Rogue Eight

Complications

Chapter Eight:  Complications

MADELINE

The room—and our minds—had been silent since my little sister’s outburst and Raven’s assurance of her wellbeing with orders to stay out of her way, an unusual occurrence in our home.  Usually, I was grateful for the small reprieve of chaos.  But today was not that day.  With so much at stake, I needed someone to say something—anything—to ease the tension within us all.  Even my wolf was giving me the silent treatment, in part I suppose from the exhaustion of our battle.  Raven and Lorelei had blocked their link.  Seems Lorelei was growing up…up until the last year, she never used to be able to block me from entering her thoughts. 

I slowly opened my eyes to peer around me, checking on my girls.  Vivian had her eyes closed with her head leaned back against the back of the couch.  Charlotte, Tink, and Constance were all sleeping on the couch opposite Vivian, with Charlotte and Constance’s heads lovingly perched atop their sister’s wide cushy shoulders as Tink rested back against the plush padding behind her head, clutching her bear to her chest.  Between recovering injuries and the days events, they were all exhausted.

I looked over to find Jade and Remi were still at their posts sitting on either side of the entryway.  They were both staring off into nowhere, their eyes clouded in deep concern.  Just as I was about to link Jade to check on the constant companions, their heads jerked around before anxiously jumping to their feet.

“Raven’s coming,” Jade urgently called out to us.  With their keen hearing, she and Remi heard Raven coming down the hall well before she finally made her appearance in the room.   

Instantly, we were all apprehensively standing in wait.  My wolf was on high alert and full of concern as Raven appeared.  Her pale oval face and deep caramel eyes looked weary as she stopped to stand in the opening in front of Remi and Jade.  There was a weak smile on her face, however, that filled us both with much needed hope and relief. 

“I think he’s going to be fine,” Raven’s soft voice relayed, her tone confident, “I’ve had to put him in a deep sleep for now to allow more healing to take place for his internal injuries.  But I was able to remove the arsenic from his system and reverse the effects of the wolfsbane.  His wounds are rapidly healing on the outside with closure of his skin.”  Taking in a long breath of air, Raven exhaled out, “So for now, he just needs rest…something we all need at the moment.”

“And you?” I worriedly queried, “Are you alright?”

“Again,” Raven kindly told me, smiling affectionately, “I’m fine.  While my affliction is not as dire as his, like Gavin, I just need some rest, M.”

Before I could stop myself, my fear pushed out my internal torture in a trembled declaration, “You shouldn’t have used the blanket, Raven.  The changes that have been happening in your body—”

Raven stopped me before I could finish, holding her hand up and steadfastly stating, “As I said before, it was the only way, M.  It is my body and it was my choice…while we all respect your leadership and know you want nothing more than to love and protect us, you can’t control everything.  No one can.  You have to trust that the strength and knowledge you have instilled in all of us is enough and there is nothing any of us wouldn’t do for our family, especially you.  You and your fierce loyalty and love are the only reason we are all here today.”

As Raven’s words filtered through the room, all eyes turned towards me.  I looked around to find that all of them were in full agreement with her statement, their adoration and love silently staring back at me.  Rare mist slowly crept across my eyes as an even more rare occurrence flowed over me…I was speechless.  My wolf cried out with pride in its own declaration of allegiance with me. 

I felt Vivian gently place her hand on my shoulder, squeezing softly as she quietly said, “Nicely put, Raven.”

“A little mushy for me,” Tink gruffly stated, not able to hide the hint of emotion in her tone, “but true.  I’d probably just be some oversized i***t if it wasn’t for you, M.  Let’s face it, even that jerk today thought I was man.”

Charlotte and Constance were instantly incensed with Charlotte starting in, “What jerk?” and Constance backing her up, “He said our sister looks like man?”

“Oh, come on guys!” Tink wailed out, the bun on top of her head bouncing up and down as her obvious internal frustration was exuding itself, “We all know I’m not feminine like you!  I’m…different.”

It was no secret amongst us that while on the outside, Tink was confident and could care less about her appearance or what anyone thought, inside her stature was a great source of self-doubt.  And as I had done from time to time, I let her know that we felt no self-doubt needed to be had as I told her, “And we wouldn’t have you any other way.”

Tink reluctantly nodded appreciatively as she hugged Roly and started towards the stairs, huffing out, “Like Raven said, we should get some rest.  I’m going to bed.”

Charlotte and Constance were on Tink’s heels, obviously going to make sure their sister was okay, “Us too.”

Jade looked over at Remi, agreeing with retreating triplets, “We should go too.”

Remi glanced back at her, but her tone was filled with more of a reluctance in her agreement, “Okay.”

Raven reached out to place her hand on Remi’s back, rubbing it gently, “Gavin is going to be fine.  Go rest for now.  He will be asleep until well into tomorrow.  Nothing else can be done tonight.”

Jade walked up and grabbed Remi’s hand, tenderly pulling her towards their room which was down the hall from Raven’s room and lab, “Come on.” 

“Well, quite the day today, ladies,” Vivian sighed out, running her hand through the stray auburn strands that had fallen around her face, “If it is all right with you two, I think I’m going to bed myself.  Unless of course—”

“Go,” Raven quietly interrupted her, “I don’t think anything else needs to be said or done right now.”

“Agreed,” Vivian exhaustively nodded, turning towards the stairs, adding through her yawn, “You two do the same, alright? And make sure Little One doesn’t wear herself out either.  If we need to take shifts watching Gavin, just let me know.”

“We will,” I told her, “Good night, Vivian.”

As Vivian walked out of the room, I looked over at Raven.  Her eyes slowly connected with mine and I couldn’t help but feel an odd sensation that there was worry held in their midst.  “Everything okay?”

“Not exactly,” Raven cautiously replied, “There’s a…complication.”

My wolf and I both felt an instant sense of dread.

RAVEN

There were dark circles under M’s drained brown eyes and after today’s events, her usual bright ivory skin looked dull.  I wondered if I shouldn’t have let her get some sleep before telling her about Lorelei and Gavin.  Not that any time would be the right time to tell her that the little sister she had spent so much energy trying to protect and keep by her side forever was more than likely leaving sooner than any of us would have expected.

M's eyes narrowed as she heard the hesitation in my delivery, “Complication?  But you said—”

“Gavin is going to live,” I interrupted, placing my hand on her arm, “Let’s go out on the balcony.  I think we both could use some fresh air.”

M measured my facial features trying to figure out what was going on before complying, “I take it this needs to be a private conversation.”

I nodded and turned towards to walk towards the back balcony with M directly behind me.  Once we reached our destination, I turned to face her once more.  Her face was filled with concern, a look I had seen more times than I would like to admit today.  I stood silent for several moments trying to figure out how to gently tell her my news.

Obviously, my silence had delayed the news I needed to deliver for too long as M anxiously urged, “Raven, what is going on?  Tell me, please!”

“I’m sorry,” I apologized, my hand now rubbing my forehead under the strain.  This was harder than I thought it was going to be.  “I’m just trying to figure out the right words to say.”

“To say what?” M pressed, “Whatever it is, just say it!  Pull it off like a band-aid and break whatever news it is!”

I dropped my hand and swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat as I did as she asked, ripping the band-aid off, “M, Lorelei and Gavin…they’re mates.”

M’s eyes widened as the color completely drained from her face.  She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.  After a moment, she let out a disbelieving chuckle, “They can’t be!  Little One isn’t old enough!  I mean she just turned 17!”

“Yes,” I agreed softly, “Lorelei just turned 17 eleven months ago, M.  Not only is she old enough, but she has found her mate.  The reason Gavin woke up is because he sensed Lorelei’s presence.  I saw their connection with my own eyes.  His first word, which she reciprocated from her own lips at the same time, was mate.” 

As tears began filling her eyes—something I felt incredibly guilty about as I had caused her this same reaction just moments ago—M angrily spat, “She can’t—I-I can’t—” Her words ceased and her eyes went wild in despair.

“I know you never wanted her to grow up,” I soothed, bringing my hands up, interlocking my fingers, and slowly bringing them up and down in an effort to plead for her understanding, “and I know you don’t want to let her go…but M, she is completely and utterly in love.  You can’t stop their mate bond.”

M swallowed hard, her eyes dropping to the floor beneath us, devastation filling her broken reply, “So just like that, you expect me to let her go.”

“Do you remember what I said just a few moments ago?” I kindly reminded her, my hands still clinched and moving together in my plea, “You can’t control everything.  No one can.  Trust in the strength and knowledge you have instilled in Lorelei.  Not even Gavin can change those values that you placed in her and she is so much stronger than you think.  I promise you, it is enough and there is nothing Lorelei wouldn’t do for our family, especially you…mate or no mate.”

“But,” M choked out, “she will leave us.  She will leave me.”

“Not forever,” I assured her, reaching out to pull her into a tight hug, “We will figure out a way to make sure we can all see her.  As often as we can.  I will make whatever potion necessary to keep us cloaked and safe, I promise.”

“Can you make a potion to make Lorelei and Gavin both forget they mated?” M weakly requested into my shoulder.

“No,” I laughed out pulling her slightly back to look at her, “and deep in your heart, you know you wouldn’t want me to.  She’s so happy, M.  But, knowing her, she is also worried about you.”

M let out a long defeated sigh, “I guess I need to go see for myself, don’t I?”

“Yes, I think you do,” I grinned and made another attempt at relieving her tension, “Are you alright?  That band-aid I just pulled was a pretty sticky one.”

M hesitantly laughed before eyeing me wearily, “So since when are you so calm, philosophical and wise?  Are vying for the Alpha position?”

“Sometimes a Delta has to do what a Delta has to do!” I teased, throwing my long arms up in the air. 

“Oh, forgot to tell you,” M quickly retorted, “After your rebellion today, you’ve been demoted to Omega.  I’m afraid you get to clean up after the kids for the next couple of weeks.”  She winked at me before turning to go back into the house.

I realized as I watched her that she didn’t answer my question as I called out to her, “Are you alright?”

M turned slightly back towards me.  A lone tear glistened in the moonlight as it slowly moved down her cheek, “No, but I will be.”