Healing Wounds

Chapter 4

I woke up to an empty bed, cuddling a pillow instead of him.

Sorry Love, I had to leave before daylight to avoid being caught -  Damien

The note on the pillow was the only thing that confirmed I had not been dreaming last night.

I quickly took the note and stuffed it in my bedside drawer before either of my parents saw it.

"Hazel, sweetheart get up! I made breakfast!" Mom called, knocking on the door.

I forced myself to get out of bed and get ready for the day.

"Knock knock!" Aro grinned cheerfully as he pranced into my room.

"Dude I'm half naked," I chuckled, not really caring if he saw me in my underwear and t-shirt.

"Well, put some clothes on then," He threw himself back on my bed as I slipped on a pair of shorts. 

His nose instantly scrunched up.

"God, your bed reeks!" He gagged, quickly backing away from the bed.

"Yeah....you're not going to  believe what happened last night," I closed the door and pulled him to sit down on the bed beside me.

"I found my mate last night," I whispered waiting on his reaction.

A hurt look flashed across his face before he quickly hid it. 

"That's wonderful, what pack is he from?" He took my hands excitedly.

"That's the thing, he isn't....like us," I mumbled worried about how he was going to react.

He silently nudged me, urging me to continue.

"He's... A vampire,"  I looked down at my hands.

"Your mate is a....okay. Okay that's fine," he took it surprisingly well.

"Is he cold, and like....you know, deadish?" He asked turning to look at me.

"Aro! Be serious!" I couldn't help the smile plastered across my face.

"I am being serious! It was a genuine question!" He chuckled before pulling me to my feet.

"Now come on, your mom made pancakes and I'm starving," he slung his arm around my shoulders, pulling me downstairs.

...........................................................

"What do you wanna do today?" Aro asked as he shoved yet another entire pancake in his mouth.

"Ro, I wanna go to," Slate begged. Ro was Slate's nickname for Aro and, although it drove Aro crazy, he would rather die than hurt Slate's feelings.

"Sure thing buddy, I'll tell you what, why don't you go ask your mom if we can go to the park?" Aro offered. 

"Yay!!" Slate squealed before rushing off to find mom.

A pang of sadness hit me as I watched Aro interact with Slate. I couldn't help but think of how good an older brother Jasper would have been. He was the sweetest person I'd ever met, and I couldn't help but wish that I was one that evil man had taken.

"Hazel? It's okay, shh it's okay," Aro hugged me tightly.

I hadn't realized that I had been crying until he rushed to comfort me.

"I'm s...sorry," I mumbled against him, leaving my arms around his waist. 

"It's okay," he rubbed my back softly.

I pushed away from him and went to go change into something more presentable.

"Hazel, are you alright?" Aro asked tapping lightly on the
door.

"I'm fine, I'll be down in a minute," I sat down on my bed and tried to shake the awful thoughts from my head.

It sucked. Both my parents had managed to move on with their lives. So why couldn't I?

Was it easier for them to accept because they'd witnessed the horror?

I made myself push the thoughts to the back of my mind and threw on some shorts.

"Come on Hazy! We want to go to the park," Slate called from the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm coming Slate, hang on a minute," I  grabbed my purse and quickly made my way down the stairs.

Aro grabbed mine and Slate's  hands and drug us outside.

"Why dont we go see if Brianna wants a break from Phoenix?" Aro asked with a conniving grin .

"Sure," I knew exactly what he was getting at. If we could bring Phoenix along, she would distract Slate, meaning we didn't have to sit and push swings for an hour.

Phoenix was my aunt Brianna's pup, she was a year older than Slate but they got along like two peas in a pod.

I felt bad for Bri, Phoenix was actually her second child. She had lost her first in the last month of her pregnancy. It had been really hard on her and Sam, they had been so excited only to have their hopes crushed.

Aro's knock on the door snapped me out of my thoughts quickly. 

"Hey aunt Bri, Slate was wondering of Phoenix could come to the park with us?" I asked as Slate clutched my leg.

"Oh I don't know......you promise you two will keep an eye on her?" She asked nervously.

"We promise, besides Dad has  people watching literally everywhere I go. And we both know that if Sam is working he is on alpha daughter watch," I grinned hoping to ease her fears.

She opened her mouth to reply before Phoenix cut her off, squealing excitedly.

"Slate!!" She screeched, her fiery hair a stark contrast to her porcelain skin that was dotted with freckles.

Brianna smiled down at the two embracing children.

"Okay, go on. Have fun!" She bit her lip nervously before shooing us off.