-Willow- Cain’s words cut me even deeper, but he was also my mate. Both sons were now calling out for their father, saying they needed him. It broke my heart, and I wished I could do more for both of them, but I couldn’t bring back the dead. No one could, and so there was nothing else for me to do but just lie there and hope Cain was comforted by my touch. He seemed to be as his tears stopped and his body grew lax on top of mine. Slowly, he drifted back to sleep, and this time he rested much better. He wasn’t haunted by nightmares, or maybe it was memories? At least he was sleeping. “How do I help you?” I whispered as I ran my fingers through his hair, but I knew he didn’t hear me. Maybe we can get naked? my wolf suggested. “That’s not funny.” I wasn’t trying to be. “Could you come up with a better idea?” It was what you needed when you were sad. “I was angry and felt betrayed by Carter. This is entirely different. So come up with a better idea,” I demanded. This is my best id
-Willow-Cain was typing away so fast and hard on his keyboard that it was filling the office with noise. His tense energy was filling the room, so it was hard to breathe, but both Henry and I were nervous about interrupting him. It was clear that he was very focused on the assignment in front of him. I glanced at Henry, who shrugged, clearly not going to be the one to interrupt his alpha and his work. Cain had been in the office since last night, and I knew he hadn’t slept for one moment. I knew how important it was for him to protect the wolves out there, but I was unsure if he was in the right mind to do that right now. The harsh typing told me he wasn’t.“Cain?” I called, trying to get him to slow down a little, but he didn’t react. “Cain?”“Not now, Willow.” He shut me down, and I sighed.“We should talk about the next trial.” I tried coming up with a good reason for him to slow down, but he shot me another look that said ‘not now’ before he went back to typing.“It’s important t
-Willow- “How is he doing?” Eva asked me as she sat across from across me. We hadn’t spoken in a while for more than one reason. She knew I knew she had told Cain about the powder, and I had been mad, but after everything, it felt so small compared to what we were now dealing with. So I had called her, and she had come over. Though I knew she didn’t care much about Cain, I knew she was very worried about me if she had gone to him with her concerns, and for her to ask how he was meant a lot. “Not good,” I admitted. “I catch him up at night just staring out the window.” “Weren’t you going to see Carter?” “We were. Cain wants to get more wolves out there to help, and we have already sent some fighters ourselves, but he knows his brother isn’t doing very well, and I think he wants to pick the right moment.” “Which is when? If Cain is walking around like a zombie, I’m guessing Carter is too."Eva asked. “Yeah, he isn’t doing very well either. I almost feel more bad for him,” I admitt
-Cain-I didn’t even notice when I fell into my trance. If I couldn’t sleep, I just told myself I would get up for a few minutes, but then she would feel me through the bond and wake up too. She would call out to me and make me realize how much time had left. Even now, in the middle of the day, it happened. My head wasn’t even filled with anything. I was just in a trance.“Cain?” There was a soft knock on the office door, and I could feel Willow approaching. I knew she spent the day with Eva, so if she had come to find me, then a lot of time had passed. I kept shifting, from sad to on edge to simply numb. Had I even worked today?Suddenly, I felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around me, and Willow hugged me from behind, bringing a smile to my lips. I wondered what would have happened to me if I hadn’t had her near. She made me stable again.“Are you okay?” she whispered, pressing her cheek against my back. I reached up, stroking one of her arms.“I’m okay.”“You don’t seem that way.
-Willow-Cain and I went to the palace the next day, leaving Henry to keep an eye on the pack. We walked inside, feeling the heaviness in the air. As a servant came by, I called out to her.“Have the prince and queen left their room or the king’s office?” I asked.“No, my Princess. They are still there.”“Have they eaten?”“A little. The prince seems to do better,” she explained.I nodded, thanking her, before she walked away. I turned to Cain, seeing the pain on his face.“Who do you want to go see first? Or should we split up?” I asked.“Yes, I will go see my mother first. I think it would be best if I did that alone. I will see you in my father’s office if you can get inside,” he told me.“Okay, see you in a bit.”We split up as he went to find his mother and I went to check on Carter. I knocked on the door to the king’s old office and was surprised when I heard Carter coming closer, much faster. He opened the door, and I saw he looked a little better. His hair and clothes were sti
-Cain- I walked beside my brother, neither of us really speaking, just simply taking in the fresh air. I could see it was improving his mood, and it was helping me too. I didn’t really know why I had almost snapped at Willow in there, something about the way Carter stated all those things made me worried. I couldn’t just forget how she had loved him, and it was hard to compete with such a powerful love. “You keep looking at me,” Carter said, turning to me and giving me a strange look. “Did you ever love her?” I blurted out, grabbing his arm and stopping Carter from going further. “Who?” “Don’t play dumb. You knew what would happen when you revealed those things. You forget I loved chaos once as well, but I need to know Carter to see if you ever loved her. Because I can understand a little retaliation if you did, because it means I took something very precious from you, but I don’t want to be at war with my brother. If you loved her, tell me now and let me make it up to you. Let’s
-Willow- I was cleaning out the office when I heard something behind me. Slowly, I turned only to let out a startled scream. Despite expecting someone to be behind me, the last person I had thought would appear stood in the doorway, wrapped in a long robe. The queen had arrived. “Your Majesty,” I said and bowed my head. Her tired eyes scanned the room, looking at every corner, and then landed on my hands, which held the empty wrapping of a candy bar. “What are you doing?” she asked. “Um… cleaning up.” “Why?” “Because your son has been staying in here, and I thought he might want a cleaner room,” I explained before I walked over to where the trashcan was and threw it in. When I turned again, she had come closer to me, a strange energy surrounding her, but I knew that was to be expected from a grieving mate. She had been with the king for many years after all. “Where is he?” she asked. “Cain and I came to check on you two, and right now they are out walking,” I explained.” The
-Cain-The way my mate looked at her former fiancé, the man she had thought she would spend her life with, was like a punch to the gut. I knew that Willow’s heart was what would be hard to conquer, but I thought I was getting there. I thought she was falling for me and that things were getting better between us. After all, we were building a family, but when I revealed that Carter said he loved her, there was something in her eyes. As if there was hope for it to be true. Did she want his words to be true?No, she can’t! She is ours, my wolf growled.She was, but the look I simply couldn’t interpret in any other way. It was if she was begging Carter to repeat it, to tell her the truth about his feelings, and it hurt.“What?” Willow asked, yet she was looking at Carter.I turned slightly, looking at my brother and feeling my anger rise again, but I didn’t move. Carter glanced at me but returned his gaze to Willow.“I was scared,” he admitted. “I was scared of what I felt, so I pulled aw