Eli slipped out of the truck, and Dorian and I followed behind him to the trailer. Gifts of condolences from the pack littered the wooden steps of our place. The sight had love for my pack rushing through me. My wolf even let out a howl of approval for their generosity and compassion.
“You should eat something too,” I said as I reached to pick up a casserole dish covered with aluminum foil. “The pack has made sure we have a variety of things to choose from. Better not let it all go to waste.”
“That dish looks familiar.” Dorian stepped closer. “I bet that’s Sheila’s tuna casserole. God, I love that stuff. Care if I get a little bowl of it before I leave?”
I frowned at him at the same time Eli said he could take the whole thing if he wanted.
“What? Don’t like tuna?” Dorian asked him, purposely ignoring the look I flashed his way.
Where were his manners? It was rude to ask for any of the food. He wasn’t the one who’d lost his father.
“I like tuna,” Eli said as he opened the door of our trailer as wide as the gifts and food would allow. “I just know I won’t eat it. I’m not hungry.”
My heart dropped. I hated seeing him this way, so hollowed-out and heartbroken, knowing I could do nothing to make him feel better.
“I know you probably have no appetite,” I said as I crossed to the kitchen and set the casserole dish and a few more gifts I’d picked up on my way up the stairs onto the counter. “But sleep isn’t the only thing your body needs. It also needs food, even if it’s something small.”
Eli grabbed a lemon bar from one of the plates I’d brought in. He put it to his lips and took a massive bite, his eyes never wavering from me. I knew he was being spiteful, but I was too happy to see him eat something, even a sugary something, to care.
“The map is over here.” He moved to the living room where the maps were still sprawled out on the coffee table. “Like I said, the sections are already marked for the most part. You just need to assign a couple people to each.”
“Will do,” Dorian said as he took the map from Eli and then made his way to the door. “You get some rest. I’ll be back at seven with a fresh crew to rotate out.”
“Sounds good. Thanks,” Eli said as he slouched down on the couch.
He propped his feet up on the coffee table and finished off the lemon bar. I stepped to Moonshine’s crate and gathered her up so I could take her outside. She spotted Eli on the couch, but I refused to let her down.
When I stepped outside, I spotted Felicia walking toward Eli’s mom’s trailer with a huge Tupperware dish in her hands. My heart skipped a few beats as I remembered I had yet to pay Eli’s mom a visit. I hadn’t even brought her the customary gift or paid my respects yet.
I made a mental note to do so after Eli fell asleep.
By the time Moonshine finished her business, Eli was passed out on the couch. A small smile quirked at the corners of my lips as I listened to him snore while I placed Moonshine back in her crate.
“Thank you, Rowena, for your special tea,” I muttered. “It worked like a charm.”
I cleaned up the kitchen by placing the perishable things our pack members had brought into the fridge and arranging the rest on the counter. A bouquet of white roses stood out to me. They were stunning and seemed to be the perfect gift for Eli’s mom. Still, I felt I needed something else. I grabbed a glass jar of calming loose leaf tea from the emergency kit Gran had made for us and decided that should be enough.
My heart thundered in my chest as I let myself out of the trailer and made my way to Eli’s parents.
The front steps of Eli’s parents’ place were more decorated than ours had been. This was to be expected though. After all, Wesley had been our alpha.
I sidestepped a couple vases of flowers as I made my way up the stairs to the door and knocked. When no one answered, I knocked again.
“June, it’s Mina. I wanted to see how you’re doing,” I shouted through the metal door, hoping when she heard it was me she’d let me in. It was clear she hadn’t answered the door for anyone else who’d come by.
“Come in,” June shouted from somewhere inside. I steeled myself as I gripped the doorknob, ready to face a heartbroken woman who was normally happy.
“Hi,” I said as I stepped inside the dimly lit trailer. June was on the couch, still in her pajamas. “I brought you flowers and some of Gran’s special tea. Would you like me to make you a mug?”
June’s bright green eyes that were so eerily similar to Eli’s focused on me. “How is he?”
“He’s doing the best he can,” I said, knowing whom she was talking about.
“Has the filthy vampire responsible been found yet?” she asked.
Movement from the back of the trailer captured my attention. My gaze drifted through the kitchen to the hallway where I spotted Eli’s youngest brother, Jonas, eavesdropping on our conversation.
“No.” I hated the word with a fiery passion as it slipped past my lips because I knew it wouldn’t bring her the sense of satisfaction she was hoping for. “Not yet. There’s a plan in motion, though. We’ll find the vampire and bring him to justice. Don’t worry.”
My voice was strong. I could feel my determination pulsating through my words. They gave me strength, and I hoped they did the same for her and Jonas as well.
“I don’t doubt you, Mina,” June insisted as she shifted around on the couch. She smoothed her hair away from her face, and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. “He’s ready for this, you know. As scared he might seem to take over, Eli’s been ready for a long time.”
“I know.”
“Wesley groomed him properly for the role, even if he was unwilling to let go of his position in authority,” June said. “Eli’s going to make a great alpha. He’s going to make Wesley proud. I know it.”
Her words brought tears to my eyes. I had to find something to busy myself with, if not I was at risk of breaking down. I couldn’t cry. Not here. Not in front of June or Jonas. This was their moment to grieve, not mine.
I crossed to the kitchen where I placed the vase of flowers on the counter and then rummaged through the cabinets for a coffee mug. Once I found one, I filled it with tap water and popped it in the microwave.
“I’m so glad he has you. I can’t be there for him like I should through this. I can’t be there for any of my boys like I should right now,” June said, surprising me. “Not when I feel like I can’t breathe.”
The heartache reflected in her words had me shifting to look at her. Tears streamed down her face, and one of her hands came to rest over her heart. I swallowed hard. The threat of tears pierced my eyes and stung the back of my throat.
“There’s a huge hole in place of where my heart used to be, and I’m drowning in the blackness of it. I can’t breathe, Mina, because he’s gone,” she sobbed.
The timer on the microwave went off, and I stood there at a complete loss for words. There was nothing I could say to take away even an ounce of her pain.
After a few seconds passed, I wiped my nose on the back of my hand and pulled the warm mug of water from the microwave. Next, I reached for Gran’s tea.
“Your tea is ready,” I whispered as I made my way back to her.
The desire to say I was sorry, to offer some form of condolence, built inside me but nothing passed from my lips. It didn’t matter because anything I said would only fall on deaf ears. June looked as though she wasn’t here with me. She looked as though she were somewhere else far away and submerged in her own pain and sorrow.
“Your tea,” I said as I held the mug out to her.
June’s hands reached out to grab it without ever looking at me.
Was she lost in the memories of her husband?
A sharp pain stabbed at my heart. I couldn’t imagine living without Eli. Never being able to wake up beside him again. Never being able to hear him say my name or to whisper I love you in the middle of the night to each other before we fell asleep.
; “We were together for thirty-seven years,” June whispered over the rim of her mug. Tears spilled from her eyes, landing in her tea. “I thought we had more time together. How am I supposed to continue on without him? What am I supposed to do now?”
I placed a hand on hers and moved to sit on the couch beside her. “Live. It’s what he would want you to do.”
Somehow I knew that was what Wesley Vargas, our alpha, would’ve wanted me to say to her.
“He would have wanted you to continue on with your life. To see things. To experience things. To be there for your children. He wouldn’t have wanted you to be swallowed up by the darkness of that black hole and never break the surface to the light again,” I said.
My words touched June. I knew this when her lips twisted into a tiny grin as she wiped her nose with the back of her hand.
“That’s exactly what Wesley would say to me if he were here,” she whispered. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I said as I stood. “Sip your tea. I’m going to bring in the gifts the pack left you outside.”
“I feel bad for ignoring everyone. I just couldn’t bring myself to face anyone yet,” June said.
I twisted the knob and opened the door. “It’s okay. I’m sure they understand.”
I stepped outside and carried in all of the goodies from the pack. There were loads of flowers, trinkets, and dishes of food.
One thing was certain, our alpha had been loved.
My sense of wonder shifted to sadness and then anger as thoughts of the vampire responsible for taking away someone so precious to us all floated through my mind. Determination to find the Midnight Reaper and seek revenge heated my blood as I carried in the final items the pack had left for June and the boys.
I spread the flowers around the trailer and placed the food in the fridge. I left the trinkets and gifts on the dining room table, hoping if June didn’t go through them that one of the boys would.
Once I was finished, I said goodbye and let myself out. A breeze kicked up as I started down the steps of the trailer, sending leaves fluttering around me. For a split-second, I found myself thinking it was the spirit of our alpha thanking me for having brought a small sense of comfort to his wife.
Maybe it was silly, but I couldn’t help myself.
I took a few steps away from the trailer, and then paused to soak in the warmth and love I felt at the memory of the only alpha I’d ever known. The front door of June’s trailer opened, pulling me out of my thoughts. Jonas was creeping down the stairs. I started to say something to him but clamped my mouth shut when I saw him scoop up a backpack off the ground from beneath his bedroom window. He hoisted it onto his back and looked around as though he were up to no good. When his eyes landed on me, he froze.
“Hey, Jonas,” I said. “What’s up?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing? You sure about that? It looks like you’re in a hurry to get somewhere,” I said as I stepped toward him.
He remained where he was as though his little feet were rooted into the ground, even when I reached around him and unzipped his backpack to glance inside. The contents didn’t surprise me. It was clear from how sneaky he was trying to be he was attempting to run away.
“Lots of food. A couple of changes of clothes,” I said as I released his backpack and struggled to get him to make eye contact with me. “Are you running away?” My words came out angrier than necessary, but it was only because I couldn’t believe he was bailing on his family during a time like this.
What the hell was going through his mind?
“No,” Jonas bit out.
“Really? Because it looks like it.”
“I’m not,” he insisted as his eyes lifted to meet with mine. “I wouldn’t do that. Especially not now.”
“Then what are you doing?” I asked. “Because it sure seems to me you’ve got all the supplies to runaway crammed in there.”
“I’m not running away, okay?” he snapped. “I’m going to get the vampire who took my dad from me and made my mom so sad.”
All the air left my lungs.
My heart, though already fragile from everything that had transpired, broke into a million tiny pieces as I stared into Jonas’s tear-filled eyes.
What could I say to a little boy standing before me, ready to take on the monster who’d taken so much from him in such a short span of time and brought the most pain and heartache he’d ever witnessed to everyone he loved?
“You have to let me go. I need to go after him,” Jonas pleaded. “Please don’t try to stop me. I have to do this. For my mom. I heard you say the vampire hasn’t been caught yet. Nobody’s got him, but I will. I’ll get him, and when I do, I’ll kill him for what he’s done.”
I stared at Jonas. He was nine years old, but his conviction and determination were as strong as my own. As strong as Eli’s.
“Jonas.” My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I shook my head. “You can’t go after him. Your mom needs you too much.”
It was all I could think to say. The only reason I could give that might make him stay.
“I know she needs me,” he insisted as his hands fisted at his sides. “She needs me to kill this vampire.”
“No. She needs you to be with her through this tough time. Most of all, she needs you to stay safe,” I said, hoping he’d wise up and see reason.
“You think I’m too young,” Jonas spat. “You think I can’t stop the vampire who took my dad from me, but you don’t know. You don’t know what I’m capable of. You don’t know how I feel.”
He sounded so grown-up. An angry man trapped inside a little boy.
I knew that wasn’t the case though. At the end of the day, Jonas Vargas was still just a child.
“You’re right. I don’t know how you feel, but I do know what you’re capable of. You’re capable of great things, Jonas. That’s why you need to be here for your mom. For your brothers. For your pack,” I insisted. “There’s a plan in motion to take out the vampire responsible for your father’s death. Your brother has a lot of members from the pack working on it. Not even just them, he’s also got the Caraway witches and the Montevallo vampires helping too. Please, trust me when I say the vampire responsible for causing you and your mom pain will be brought to justice,” I said as I got down to his level and pulled him in for a hug.
He broke down in my arms. Sobs spurred from somewhere deep within him as his tears flowed like a twin rivers from his eyes, soaking through my shirt. I didn’t let him go. Instead, I let him cry until he could cry no more, and then I zipped up his backpack and told him to head inside and sit with his mom because she could really use some love from him right now.
Miraculously, Jonas wiped his face and did as I said. The instant he disappeared inside the trailer, someone cleared their throat behind me. Micha, the middle Vargas boy, stood a few feet away. His hands were shoved in his pockets and tears stained his cheeks.
“Thanks for talking to some sense into him,” Micha said without looking at me.
“No problem. You’re going to have to watch him, though.”
Micha’s bright green eyes lifted to lock with mine as his brows furrowed. “Why do you say that?”
“Because, he’s stubborn and strong-headed like all of you Vargas boys. This won’t be the last time he tries to go after the vampire himself. I talked him down, but what I said won’t stick with him for long. He’s going to need you to remind him to let Eli and the others take care of this on their own, especially if the vampire isn’t taken out quickly.”
“You’re right.” Micha sighed. “I guess.”
He hurried past me and slipped inside the trailer without a glance back.
I let out a breath of air and tucked a few stray strands of hair behind my ear before I started toward home. I hoped Eli was still sleeping because all I wanted to do was curl up beside him and take a nap myself in preparation for the crazy night ahead of us.
17
“These are the areas left
for us to search.” Dorian pointed to four sections on the map, then shifted his attention to another area. “This is the section we searched today. No one reported any findings that might relate to the Midnight Reaper.”
“Could that mean the vampire, or group of vampires, has moved on from Mirror Lake already?” I asked. It was a long shot, considering the messages left behind on both victims we’d seen him take since being in town.
“Doubtful,” Eli snapped.
I knew his tone and what he’d said wasn’t an intentional jab at me, but his attitude was starting to get to me. His mood was continuously sour.
I swallowed hard. This wasn’t the Eli I knew, but this was the Eli standing before me. He was hurting. I had to cut him slack because of it.
This meant biting my tongue. A lot.
“Unfortunately, I think it means whoever is doing this has decided to lie low,” Dorian said. “Maybe they’re watching us. Maybe not. Whatever the reason for us having not found them yet is of no matter because we will find them, and when we do we will make them pay.”
The level of certainty and determination echoing through Dorian’s words vibrated through the trailer. Julian even seemed to squirm from the intensity. Or was he squirming because of something else?
My mind circled back to when we paid him a visit at home; I’d thought him and his sister, Octavia, were hiding something. I watched him as Dorian spoke. He seemed uncomfortable, but not enough for me to think he was the Midnight Reaper.
However, that didn’t mean he didn’t know who he was.
“I’ve already told the others to take a few hours to rest,” Dorian said, pulling my attention back to the here and now. “Once they’ve slept for a little while and gotten something to eat, they’re going to resume patrolling with the rest of us.”
“Sounds good.” Eli wasted no time folding up the map on the coffee table. “We should head out. Get a jump on the search.”
Chatter erupted around me as everyone discussed who they should pair up with. I scooped Moonshine up from where she slept curled into my side on the couch and started for the door. There was no telling how long I’d be gone tonight, but I knew Eli would be out all night. It was best to take her out now before putting her in her crate.
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