The Prophecy

Chapter 29

The moment I stepped out of the bedroom doorway, I stumbled over an object and nearly fell face first before catching my balance. I looked down to see a box wrapped with a black ribbon in the middle of my doorway. Puzzled, I picked it up and brought it back into the room while leaving the door open.

I examined the box and noticed a little note.

I'll try.
-Ace

I cautiously opened the lid, unsure if it was another trick. Maybe there'll be a can of snakes that spring out at me. Luckily, nothing jumped out, but there was another small box sitting in the middle of perfectly layered blue tissue paper. I opened the second box to find a beautiful gold necklace with a wolf pendant in the centre. It was carved to perfection as it sat howling at a non existent moon. I turned it over, and although it was small, it read;

A.K. + A.R.K. + M.R.

Family first. Always and Forever.

Without much of a choice, a small smile graced my lips. The gift was adorable and as much as I would love to hate it, the thought and intricacy made my heart flutter.

I sighed and decided to put the necklace away for another time. I needed to keep my walls up, a small gift wasn't going to change anything.

I walked out of the room, without any difficulty this time, and briskly walked to the kitchen, not wanting to run into anyone. I examined the room briefly noticing that a handful of pack members were sitting around the dining room table socialising and eating breakfast while others mingled around the kitchen. Sitting at the island, Izzy ate her breakfast as she talked to two other women, looking not much older than us. Once my sister noticed me, she waved me over and hugged me as I approached.

"Marilynn! How are you feeling? You slept nearly all morning, you must be exhausted." Izzy babbled.

I laughed lightly and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just needed some rest."

"Come, sit with us," She pulled out another bar stool and put a prepared plate of food in front of me. Izzy smile brightly and pointed at the other women respectively. "This is Jocelyn and Tayshia. They're mated to two high ranked warriors, but that's not all. They're both, also, doctors in the infirmary. Isn't that badass?"

"Definitely badass," I chuckled along with the other women.

We continued to talk for the rest of the morning, until Jocelyn and Tayshia went to the infirmary. Shortly after, I excused myself while Izzy went to find Liam. It had been a long couple of days and all I wanted to do was spend some time with my boy.

I walked into his room to see one of the Pack Nursery Keepers tending to Adris, something I still found odd, but was a custom in the pack. I helped where I could, but Ace had an army of staff ready to help at his command. I excused the young woman and gently picked up Adris to bring him to the rocking chair. I sat down and began to move slowly, but Adris wasn't having any of it. He wiggled in my arms to get out so I carefully placed him on the ground and watched him crawl around the room.

"He's getting big, isn't he?" A voice startled me. I turned to the doorway to see Ace leaning against the frame with his arms crossed.

I smiled softly, not wanting to break the calming atmosphere.

"Yeah...He's so heavy," I laughed. "We have to stop letting Izzy feed him." Ace chuckled at my attempt at a joke before entering the room. It was silent for a few moments as we watched our little boy giggle as he crawled, sometimes lifting small toys to throw.

"Thank you for the gift," I spoke softly to break the silence. "It's beautiful."

"A beautiful necklace for a beautiful soul," Ace replied cheekily.

I looked up at him with a slight glare. As much as I appreciated the gift, I didn't want him to get confident that that's all it took to get my forgiveness.

"Don't get too cocky," I advised while standing so I didn't have to arch my neck. Damn his height.

His dark green eyes softened and he looked like he had the urge to touch me so I cautiously took an extra step back to keep more space between us. A flash of hurt crossed his eyes before it was replaced with the same emotionless look I was used to. Of course he would use that on me which made an anger spark.

"What? Still can't be man enough to show me your emotions? You know I can see when you shut me out and honestly it's exhausting. If you're wanting to win any brownie points, I suggest you stop using that face on me," I exclaimed, frustrated with the constant bickering. "I'm so tired, Ace." I slumped my shoulders.

He stayed quiet, sighing lowly and running a hand through his hair. I felt like the weight of the world was sitting on my shoulders and all I wanted was to be wrapped in his arms and feel the comfort only he could bring me. However, I had made it clear that I wanted space. Oh, how I was regretting my decisions.

"Maybe you're right..." Ace spoke after a few moments of awkward, tense silence.

"What?" I looked up to see his tense figure looking anywhere but me.

"Maybe we just don't work. It's constant bickering and fighting. Like you said, it's not healthy. It's not what's best for Adris. Maybe us...Maybe we're just a...mistake." He whispered the last words as his eyes connected to mine, showing all the pain and regret, but still the confidence in his words.

My heart dropped and I took a small step forward in an attempt to reach him, but he quickly took a step back sending my heart into overdrive. Did he really mean those words? I knew all my despair was written across my face, but I didn't care. This felt wrong.

"But... I thought..." I trailed off not knowing where I was going.

Ace looked at me sharply in my green eyes that were similar to his own, trying to convey his seriousness.

"Can you confidently tell me right now, that you are sure about this? That you want this? This toxic relationship that could hurt Adris?"

I paused. I had to think about my boy, but this wasn't right. This wasn't a mistake. We were just lost and finding a way to mend together.

"I-I..." I couldn't form a sentence as I stumbled over my words.

"I thought so," Ace spoke solemnly.

Before I could protest, Émile ran in panting and shouted the words we've been dreading to hear.

"Alpha, they're here."