Chapter 84
Chapter 84
~Kimberly~
Lincoln…..he said he had to find where Lincoln was. Where’s my baby? What happened while I was up here satisfying my urges? If something happens to Lincoln, I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself, and I’m not one to feel badly about my choices, no matter what they are.
I hastily grab my dress, peeling off Stuart’s shirt. “We need to talk.” I hurry and fix myself, grabbing my shoes so I can head to Paul’s office. I walk past Stuart, and he grabs my arm, forcing me to look at him. “I said we need to talk.”
“I can’t talk right now. Something is going on with my son.” I pull my arm out of his grasp and head to the wall door. I stop and turn back. “You may want to get out of here like Paul said.” I head through the door, putting a block up to keep Angie out of my ears. I can’t deal with her whimpering right now.
Landon and Paul look up from whatever they are looking at on his desk as I walk into the room. Now isn’t the time to be embarrassed. What happened, happened, and I need to own it. I straighten my back and hold my head high as I walk over to the desk. I stand quietly, waiting to be addressed, but nothing happened. Paul continues to talk as if I’m not in the room. “I sent some warriors to these areas,” he points to the map. “Maybe he isn’t too far.” Landon is looking between us; I’m sure there is so much that he wants to say.
“Uh, yeah. They should, uh, they should look for abandoned buildings and homes. Dad, you have to know that note is a lie. Lincoln was past all of his fated mate issues. He full accepted the bond, Tia, us sharing, everything. This isn’t Lincoln running away.” Paul places a hand on Landon’s shoulder.
“I know, son, I know. Something isn’t right, and we will figure it out. We will bring Lincoln back to you and Tia.” Lincoln nods, and I, honestly, can’t take the silence anymore. I clear my throat loudly and wait.
“I, uh, I think I will go check on Tia.” Landon gives me one last look and walks out of the office. Paul continues looking over the map, making marks and notes while ignoring me.
“Not speaking to me isn’t going to make me go away.”
“Did your ‘mate’ leave yet?” Paul spits out with an obscene amount of hate. I walk a bit closer to him.
“I guess so. I didn’t really wait around to find out.” I close the gap between us and run my hand along his back. Paul jerks away and backs up, looking at me with disgust.
“You have a lot of nerve. Don’t touch me…..ever.” He sighs and starts to pace. “What the f**k, Kim?! This is bigger than you cheating on me. You literally, had your fated mate here this entire time and said nothing. You didn’t claim him or anything. You went ahead and mated with me, let me mark you, and all the while, your fated was right here. Why didn’t you just claim him, huh?” Paul stops and looks at me, but my voice is caught in my throat. “You knew what happened with me. You knew most likely my fated mate was gone. I told you that I wouldn’t take you away from yours. I told you that I could find someone who was in the same situation as me, and we could make a go of it. You told me that your fated mate wasn’t in the picture. Well s**t Kim, that looked pretty ‘in the picture’ to me!” Paul starts to pace again. “When we went in front of the elders and asked them to bless our union, they asked if we were sure that our fated mates weren’t available. They said if we were to find them later, it could be problematic. You took the same oath as me, reassuring them that all would be well, that our pack would be okay. Does this look okay to you?” Paul stops pacing again. “Say something, dammit!”
“I……” I swallow the thickness in my throat. I close my eyes and open them. “I……Stuart is a warrior, just a warrior. I wanted more, I deserved more. You lost your mate before anything could even happen. We had dated before…..” I shrug my shoulders. “I deserved to be more than some warrior’s mate. I made a decision for my future.” Paul’s mouth drops open.
“Do you hear yourself right now? Do you hear how disgusting and shallow and……and selfish you sound right now? Your decisions impacted so many lives and all so that you had a title? All so you could be more than a warrior’s mate? Who, even, are you right now? Who is this Kimberly standing in front of me?” Property © of NôvelDrama.Org.
“Don’t you dare…..don’t you dare look down on me like that!” I can feel the anger replacing the embarrassment. “I helped you run this pack all of these years. I gave you two sons. I was always by your side. I helped you get over your pain and kept you from loneliness. How is any of that selfish?” Paul takes a few steps back before shaking his head and turning his back on me. He starts to walk to the door, and I start to go after him.
“You disgust me.” His voice stops me dead in my tracks. “You completely disgust me. Be gone by the time I get back.” Paul walks out of the room, never looking back. I slump to the floor, not knowing what to do.
~Lincoln~
I’m hard and standing at attention. I can feel the wetness on me and a tongue on my tip. Mmmmmm…..I don’t remember making it upstairs, but I like where Tia’s mind is. I settle in to enjoy what my mate is doing to me, but something feels off.
Brutus……is everything good? I hear nothing, no huffing, breathing, and no response. Brutus usually loves when we are with our mate, so something is strange.
I take a minute and try to become aware of my surroundings. I’m sitting up, but it doesn’t feel like I’m sitting on anything comfortable. I take a few breaths in, but no smell stands out, which is odd. I focus on what’s happening below and realize something is missing. I take a minute to concentrate then it hits me. I feel no sparks. I’m getting a decent bj, but there are no sparks.
I slowly pry an eye open and look down. That isn’t Tia’s hair…..not her hair, and no sparks. I slowly look around; this isn’t our room or any place in the packhouse. None of this is right.
BRUTUS!!!! There is still no response, and I have no idea why. I have to get this person off of me, but how? I start to think about sports. I was an athlete in school, playing football. I think of all of the plays I had to learn. I think about the paperwork that comes with running a pack and the tedious activities. I think about throwing up and blood. I think about that lady I saw handling pizza when I went to a human mall. We went to the food court, and while trying to find something to eat, I noticed this woman behind the counter. She had dug into her nose and scratched her b**t (inside the pants). She had her gloves on and then proceeded to handle the pizza.
That was it; that was the memory that did it. I felt myself quickly go limp, and I pop out of the woman’s mouth. She whimpers a bit and looks up at me. Son of a b***h! It’s Aida. “Aww, maybe I used too much wolfsbane.” She stands up and straightens her clothes. “That’s okay. It happens to everyone at some point. We have the rest of our lives for this.” What the hell is she talking about? Oh my Goddess, where is Tia? Where is Landon? I try to move my arms and realize I can’t. They are on the arms of the chair, and I notice the zip ties that are keeping them there. I look down and see zip ties on my ankles as well. This b***h has me captive! “It does happen all of the time! No it wasn’t because of me!” Who the hell is she talking to? I look around, but we are the only ones in the room. My eyes land back on Aida, and terror sets in. I’m being held hostage by my ex, and the b***h is crazy!
~Adela~
I’ve been moving through the woods as quietly as I can. I haven’t heard from daddy in a few days, and I desperately need help. I have no money and nowhere to stay. He is supposed to be helping me, but I can’t reach him.
I’m actually looking for Aida right now. I ran into a witch acquaintance we know, and she said she had just seen her. She said Aida was acting weird and had brought her talismans that had to have been made by a powerful witch, dark magic type of stuff. She has been acting off lately, and I want to try to find her to make sure she is okay.
Honestly, we should be out here together. It would be harder for them to find us if we were, and it would be easier for us to devise a plan. We have always been better together than we ever were apart.
I slow my steps and start to feel nervous. I know I’m getting really close to the Emerald Lake territory. I must be in the wrong area. There’s no way she’d be that bold and hide so close. I continue forward, keeping an eye on my surroundings. I see an abandoned cabin in the distance and make a beeline for it.
“We won’t be here much longer. We will be gone tomorrow night.” I move closer, making sure to keep my movements quiet. “He’s going to have to stay on the wolfsbane for a while. There’s no way we can keep him contained without it. He’s my Alpha man!” I creep forward until I’m right under an opening where I’m sure a window used to go. I peer up and take a quick look before ducking back down. Aida is in the room, but I don’t see anyone else. It’s just like last time; she’s talking, but who’s there?
I creep to the side of the cabin and stand straight. I walk to the door and knock. All sounds stop, and I wait for a word or some movement. Finally, the door creaks open, and I see an eyeball pop out; looking around. The door is thrown open, and Aida jumps on me, wrapping her arms around my body. “SISTER!!!” I return her hug and look past her into the cabin. What I see makes my breath leave me. Lincoln is tied to a chair, looking like he would sell his soul to me to get free. Aida lets go and steps back. “I’m so glad you’re here; come in.” She steps aside so I can walk into the cabin. Once Aida closes the door behind me, I turn to her.
“Aida, what the hell have you done?”