It was as if he thought she was going to commit some kind of betrayal. He had to be in denial about Orson being involved and hurt that she was leaving. Annalise couldn’t afford to stick around to find out anymore. She knew she could do better with the coven than she could with the pack.
As she approached her home, she wondered if she should tell Hyacinthe everything. Maybe she would be willing to protect the pack as well and get to the bottom of things. The fact that Annalise had been gone and not come to her sooner might just serve to make relations between the coven and the pack worse. No, she would have to stick to her original idea; that she had run away from her responsibilities. She would just have to keep her scars hidden. The bite marks were still obvious if you got too close to her.
She wrapped a shawl around herself. It was one she had taken off the old couch in the cabin. She bravely walked into the house she had grown up in with Hyacinthe, after her parents had passed away when she was very young.
Hyacinthe and Roan were locked in some kind of tense conversation when she walked in, and he gave her a look as if he had seen a ghost. Annalise wondered if he was the black wolf who had attacked her, if that had been Orson, or even someone else caught up in this conspiracy. Annalise kept her eyes on him, continuing to intimidate him. She swore she saw a bead of sweat drop down from his brow. Though, he had no reason to suspect that she knew he was up to anything.
“What's going on; is everything alright?” she asked, as if she knew nothing, while looking back and forth between the two relatives.
Hyacinthe stared at her with pursed lips. She wasn’t the kind to get loud and angry, but there would be a talk between the two of them. She could feel it coming already. “A lot has happened since you have been gone, Annalise. I think what is more important right now is where you have been. Roan, we will continue this later. I need to speak with my niece alone.” As always, her calmest voice sounded authoritative and regal, forcing Roan out of the room much like the alpha of the pack was able to influence the other wolves. Only, Hyacinthe didn't need a certain power to get anyone to listen. She was a natural.
Once Roan was gone, leaving the two of them alone, she could feel the disappointment in the silence, so thick it could be cut with a knife. The fact that Annalise was standing there and alive told Hyacinthe all she needed to know; that Annalise had run away rather than being attacked or taken. It was a truth that Annalise was willing to allow her aunt to believe, even if it meant a strained relationship for some time.
“I hope you understand how concerned we were when you came up missing,” Hyacinthe hissed in a low tone. She never yelled. This was how she was angry. In a way, it was much more frightening. “We have been looking everywhere, thinking something awful had happened. You are not the only disappearance we have faced, and not everyone has been able to return. In fact, we just found a young member last night, out near the road. He was dead, bitten by a werewolf until flesh was torn out. We thought a similar fate had befallen you, that the pack had discovered, somehow, of your position and sought to cripple us.”
Annalise realized with a sickening feeling in stomach that it did not matter if they knew about her or not. A coven member had been killed. They would go after the pack on the full moon. There was no doubt about it now, but why had that coven member been killed? She didn't think from the words the two men had spoken it could have been part of the plan. Was there a new wolf from the coven that couldn’t control themselves?
“How do you know the pack has anything to do with it?” Annalise asked, trying to provoke some kind of reasoning in Hyacinthe. “I thought we got a message from the new alpha that led you to believe things would be more peaceful with him in power.”
“Werewolf packs do not always take well to a regime change, especially if the new alpha is not like the one before. This alpha obviously cannot keep control of his pack, and for that, they will all pay. You know what is to happen if the treaty is broken.” It came at Annalise like a scolding. It was something she would have had to deal with had she stayed behind and become the leader like she was meant to. She already knew the treaty by heart. Technically, it had been broken, at least in the eyes of the coven. Annalise could only hope she would have the opportunity to save Isaiah and out Orson when the time came. “That is something you might know if you had been here. You are behind with everything you should be doing. I cannot force you to be who you are supposed to be, but I implore you that we need you and your growing powers to keep this coven intact, just as your parents would have if they were still here.”
The sting of the mention of her parents was hard. Annalise tried not to think of them too often because then, she would feel guilty. She had heard stories and seen photos. She could feel and see them in herself every day. They had died to make sure she would be in this world and be the leader she was meant to be.
Another coven had come for her, feeling the power of a new leader, the most powerful one in centuries, growing inside of her mother’s belly. The day of her birth the coven had attacked. Her father had died defending and protecting her while her mother was overwhelmed by the stress and the power within herself. They both made a great sacrifice so that she could lead the coven one day. She had always known it was her job and she would take it on one day. One day had just come a little sooner than expected. “I know that. I am back, aren’t I? I don't know what you want me to say, but I want to help. It sounds like the coven is in crisis. I can’t say that I am ready, but I can say that I will try.”
Hyacinthe shook her head skeptically. “I don't know if you’re ready to even try. I think you need to work on controlling your growing powers and getting in the right mindset to do this. Having you take over in the middle of a crisis, especially when you have shown a fear of it in the past, would not be smart. Besides, I cannot risk the pack coming after you when they find out who you are.” Hyacinthe had a worried crease on her brow. It didn't fit in with the rest of her body, which easily belied her age. She was the older sibling between herself and Annalise’s father, and she had a slender figure which looked perfect in skin tight dresses like the one she had on now. Her hair was cropped short; a sleek middle-brown that made her look like a modern woman. A pixie was what Annalise thought humans called it.
“I want to complain about that, but I don't think I am in a position to,” Annalise told her. “But, just as my opinion, I think there must be more to this with the witches turning up missing than meets the eye. I just feel it, Hyacinthe.”
Hyacinthe nodded. “I will keep looking into it until the full moon, but if all are not returned alive and well, I will attack.”
Annalise went into her room and grabbed some clothes, wondering how many would be lost during that attack on either side. It would devastate the pack, and the coven could suffer as well. She would go do what Hyacinthe suggested, practicing her new powers and stretching them to their limit. She would be ready.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
“She left?” Roman asked, looking at Isaiah and seeing he was worse for the wear. He had already encountered Tamara earlier that day, begging for his guidance. It seemed she had scared Annalise away and greatly angered Isaiah. She was feeling lost about what her next move should be. She felt like she was failing.
He had promised to meet her at their spot later after he talked with Isaiah. He knew he needed both sides of the story to reach a solution. What he was not expecting was to find out that Isaiah had let Annalise walk out yet again, and for good this time. She was gone, and Isaiah looked like he had reached his alpha limit for the day already, even though it was still before lunch.
“Yes, Roman. She left. I told her that we would not protect her anymore if she did, that she would no longer be considered a member of the pack. She just walked out of that door and right back into coven territory with no hesitation other than to warn me.” Isaiah stopped at that, putting a period where there should have been more information. He knew what kind of fight there would be if he mentioned to Roman that Annalise
had claimed to see Roan and Orson working together. That made them look red handed when it came to the attack of coven members. He didn't know which side of things Roman would take, but he didn't need all of them distrusting each other when he knew now more than ever that the coven would come. Even if Annalise had been lying or twisting the truth about other things, he doubted she hadn't meant it when she said they would attack at the next full moon.
“I don't understand why you didn't try to stop her. There are so many dangers to both us and her, being back there. We don't even know if they will accept her if they find out what she is.” Roman sat down and rubbed his face up and down in a nervous manner.
“She will be done with her own kind. We need to worry about the pack right now,” Isaiah snapped, not knowing why he was taking everything out at his brother. There were two people he was angry with, and both of them were women who were M.I.A.
“Why the sudden change of heart? I mean, I appreciate an alpha with dedication to the pack. That is what I loved about father, even if he did have unpleasant things about his personality. But you are different, which is why I have been approaching all of this with Annalise using caution. In general, she seemed like a good woman and one you wanted to protect. So, I respected your wishes,” Roman explained, seeing that his brother had done a flip in the past few days when it came to the pack versus Annalise. If only he would start appreciating his mate as well. Tamara deserved better than to feel the way she did. But he wasn’t about to lecture his older brother on relationships, considering he didn't have one to speak of.
“I have been foolish to think I could escape some of the trials that took our father into a life he might not have liked to live otherwise. Sacrifices have to be made for the sake of the pack. I can see that now, though I still am not all for doing things their way just to appease them. The safety of the next generation is of utmost importance. Giving into my whims to protect someone that does not want that protection anymore, no matter what the reason is, is no longer an option.” Roman was both worried and proud of his brother at the same time. Isaiah was coming into his own as alpha in a way. It was nice to see him caring for those things that he should have from the beginning. However, Isaiah was a man with strong emotions and ideals. If he threw those away, he would easily lose himself entirely.
“I will be here for you, whatever you want to do, but I don't think harshness is the right way to go right now. You know very well that Annalise felt baited into leaving by yourself and your mate. That might be where you need to start mending things before you worry about letting the pack in on what's coming for them. You need a strong partnership right now,” Roman told him, dropping as much of a hint about him and Tamara as he could manage without overstepping his bounds.
Isaiah just nodded, pointing towards the door. “I guess I better do that right now, but would you happen to know where my mate is?” Isaiah asked, feeling a little embarrassed that he had no idea where Tamara was.
Roman chuckled a little, trying to be a good sport about it, though, there had to be a reason he knew the answer, but Isaiah did not. It frustrated him more and more every day that he had chosen her instead of someone else who would have been happier to have the job and be seen by his side. Roman understood the choice, but he didn't like it at all. “I believe she is at our secret spot,” Roman admitted. “You know, by the stream? That's where she goes now when she is upset. It’s one of the surest places to find her when she runs off.”
“Thanks, brother. I don't know what I would do without you.” Isaiah went to leave just as the door swung open a little too hard. Orson stepped in with a strange smile on his face.
“What is this love fest all about, and why was I not invited?” he teased, raising a beer in his hand like he was giving a toast. Drinking in the middle of the day was not outside of the realm of possibilities for him, and Isaiah doubted he was even buzzed. It took a lot at this point to do that. Where he had picked up his vices from, Isaiah wasn't sure, but if it kept him in a good mood, he supposed it didn't matter.
“Just having a little trouble in paradise,” Isaiah told him.
“That Tamara is a feisty one,” Orson commented with one of his signature winks. They always came out to be more condescending than cute, but many a female swooned at them. “I should know. It might take some time to tame her, but I still think she was an excellent choice on your part.” He pointed at Isaiah like he had just won the lottery before Isaiah rolled his eyes and left. He wasn't in the mood to argue about the purpose and treatment of women with a man who had probably been with one all night and had no intentions of making her an honest woman.
Instead, Isaiah went straight for the rock by the stream where he hoped he would find Tamara. He had some things to make up for, though he didn't know where to begin. He was still angry at her for helping Annalise leave. Not just helping her but making her feel like she should leave. Tamara had been nothing but rude to Annalise since she moved into the cabin, even though Annalise had continued to make strides towards being friendly with her. It was no fault of hers that his eyes tended to wander and linger where they shouldn’t. That was an anger that should only have been reserved for him. Annalise had clearly gotten over him quickly. He just hadn’t been able to do the same.
He told himself it was time to do just that, though a worry about her was building in the back of his mind. He had told her he would not protect her in battle. She would be with the enemy, but could he watch her destroy pack members? Could he then end her if necessary? He still didn't think he could do that, even if the time came, and that was a failure for an alpha. He was just full of those lately.
He found Tamara just where Roman said she would be. He tried to be quiet as he approached, just wanting a moment to admire her and take stock of his feelings. They had rarely done anything other than fight since becoming mates, but he knew they were supposed to be in each other's arms at night, trying to make the next heir. There was pressure from the pack for that, of course, but it was more than that. He felt a responsibility. He had chosen a mate for a reason. He needed a partner, and he had not been treating her much like that. Sure, he had the right to order her around. She was still considered less than him in the pack. That was not how he had wanted it to be, though. He didn't know if he could love her any time soon the way a man should love a woman, but he could treat her better.
The light coming in through the break in the trees was shining on her hair, showing it for its true color. Her hair often appeared black because it was so dark, but it was really a very deep red that shimmered in the light. By some miracle, it was cold, but there was no snow falling or clouds in the sky to hide it.
Her body had curves that made her look like a mermaid sitting there on that rock, just washed ashore and in need of help. He could see how men could be easily attracted to her. There was no doubt about the thoughts her body and tight clothes could give to a man, but there was still a starkness to those feelings. He had avoided looking at her that way for a long time. He remembered a time when they were all still in school that she had dressed up for school one day. It was the first time he had ever seen her look like the other girls. She was usually wrestling and splashing in mud puddles with the boys, wearing pants and jean jackets. That day she had a bow in her hair and wore a dress. He didn't know what to think. He had remembered telling her that he liked her the way she was before, but it had seemed to offend her. They hadn't talked for a week or more after that.
Then, he had seen her and Orson together a few times; kissing and holding hands. He had forgotten all about it. He had just assumed she had been trying to impress him in some way, but Orson liked her either way. He just wasn’t the settling type, even back then. So, of course it had ended somehow, and they had been estranged ever since. He began to wonder if the dress had never been meant for Orson. Maybe she had been struggling to get him to notice her for much longer than he had imagined.
Isaiah finally closed the gap between them, sitting by her side and loo
king in the direction she was. The stream had little frozen patches along it, but there were still a few fish inside, splashing around.
“I think we need to talk, and I would like if we could be two calm adults about it,” Isaiah said, looking out into the forest, wondering what Annalise was doing at that very moment. Had she made it back to the coven safely? Had she told them what he was?
“It may be hard, but you may be right,” Tamara admitted, also not looking at him. It was the best form of communication they had right then as to not start yet another fight that would pull them further apart.
“Annalise has left, for good this time,” he told her, waiting for her reaction. He half expected to get up and cheer. Thankfully, she had more grace than that. If only she could have had that before, but then again, it had been partially his fault for having that fight with her. He had allowed it to get so heated.
“What does that mean for us?” Tamara asked cryptically, stumping Isaiah as to if she meant the two of them or the entire pack. He decided to address both.
“For us, it means that we have more space to work on things, however we decide that needs to be done. I am sorry that I have been rejecting you, but I think I still have some qualms about us being intimate,” he choked out, not feeling completely comfortable talking about it. “I still see you as that little tom boy sometimes.”
“I know,” she told him, finally looking up with her hair swinging to cover one side of her face. So many men would kill to have this woman. What was wrong with him? Why did his mind and body not call out to a woman like this? Maybe he had made a poor decision, but there was nothing he could do about it now. He would just set her free in a few years like he promised.
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