Chapter 116
1432words
Jean's words stayed with me long after our meeting. And I suppose it stayed with Jackson too, because he was the first to bring it up,
"that jean bloke isn't such a bad guy. I mean, if you cancel out the part where he is trying his darndest to make Ember love him and abandon you." Jackson said as he navigated the roads we drove on
"that enough makes him the bad guy," I said, still looking out the window. But even I had to admit that what he was doing for Ember was pretty selfless,
"If you say so, Alpha," Jackson said and sounded like he was trying to draw a conversation from me. But I was in no mood for a conversation, neither was I willing to be toyed with.
"but you know, alpha…" he started after some moments had gone by, "you aren't such a bad guy either," he said and I shook my head causing him to snicker,
"Admittedly though, it makes me wonder a bit, just how much he must love her, or how deeply he must feel for her to be able to do something so selfless."
"wouldn't you have done the same?" Jackson asked and I thought about it a bit, and the answer came to me a bit too clearly,
"you know what? For Ember, I think would it have been hard. To think that something else I could do would make her walk away from me could actually give me cause for worry, but in the end, I think I would have done the same."
For Ember… I believe I would have laid down my life.
"do you think he'd be able to do it though? Keep it all from Ember?"
I ran a hand over my face, "To tell you the honest truth? I swear I don't know. Ember is entirely so intuitive and I believe that a certain way he could move that is out of the ordinary could actually make her wonder. But then again, I am unaware of what kind of relationship they both have. So who actually knows for real."
"we'll just have to play it out, I guess. If she does find out, and this causes a rift between them then that clears the path for you."
I looked at him and shook my head,
"I wouldn't think so. Ember must have not given him the go-ahead to partner with me, but the fact that he still went out of the way to put their relationship on the line just to keep her safe? Sure she might be hurt that he went against her, but after much thought, she's going to see reason. She's not going to suddenly be in love with me Jean is being led by love."
Jackson was quiet for a moment before he finally spoke, "How does that make you feel?"
I thought about it for a moment before shrugging, " I've decided to focus on keeping Ember safe. That's the whole point of working with Jean in the first place, keeping Ember safe. As long as that is achieved then all is well."
I felt Jackson's eyes on me for a moment but chose to keep my eyes off him.
Was I worried that in the end, Ember would still pick Jean? Yes, yes I was.
Was he still my rival? I believed so.
But over and beyond all of that, Ember's safety was tantamount.
Early the next day, before anything else, I decided to pay my dearest sister a visit. I wanted to question her about the brooch I was in possession of before anything else.
It wasn't that I thought that the brooch was hers, but I thought it best to rule out any possibilities,
"back again, brother?" Christina asked, sitting cross-legged as she chewed on an apple,
"you're really living your best life in this place," I commented, and I wasn't exaggerating, she had all her nice things around here, courtesy of my mother, I suppose.
"why? Were you hopeful that I would all but perish in this place?"
"not my plan exactly, but it would have been satisfying to see that you really are paying for your misdeeds. Nevertheless, that isn't why I'm here."
"so, why are you here, then?"
Without saying anything else, I dug into my pocket and showed her the brooch.
"What am I looking at?" she asked, raising a brow and I frowned,
"What do you mean by what am I looking at? This is a heirloom possessed by every female in families that have a standing in society. Especially ours. You more than everyone should possess it."
"uhn." he said, looking at it closely and nodded, "Yes, I remember now. Father gave it to me the first time my wolf appeared. It's been more than a lifetime ago and I barely even remember."
"Glad I could jog your memory on this. Now, to the matter at hand, where is yours?"
She scoffed, "Where is mine? Paris, I barely even remembered that I possessed this rusty old thing, how am I supposed to remember where mine could be? I have no idea."
"for crying out loud, Christina, it's an important heirloom, and you have no memory of it?"
"oh, I'm sorry, my own brother tried making me a prisoner and I escaped, and for so long I've been trying to stay safe until he dragged me and finally made me a prisoner, and you believe that what would foremost be on my mind is a darned brooch? Come on, Paris. Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm ridiculous? Really. Christina, this pack belongs to you as much as it belongs to me. Have you even for once, cared what could happen to the people in it?"
"to be honest, brother? No, I haven't. I have been too focused on survival and being happy, and getting out of this prison alive! This prison that you, my own brother, put me in."
"It is as a result of your behavior and terrible attitude that you needed up here. You're simply paying for your actions."
"so then, you watch your back, brother. Because it may be that I have a lot more actions right up my sleeve."
I walked closer to her gate, "you might want to be careful with your threats, Sissy. Because they just might be the reason you spend a lifetime in this prison."
Her eyes widened before she narrowed them in slits, "Go right to hell."
"Perhaps you can tell me what it would feel like, seeing as you are in it already."
She looked at me as though she loathed me and there was some satisfaction in that.
As I walked back to the house, I wasn't sure whether to rule out my sister or not. I considered ruling her out, not because she was my sister or anything like that, but rather because, every time I considered her responsible for wrongdoing, although she never gave me a reason to trust her, she also never gave me a reason to believe she was a t fault. She just seemed too out of it. Yes, she wasn't exactly the kindest person ever, but the girl neither had the heart to kill nor even to begin to conceal a murder. A little attacking here and there, but murder was too much for her. Perhaps the brooch was hers, but then again, it probably was not, either way, if I chose to focus on my sister, something told me that I had stood a chance of distracting myself from the true culprit.
My head was still in the clouds when I opened the door to the room and found Kate waiting for me in my bed,
"What is this?" I asked wearily and she slowly turned to me smiling,
"Paris, I've been waiting... What have you been up to?"
"tending to some things. How can I help you?" I asked and sat on the couch close to the window,
"Since you've asked" she started, and made to get up from the bed,
"don't get up, Kate. Just state what you want."
"Well, it's really simple. I miss you. I miss having you hold me. My leg has been hurting for so long and you didn't think to stop by."
"I've been busy lately, you know that."
"Busy with what, Paris? What could be more important than your mate?" She asked and I considered what would happen if I tried once again to explain to her that I was done with this connection.
Simply and completely done.
