Chapter 18: Will

Chapter 18: Will

I should have let her in my mind a long time ago. That would have made things so much easier. But it never occurred to me that it was a real possibility until we stood beside the burning carcass of the caves. It was a stroke of genius, a moment of pure inspiration. Up until then, I didn’t even know that it was possible to let someone in your mind and soul like that.

But when it happened, it paved the way for trust and allowed our relationship to bloom again.

“What are you thinking about?” Alexis asked. She was in our bed, lying, completely covered by a blanket.

“I’m just wondering what I’m going to make you for breakfast,” I said, smiling at her. She was exhausted beyond comprehension, having braved imprisonment and torture. I had barely been able to get her back to Fiddler’s Green. She had lost consciousness seven times during our journey, and by the end, I had to lift her and take her to my house. She slept for the entire night, and only now did she wake up after a whole twelve hours had passed.

I sat by her side all night, looking at her, worrying about her health, and thinking of all the things we’d do now that we were together again. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to go to the pack and tell them I had taken care of Maurice. After all, this was not my news to share. It was someone else’s.

“I could eat you for breakfast,” Alexis said, lowering her blanket. “Come inside. Water’s fine.” She patted the empty bed beside her.

I wanted nothing more than to join her in bed, make love to her, and then fall asleep in her gentle arms. However, this was not the time for it. My mate was famished and weak. I had to take care of her.

“I’ll get in after I’ve gotten some food in your belly,” I said, smiling at her, then leaving for the kitchen. There wasn’t much in the kitchen, as I hadn’t had the opportunity to run to the market and grab fresh supplies. There were eggs, bread, bacon, orange juice, and cheese.

I hurriedly began frying the eggs and making toast. Then I put orange juice in a flask and put it in the tray. I also made a cup of coffee, knowing that Alexis loved drinking coffee. Once the eggs were fried, I removed them from the pan and put in the bacon. The air inside the kitchen was warm, smelled good. It even stoked my own hunger. I had overlooked how long I had gone without eating a proper meal. Perhaps, after Alexis had eaten breakfast, I would take her out for lunch and shopping.

I arranged the tray and went into the bedroom, placing the tray by her side on the bed.

“Oh, my God. I could eat it all,” she said. “Maurice never fed me so much as a piece of stale bread. Didn’t even give me a drop of water.”

“How did he even capture you in the first place?” I asked, watching her eat the toast and the bacon. She sliced some of the cheese and put it on the toast, then made a sandwich with eggs and bacon and bit down on it.

“I was at the culling field. I saw you beat Ralph and everything. I wanted to come back to the pack, but then I thought that you wouldn’t want me there. You know, classic Alexis overthinking moment. Then I went to the cove and saw that it was abandoned. Maurice blindsided me there. Then he took me to that cave and kept talking about how I was going to be his one shot at revenge and blah-di-blah-blah-blah,” she said.

“He was completely deranged,” I commented. “By the end, he had lost his mind. But even with all of his thinking faculties gone, the greediness in him made him want to continue smuggling. What do you make of that?”

“I guess it means that the man was so attached to the money he was making on the side that he wouldn’t let his defeat come in the way of his smuggling business,” she said.

“I think there’s more to it than that. It wasn’t just about the money. He could have done so many different things and made much more money doing that instead of resorting to a life of crime and risk. There’s not that much money in smuggling anyway. And if there is, where is it? Maurice didn’t live a very luxurious life. Neither were the vampires, for that matter. So if they were not doing it for the money, there must be some other intent. I believe that Maurice was vying for power. He could have all the money he wanted, but what he yearned for was true power. Deep down, he knew that he was not a strong wolf. He also knew that he was not a good mayor at all. When he was elected as the Alpha, he shirked his responsibilities. The only time he came alive was when he was conspiring with Blair and Ralph. I believe that he was telling me the truth about being controlled by someone who had been conspiring against me for more than seventy years. The only freedom that Maurice was getting was through his misadventures with Ralph and Blair. They allowed him to feel like he was free,” I said.

“That would mean that there’s someone out there, someone who’s been operating in the shadows, someone who’s been controlling even Maurice. Who could that be?” she asked, finishing her breakfast and staring at me with wonder and curiosity.

“As much as I have tried to solve that mystery, I come up short of answers. There are other things to worry about for now. Vincent, for one. We have to tell him about his father’s death. We have to let him take in the news and then reveal it to the town later. They’re going to want to hold elections for the new mayor. Things are now in motion that cannot be stopped. Whoever it was that was controlling Maurice now knows that we are onto them. This is an opportunity for them to strike. They may even try to retaliate on a scale that we aren’t prepared for,” I said.

“We have to be very delicate when telling Vince,” Alexis said, finally getting out of bed. As she got out, she staggered and nearly fell. I immediately shot to her side and held onto her. “I’m weak, Will. What has happened to me?”

“You have been through so much,” I said, helping her as she went to the bathroom. “You need all the rest in the world.”

“It feels so good to have you taking care of me,” she said, patting my cheek as she went into the bathroom.

I did not wait for her to come out. Inside, I could hear her taking a shower. I wanted to give her some me-time so that she’d relax, recover, and then recuperate.

I had another task at hand. I took out my phone and called Vincent.

“Hey, what’s up?” Vince said when he picked up the call.

“I found Alexis,” I said.

“That’s great news!” Vince was overjoyed. “I’m coming over immediately.”

I waited in the living room for Alexis to get out of the bathroom and for Vince to show up. Vince showed up before Alexis had gotten out of the bathroom. I invited him in and hugged him.

“What’s that hug for, man? Is everything all right?” he asked, hugging me back. “You’re not dying again, are you? I will not tolerate that. We just got you back. Whatever it is, just tell me. I can take it.”

“Vince, sit down,” I said, beckoning to the sofa.

“Why are you being so morbid? Where did you find Alexis? Was she in another town? Did you make a whole day trip of it?” he asked.

I solemnly shook my head and then sat down beside him. I recounted the story to him, during which Alexis came out of the shower, and came to meet Vince in the living room. She sat beside me as we told him together how Maurice had captured Alexis and was continuing the smuggling business from a series of caves outside the city.

“I hate the fact that I am related to him,” Vince whispered during our retelling.

“But still, he was your father,” Alexis said.

“Was?” Vince raised his eyebrow and looked at me.

“Yes. He passed away. After I confronted him, he attacked me. There was no other recourse,” I said, not mentioning that Alexis had pulled the trigger.

“Well…” Vince said, taking a deep breath. “He was my father. But that does not excuse all the atrocities he took part in. He shot you both. He threw you off a building, Lexie. He tried to kill you, Will. That’s unforgivable. Not to mention all the terrible shit he had been doing in town even before all of that. And now he’s dead.”

I did not expect to see the relief on Vincent’s face. I had anticipated him to be sad, depressed, or even conflicted. But Vince’s expressions were that of pure relief.

“Aren’t you like upset?” Alexis asked, putting her hand on Vince’s shoulder.

“Upset? No. Lost? Yes. I no longer have a father figure. You know, all the time, I expected him to turn over a new leaf and become the dad that I had always wanted him to be. He never played catch with me growing up. We never really had a father-son thing going on. He was hurtful toward mom. The man gave me every reason to despise him growing up. Now that he’s taken care of, I regret that he never changed himself in time to become the dad that he should have been,” Vince said. “But I’m relieved that he’s out of the picture. It’s like a weight has been lifted off me. As if I am no longer living under the malignant shadow of my father.”

“What are you going to do now?” I asked warily.

“Well. I am going to announce the news of his death to the pack and the town. Then I’m going to take some time off and do some introspection. Finally, after all this time, I am free to be the man I want to be. I no longer have to answer my father or question where my allegiance lies. You should know that it lies with you and that I do not hold it against you that you had to kill him. It had to be done. If you hadn’t done it, he would have killed Alexis,” Vince said.

“Take all the time you need,” I said.

“Thanks for telling me in confidence and not in front of the entire pack. I appreciate it,” Vince said, nodding at me. “It had to be done. Don’t feel bad about it. He had many a chance to repent. He never took one. His death was his own mistake, no one else’s. At least now he’s not going to do any more terrible shit in this town.”

“Goodbye, Vincent,” I said, shaking his hand, then letting him go. I watched as he went out the door, then turned to Alexis and said, “He took that rather well, didn’t he?”

“Don’t rush it. It’s going to take him some time to process it all,” she said. “You did the right thing. What other choice did we have?”

“Sometimes, doing the right thing does not feel very right. You know what I mean?” I asked.

“It was either him or me, Will,” Alexis said, finally putting my mind at ease. She was right. He had imprisoned her. Had I not found Alexis, Maurice would have killed her. Could I have been complacent and let it happen? No.

“I’m just glad it’s not you,” I said, hugging Alexis again.

She hugged me back, then said, “I know that breakfast was amazing and everything, but I am still starving.”

“I have to go out for groceries. Promise me you’re going to rest for a long while. Don’t go out of the house. Just recover. Go lie in bed and maybe sleep for a while. When I come back, I’ll have the makings for an excellent lunch. Do you like steak? I’m going to make you the meanest steak that’s ever been made in Fiddler’s Green.”

“And some of that potato salad. You do know how to make potato salad, don’t you?” Alexis grinned.

“Of course. Just take potatoes, chop them up uncooked, and serve them with tomatoes and carrots.” I started laughing, and then Alexis joined in. “It’s all right. I know that you have to mash them up, then add the veggies. I used to make an excellent potato salad with apples, pomegranates, lettuce, kale, and turnips back in Germany. My mother had taught it to me and had told me this was a family recipe tracing its lineage back to Scandinavia.”

“Does kale really go with potato salad?” Alexis asked uncertainly.

“It does when I make it. You’ll thank me, I promise,” I said. It just felt so good to have her back. I took one last look at her before leaving the house, content in the knowledge that all was right between us, hopeful that all would continue to be right.

Outside, the environment was grim. People were gathered around Vincent as he told them of his father’s passing. They were confused as to what to say. They couldn’t just offer their condolences, as Maurice had been a terrible man. Yet, they could not say bad things about him, as it was considered a dishonorable act to say negative things about someone who had passed away. So, they whispered their sentiments to him, telling him that it would all be okay in the long run and that he should not despair.

I wanted to give Vincent his space. Also, I did not want to go into a long explanation with the pack members as to how I had killed Maurice. When the time came, I would tell them within the right context. Right now, I had pressing concerns of my own. Alexis was hungry, and we were all out of groceries.

Hurriedly, I went to the commune’s only quick mart. Even though he never sold the best stuff, it saved me half an hour shopping from him rather than going down to Fiddler’s Green and shopping from there.

“Everything all right there, Will?” the grocer asked me.

“Everything seems to be all right, John,” I said, taking a cart and going down the aisle.

“Heard through the grapevine that Maurice bit the dust,” John said, following me around the mart.

“I was the one who spread the news,” I said, putting vegetables in the cart, taking out steaks from the fridge, and getting juices and soft drinks from the racks. “I killed him.”

“Served him right. The man was a blight on this town,” John said.

“I would prefer not to talk ill of the dead,” I said.

John took the cue and went back to behind the counter, where he resumed solving the crossword in the newspaper. I could sense his vision boring into me, but I chose to ignore it. He could pry all he wanted. I was not going to spill the beans to him.

Once I had all the groceries I wanted, I went back to the counter, where John began bagging up all the items. I reached for my wallet and fished it out of my jeans.

“Oh, come on now. You’re not expected to pay,” John said.

“I may be the Alpha, John, but no one is above the law of economics. If I just started taking things and not paying for them, the pack would suffer,” I said.

John went into a monologue, telling me how Maurice never paid for anything and that I was different from all the Alphas that he had seen in his lifetime. I could not focus on what he was saying. While I’d been standing across the counter, a deep pain rose into my chest and constricted my entire body. I did not know what it was.

I tried to fight it, but the more I struggled, the more this pain crippled me till I could not stand anymore. I fell on my back and began convulsing. Foam dripped out of my mouth, my limbs locked into place, and my vision began darkening.

“Will! Will!” John screamed, but I could not even open my mouth to respond to him. It had been so sudden, this attack, that I was not prepared to deal with it. My vision began darkening, and my mind reached into its deepest and darkest part, playing a harrowing memory before my eyes.

I was back on the rooftop where Blair had injected Wolf’s Bane in me. I was lying in Alexis’s arms, my mouth frothing, my body petrified. The pain that I was feeling now was at par with the pain I had felt back then. It felt like I was dying all over again.

It was not fair, I thought as my consciousness started to slip. It was not fair that I’d gotten everything in order, and instead of enjoying the fruits of my labor, I was dying yet again.

Alexis! I called out, using my bond before I fainted.