Chapter 108


    -Dorothy-


    Angie and I sat together on the swing chair outside her family home. The old chair creaked and


    groaned as we swung back and forth, spurred by Angie’s heel pushing into the ground, I sat with my


    legs folded, picking at a dandelion to distract myself from the morbid thoughts swirling in my mind.


    Angie stared out into the distance, absentmindedly tugging at a loose strand of hair that had escaped


    from her ponytail.


    Once to had finished his story, Ignatious had taken him home. to had been nearly delirious with


    fatigue, insisting that it was Johan that he had seen that night. Ignatius instructed him to get some rest.


    The shifter had seemed disgruntled, but he evennally relented and let Ignatius drive him home.


    1 apanied Angie in the van. We dropped Fae off at her mother’s ce. She wanted to warn the


    old woman of what was inevitablying, and to reassure her that she was alright. Angie and I had


    sought out her own mother to do the same.


    Angie’s grandfather had died before the battle with the Tally. Jolian had lobbed his head off when the


    old man made a y for asylum. Angie rarely spoke about the incident, but her eyes filed with a quiet


    mncholy everytime she revisited her family home.


    All that was left of the Rockbells were her mother and younger brother, and Angie herself. Angie was


    their protector, their provider, and that responsibility weighed heavy on her shoulders, even though


    Ignatius had tried time and time again to offer assistance.


    Angie felt responsible for her grandfather’s actions. Both guilt and disgust tainted her memory of him,


    so much so that she refused to acknowledge all the good he had done for the Bielke before he died.


    She refused to acknowledge him at all. Ignatius had long since forgiven her grandfather’s treason. But


    Angie had not. She had vowed to protect the Bielke, and an act of treason by her family was a stain on


    her own code of honor


    I didn’t understand it, but I respected it. And my heart ached for my friend.


    “Do you think it really was Johan that to saw out there?” I asked her, keeping my eyes on the


    dandelion stalk.


    Angie picked lint off of her sweater and flicked it away vacantly. The weather had been growing colder,


    which was odd considering we were in the dead of summer. It was like the cold skins had brought the


    icy winds with them and thrown nature out of bnce all over again.


    “I don’t know what to think,” she mused, refusing to meet my eye “From what to said, it doesn’t


    sound like fearmongering. It sounds like Johan, or whoever this guy is, is trying to start a new war


    Angie sighed deeply and leaned back in the swing chair, kickstarting the back and forth motion again.


    “This guy has to be a fake. He might be taking on Johan’s name to try and gather people to his cause. I


    just don’t understand why he’s trying to pose himself as the savior of the people. The shifters don’t


    need a savior, and we as a pack have done all we can to atone for the sins of our predecessors.”


    She was silent for a moment before continuing “I know it will never be enough, but this guy doesn’t care


    about justice. He cares about taking us down. Why else would he be inciting an outright attack on the


    Bielke?


    I leaned my head on her shoulder, utterly exhausted. “I’m sorry you and Fae had to cut your vacation


    short because of all.


    this


    Angie shrugged and nudged me with her elbow, “Don’t worry about it, red. Fae and I were ready to


    we’ll be able to handle investigations a bir better than to did”


    “He did alrighat I tried in vain to defend to’s honor. But the man had managed to set someone on


    fire during a “stealth” massion. He wasn’t the most inconspicuous of trackers to say the least.


    Angie chuckled quietly, before her face settled back into a gloomy grimace. “We have to stop this guy.


    I’ve lived through one war. I don’t think da


    11:05 Fri, Jan 26 G


    Angie didn’t need to borage. The message


    clear. She had lost too much already.


    Later that evening. Angie dropped me off at home. The first star were tw inkling overhead and the


    house was dark and silent, save for a flickering glow in the kitchen window. Angie perped over the


    steering wheel skeptically. “Looks like nob*dy’s home”


    “Ignatius is here. I could sense him. And his animosity. Earlier that day, we had organized for the


    children to stay with Zanelle for the wight. Angie and Fae would he there as well, posing as both


    protectors and practicing parents.


    Thad been hesitant to pass my children over to someone else for a whole night, but Fae had taken one


    look at the state of Ignatius and Tasd insisted we give in.


    You both look like you haven’t slept in days,” she had chided. “Tike the night off, Dorothy.”


    I waved to Angie as she speid away before quietly slipping inside.


    As I suspected. Ignatius was in the kitchen. Sewing in the dark like he frequently did these days. Any


    other day 1 would have poked fun at his disy of angst. But tonight, it felt justified, I too wanted to curl


    up in the dark and brood.


    Ignatius sat on the floor with his back to the stove, forearms resting on his knees, his head hanging low.


    He wore nothing but his standard ck jeans, barefoot and shirtless despite the cold weather


    1 eyed the half-empty bottle on the floor beside him and leaned in the doorway, folding my arms. “It’s


    not like you to get wasted on a Tuesday night”


    He nced up at me, a smirk ying on his lips. “Fae said to take the night off. That’s what I’m doing”


    “Hm. Just don’t me me when you wake up hungover.” I replied and strode over to him.


    1 sat myself down beside my mate and gestured for him to pass the bottle. Ignatius raised a brow in


    bemusement. “Are you sure! This stuff is stronger than most,”


    “Just hand over the bottle.”


    I rarely ever drank. I’ve never had a taste for liquor of any kind, much to Angie’s disappointment. I had


    apparen her of a drinking buddy when I was born with an inability to handle what was in my cup


    Tonight however, I ch ug ged straight from the bottle, the liquid bitter on my tongue and burning all the


    way down. I coughed and spluttered and Ignatiu sughed, nicking the bottle back from me and taking


    another swig himself.


    Now that we were parents, Ignatius and I barely got to do things like this anymore. Granted it was a


    gloomy, unceremoniou gathering on the kitchen floor.


    But I hadn’t seen Ignatiusugh in a while, his features softened by the liquid that burned through his


    blood. It only pained me to know that this is what it took to get him to rx now,


    Weughed together, leaning on each other while the alcohol did its work. I had to admit, it did wonders


    to release the tension that had been building in my shoulders ever since the first vampire rumor had


    sparked up.


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    Sitting together, illuminated only by the flickering candlelight, it felt like the earlier days, back when


    Ignatius had firstid me down beside the fire during my very first heat. I had my mate back and his


    hand on my knee was warming and soothing


    But it wasn’t long before our troubles came back to gue us and ourughter gave way to gloomy


    silence. Ignatius leaned his head on my shoulder. I stared out into the dark and lifted the bottle to my


    lips.


    “What are we going to do, Ignatius?” I murmured low are we going to survive this one?”


    Ignatius heaved himself upright and closed a hand over my own “We can’t afford to fall apart now. We


    have to stay strong, for the kids and for the entire pack.”


    He tilted my face towards his with a delicate finger under my chin. “I’m going to protect you. I’m going


    to protect you, and our family, and our people”


    11:05 Fri, Jan 20


    I fought in vain to hold back tears that suddenly p ricked at my eyes. Ignatius wiped them away, littering


    my damp checks with small k*sses.


    That small act of affection was all I needed, what I wanted most in the world. I wanted my mate back. I


    wanted my loving. caring husband, not the icy shell he presented these days.


    I gripped his face between my hands, pulling him into a forceful k*ss and demanding he let down his


    walls for me. I didn’t wantforting words, I wanted touch and affection, his warm b*dy molding into


    one.


    The moment Ignatius’s lips touched mine, he took over, as if to fulfill my unspoken request. I had let


    something loose inside of him, the part of him I hadn’t seen for a while.


    Ignatius fisted a hand in my hair, and pulled me onto hisp without breaking the passionate k*ss. I


    straddled him, moaning quietly against his mouth.


    I dug my nails into his shoulders, arching my back when he slid a hand down my throat, fingers


    tightening there for a moment while he k*ssed me hard enough to leave me breathless


    I came up gasping for air, clinging to him in desperation, in relief. He was here. He was warm, and


    solid, and all mine.


    His hands slid under my shirt, fingers sying across my back and pressing me to his chest. I snagged


    his bottom lip between my teeth, iming him all over again while he ground his growing erection


    against my throbbing core.


    I tangled my fingers in his hair, tugging softly, gasping when his tongue probed my mouth.


    11


    a blitzed, frantic entanglement that took ce on the floor that night. Every shing k*ss was a im to


    our own, a


    ion of undying love and unyielding devotion despite the odds.


    He was mine, and I was his. And I would hold on to what we had with every bit of strength I could


    muster.


    I lifted my arms in the air while Ignatius pulled my shirt off over my head, Fiercely crushing my lips


    against his, I curled my arms around him. Pressing our chests together, skin on skin, heart beats


    aligning to the same rhythmic pulse,


    Ignatius grazed a thumb over my pebbled nipple, his mouth sliding down my throat to fasten at the


    juncture of my neck and shoulder. My hands reached down his back, brushing over stars while I


    moaned in pleasure


    I slid my hand down his chest, tracing muscles down to the seam of his jeans. Ignatius groaned against


    my neck thrusting his hips upwards in eager arousal.


    When we finally broke apart, I was breathless, my chest heaving as Ignatius pressed his forehead to


    mine.


    “I love you” He said it with force, gripping my face in his hands. He k*ssed me again, hungrily,


    desperate, like he was determined to assimte into one entity with force of will alone. When he pulled


    back again, I was reeling. A trail of spittle bridged our lips.


    My hair was pasted to my forehead with sweat, my cheeks streaked with tears. We were a mess,


    unraveled by our anxieties and flush with the effects of alcohol.


    I gripped his shoulders, a so b shaking through my b*dy while fresh tears began to flow


    “I love you,” I replied, ka ssing him again and again. One more would never be enough. My voice came


    out rasping and low with both arousal and relief. “Don’t ever shut me out again.”


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