“Oh, well that’s a bit of a let down. But that’s why I’m here. Like I said let’s have a chat just the two of us and see what we can come up with.”
Sebastian barely resisted the urge to physically throw the small woman out of their home, but he managed to walk towards the pair without his nails turning into claws and he considered that a major achievement.
“Sebastian, are you going to help us finish unpacking?” Dylan called to him, her little head peeking out of the doorframe that led into their bedroom.
“Yes Sebastian,” Anna began. “Why don’t you help them finish unpacking while Eric and I have a talk, just the two of us?”
“Erica, is that what you want me to do?” he asked, looking for guidance.
“If it’s not too much trouble. I don’t think there’s all that much left and I’ll come and help as soon as I can.”
“If that’s what you want sweetheart,” he smiled, walking down the corridor.
“Let’s have our talk now Eric.” Anna grasped Erica's hand and pulled her towards the sofa, sitting her down and turning to smile at her. “So exactly what do you remember?”
“Not much, I’ve remembered things about Dylan and Wyatt mainly.”
“That makes sense, you’ve spent your entire life with that pair of trouble makers. Anything about me?”
“Not really, I remembered something about you when I was thinking about them, sorry.”
“I’ve brought you some things that I’m hoping will jog your memory. So hopefully, you’ll remember me in my own right soon enough.” She placed a small box that she had been carrying under her arm onto the table and removed the lid.
“What’s in there?” Erica asked, curious.
“Pictures of you and me silly. I’m hoping that maybe a visual thing will help jog your memory. Here, take a look.” Grabbing a handful of pictures, Anna gave them to Erica and allowed her to look through them.
The photos were all of her and Anna in various stages of development, right up from childhood and all the way through their teenage years with a few of them now as adults. The ones of the pair of them as children looked a lot older than they should have done, the majority of them in black and white rather than colour and yellowed around the edges. She shrugged off her misgivings quickly, attributing the aged pictures to a photographic technique rather than anything else. The pictures were clear evidence that she and Anna were close friends and yet did nothing to stir her memory. Each new picture that she saw only served to make her feel increasingly incompetent in her ability to remember her life.
“I’m sorry Anna, but this isn’t helping. I’m not remembering anything.”
Anna took the pictures from her friend’s loose grasp and placed them back in the box. “How have you remembered other things? What were you doing at the time? Tell me.”
She thought about the question for a moment before coming up with an acceptable answer. “I seem to remember things when I’m talking to Sebastian.”
“He just asks you questions and you can remember enough to answer them? Is that what happens?”
“Not really. He never comes out and asks me a question directly. We’re usually talking about something else. A memory of his or something and it just triggers something in my head and I’ll remember something. It’s never anything big though. Usually it’s just an isolated memory about a specific event.”
“Well why don’t we try that then?” Rummaging through the box of photos, Anna found a single picture and handed it to Erica. The photo was of her and Anna but there were two unknown young boys in the picture that she couldn’t place.
“Who are they?” Erica asked, pointing to the two young boys.
“Those two are my brothers. That’s Aaron and that’s Andrew.”
As soon as Anna had told her who they were, the slight similarities between the three of them became obvious and she wondered how she had missed them before. All four of them looked extremely upset and she couldn’t understand why Anna had picked this picture out of all the others in the box.
“Let me tell you the story behind that picture and we’ll see if you remember anything okay?”
“Sure.”
“Well the four of us had decided to go swimming and Aaron said that someone had told him about this lake nearby so we decided to go and look for it. We got lost. None of us had any idea of where we were meant to be headed. It got dark so we decided to head home, only we couldn’t remember the way we had come in the first place. Eventually our parents came looking for us and they were so mad. I’d never seen them that angry. They forbade us from ever going out like that again and that’s when they took the picture, to remind us that we shouldn’t do anything like that again. Well?” Anna asked excitedly. “Do you remember anything?”
“I’m sorry Anna, but I don’t. Maybe it only works when Sebastian does it.”
“The things I could tell you about him,” Anna mumbled under her breath angrily. Infuriated that he could do something for Erica that she could not.
“What was that?” Erica asked, unable to properly make out what Anna had just said though she got the distinct impression that whatever it had been hadn’t been complimentary.
“Nothing, Eric. Don’t worry about it.”
“So Anna, how are Aaron and Andrew?” she asked jovially, trying to lighten the mood as she could practically sense Anna’s disappointment.
“They’re dead,” she stated simply, the words needing no further explanation.
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t need to say anything Eric, it happened a long time ago.” Despite the brave words, Anna’s voice was sad and Erica dimly remembered hearing her sound that way once before and she tried to hold on to the memory and make it clearer.
“They died not long after that picture was taken didn’t they?” Anna turned to face her, she was right. Both her brothers had been taken from her within a few months of that photo. “I remember you were sad; sad and angry.” The memory began to fade and Erica struggled to hold onto it despite the building pain in her head that trying to remember was causing. “I remember…”
“Yes, Eric, what else?” Anna pressed, eager for her friend to remember.
“My head hurts,” she groaned.
“What else do you remember? Tell me Eric.”
“Aaron and Andrew…” She clenched her head within both palms as the pain began to mount to unimaginable levels.
“Go on,” Anna urged.
“Stop this,” Sebastian demanded from the corridor. He had watched the interaction between Erica and Anna, allowed it to continue, but this he couldn’t permit. “Trying to force her to remember doesn’t help her. Can’t you see the pain that she’s in? Are you really that selfish?” Moving to stand in front of Erica, he crouched so that they were both at the same eye level and pulled her hands away from her head. “Erica, sweetheart, please stop this. You’re hurting yourself.”
“Sebastian?” she croaked.
“I’m here sweetheart. There’s no need to push yourself. You’ll remember everything in your own time. I swear. Anna, I think it’s time for you to leave.”
“Why should I?” she snapped, demanding a reason for why Sebastian though he had any right to order her to do or not do something.
He turned to face her, his anger clearly written on his face. His brown eyes had changed to their more intense amber and the threat within them was clear. If she didn’t leave then he would make her leave in whatever way he thought was quickest.
“Fine,” she conceded. “Eric, I want you to call me if you ever need someone to talk to. I know that you have to stay here to get better, but I miss you. Here,” she quickly grabbed a pen and a stray piece of paper from her bag and scrawled her number on it. “You can reach me at anytime day or night on this. If you lose it then I’m sure Dylan or Wyatt will know how to get in contact with me, okay?”
“Thanks Anna,” she groaned, the pain in her head only just starting to abate. “Th
anks for coming to see me and if anything comes up, you’ll be the first one I call. I’m sorry I couldn’t remember more.”
I don’t like that woman, Sebastian's wolf admitted as he watched her leave the cabin. There’s something that she’s hiding and I don’t like it.
I agree. I can’t seem to shake the feeling that she’s trouble.
If she does anything to endanger our mate, I will deal with her, laws be damned. The wolf’s threat was clear, guided solely by the instinctive need to protect what his mate.
If she does anything that puts Erica in danger then you won’t need to act. I will do whatever is necessary to protect what’s ours.
I like the way you’re starting to see things Sebastian.
The weird thing is so do I and that worries me.
Chapter Thirty-Four
For the second time in as many nights Sebastian sat in the living room, a sharp knife in one hand and a large slab of warm wood beneath his other palm. Though most of the blame for his sleepless night could be laid at his brother’s door, he wasn’t the only one who had insisted on talking to him late into the night. He had received a not too pleasant phone call from his cousin earlier, lecturing him about Alexandria’s visit out to see him. Although Sebastian had tried to explain to Tobias that he couldn’t have known that Alex would come to see him and leave Tobias nothing more than a brief note regarding her whereabouts, his cousin refused to see reason. When Sebastian had tried to tell him that he couldn’t control Alex’s actions, Tobias had only proceeded to rant more. The lesson learnt, Sebastian had gathered his tools and settled in for a long lecture. He was glad beyond belief that Alex had been right and that the bruises from his mishandling of her hadn’t been visible and didn’t feel a need to push his luck.
By the time he had got off the phone with his cousin, the entire house was asleep leaving him to sculpt in peace. It had been a little over an hour since he had spoken to Tobias, but he was so engulfed in his work that he didn’t notice the time slipping by. The piece beneath his fingers held a place in his heart, it was special. He was intending to make it a gift for Erica for when her memories returned, whenever that might be and so he wanted it to be perfect. While others may have thought his work was good, he more often than not disagreed and for once he wanted to feel satisfied with the work when it was complete; Erica deserved no less.
His eyes were glued to the wood, his fingers gliding over the material with painstaking attention to detail as he tried to translate the image he saw in his mind onto the wood. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t hear the quiet sound of small feet approaching until he was prodded by a little finger in his arm. He spun around to face the newcomer, his blade still within his grasp, and found himself staring directly into Dylan’s young face. Her eyes were wide, clearly shocked at Sebastian's violent reaction to such a simple gesture.
“Dylan, what are you doing here?” Sebastian inquired, placing the knife onto the table. Holding her lightly around the waist, he lifted Dylan from the ground and placed her on the sofa beside him. “You should be asleep.”
“So should you,” Dylan pointed out, her eyes taking in the wood chippings that covered the floor before wandering to the sculpture Sebastian had been carving. “What’s that?”
“It’s just a little project that I’m working on. Now, care to explain to me why it is that you’re up so late or do I mean early?” His eyes wandered the room in search of a clock to tell him the time. It was two am and regardless of whether that was early or late, Dylan should have been asleep. “Either way, Erica won’t be happy.”
“Sebastian, do you think that me and Wyatt are stupid?”
The question stunned him, where exactly had Dylan come up with such an idea? “Of course I don’t. The pair of you are very intelligent. Why would you ask me something like that?”
“I don’t think that we’re stupid either. That’s why I’m confused,” she mused aloud while refusing to even look in Sebastian's direction; her gaze instead glued to one of the living room walls.
“About what exactly?”
“Did you think that we wouldn’t find out? It didn’t take us long to figure it out, which is why I don’t understand how you thought that you could hide it from us.”
“Dylan, I don’t understand what it is you’re talking about. Could you be a little more specific? Just tell me directly what’s bothering you and we’ll try to work through it together okay?”
The little girl nodded solemnly before turning to look directly at Sebastian, her gaze unwavering. “We know that you’re Erica's mate.”
At Dylan's declaration Sebastian audibly inhaled but tried to ensure that his face was the picture of serenity. He would have enough points against him when Erica regained her memory without adding this one to the list. If possible he would try to minimise the level of damage that had been caused.
“It wasn’t all that hard to figure out. Just because we’re young doesn’t mean that we can’t put two and two together. Everyone at the estate was talking about it. I think they thought they were being quieter than they actually were. Just because we don’t have the same sense of hearing as an adult, it doesn’t mean that we’re deaf and when you’re this little people tend to forget that you’re in the room with them.”
When I get back to the estate, I will be having words with the idiots that gave away our secret. Damn it! Erica didn’t want them to find out and she definitely wouldn’t have wanted them to find out like this, he cursed realising that it would be harder than he had initially thought to do damage control.
“Erica always says you shouldn’t lie when someone asks you a question directly. So answer me honestly, are you and Erica mates?”
“I’ve told enough lies, I don’t want to lie to you as well,” he sighed. “Yes, we’re mates.” A small smile curved his lips at his confession. It felt good to be able to finally tell the truth. Yes, Erica would probably be upset when she eventually regained her memories but there was nothing to be gained from continuing this lie.
“I’m glad that you didn’t lie Sebastian. I don’t think I would like you as much if you lied to me,” Dylan replied, her voice now small and anxious.
“Are you mad?” he inquired, genuinely worried about the child’s reaction.
Dylan shuffled closer to him, her hands reaching out to stroke the wood that Sebastian had been carving. “No. I was upset for a long time after I found out though. I like you so I couldn’t be mad forever. Then I saw Erica again and she’s happy, so I can’t be mad at you for making her sad or anything. I haven’t seen her this happy in a long time. Are you going to take care of her?”
“Of course I am Dylan, that’s what it means to be mates.”
“I’m sorry we came,” she sniffled, clearly upset. “We’ll ask Erica to send us home tomorrow. As long as she’s happy then that’s all that matters.”
“I don’t understand you Dylan,” Sebastian groaned. It seemed to be a developing trend that the females around him were incomprehensible, the development even extending to one so young. “What are you talking about now?”
“You don’t want us here, we’re just in the way. Now that Erica has you she’s going to start a family of her own and we’re going to be alone. It’s okay though, Erica has always taken care of us; it’s her turn to have someone look after her.”
His brow furrowed in confusion, just when he thought he understood the girl, she went and said something like that. “Why would you think that I couldn’t take care of you too? You, Wyatt and Erica are a package; I can’t pick and choose who I want to care for. It’s all or nothing.”
“I don’t believe you,” Dylan sobbed, wiping away at the tears that had appeared in her eyes.
Sebastian groaned, running a hand through his hair, unsure of what to do and what words would reassure the child next to him that he meant what he said. His eyes landed on the sculpture he had been working on and an idea came to him. If he followed though with his plan it meant that the su
rprise was more likely to be blown. In a house with two curious children and an inquisitive woman searching for clues to regain her lost memories, he would probably be found out by the end of the day but Dylan needed reassurance and that was more important than trying to hide a surprise. He picked up the knife and began to carve the words he had wanted to etch only when the sculpture was near complete. Dylan slowly became aware that Sebastian was moving and her cries quieted as she became entranced by the older man’s movements. It took a few minutes to roughly carve the words into the wood, but it didn’t need to be perfect right at this moment, he would return to that section at another time.
Lifting the wood from the table he pulled it onto his legs and turned it so that Dylan could see it clearly. “Look.”
Her small fingers ran over the carved words, a smile appearing on his face as she recited the words aloud. “Our family.” She turned his gaze from the sculpture to look at Sebastian with questioning eyes.
“See this one here?” Sebastian indicated the tallest piece of wood, his fingertips running casually over the wood. “That’s me.” There was very little detail on the sculpture, but it was easy enough to make out the figure of a person. “The one next to me is your sister Erica.” Dylan nodded, she had expected as much. “Now you see those two small pieces in front of us? The one on the left is you and the one on the right is Wyatt.”
“That’s me?” Dylan demanded, eagerly touching the piece that would one day bare her image. “It looks nothing like me,” she scolded.
“I know that silly,” Sebastian laughed. “It’s going to take me a little while longer to finish it, I just started the other day, cut me a little bit of slack.”
“Why are we in the picture?”
“You’re part of this family, both you and Wyatt. A core part of it actually. Don’t ever doubt that. If anyone has reason to doubt their place in this family, it’s me not you two.”
“Why? You’re Erica's mate, that makes you her family.”
“Erica and I weren’t on the best of terms before she lost her memory and I don’t think she’s going to be all too happy with everything that’s happened in this time. I’ve had to lie to her a lot.”
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