48. Turmoil

forty-eight

Turmoil

*FLORA*

I don’t know what exactly happens in Regis and Elden’s mind, but something is awfully wrong. First, there was anger, the cold type of anger that makes one’s blood freeze when facing it. But I can also feel pain through our bond. He seems to have lost track of reality.

Fuck! He is either going to accidentally kill someone, or worse, hurt himself.

Regis’ eyes have a hint of red in them. Celeste and I act on instinct. I won’t allow anything to happen to Elden; he is my rock and my soul. I will be damned if I let him suffer or fall into desperation. Without thinking twice, I lunge forward, wrapping my arms around Regis’ lycan form. There is a twinge of pain I feel when him thrash around, but I don’t pay attention to it. It’s not important.

Instead, I try to pour it all into my bond to him, all the love and respect I feel for him, hoping it will reach him.

Regis stops thrashing around. For a moment it all feels calm. His and Elden’s mind is quiet, relaxed, and their body relaxes, too.

It worked!

Then, there is a surge of panic again. Before I can even do anything, Elden has turned back to his human form, grabbing me by my shoulders to push me back slightly. “I hurt you!” he blurts out. “Fuck, Flora! You are hurt!”

I blink down at my body, noticing a claw mark that goes from my collarbone down to my chest. “Oh that! That’s just a scratch.”

“It’s not just a scratch!”

I try to laugh it off at first but notice he is getting more and more upset.

“It’s not funny, you are hurt!”

“Elden,” I say, turning serious. “I literally jumped Regis and hugged him when he was thrashing around. He was in pain, and I was not going to stand by and watch. It’s nothing major, see? It’s healing already. Celeste has been regaining her powers since I got rid of the ties. It’s only the wolfsbane in my system still blocking her.”

“Still-“ Elden says.

“I knew what I was doing,” I say. “I was fully aware. But there is no way in this world I would have let Regis lose control over himself. You were both in pain; something was going on. I had to do something.”

“I am not blaming you for stepping in,” he says quietly. “It’s on me.”

I don’t need to be his mate to realize he is beating himself up over it. I get why he feels that way, but it’s also a bit frustrating. “You would have done the same for me, no matter what it would mean for your wellbeing, and despite not knowing how much I could hurt you with my background,” I push. “Would you have intervened?”

He sighs. “Of course.” Before I can add something, he shakes his head. “Still, I shouldn’t have lost control. I don’t know why it happened. I felt so angry, maybe that’s why. Maybe it made Regis and me spiral.”

I keep looking at my mate, wondering what I can do to ease his mind. I know he feels guilty for having hurt me, but I meant everything I said. It’s true that I had some luck on my side, as well. It could have been so much worse. “I threw myself at Regis in a dangerous moment,” I say quietly, deciding to take Elden’s guilt seriously. “He wasn’t hurting me, he wasn’t even lashing out at me. The moment I hugged him, he instinctively knew it was me.” I take his hand into mine. I know the type of man you are, and I know you would never hurt me deliberately. But I know from Geneva and Emilia that it’s also my job as your mate to be able to reach you and calm you when nothing else can. I don’t have any strategies for that yet. Maybe we can work something out so that it won’t happen again.

I keep looking at him until I feel like he is finally faltering. I am pretty sure he is only pretending to do so for my sake, while still beating himself up, but at least that’s one small step. I make sure to hurry and find some clothes for him while leaving him with the human men. He is not saying anything, just staring at them, but eye to eye with an alpha, they seem to realize they have fucked up. He is not even talking, and they are terrified.

I feel shallow for feeling proud of something like that, but Goddess, my mate is intimidating, and it’s hot! When I walk by the bathroom, I make sure to swiftly clean up my wound so that it can heal better. One gaze into the mirror shows me it’s already healing, but it looks like a scar is remaining. Why is it not healing completely? I ask Celeste.

I am not sure, she says. It should. Maybe I am still too weak?

Nah, I doubt it. I gaze at the mirror again. Well, it doesn’t matter. We are wolves. Scars are sexy!

And it’s proof of how well we can handle our mate, Celeste says proudly. Anyone else would have been in pieces!

See, that’s what I am talking about! Pity our mates don’t see reason.

Regis feels devastated, she admits. He has retreated into Elden’s mind, and I can barely reach him. He blames himself.

Can you deal with the issue, or do you need help?

No, I will deal with it. You handle his human side.

Got you.

With that final reminder, I hurry outside to hand Elden some clean clothes.

What about the other humans who held you captive? He links me while dressing himself in the spare clothes I was able to find. The pants are too short for him, and the t-shirt too tight, but he still looks drool-worthy.

I told them to get away and be there for their son, and not to get involved in something so shady again.

I almost expect him to argue with me and want to chase them down, but he tosses me a thoughtful gaze. “Okay,” he says. “But what do we do with the scum here?”

“We have never had humans involved with our business,” I say, deliberately continuing our talk out loud, so that they can hear it. “Can’t we just dispose of them?” I say as innocently as possible.

One of the dudes raises his head at my tone, his eyes widening.

That’s kind of funny.

“Yeah,” Elden says looking at them, seeming like he is incredibly bored with the situation. “I don’t even feel like getting my hands dirty. It wouldn’t even take effort to get rid of them.”

“Why do we even have to bother?” I mutter. “So annoying.”

“I will probably leave it to Calvin,” he says.

“Leave what to Calv?” Vincent’s voice reaches us from the door. He looks disheveled and sweaty. He probably stressed to reach us that fast. Now, however, he stops to look at us, blinking once… twice, then at the guys. Once he assesses the situation, he shakes his head. “Man, that’s who we were stressing ourselves over!?” he asks in disbelief. “What a downer.”

“See,” I tell Elden. “We all think the same.”

Vincent looks at us once more, his eyes catching my frame. “Oh, Luna, did you get hurt?”

“Yes, but it was an accident,” I say, pinning him with my gaze. Regis was hurting, and I jumped in between, I link him briefly.

Vincent wouldn’t be Vincent if he didn’t catch on immediately and accept my explanation. “Okay,” he says, pretending like he wasn’t interested at all. He grins when he looks at Elden. “Man, what are you wearing? You look so stupid!”

“He looks hot,” I argue.

“No way,” Vincent grins.

“That’s rich coming from you,” Elden snorts. “You look horrible. What’s going on with your hair!?”

“Hey, it looks like a mess because I was hurrying to save you and your mate!” he pauses. “Didn’t know it was just a low-risk situation.”

“So, truly all humans, huh?” Calvin asks. He looks much less stressed than Vincent did when arriving. He probably wasn’t too worried about me. Now, his aloof attitude and his disinterest in me come as an advantage. He doesn’t even realize I am hurt – or he doesn’t care. Both options are okay for me right now.

“Can you deal with them?” Elden asks.

“You mean to ask if I can get rid of them without anyone noticing?” Calvin wants to know. “Sure, no problem.”

Vincent stares at him. “I am sure the alpha meant something else.”

“Oh.” Calvin looks a bit disappointed before nodding. “I can wipe their memory, then forge a criminal incident, blame it on them and drop them on the human police.”

“You could do that?” Elden asks. “You can wipe their memory?”

“No, but I know a witch that can,” he admits.

Elden frowns. “That’s interesting. Do you mind getting me into contact with said witch, eventually?”

“Sure, I can actually get you into contact with a couple of covens,” Calvin promises. “Witches are very useful to have as allies.”

Elden nods his agreement. “Make sure to blame them for something that will put them behind bars for many years,” he says, his eyes narrowing to a glare again.

“Got you,” Calvin says.

“Can you do it now and on your own?” Elden asks. “I have important business to attend to.”

There is an air of anger around him all of a sudden; anger and pain. Calvin gazes at him thoughtfully, but doesn’t push for answers. Instead, he promises us he has it under control and asks us to send one of the warriors to him with a car, before we leave. Once outside of the cottage, I take Elden’s hand to hold him back.

“Elden,” I say sadly. “I am so sorry. I don’t know what to say… I… Fuck, it’s so fucked up.”

“I knew it,” he says quietly. “I had a feeling the moment I heard you weren’t supposed to get hurt. It was too weird. And then…” he pauses. “I used my gift and found proof.”

Vincent has followed us, but remains quiet, just listening to our conversation with slight confusion.

“I just-“ Elden pauses, looking so hurt it almost breaks my heart into pieces. “-I thought he cared for me at least a little bit, but now I know for sure that he doesn’t. He never did.”

“Wait,” Vincent says. It clearly starts to dawn on him what we are talking about. “No way…”

“It’s the truth.” Elden straightens his shoulders, his voice sounding much more controlled now. There is no hint of him being hurt anymore, just to me, as I can feel it through our bond. “And it’s time to settle it once and for all!”