Chapter 10- Andrew
1889 Words
-Andrew-
I don’t know if Dad and Grandpa told everyone how to get into the wolfsbane, but I hope not. I’m surprised he hasn’t come after me yet after storming out of his office. Honestly, I’m surprised Calvin didn’t come right after me. I shouldn’t have said what I did, but it’s true.
It was stupid to drag me down to the office to talk to Atticus about his wolf. I know his wolf is angry and wants out. Mine is, too. I don’t care if my cousin wants a pack. I don’t really care about much anymore. I feel like such a failure. I want to be left alone, but the entire family is in the palace, and everyone feels the need to try to help me.
So I ran away to a field of poison. Somehow, no one has followed me. The sun will begin to set soon, so I’m sure someone will get me. If they don’t know how to get in here, maybe I’ll wait them out. They’d have to drag me out, and I don’t think they can without knocking the pollen out of the flowers.
I sigh and lie down, letting the sun beat on my skin. I’m tired of being so f*****g weird.
Dad approaches the grove and stops. I think for a moment he’s going to turn around, but then he pulls his shirt off. A fight it is, then. I’m not going home. Not yet.
I’m surprised when he comes through the second ring of flowers and puts his shorts on, tossing mine to me. He doesn’t say anything, though, as he sits beside me. I stand and put my shorts on, still prepared to fight my way out of this place.
“I love your mother,” he says. That’s definitely not what I was expecting him to say. I sit back down beside him. “I love her a lot. Like, a whole lot. And we are wolves, and wolves are highly sexual.”
“Gross,” I mutter.
Dad grins. “I’m telling you this for a reason. We’ve all tried to be careful so that you don’t see something we don’t want you to. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to see it, either.”
“I don’t,” I agree. I’ve seen too much of my mom through my dad’s memories, and I’ve only accidentally slipped into his mind a few times. “I don’t want to see anything else. Seriously.”
I accidentally saw my dad’s memories from when Cora and I were born one time. Unfortunately, my dad delivered us and… no. Absolutely never again.
Sometimes, when they hug me, I don’t see memories but only hear their thoughts. That would be great, but then I hear all about how worried they are about me. I want to turn it off, but I can’t.
“Stand up,” Dad tells me.
“Dad,” I whine. It’s too late to protest. He’s already up, and even if I fight him, it would poison us both. “Fine.”
As soon as I’m up, Dad wraps his arms around me. “I’m sorry, Andrew. You see what you see. I need to hug you.”
It doesn’t start immediately, which is nice, but it still does. I sigh in frustration as I see CeCe and Mom’s adoptive dad standing outside the packhouse at Lunar Falls.
Mate, I hear Dad’s wolf growl.
She’s not out here. It’s fine. We can avoid her.
Grandma and Grandpa get out of the car before Dad does.
“I thought you were going to be here early,” Papa Randall laughs. My laugh sounds like his.
“It is early!” Grandpa tells him.
They shake hands and pull each other into a hug.
Mate! My mate is here. I smell her.
No, Dad says forcefully, and I can feel him shoving his wolf down. We can’t.
I’m not even sure what is happening as Dad rushes forward and grasps Papa Randall’s jacket. “Mate. My mate.”
“What?” Papa Randall asks. He looks around, not finding anyone but CeCe and Grandma Audrey. He looks down at his jacket and gasps. “Molly.”
“Molly?” Grandpa asks.
Papa Randall nods. “I just hugged her. Come on. Let’s move this to the office.”
Everyone follows Papa upstairs. Dad moves more slowly than everyone else. s**t. You’ve done it now. She doesn’t even have a wolf.
She’s our mate.
******** ******** ********
“Shhhh…” Dad whispers as he walks toward a crib. It’s… me, but I’m seeing it from his eyes. He reaches down and picks me up. “Hey. You’re supposed to be asleep.”
He takes me over to a table and changes my diaper, but as he’s about to button the pajamas back up, he stops. Dad fumbles, but takes the pajamas off before he picks me up and takes me to the couch. He lies down and places me against his bare chest before pulling a blanket over us.
“I’m tired,” he whispers. “But I do love our guy time.”
******** ******** ********
I’m back in the grove, out of his memories. That’s never stopped my magic from doing what it wants, though. Dad’s voice plays in my head now.
He’s such a good kid, but he worries so much. I hate it for him. I wish it could be easy for him, or that I could help.
I pull back from him before immediately sitting back down on the ground. Letting my head hang, I bring my knees up and rest my elbows on them. I don’t want him to see how hard I’m trying not to cry.
“You didn’t want mom?” I ask.
“It’s complicated,” he tells me. “I was worried about how she’d be as a queen because she didn’t have a wolf. It was all over the second I saw her, though. I thought you needed to see that, because I know you worry about how things will be when you find your mate. It’s also good to know that you can see what I show you.”
I smirk. “I can find whatever I want if I try.”
“Then don’t try. Just let us get something appropriate in our minds so we can hug you properly. I’m sorry I haven’t tried harder to figure out how to hug you. You deserve to be hugged.”
I shrug, still trying to choke back tears. I know they’re trying. They always try. I know that they love me. It’s just hard to be so different. Cora doesn’t have to go through this, and it’s not fair.
“Come back home,” Dad tells me. “If you want to stay, I need to send a guard out here with you.”
“That ruins my attempt to be alone,” I point out.
He laughs lightly. “I’m aware. Your mother and I have agreed that you can come out here alone once you have your wolf. Not before, though. You’re completely unprotected.”
“Fine,” I mutter. If I had the energy, I’d argue that the wolfsbane is protecting me. I doubt they’d be convinced, though.
We toss our shorts over the flowers and climb below them. Dad laughs, looking back at the grove. “How did anyone even figure out this was possible?”
I shrug. “Grandma Cora said it’s been passed down for generations. Joseph didn’t show Grandpa because he didn’t need it.”
We walk back toward the palace. The path is beginning to wear down, almost looking like a real path. I don’t know how I feel about that, because it’s my place. I don’t want everyone out here. If the kids start to wander out here, Mom and Dad will have to cut it down.
“Grandma Cora?” Dad says as we approach her shadowy outline.
“Oh, drats,” she says. “Did I miss getting to spend time with you guys?”
Dad steps forward, taking her hand. Everyone treats her like she’s some crazy old lady who may fall apart if she trips. I mean, she IS old, but she’s fine. She can go for a walk. I bet she can still shift if she wants to.
“Andrew and I were just heading inside. Why don’t you join us?”
She smiles, stepping from Dad to me. Reaching out, she takes my hand. “You guys can come to my cabin. I can make cocoa.”
I should have pulled away. She’s barely said a whole sentence before I’m being pulled into her mind.
I’m sure that I’m looking at Papa Randall when he was younger. I don’t remember seeing him in person, but I’ve seen pictures, and I JUST saw him in Dad’s memory. It’s him.
“She’s exactly who you think she is,” Grandma Cora says.
“Pardon me?” he asks.
“Joseph will do or say anything to keep that secret, even from her. She is, though.”
“I’m so confused.”
“Randall, I’m telling you because you need to know to be able to keep her safe,” she says. She said Randall. It’s definitely him. “But I’m ordering your silence, even from Celeste. You can never tell her anything I’m about to tell you.”
Papa Randall looks so upset, but he doesn’t walk away. He continues to look at Grandma Cora, waiting for her to continue.
“Alice’s mother was Franklin’s true mate. He didn’t kill her as he was required to, but hid her. Then there was Alice. And then there was Joseph, from Queen Judith.”
Papa Randall slowly closes his eyes. I can’t tell what he’s thinking, and I feel so confused. “My father told me a few times that a princess is never safe.”
A princess? There wasn’t a princess until my sister was born. And who is Alice? She was mated to Franklin? Like, King Franklin?
“It’s true, but she’s much safer now that she has your mark. Randall, I’m so glad she’s mated to you. Take care of her, protect her.”
He nods. “I will. I swear, she won’t try to enact any of David’s plans.”
David’s plans? Who the f**k is that? Papa David? What plans did he have?
“I know.”
“We plan to have children,” he says slowly.
“Good,” I tell him, patting his arm. “I hope you all create a life together that you love. That’s what we want for both of you.”
I’m back in the woods. Dad’s staring at me as Grandma Cora continues to talk. I don’t think she’s realized I saw in her mind, but Dad does.
“Who is Alice?” I ask.
Dad looks at me in complete confusion. “I’m not sure. I think that was Cece’s mom’s name.”
It’s not like Alice is an uncommon name, but if that’s who Grandma Cora and Randall were talking about, then that would make Cece…
“I need to go find Grandpa,” I tell Dad. “Take Grandma Cora home.”
- Writer
