The Wife's Redemption

Drea slammed the front door as she ran past Ellorie sitting in the living room. As usual, she did not even stop to say hello. She just ran up the stairs straight to her father’s office, pounding on the door violently. Ellorie instinctively held her breath and closed her eyes. She could hear Drea upstairs yelling and screaming about Isaac to her father. Ellorie massaged her temple. She set her book on the table and walked to the drink cart to pour herself a cup of water. She reached in her pocket and opened a bottle of ibuprofen; she kept spilling out pills into her hand. She did not even count how many as she threw what was there in her mouth and took a long drink of water. After about thirty minutes, the yelling stopped upstairs. It was silent, and Ellorie was not sure if that was a good sign or not from her stepdaughter. She was unpredictable. The two had never gotten along, and it did not help that Ellorie was the same age as Drea. They had been friendly before she was taken from her pack. They were still friends until Ellorie married her father. Images flashed in her mind of a day at the park. She showed up at the park. She looked down and saw that she was wearing a yellow dress. Her mind could not place it; did she own a dress like that? Was this a dream or a memory? Then she watched herself look for Drea. Only Drea was not where they were supposed to meet. Another image flashed of hiking in the woods. There was something about him that worried her, but she ignored it because Evelyn was so infatuated. Her mind and her memory battled for control, making her head throb even more. She knew the man they walked with was Devyn, but he was not in the memory. Then another flash had her seeing Drea and a van. The girls began to get tired. Why could she just not remember? It was haunting her. She needed to know but couldn’t remember. She remembered the moment that her body did not feel right. The black blurry spots darted across her line of vision. How she tried to scream and run, but it was too late, and she hit the ground. Her body tightened as she remembered, starting to visibly shake. The images showed her in the van, but it was blurry. Ethan being shot. Her heart broke as she saw his lifeless body fall backwards down the hill. That could not be real. Ethan was alive; she knew that from Dominik. Drea looked at her. The last image confused her the most. A girl being thrown from the van. She could not help the scream that tore out of her. She was losing her mind Just like that, she was pulled completely from the memory and was back in the mansion. The thick curtains kept all the light out. She heard Dominik’s door fly open and hit the wall. “Ellorie,” he yelled, concerned, from the top of the stairs. She could hear his coming and did her best to regain control before he arrived. Her body was trembling, and she could not make it stop. His heavy footsteps seemed to echo in the quiet. She looked up and tried to smile, but the frown on his face was evident. She had disturbed him again. She really was not trying to, but ever since she had spoken to Valerie, these flashbacks had become unbearable. He grabbed her arm, and she flinched. “I’m fine,” she backed away. “You're not,” he stared at her. “I heard you scream.” “Just another memory, I’ll be okay, I promise,” she whispered, refusing to meet his eyes. She prayed he would not ask her what the matter was, or what the memory was that would be even worse. She looked up and saw Drea’s angry face at the top of the stairs. Dominik, as usual, was all too used to sweeping uncomfortable situations under the rug. Instead, he yelled out for the housekeeper, who came with haste, “Mrs. Field, get Ellorie something hot to drink. She needs to relax.” he looked over the room, and his eyes landed on the bottle Ellorie forgot to put back in her pocket. “Mrs. Field. Did you leave this medication out?” he questioned severely. Ellorie refused to let her get in trouble. “It’s mine,” she whispered, reaching for the bottle, "I must have forgotten it,” but Dominik pulled it out of her hands. “If you are having this many headaches that you feel the need to carry around the bottle, get in the car and we are taking you to the pack hospital,” he ordered. Drea huffed from the top of the stairs, “It’s just ibuprofen, Dad, chill out. Ellorie just has a headache.” Dominik's eyes turned to ice as he turned his head toward his daughter. “I don’t believe I asked for your input here, Drea; it’s probably your drama that caused this.” Ellorie reached forward and cautiously placed a hand on his arm, turning his attention to her. “Please don’t fight,” she whispered. “Yeah, Dad, we all know Ellorie can’t stand a little yelling,” Drea sneered and disappeared around the corner before Dominik could respond. Dominik’s face relaxed as he pulled Ellorie to the couch to sit. Mrs. Fields arrived a few minutes later with a cup of peppermint tea. He handed her the bottle. “Put this away, and inform me at once if Ellorie asks for it.” Then he turned back to Ellorie. “You can’t keep doing this, Ellorie.” “I’m not doing anything,” she said quietly as she picked up the tea and took a tentative drink since it was hot. “I just have a headache.” “You have had all too many headaches of late,” Dominik felt her forehead. “I think you are running a fever as well. Perhaps I should help you to bed.” Ellorie pushed his hand away. “I said I was fine. It’s just a headache, and it is hot in here. Instead of making me go to bed, you should turn down the heat.” Dominik studied his wife’s features. She did not look sick, but something was wrong with her nonetheless. He did not believe her for one second, but he was pleased to see a little of that fire in her. In the end, he gave up and started to stand. “What’s going on with Drea today?” she asked, trying to sound like she cared. He smiled and shook his head. “You would not believe me if I told you.” “Try me,” she smiled at him and waited patiently. “Seems Drea has a new boyfriend, and Donivan hauled him away this morning.” Dominik practically laughed as he spoke. “Who is he?” Ellorie asked. “His name is Isaac Fitch; he works for her at the office,” he laughed. “How fitting that she would choose a lowly personal assistant after all the grief she has given you about being a nobody. At least you were the daughter of an alpha. What is he?” The statement hurt. She was the daughter of an Alpha before she came to this pack. She often chose to forget that. In fact, she never even let her family know she was alive. “Will you intervene on her behalf with Damon?” Ellorie asked curiously what he would do. “Nope,” he chuckled, “I warned her and Devyn both. Should they choose to keep associating with Ethan, let whatever happens happen. I’m done protecting them.” He said, grabbing her hand and holding onto it firmly. “They have put us through enough.” “They are your children though,” Ellorie replied sincerely. “They are my father’s bastards left to me; they might not know the truth, but I refuse to ignore it anymore. They're lucky I don’t kick them out of my house for having the nonsense they stir up in this pack. They brought all of this on themselves.” Dominik answered. “Why did Donivan grab him?” she asked with interest. “I would say it is connected to his wife, no doubt, but that is not my concern,” he replied, looking at his wife. “You have no need to worry about their account.” “I hope you are right,” Ellorie concluded, “Maybe I am a little tired after all.” Dominik helped her walk up the stairs and helped her get into bed before he left the room and returned to his office. She stared at the ceiling and was almost asleep when she heard a soft knock at the door.