*Lena*
I watched as the ambassador and Xander spoke with a group of warriors who were congregated near the bunkhouse on the estate. I hadn’t wanted to co back here. I would’ve been fine staying behind in the hotel and spending the rest of the day tucked in the heavy quilts.
But I wanted to keep tabs on George.
I was leaning against the truck, tossing an apple up and down, over and over. Bethany wasn’t around, not that I could tell. The bunkhouse was dark and empty, the front door wide open and swinging in the stiff breeze that was also rustling my hair and sending a chill over my skin.
It was the last week of November. It should have been the last full week of our field study. Next week we would have been sitting in the library on campus, sorting through our research and readying ourselves to present our senior thesis.
Instead, I’d watched it all burn to the ground. Our research was now evidence. Everything we’d found out about the flora of this Goddess-forsaken place would be packed up and sealed, sent away to the Alpha in Breles while Maxwell awaited a formal trail for who knows what in front of the supre court of the West, overseen by the Alpha King of Findali himself.
My stomach tied into a knot as I thought through the weeks to co. It was unlikely I’d be called to testify–not with my connections.
I closed my eyes as another gust of wind touched my cheeks, reddening my skin. Ice crystals were drifting through the air, blanketing the ground and turning the grayish landscape an odd, glistening silver color. It would have been beautiful, had it not been for the visions of blood and anguish that stained this place.
I opened my eyes to Xander standing with his arms crossed, his body turned to George and his head thrown back in laughter. What could he possibly have to laugh about?
I caught the apple and tucked it in the pocket of my jacket, glaring in his direction. My anger was irrational, I realized, but I didn’t really care. I was sore and riddled with mixed emotions from what we’d been up to earlier in our hotel room. I felt overwheld and anxious about George’s presence. I felt embarrassed by how desperately I’d asked Xander to mark knowing full well I was too young to know for sure that he was my mate. My heart was breaking into many pieces by the fact he didn’t do it.
I scoffed, digging the toe of my boot into the dirt to distract myself from the prickle of heat nipping at my fingertips despite the cold. Greenery caught my eye as I glanced down at my boots, and I noticed little bursts of green grass beginning to poke through the frost-covered dirt. I swallowed, clamping my mouth shut and inhaling deeply through my nose until my lungs filled with air, and I held it, forcing my heart to slow its rapid beating.
I walked forward, unsure of where exactly I ant to go. I glanced at Xander and George, but they had their backs turned to now, Xander pointing toward where the fire pit was settled against the boundary wall and the forest.
I found myself climbing the steps to Henry’s cottage, my hand outstretched and wrapping around the ice-cold doorknob, giving it a turn.
The door swung open with nothing more than a little shove.
Why I was there, I didn’t know. Why I stepped inside the dank, empty cottage was a mystery. But I closed the door behind nonetheless, settling my weight against it as I looked around. It was the sa layout as the cottage Xander and I had lived in, with a single bedroom and a kitchenette. But Henry’s cottage was lived in, the walls littered with dried and pressed flowers and herbs protected by glass fras.
A mug of tea sat on the kitchenette, and as I moved away from the door and walked toward it, I noticed the fine dusting of mold creeping up the inside of the mug. I ran my finger over the counter, drawing a line in the dust.
“Where are you?” I whispered, my voice breaking with emotion.
The wind rustled the window panes in the bedroom. I could see his bed, unmade, through the door, which was ajar. I crossed the room and pushed it open, standing in the doorway and finding it almost impossible to cross the threshold into his most private, personal space.
The warriors had to have been in there, probably more than once. Henry was missing, after all. But there was no sign of a struggle, no bloodstains or knocked-over furniture. Everything was in its rightful place, untouched.
I scanned the room, my eyes settling on a frad picture sitting on top of the tall, lean dresser in the corner of the room. I walked toward it, narrowing my eyes as the dust-covered image ca into view.
It was Henry, a much, much younger version of himself. He had his arm wrapped around the shoulder of a strikingly beautiful woman with a thick head of dark, unruly curls. I picked the picture up, wiping the dust away with my fingers as I looked down at the image, tears welling in my eyes.
She looked incredibly familiar, but I couldn’t place her in any of my mories. The photo was in black and white, and the fine details had faded with age. The woman’s beauty was matched by Henry, who had been exceedingly handso in his younger age. He was fair, his hair obviously a light shade of blond. He looked... happy, so incredibly happy.
I rembered being told he’d lost his mate. I rembered the hesitation in Bethany’s voice when she alluded to the fact his mate had t her end like the rest of the young won who’d disappeared in Crimson Creek.
“What are you doing here, Lena?” Xander’s voice rang out behind as I set the picture down on the dresser and turned to him.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly, letting him take by the hand and lead out of the bedroom.
“They’re going to find him,” Xander said, but he didn’t sound totally convinced.
I glanced up at him as he walked out onto the porch, where we stood for a mont, watching George continue to talk to the warriors.
“What ti is our train back to campus?” I asked, letting out the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.
Xander sighed deeply, leaning on the railing and shaking his head.
“We’re stuck here for another three days–”
“What?” I turned to him, trying to read the expression that flashed across his face for a split second.
“I don’t know why, I just found out. We’ll stay at the inn. It’ll be fine.”
“I want to leave–”
“George is heading back east,” he said with a shrug, the corner of his mouth twitching as he tried not to smile. “He’s traveling by car, if you want a ride.”
“I’ll wait for the train,” I whispered, tearing my eyes away from him and settling my gaze on the field of grain, which was covered in frost and drifting lazily in the wind.
Xander chuckled softly to himself, but said nothing further about it. What were we supposed to do in Crimson Creek for three whole days?
Xander straightened up and walked down the steps, looking over his shoulder at as I remained on the porch. “Co on, Lena. We’re going back to the village.”
“To do what?”
“Anything you want,” he sighed, looking sowhat annoyed.
I walked down the steps, staying a few paces behind him for a mont before I stopped again. “What are you not telling ?” I asked.
I’d wanted to drop it completely, but there was a voice in the back of my mind nagging about the fact I’d missed so much over the past week.
Xander watched for a mont, his eyes searching mine. He looked conflicted, like sothing heavy was weighing on him.
“I don’t know anything for certain, Lena. I don’t know if I believe anything that–” he took a step toward , his eyes narrowing as he took by the chin, tilting my face towards the sky. “Your eyes–”
“Stop!” I pushed him away, which startled him.
Fury and confusion flashed behind his eyes as he took a step away from , then another. My heart quickened and my chest squeezed painfully as he squared his shoulders at .
“You need to calm down, Lena–”
“Don’t tell to calm down!” I hissed, trying to keep my voice low, and level. I didn’t want the warriors to overhear our spat. “Tell what you know! Tell why we’re stuck here for another three days, Xander!”
“The train is not my fault–”
“Don’t deflect–”
“Lena! For the love of the Goddess, will you just listen to !” He stepped toward , clenching his fists as though he was gearing up for a fight. A familiar heat rushed into my fingers, my skin tingling as an onslaught of emotions pushed forward, threatening to explode.
“You were the one who alerted the Alpha of Breles to what was happening here, weren’t you? You’re the reason the Alpha King of Valoria sent an ambassador–”
“Of course, I did! What was I supposed to do, Lena? Ignore that fact a beast from hell was murdering people and nearly ripped you in half!”
“You should have talked to first!”
“When?” he sneered, closing the distance between us in a single step. “Should I have told you I was going to the authorities while you were in a practical coma? Or should I have told you during the brief monts you were awake, but didn’t know who I was? When you were so fearful of that Alma had to hold you down while I left... left the room–” he looked down at his feet, heavy lines of pain etching themselves across his face. He blinked, then straightened up, his eyes misted with emotion but blazing with anger.
“Xander, I didn’t know–”
“Just get in the truck; we’re leaving.”
“Wait, I–”
“Hey!” George said as he started walking toward us, his voice carrying through the snow that was beginning to fall in earnest.
I blinked a few tis, my face flushing as I tried to swallow back the mingled guilt and anger pulsating through my system as George ca to a stop in front of us. I didn’t even hear what he said to Xander, sothing about needing to move on to his next stop, which was the now abandoned castle belonging to the Alpha of Crimson Creek.
I was doing everything in my power to keep my expression neutral as Xander talked with George, but I snapped back to reality when Xander lightly tapped on the elbow, tilting his head toward the truck.
I swallowed hard, following him to the truck as George began to talk back to the warriors. But he turned around, feeling over his jacket and then reading into one of the inside pockets.
“I almost forgot,” he murmured, walking up to and handing an envelope.
I hesitated, looking up at him for a mont before accepting it with a tight nod. He arched his brow, then shook his head.
Xander watched us skeptically as I turned from George, my cheeks growing pink. I walked to the truck and got inside without saying a word, tucking the envelope in my pocket.
“What’s that?” Xander asked, but I turned and looked out the window.
I knew exactly what it was, and at that mont I knew exactly what I’d be doing, and where I’d be going after we reached campus in three days’ ti.
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