The Apple Of His Eye

Chapter 19 Searching For Answers

Kaylee's POV

The two-hour car ride to Cambria Pines was full of hope and sadness. My Dad sat in the front seat next to Micah, giving us girls some alone time. I was curious to find out more about Daisy and Breanna. Daisy filled me in on her and Alpha Samuels mating ceremony. Of course, the ceremony was during the time I was still missing. I wish I could have been there. "Have you already had your first heat?" I asked inquisitively.

"Yes, it was, excruciating but Samuel stayed with me the whole time to ease my pain. There is even a possibility that I am carrying his pup right now."

"How exciting!" I couldn't help but squeal.

"When you go into heat, you are extremely fertile and likely to become pregnant."

"My first heat is coming soon, and I'm afraid because Ace is gone, and I'll have to endure this alone."

"You're not alone. We are here. "We'll guard your door and ice you down. That's what good friends are for," Daisy said, squeezing my hand.

Breanna whispered so softly I could barely hear her, "You won't be the only one."

"What do you mean, Breanna?"

"Remember at your ceremony when I took in a deep breath as I was walking down the aisle,"

"Yes, I remember,"

"Well, looking straight ahead, I saw Alex, and we locked eyes. Immediately my wolf said, "Mate,"

"I don't understand. Alex helped rescue you from the Rogues. Why didn't you know then?"

"My eighteenth birthday was last week, so I wasn't of age yet."

"Well, what happened? You have to tell us all the details,"

Daisy and I leaned forward in anticipation.

"We were assigned to walk down the aisle together after your ceremony. When my arm linked inside Alex's arm, tiny electric bolts shot through my arm. I couldn't stop smiling. He is so gorgeous, with his dark brown hair and blue eyes. Plus, he's a beta which will raise my status. I am happy I won't be an omega anymore. After that moment, we were inseparable. We sat together for dinner, and then we danced all night. At the beginning of the pack run, we shift, and our wolves accepted each other. I knew we should have waited to mate during our our mating ceremony, but he was going to leave for war. It was just too tempting. See, he already marked me."

She pulled down the collar on her shirt, revealing a beautiful rose mark.

"Check out my mark," Daisy pulled down the top of her shirt. Her mark was a crescent moon with two stars on top. I wonder what the two stars mean?

"What does your mark look. like?" Daisy asked me.

"I'm not sure this morning it was just a purple bruise,"

A little embarrassed, I tugged on the neck of my shirt. It was just a circular purple blob shape.

"Oh," they both responded and looked at each other in shock.

"It just needs more time," Breanna tried to assure me, even though we were both marked on the same night.

"Let's focus on getting your mind healed first. Your mark will come. After all, you are Luna," Daisy said gently.

Micah pulled the car in front of my family's burnt-down home. There were some remnants of windows and the outline of our front door. There wasn't a roof anymore, as it had all caved in on itself. My stomach sank as I remembered watching the Rogues set it on fire. I watched it burn as they forced me to walk to the warehouse. My father had arranged for several dumpsters outside so we could start the clean-up. We all exited the vehicle and took a deep breath. Unearthing the mess also unearths the emotions. My Dad handed me a rake as he took out a shovel.

Micah turned to my Dad, "I am going to drop the girls off to see their family. Then I will set up our tent downtown. I will be back in a couple of hours to help out."

Since my Dad's leg had been injured during the Rouge attack, he hadn't been able to start the demolition until now. Looking out, I surveyed the extensive mess in front of me. I became overwhelmed and wanted to shut down. "It's too much for me," I told my Dad.

"Let's work on one section at a time. We can stay together."

He handed me some leather work gloves and smiled. "Your Mom would want us to rebuild."

That was just the encouragement I needed to hear. My Mom's legacy was still here. We just needed to find it.

Finding my new strength, I walked over and pulled on the corner of what used to be a window. Being careful of the broken shards of glass, I hurled it into the dumpster. It felt empowering. I was able to let go of the pain physically.

My Dad and I focused on the area by the front door. I started raking the rubble into piles as he shoveled it into a wheelbarrow. Kneeling, I looked through the charred pieces. "There's nothing left," I said, choking on my tears. He placed an understanding hand on my shoulder. "That's not true. We are still here."

I nodded slightly and forced myself to keep going. Micah returned like he said he would and went to work with a sledgehammer. It was such a relief to have more help. Micah was tearing down the bare bones of the garage, not wanting us to get hit with the shattering material.

"Hey, I think I found something," he yelled at us.

My Dad and I ran over to where he was standing. He leaned over and picked a small one-foot box.

"It's my fire-proof safe," my Dad exclaimed. "I don't have the key for it, so we'll have to break it open.

"I got this," Micah said, and he walked back to the car.

A moment later, he returned with his multi-tool and cracked the lock.

My Dad opened the box, revealing some paperwork for the house and our birth certificates. Feeling disappointed, I started walking back to the spot where I left off.

"Kaylee, I think this is yours," my Dad called after me.

I turned around and walked back to where he was standing. He handed me a pink heart keychain that had my name etched into the heart. On the keychain, there was one single key.

"What is this key for?"

"I don't know," my Dad said. Let's keep looking. Maybe we'll find the lock for it."

With new motivation, I returned to work. It looked like we were starting to make a small amount of progress on the house. My next plan was to tackle the hallway in front of the kitchen.

We took breaks here and there. For lunch, we lounged under a shade tree. The castle staff had packed us a picnic that morning. My muscles were starting to ache, and my skin was kissed red by the sun.

"Back to work," I groaned.

I worked steadily in a straight line going down the hallway and not finding anything worth saving. As I continued to rake, I could see that the cement underneath had a square cutout. Quickly I dust off the area with my hand. I could see a keyhole on the bottom of the cutout.

"Dad, come check this out. Did we have a basement?"

"I don't know of any basement in this house," he replied

"Let's see if the key fits," I wondered, taking the key out of my pocket.

The three of us huddled around, and sure enough, the key fit perfectly and clicked open.