After leaving the little rendezvous with Zack, I continued my search for my necklace. I checked everywhere within 20 miles of the packhouse. I was sure I left it somewhere close by. I spent hours searching until I gave up. What was I going to tell Isabella?
“She’s going to hate me,” I yelled to no one in particular. “I’m not a good friend.”
Stop with that. You’re not improving my mood, Nina sighed.
You've been acting strange ever since we caught Isaiah watching us in the woods. What’s going on with you, Nina?
Why was he watching us? Probably thinks we’re going to claw off his mate’s pretty face Nina growled, baring her teeth.
You know Nina. I think you have an anger issue. Maybe some training can help with that I suggested when I noticed my nails lengthening from Nina’s anger.
Nina huffed at me before disappearing in my mind. I guess training is out of the question today. That’s fine with me anyway. I haven't been feeling so good lately and all this walking around is making me a bit nauseous.
After giving up on the search, I made my way back home. My mother was in the kitchen cooking something delicious of course. I then realized how hungry I was, like really hungry. Well I haven’t had anything in over 24 hours, so it makes sense why I’m drooling. I sat on a stool behind the island to watch her.
“Hey sweetie, how are you feeling today,” she asked, coming around the island to give me a hug. “Didn’t get a chance to see you when you came in last night or this morning.
“Still a little drained from last night but I’ll survive, and I had a few errands to run this morning,” I said, melting into her hugs before being pushed away abruptly as my mom punched me in the arm.
I was shocked. My mother never hit me before even when she’s being playful. She would swipe at the air but never made contact. This is when I knew I fucked up.
“Don’t you ever put us in that position,” she glared at me before going back to cooking. “You can’t just disappear like that without talking to us and when I heard about that rogue last night, I-I felt so-I thought you were-”
I hurried and embraced my mom, resting my cheek on her back as she stopped cooking. She didn’t need to finish that sentence. I know exactly what she was referring to. Coming from a town that was overrun by rogues will forever be imprinted in our brains. The number of bodies, the gore, and worst of all the smell of death will never go away. I felt like shit making her feel this way.
“I’m so sorry, Mom. I was being stupid and selfish, and that’s not me at all.”
I could feel her body shake as she grabbed my hands. It only made me cry too. I was surprised that I even had any tears left. A minute later I felt a pair of strong arms engulf us both and realized my dad must have heard us from the living room.
“I knew you were ok but we were still worried there, Z-bug,” my father said, looking down at me.
I could see tears building up but he was too much of a warrior to let them out. I turned to give him a hug and we all stayed there for a few minutes until the front door opened.
My brother, Zed, walked in with his bag on his shoulders and headphones on. While jamming to the music, he walked by us to the fridge to get a drink. He completely ignores us as he downs the drink in one gulp. He throws away the bottle and finally acknowledges us.
“Nice of you to come back to us in one piece, sis,” he said before I pounced on him to give him a hug. “Come on, Zi. You smell like a dirty forest.”
Before he could push me away my mom and dad surrounded us in a huge hug. Zed struggled for a second before realizing he wasn’t going anywhere.
“Well I see last night as practice. I have to learn to take care of myself when I leave anyway,” I said while walking over to see what my mom was cooking.
There was silence in the room as everybody looked around at each other. It took a moment before I realized their gazes landed on me. I could tell they thought this little incident would change my mind about leaving but after yesterday I knew this was the right choice. I chose to see it as a sign from the Goddess herself. Besides there was no way I was staying here to watch Isaiah get his happy ending.
“Sweetie-”
“Mom, my mind’s made up. Please just-just be okay with it.”
My parents nodded and I made a mental note to do something nice for them later. Everyone returned to their activities as I went to my room. I was still a bit irritated that I lost my necklace. I have to figure out what to tell Isabella. She’s going to be so upset I bet. Maybe I should text her, I thought. No this is a face to face conversation. She might appreciate that more. I got to my room and froze. Someone was in my room. Their scent was faint so I couldn’t figure out who it was exactly.
There’s someone in my room I linked to my dad. Within a flash he was by my side with my brother on his tail.
My hand was still on the knob. I took a deep breath and prepared myself as I slowly opened my door. My brother and dad burst in before me and pounced on the person trying to leave through the window. Suddenly her scent was a bit more prominent.
“Stop, stop guys,” I said, pushing my dad and brother off Isabella. “It’s just Isabella. See?”
They moved back as I watched my mom’s frame fill the doorway with a knife in her hands. I guess my night really did a number of them. I helped Isabella off the floor and gasped at her appearance. My dad turned around but my brother stared at her with his mouth open. Isabella stood tall with nothing but a white bra and matching panties. She didn’t make an attempt to cover herself so I grabbed the nearest thing, my comforter and covered her.
“Sorry I was trying to hide but your closet is a mess,” Isabella said trying to end the awkward silence. She was trying to be funny but I could see the tears staining her face. She avoided eye contact with everyone, looking down at her feet.
I think she needs us, Mom. Something happened. I looked at my mom, who nodded.
My mom ushered my dad out of the room. “Alright, dear, let’s go start the kettle, please? Zed, homework?”
“Homework,” Zed said as if he was in a trance, “what’s that again?” His eyes were still glued to Isabella or more like the comforter. He smiled as if he could see right through it.
“Get out, you perv,” I yelled, throwing a pillow in his face. My yelling didn’t affect him at all. He caught the pillow, hugging it to his chest as he slowly backed out of my room. Never once looking away from Isabella. I sighed as I closed the door and took in the state of my friend. She has a way with the boys I tell ya.
I walked over to Isabella and led her to my bed. She still refused to look at me and I wanted her to start when she was ready. We sat there for a minute until my mom returned with tea and biscuits. Isabella immediately eyed the plate of biscuits and took one before my mom put it down. She ate the entire thing in one bite and went in for more. My mom and I just sat there watching her demolish the whole plate of cookies. We were lucky to get one.
After downing her cup of tea, Isabella focused on the tea cup in her hands. “Sorry, I ate all the biscuits. I haven’t had any food all day,” she whispered.
Then all of sudden she started to cry. Not like a small sniffle but a full on sob as she held the teacup to her chest. I grabbed her and pulled her in with my mom on the other side coo-ing her and rubbing circles on her back. This was definitely something big. I've never seen her cry like this before. My heart was breaking seeing her like this.
"Isa, what happened? Tell us what's wrong," I pleaded. I wasn't sure I could take this much crying from her. It was so foreign and awkward, but she didn't budge. She held onto my waist, crying into my breast. Any other day I would accuse her of trying to cop a feel but I knew this wasn’t the case.
We started this way until her sobs turned to little sniffles. My mom brought in a box of tissues and handed me a few. I tried my best to clean her face but most of it was hidden by my body.
"Hey baby girl. Let's clean you up, okay." My mom gently grabbed Isabella's shoulders and slowly peeled her off of me. Her face and my shirt was covered in mucus but that was the last of my worries. Isabella grabbed the tissues to clean her now reddish puffy face. The more she wiped away her tears the more they came spilling out.
This must be really bad, Mom. I looked at my mother who gave me a reassuring smile.
This is our girl and we got this, she said confidently. I appreciated the confidence. Not too long ago I felt completely shattered too.
"She-knows," whispered Isabella, in between her sniffling.
"Who knows, sweetie," asked my mother in her mothering voice. It's her way of getting a person to give up all their secrets.
Isabella took a moment to compose herself. She took a deep breath and said "My mother knows about Victoria-and me."
"You told her," I hesitantly asked, making sure I understood her correctly.
Isabella shook her head. Slowly she told us what happened at the wedding store and how Alaia mentioned her "connection" with Victoria. When her mom questioned her, Isabella panicked and ran. I waited a minute to digest everything. They were picking out dresses for Alaia, Isaiah's mate, for the mating ceremony that's in a week.
The mating ceremony is equivalent to a wedding. It's where mates are joined together as one in the eyes of the pack and the Moon Goddess. He literally just met this girl and they're already getting married. I guess the mate bond is strong enough to turn people who you thought cared and respected you into a total dick. I felt like I had just been slapped in the face. I noticed my mom and Isabella staring at me.
"Zira!" My mom ran to my bathroom and came out with my medical kit. I looked down at my hand and realized I broke my mom’s tea cup. I held out my hand and she started to clean it. I didn’t even realize I was holding it that hard.
“So sorry mom. I didn’t mean to,” I said, knowing how much she loves her tea sets. They are her pride and joy.
“Hush, hush. Let’s just hope it wasn’t a deep cut. There is a lot of blood to clean up here.” After getting all the glass and cleaning the wound we watched as the cut healed itself when the last piece of glass was taken out.
“Wow, I didn’t know I could heal that fast,” I said, holding my hand out for my mom to see.
“That is strange. That cut was deep and you don’t even have a scar,” she said, examining my hand like it was a freak of nature. I pulled my hand away to get back on task.
"We still have a problem here, Mom. So Isa, Alaia told your mom. How did she-"
Isabella cut me off with a growl, standing up and pacing around the room. "I don't know. Maybe she knows about Victoria from their pack and just put two and two together but still. It wasn’t her truth to tell."
“Maybe she thought your mom already knew,” I suggested trying to calm her down but she shook her head profusely.
“No, no, no, no. She was up to something. I could see it in her icy cold eyes. She wanted to start some drama and stupid Ashlee just there fanning the fire. I wish I could get my hands on that girl I’ll just-” Isabella started to twist the teacup in her hands.
My mom quickly jumped up and took the cup away from her. “How about we stop assaulting my tea cups?” She picked up her tray with her tea set and started towards the door. “Dinner will be ready in an hour. I can hear those stomach growls a mile away.”
My mom left us alone and we just stared at each other. I was the first to look away.
“I’m a terrible friend, Isa. I should have been there.” Isabella sat next to me and threw her arm over my shoulders.
“True, you are”, she said laughing and lying back on my bed. I joined and grabbed her hand.
“I’m sorry, Isa. I would never abandon you, you know that. I just needed some time, that’s all.”
“I know,” she said, squeezing my hand.
I looked at her and noticed her tears still streaming down her face. “Wait, what about Victoria? Where was she when all this happened?”
Isabella started crying more. SHIT! Through her sobs she recollected what happened before the mall and all I could do was hold her.
“I don’t understand. Where did she go,” I asked, trying my best to wipe her face. Isabella shrugged her shoulders.
“I don’t know. One minute she was standing on the porch with bags, the next she was gone. Like she disappeared into thin air. I wasn’t even gone that long.”
I stood up and paced around my room. This was insane. Too much bad shit was happening this week and it’s so..so-unfair. Well that’s it. It is time to take our lives back.
I sat down next to Isa and grabbed her hands. I wanted to make sure I had her attention. “Isa, do you want Victoria as a mate?”
“Of course, I do but-”
I waved my hands to shut her up. “But nothing, Isa. If you want Victoria then prove it to her,” I said, staring at her, “and everybody else.”
Isabella shook her head. “But my mom would never-”
“Isa, she already knows right. So maybe it's time to fight for what you want. You can’t let someone else do it for you. If you want Victoria as your mate then show her what you will do to make that happen.”
“Wait, show my mom or Vicky,” she asked.
“Both of them, dummy.” I pulled her up and rummaged through my things to find something that might fit her. Isabella is more than a few inches taller than me, so the only thing I had were dresses. I picked the first one I could find and threw it at her.
“Put that on and let’s get something for your face.”
Isabella put on the army green dress while I got a soaked towel from my bathroom and helped clean her face. I took my makeup bag and sat Isabella on my bed. I didn’t want to use too much makeup, so a little tinted moisturizer and concealer under the eyes should do the trick. It would help brighten her face a bit. I pulled her to the mirror and wrapped my arms around her waist.
“I wish you could see what I see-” I started.
“Don’t say it. I know. I’m the smartest and strongest person you know.”
I smiled, “And?”
Isabella sighed but I could see a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, “And I’m beautiful inside and out.”
“Damn right! Now it’s time to show your mom and your mate. You got this, gurl.” I grabbed her hand and made her look at me. “And I’ll be right by your side.”
Isabella gave me a full smile and pulled me into a hug. That’s when we heard the doorbell. Isabella tensed up and let me go as she slowly made her way into the hallway. I followed her wondering what was the matter when I heard.
“I know my daughter is here, Zelda. Just tell her to come out, right now,” Luna Bella said with much authority.