End of an Era: A Sons of Satrina Novel (The Sons of Satrina Book 4)

by Kristan Belle

  “We’re here.” Verynai said as they pulled up.

  Caleb glanced over at Rees. This was the most serious he’d seen his little brother looking in a long time. Usually, Rees was full of life, always smiling and laughing and fooling around, but now? His eyes were full of pain. Caleb hated that they’d been put into this position.

  “Are you ready?” Verynai asked.

  “Let’s go.” Caleb replied gruffly and got out of the car first. He couldn’t see anyone out there, but he knew Patrick would already be there. He could feel him. “Come on, Rees.” He looked at his brother and wished he could smile reassuringly, but there would be no reassurance. He had no idea how this was going to go down.

  Kelton and Verynai in particular didn’t want the kids to walk into this alone, but there was nothing they could do. Patrick would know they wouldn’t have come alone, but getting involved would only lead to more problems.

  Verynai couldn’t stand it and got out of the car.

  “What are you doing?” Kelton hissed.

  “I’m not leaving them alone.”

  “Get back in the car.” He demanded.

  “Not a chance.” Verynai didn’t move far from the car but made sure the boys were always in sight.

  Caleb and Rees walked a short distance before Patrick moved out of the undergrowth and into their path.

  “Caleb. Rees.” He nodded in greeting. “Verynai? Could you give us some privacy please?”

  Verynai wanted to say no, but Kelton had already told him that he should stand down if asked. If it looked like things were getting out of hand, then he was to step in, but apart from that, it was on Caleb and Rees to deal with it. “I’ll be in the car.” He agreed reluctantly. Turning to Caleb, he said, “I’ll be able to see you. You need me, just send me the signal.”

  Caleb nodded but didn’t say anything. He couldn’t. He was too nervous. Now that the time was here, he wasn’t sure how he was going to turn his back on the pack, but he knew it had to be done. He couldn’t be associated with them anymore. They’d crossed the line.

  But this was his family. How was he supposed to leave it like this? Caleb felt torn.

  “Caleb? Rees?” Patrick stepped closer. “You wanted to see me?”

  Caleb took a deep breath and nodded. “We need to talk, Patrick.”

  Rees didn’t say a word. Caleb was the big brother and he was in charge of this conversation. Rees was happy to follow whatever Caleb decided, but he hoped that they decided to stay with the Sons. They were happy there.

  “How are you both?”

  “We’re not here for pleasantries.” Caleb set his spine in steel, knowing that he would have to summon his inner warrior to get through this. “What happened at the academy was wrong. It shouldn’t have happened.”

  “Don’t you think I know that? Did you think it was on my orders? It wasn’t. You should know me better than that. I willingly allowed you to go to the academy because I knew it was what was best for the both of you. Did you think I’d put you in that kind of danger?” Patrick said, his speech passionate.

  Caleb sighed. “I knew that it wouldn’t have come from you. But that isn’t the point. The pack put me and Rees in danger. Didn’t they think what could have happened if the Sons blamed us for what happened? They could have killed us.”

  “But they didn’t.”

  “Again. Not the point.”

  “What are we doing here, Caleb?” Patrick didn’t see the point in beating around the bush.

  “We are here to renounce our ties to the pack. We’re leaving, Patrick.”

  Patrick knew this was coming. He’d heard it in Caleb’s voice when he asked for a meeting, refusing to come to pack-land and wanting to meet somewhere neutral. He’d hoped he’d been wrong, but here they were. Everything was spiralling out of control and now he was going to lose two of his pack members.

  “Do you know what you’re doing?”

  “We know.”

  “And this is your decision as well, Rees?”

  “It is.” Rees answered quietly.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’m sure.” Rees looked him confidently in the eye as he answered before looking back at the ground. He didn’t want to lose his family, but he knew that there was no way they could keep on going as they were. He and Caleb had spoken about this at length ever since the latest attack, and he knew that this was the only thing they could do.

  “You’ll be losing everything. You won’t be able to shift with the pack. That will all end.”

  “We understand that.”

  “You will not be able to contact any of the pack members.”

  “Understood.”

  “If you renounce the pack, that also means you cut all ties to your family. Your mother.”

  “We know that. We have to do this.”

  “There must be another way.” Patrick didn’t want to lose the boys. He knew how hard it would be on them to be without the pack altogether.

  “There isn’t.” Caleb said strongly. He’d made up his mind and there was no backing down from this.

  “If that’s the case, then I have someone here that you might want to say goodbye to.” Patrick turned and beckoned someone forward.

  Their mother.

  Caleb almost broke. She was a pitiful sight. Ever since his father had died, she’d been a mess and losing her boys to the Lamia Matris had been the final straw. She was a shell of her former self.

  Growing up, he’d been the man of the house, doing everything he could to help his mother. That was partly why he didn’t fear taking care of Rees now. He’d been doing it for most of his life.

  Seeing their mother, seeing what they were losing, was heart-breaking.

  “Caleb? Rees? What is this?” She asked, her voice timid and broken.

  “Why did you do this, Patrick?” Caleb hissed roughly.

  “I needed to show you what you were missing.”

  “Caleb?” His mother asked. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re leaving the pack. They’ve gone too far this time.”

  “You can’t leave the pack! This is your home!” She brought a hand to her chest as if wounded.

  “It’s not my home anymore.”

  “Of course it is! What kind of nonsense are they putting in your head?” She argued, tears brimming in her eyes. “I knew I shouldn’t have ever agreed to this. They belong with us, Patrick.”

  “No. We don’t.” Caleb didn’t want to shout at his mother. She was a fragile woman, but he wasn’t going to back down now. “We haven’t belonged with the pack for some time now.”

  “Rees? Baby? You’re not leaving me, are you?”

  Rees turned to look at Caleb, pleading with him with eyes. He didn’t know how to handle this and that made Caleb mad. Patrick shouldn’t have put them in this position.

  “I’m sorry, mother.” Caleb stepped forward to hug her, the only thing he knew how to do.

  “You can’t leave me. I’ve already lost so much.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  She wept and wailed in his arms before turning to hug Rees. Caleb watched as something broke in his brothers eyes and he felt guilty for doing this to him. Rees would have happily carried on splitting his life between the pack and the warriors, but it would never have worked. Something else would have happened and more lives would have been put in danger. They just couldn’t do it anymore.

  Patrick ushered someone else forward and they walked his mother away. She looked on the verge of collapse and it took all of Caleb’s strength not to go to her.

  “Are you happy now?” He growled at Patrick.

  “I wanted you to see what you were giving up. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to see it.”

  “How is that fair?”

  “Life isn’t fair, Caleb.”

  “I want to go.” Rees whispered.

  “We will.” Caleb assured him. “Patrick. As from this moment, Rees and I renounce all ties to the pack. We are no lo
nger members or family. We are no more.”

  Patrick sighed. He understood why they were leaving. If he was honest with himself, it was the right thing for them to do. He wouldn’t be ruling the pack for much longer and whoever took over from him wouldn’t allow the boys to live at the academy. They were getting out while they still could. Patrick had to let them see what they were losing, but he wasn’t going to stop them.

  “Rees. Caleb. From this moment, we renounce all ties to you. You are no longer members of the pack. You are no longer members of my family. We are no more.”

  Rees sagged against Caleb, whether in relief or sadness, he didn’t know. It was like a physical pain as the ties to the pack were severed. It wasn’t a feeling that Caleb could explain.

  “Come on.” Caleb whispered to Rees and helped lead him back to the car. They walked slowly, all their strength spent.

  “Caleb?” Patrick called.

  “Yes?” Caleb looked over his shoulder.

  “You may no longer be members of this pack, but if you need me, you can call on me, you know that don’t you?” He would never leave them stranded.

  Caleb nodded stiffly. “Thank you. Please take care of my mother.”

  “I will. I can promise you that.”

  “Thank you.” And he helped Rees into the car without another word. He’d had enough. He wanted to go home.

  Closing the car door behind him, Caleb sat stiffly. His life had just changed forever. He’d lost the family and friends he had grown up with. Everything had changed. It was never going to be the same again.

  “Are you okay?” Verynai asked quietly, staring at both the boys through the mirror.

  Caleb turned to look out the window. “No. We’re not okay. But we will be.” He had to hope that the words were the truth.

  Chapter Eleven

  “How are you feeling?” Kayleigh asked as they drove back towards the academy. She’d wanted to give Mira some peace and time with her family to arrange the funeral. They were going to spend a few hours at the academy.

  Kelton was pleased to have them close and couldn’t stop looking in the mirror at baby Elias. He was such a good baby, not causing them a moments bother.

  “A little better. I slept for a few hours, which helped.” He didn’t sleep as soundly as he would have liked, but he never did when Kayleigh wasn’t by his side. If she wasn’t with him, he couldn’t fully relax.

  Pulling up outside the mansion, she couldn’t help but smile. It was good to be back, despite all that had happened. Coming back hit her hard with the loss of her friend, but it was home. This was where she and Elias were meant to be, with Kelton. They’d been gone for too long.

  “I can’t wait for Aisline to see him.” Kayleigh said as she smiled lovingly down at the baby and gently smoothed the fine hair on his head.

  “We’ll sort something out.”

  “We need to sort something else out first.” She looked at him pointedly.

  Kelton frowned. “What do you mean? Sort what out?”

  “We’ll discuss it upstairs.” She said quietly as they were walking into the reception area. Luckily, the trainees were training already and the area was relatively quiet and they managed to make their way up to their suite without interruption.

  Kelton loved having them there. It felt right. They should be together. Admittedly, he knew that they’d been doing the right thing with helping out Mira, but it was time to think of the family. He hated to think when this moment would end and they’d returned to Mira’s house. He didn’t want them to leave, but he didn’t feel it was safe enough at the mansion. Kelton wouldn’t do anything to put either of them in danger and if that meant keeping them separated, as much as it pained him, it was what they would do.

  Kayleigh moved to put the baby in the wicker basket in the corner of the room, covering him up in a pure white Italian blanket that Mira had given them. “He needs to meet his sisters before he meets anyone else.”

  “Kayleigh.” Kelton had been expecting her to tackle him with this issue. He’d had so much on his mind that he’d shoved the situation with the twins to the back of his mind.

  “It’s only right.”

  Elias was over a week old. They had spent every day and night at Mira’s house while Kelton sorted out the mess at the academy. The woman assured her that their presence was soothing for her in the face of her loss, but Kayleigh felt like she was getting in the way as more family members descended on the house. She knew she was going to have to do something, but it was difficult to know how to go about it.

  Kelton wasn’t inclined to have her and their son back at the academy. It should have been the safest place in the world for them to be, but after the death of Master Warrior Dixon, there was a dark cloud hanging over the mansion. No one felt safe.

  However, it was home. Kayleigh wanted to get back to a somewhat normal life and introduce Elias to his home. She wanted to get into a routine.

  Kelton ran a hand over his face. This wasn’t an easy situation for any of them. Everything had been so hectic, and it was a time he wanted to be able to concentrate being with his family.

  His family. Since the birth of his son, Kelton had thought a lot about the twins, but had no idea how or what to do with them. It really hit home how much he had missed of their lives growing up and it made him feel extremely guilty. In his defence, he hadn’t even known that they existed before Cassandra descended on the doorstep with the twins. Admittedly, he’d had time since, but he had no clue how to try and bond with them.

  “I don’t know about that.”

  “Kelton, you need to try harder with them.”

  “It’s not that easy.” He grumbled.

  Kayleigh shook her head at him. “Do you think it’s easy for me?” She noticed Elias stirring and lowered her voice. “Or for them? It’s a horribly awkward situation for all involved, but you need to make the best of it.”

  She hated the thought of having to see them, coming face to face with his infidelity, but she knew that she had to force his hand with this. Kelton would quite happily go on his merry way and pretend that they weren’t his flesh and blood, but she knew he’d regret it in the future. She wanted him to try. If that meant she’d have to suck it up and stand by him, then she would.

  “A horrible situation? Kayleigh, it’s full on shitty.”

  “And none of it is their fault. You have to remember that.”

  “It’s not like I asked for any of it, either.”

  “Whether you asked for it or not, it’s happened.”

  “I know that.” Kelton brushed a hand over his face. “I’m sorry, Leigh.”

  She waved a hand at him, dismissing his apology. She knew that he had a hard time dealing with emotional issues. “Don’t even go there. We’re over all that. We all need to look to the future now.” They’d gone over what had happened with Cassandra enough times, there was no point in hashing it out again. She knew how it cut him up to know what he’d done to them, even if he hadn’t been in any position to stop it. “Will you talk to them? At least try that?”

  Kelton nodded, looking glum.

  “Now?”

  “What? Right now?”

  Kayleigh shrugged. “Why not? Get it over and done with. They need to meet the baby before any of the others do and I want to be able to show this little bundle of joy off.” Her heart swelled as she looked down at the sleeping child. She couldn’t wait to introduce him to Aisline. They’d grown so close since Ash had turned up at the academy and honestly, she felt more like family than the twins ever would, but Kayleigh wanted to try and do the right thing, even if it hurt her.

  “I guess you could be right.”

  “Please, you know I’m always right.” Kayleigh grinned. “Haven’t you realised that yet?” She wanted to try and lighten the mood a little. She knew how bristly he could get when he was stressed and she didn’t want him being like that when he went to speak to the twins.

  “Believe me, I know it.” Kelton smirked and
pulled her close. “How long do you think we’ve got until he wakes up?” He cocked his head towards the sleeping baby.

  “I think we’ve got a while. Are you going to go and speak to them now?”

  “Not yet.” Kelton leaned down to kiss her, pulling her body flush with his. “I’ve got something else in mind.”

  “Really?” She laughed.

  Kelton groaned. He wouldn’t ever hurt her and knew that it was too soon, but it was the only stalling technique his could think of. He’d do anything not to face the twins just yet.

  “Don’t be such a baby and man up!” Kayleigh laughed.

  Mock glaring at her, Kelton kissed her on the cheek and moved to stand over Elias’ basket.

  “Stop delaying.”

  “Hey! I’m just admiring our gorgeous kid. We did good, right?”

  “We really did.” Kayleigh chuckled and pushed Kelton towards the door. “The sooner you get this over and done with, the better. I’m sure it won’t be half as bad as you think.”

  “You’re sure about that? You haven’t really met them yet and Rhian isn’t exactly a piece of cake to deal with.”

  Kayleigh nodded solemnly. “It’s about time we did this. In fact, it’s way past time. We should have done this as soon as I got back, before I had the baby.”

  “I didn’t want to cause you any more stress.”

  “This isn’t just going to go away. We need to deal with it head on.” Kayleigh was dreading meeting the twins, but knew it was the right thing to do. They couldn’t leave it any longer. It just wasn’t right.

  Kelton paused at the door as she went over to look at the baby. “I think you’ll like Cala. She’s sweet and seems to get on quite well with Aisline.”

  “The twins aren’t alike?”

  “Not at all. I’ll let you decide for yourself.” And opened the door before he could change his mind.

  Walking down to the rec rooms, Kelton realised that he had no idea what the girls’ like to do in their spare time. Really, he didn’t know anything about them at all. The thought actually disgusted him. He should know about them. He should have already spent the time to get to know them, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Now, thanks to Kayleigh, he had no choice.