where her husband picked them up and drove them to Riley's, where Nate and Darren then took them to the airport.

Riley grew closer with all of us. Humans were being snatched more and more, especially after she built a new club and apparently filled a third cave full of rogues; poor wolves that we had to watch march to the mountains.

The people of Anchorage and surrounding cities thought that the city was just doing a better job in their civil services–the homeless population had dwindled, but they could not have been more wrong as to why.

We all were so wrong. So blinded. We underestimated her so much.

After seven months, Aurelia started to more or less try to befriend me. Then after ten months, she tried to convince me to take her as a lover so I could, 'ease' my pain. She said she forgave me for everything and she 'hated' seeing me so depressed.

I almost killed her.

I almost killed her until her guards, large pythons, pulled me away from her while she just wiped off the blood on her mouth and laughed at me. She thought it was, 'adorable.'

We had to meet with her and discuss our plan to, 'strengthen the region.' It was, 'of the greatest important.' Her father was there sometimes but other times he was in the continental United States doing God knows what. It was better when he wasn't there, usually when he was either Levi or I tried to kill him which ended up in us getting a few lashes from a silver whip.

But it didn't hurt.

Nothing really hurt anymore. It all felt numb. Levi said it would be this way–he said it would get better, get easier. He looked at me all the time like I was a time bomb, they all did. I think they were all waiting for me to finally lose it or just do it–walk to the moon to find her. Their looks made me both angry and disappointed in myself. I was their alpha. I had promised her to end it, and while things were looking bleak, I couldn't give up. I had to do this for her, yet there were plenty of days went I longed to run off that cliff my sister had. There were days when I started to walk there only to stop myself when duty pulled me back to reality.