Chapter 49

Elijah’s dead.

Jonathan stood in front of Elijah’s deceased body; blood pouring from the scratches on his torso and bite marks along his neck. He was in his human form and his chest was no longer heaving for air. Elijah’s blood was stained on Graham’s clothing; Graham’s fists clenched in a fit of rage.

“Our debt has been paid,” Graham announced to Jonathan, allowing his voice to boom across Blackcrest. “Blood for blood. There is no reason for you to stay any longer.”

He couldn’t believe the events that had just occurred. Graham seemed clueless as to what Elijah was planning; he appeared to not know that Elijah was hunting on forbidden territories and killing wolves in his travel. To repay the debt Elijah racked up, Graham slaughtered Elijah right in front of Jonathan.

It was something he wasn’t expecting when he arrived in Blackcrest. As soon as he arrived, he knew something horrible was going down. Erick was in the middle of a fight with Elijah and Ronnie was passed out in her own blood. Graham looked as though he had just shown up around the same time Jonathan got there. Everyone else in town was watching with wide and curious eyes, but none of them stepped in to stop the fight.

They were probably used to Elijah fighting at this point. On his way to the town center, Jonathan saw an elder woman passed out on the ground with a knife wound going down her back and through her torso. He winced at the thought of the torcher she must have been through leading up to the moments of her death.

“If another outsider comes to Blackcrest, they will be killed on the spot,” Graham warned.

He had hoped now that Elijah was dead, this would be the last he hears from Graham and anyone in Blackcrest.

Without saying anything more, he took off.

(Arina)

I felt groggy when I woke up. I could tell the swelling on the side of my stomach had gone down a little and I didn’t feel as much pain as I had the night before. I don’t even remember Dr. Emily and Rock leaving so whatever medication she gave me, must have knocked me out completely.

I still felt a bit warm to the touch and my throat was dry from being parched. The IV bag that sat next to me was empty. Pulling the needle and tube out of my arm, I allowed it to drop to the ground. I pressed my fingers against the puncture wound to keep the blood from oozing out of my wrist.

“Arina?! What are you doing?” I heard Ronnie’s voice coming from the doorway as she closed the door behind her and rushed over to my bedside.

She grabbed a gauze from the nightstand, that Dr. Emily had left, and pressed it against my wrist.

There was a light layer of pink going from the top of her cheeks to across her freckled nose. Her curly red hair was a moppy mess that fell around her shoulders and down her back. I noticed she was wearing the T-shirt that Erick was wearing yesterday. It fit the way Jonathan’s t-shirts fit on me; like a dress that goes down to my knees. Big enough to cover her body.

I cocked an eyebrow up in her direction as I gathered her appearance in my mind. Even though she appeared worried or me, she had a bit of a timid glow about her. A small smile was still placed on her pink lips as she swatted the blood off my wrist.

“Did you have a good night?” I asked.

I couldn’t keep the humor out of my tired voice. Her eyes widened as she met my eyes; now the pink on her cheeks and nose was turning a bright red shade.

She opened her mouth to say something but only, “uh…” came out.

This time I couldn’t help but laugh; she met my chuckle with her own.

“Erick went to grab some coffees over at the bakery,” she told me softly. “Decaf for you, of course.”

I smiled my thanks to her.

“How about some water?” I asked her.

She stood from my bedside, dropping the gauze in the trash bin on the other side of the nightstand.

“I’ll go get you some,” she said. Disappearing out of the bedroom.

I laid in bed, rubbing my tummy delicately as she returned with a glass of water. It felt good going down my throat, soothing away the dryness of the night. I could tell the baby enjoyed it too by the way her rapid movements calmed down.

I couldn’t help but think about Jonathan; it’s been a couple of days since I’ve seen or heard from him last, and it was driving me crazy. I missed him so much and I was so worried about him. If anything were to happen to him, I wasn’t sure what I was going to do. I wasn’t sure what Sabrebite was going to do.

This pack needed an Alpha. This baby needed a father. I needed my husband.

“He’s going to be alright,” Ronnie assured me, sitting back at my bedside, reading my expression.

I knew she was right. Jonathan was strong and if anyone was capable of doing anything, it was him. I had to trust that he was going to be alright and that he was going to return to me.

“So, now that you know you’re having a little girl. Do you have any name ideas?” She asked, her eyes wide with excitement.

I chuckled.

“I honestly haven’t thought about it,” I admitted.

That wasn’t a lie. With everything going on these last few weeks, I haven’t thought about any names for girls or boys. It was something I wanted to discuss with Jonathan once everything started calming down. I don’t think I could bring myself to even think about naming our child without him present.

“I think you should name her Ronnie,” Ronnie teased.

I smiled.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“Because Ronnie’s an awesome name,” she chuckled.

I laughed with her. It was nice to laugh. We’ve spent years not talking; I spent so long blaming her for things that were out of her hand. I blamed her by association. I spent my life shutting her out and never establishing a relationship with her, all because she was Melissa and Rock’s child from an affair. Ronnie didn’t ask to be in the middle of that, but I still put her in the middle of it. Rock put her in the middle of it and she’s been too afraid to say anything or speak her mind.

Part of me will always regret not seeing that sooner. But I was glad we finally had a chance now to establish that sisterly relationship. It was a relationship I didn’t even know I needed until now.

“Are you going to go back?” I asked her, eyeing her face.

Her face fell slightly as she knew what I was asking.

“I’m not sure,” she confessed. “I can’t just leave my mom. Despite everything, she’s done. She’s still my mom, you know? ... ”

“She’s not a good person, Ronnie,” I told her.

Recently Ronnie had told me that she found out at childhood, how Melissa was the cause of my mother’s death. She put wolfsbane in her tea to get rid of her so she can marry my father. I feel like there must be a bit more to that story; there’s no way Rock didn’t already know what Melissa was doing in the kitchen while he fought with my mother in the living room. There’s no way Melissa was the one who thought of the idea.

My father was typically the mastermind, and he wanted my mother out of the way just as badly as Melissa did. Besides, from what Ronnie had told me, it seemed as though Melissa confessed to the murder right before they married. Yet they still got married. Rock didn’t care enough about my mother to convict her murderer. Instead, he married her.

The more I thought about it, the sicker I began to feel. I couldn’t believe an Alpha could do that to his luna. It didn’t surprise me that my mother wanted to run away with Boris Conway. It surprised me more that she didn’t.

Speaking of Boris, I wondered if he found out more information on who sent Rock the letter my mother wrote to me back when she was planning on leaving me in Silverside. I hadn’t heard from Boris since we left Silverside last month and he told me he would reach out to me if he found out more information.

He was supposed to be the world’s greatest detective and I didn’t think it would take him this long.

“I know…” Ronnie said softly; she was still thinking deeply about Melissa, her mother.

I felt awful she was so conflicted, and I wished there was something I could do to shed light on her.

Soon, the bedroom door swung open. We were both expecting to see Erick standing there with a tray of coffee. I wasn’t expecting to see Jonathan standing breathlessly at the door.

He had some bruising along his jawline from fighting and some scratches along his arms; but for the most part, he looked pretty intact.

I nearly jumped out of bed to throw my arms around him, but Ronnie stopped me before I could get out of bed. Thankfully, Jonathan could read my expression and ran to me instead. He wrapped his arms around my weak body and hugged me gently. He placed his hands on my stomach and gazed into my eyes as he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine delicately.

“I missed you so much,” I whispered through the tears that were filling my eyes.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t reach out to you. I’m sorry for worrying you,” he whispered back, against my lips. “What happened?” He asked, a bit louder for Ronnie to hear.

“According to Dr. Emily, our daughter developed her wolf’s feet a little bit earlier than planned,” I explained.

He pulled back, taken back by my words.

“Daughter?” He asked, in a breath.

I smile as the tears escaped my eyes.

“Yes,” I told him. “We are having a little girl.”

He bent down to kiss my stomach.

“Are you in pain?” He asked.

“Not right now. She gave me some medication that helps,” I told him.

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t here,” he said, his voice cracking slightly as he choked back his own tears.

I placed my hands on both sides of his face and pulled him closer to me.

“I’m just glad you’re here now and that you’re unharmed,” I told him. I then glanced at his scratches and bruises. “Well, as unharmed as you can be.”

“Yeah, what happened there?” Ronnie asked.

He looked over at her, scanning her body quickly with his eyes.

“I’m really glad to see you alive Ronnie. You had us worried,” Jonathan told her.

She blushed and smiled, staring down at the ground.

“Erick brought me back in time,” she answered. She opened her mouth to say more but he stopped her.

“It’s okay,” he told her. “I know you meant well. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She smiled again in return.

“Is Graham still alive?” She asked the question we were both thinking.

Jonathan was hesitant at answering at first, he met my eyes and then looked back at her.

“He is…” he answered. “But he killed Elijah.”

Ronnie sighed out in shock.

“Elijah’s dead?” She asked in a whisper.

Jonathan nodded.

Looking around the room, he turned to me and asked, “Where’s Erick and Anderson?”

“Erick went to get some coffee at the bakery,” Ronnie answered.

“Wait, Anderson didn’t come back with you?” I asked, staring at him.

He cocked an eyebrow up at me and stared back.

“Come back with me? He was supposed to stay here with you,” he answered.

“Yeah, but yesterday when we got back to the house, he took off to Blackcrest to help you,” I told him.

I sat up in bed slightly; I felt a bit dizzy at the movement. I stared amongst the two confused faces.

“Anderson went to Blackcrest?” Jonathan asked.