Chapter 1: Leaving
Note: This series is a darker werewolf series not following the usual "plot" of fated mates.
Be
aware of described violence, depression, and death.
-Octavia-
I couldn’t sleep, so I wandered down the hallways, attempting to shake off this feeling of restlessness. The cat was trailing behind me, as she had been doing more frequently lately, constantly observing me, steadfastly staying by my side. It seemed as though I had become her new confidant. I wasn’t certain how I felt about that, but I supposed it was preferable to being entirely alone with the guilt that gnawed at me from within.
Even though only a week had gone by since we lost Chris, a somber cloud hung over the house, rendering it eerily quiet. We were all grieving the loss of a dear friend, and we were struggling with how to cope with it aside from killing Connor. It was the prevailing thought, constantly on everyone’s minds.
However, I was the only one who couldn’t concentrate on it. Chris had been right. Pursuing Connor exacted a heavy toll, and now it was my fault that we lost a friend. I loathed myself for it, and I didn’t know how to make amends. Nevertheless, I found myself inexorably drawn to his room. I had no intention of entering, but I felt compelled to pass by it. Just as I approached, I noticed the door was slightly ajar, and I heard an unfamiliar sound emanating from within.
I halted and approached the door, pushing it open further, and spotted Kate standing beside the bed with Koda at her side, a bag in front of her, her back turned to me. I hadn’t talked to her since we cremated Chris’s body. I had been too afraid, too ashamed.
“Kate?” I called out.
Kate froze momentarily before I heard her zip the bag in front of her, then she turned around, slinging the bag over her shoulder. She looked utterly exhausted, utterly shattered, and it was all because of me.
“What are you doing?” I inquired, feeling so confused.
“I’m leaving,” she replied, and I heard the detachment in her voice.
“Sorry?” I asked.
Kate simply walked past me, Koda trailing behind her, and I quickly followed suit as I saw her proceeding down the hallway.
“What does that mean?” I inquired, demanding to know what was happening.
“I’m going to bring him back,” she stated, and she said it so casually.
“What?!” I exclaimed.
As we descended the stairs, I struggled to keep pace with her.
“You can’t be serious?!” I shouted.
“Why not?!” she countered, halting and glancing back at me, who stood two steps above her.
“Because it’s not possible.”
“You were brought back. Hunter was cured. So was Lily,” she pointed out. “Why shouldn’t I be able to bring Chris back?”
I could see her point, but she was missing something crucial. “Because it’s not the same!”
“Because I’m not marking him?” she questioned, her voice still cold.
I nodded, and she resumed her descent down the stairs to the ground floor before heading for the grand staircase leading to the entrance of the house.
“Yeah, well, I’m going to try.”
“Kate!” I protested as we reached the bottom of the next flight of stairs.
She stopped and turned around, meeting my gaze with lifeless eyes.
“You can’t,” I murmured, not wanting to lose more people. We had suffered enough, and I knew Kate saw it on my face—how I was pleading with her not to do this. Yet she sighed, her gaze falling to the floor.
“I have to try. I can’t stay,” she insisted, and I could hear the desperation in her voice.
“Of course you can! I mean, you’ve got Ethan!” I argued, trying to grasp at anything that might change her mind.
“You promised Chris you’d take care of him,” she reminded me. “So, take care of him.”
“I promised to take care of both of you!” I retorted.
Kate offered a faint smile, albeit tinged with sadness.
“I’m a grown woman, Octavia, I can take care of myself, but my son needs you,” she implored.
“He needs his mother!”
“And his mother needs his father!” she asserted.
I stared at her in disbelief as we stood in the expansive entrance hall. I couldn’t fathom that she truly intended to leave. After everything that had occurred, she intended to venture out there and leave us all behind in pursuit of a ghost.
“I can’t stay here.”
“You won’t get him back,” I remarked, knowing how this was going to end.
“Why not? Weirder things have happened,” she countered.
“You can’t…”
“I need to try,” she insisted and continued to walk towards the door.
I took a few steps forward, calling out to her again, “Kate!”
She stopped just as she had opened the door and taken one step outside. She looked over her shoulder, once again staring at me with empty eyes.
“And what if you don’t get him back?” I inquired, and I heard the silent plea in my own voice.
“Then I’m not coming back,” she declared, her eyes filling with determination.
Then she walked out of the door, closing it behind her and leaving me there. She had taken Koda with her, and the house already felt even quieter without both of them here. I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, unable to move, before I felt something brush against my leg. I looked down, seeing the cat looking up at me.
“Meow!”
“She… left,” I whispered, barely able to believe she was gone.
“Meow!”
The cat walked away from me and over to the staircase. She looked behind her after placing her front paws on the first step.
“Meow!”
“Oh, s**t. Ethan!” I exclaimed, remembering something very important.
I stormed back towards Kate and Chris’s room, the cat following me the whole way. I stormed into their room and then over to where Ethan’s room was. I opened the door quietly, seeing the little boy still sleeping in his crib, and I slowly walked over to him. He had already lost so much, and he was just a little child… How could they ask me to take care of him when I was the reason he had lost everything?
“Meow.”
I looked down, seeing the cat rub herself against my legs again and softly purr. I shushed the little cat, but she just placed her big butt on the floor and continued to look up at me.
“What the hell do I do now?” I muttered, feeling lost.
“Meow!”
“What does that mean?” I whispered, but her meow woke Ethan, and soon he began to cry. “Oh, damn it!”
I stood there, not sure if I should pick him up or not. I wasn’t very good with children, and now suddenly I had become the guardian of one?! When the f**k did I become the parent?! I had been quite specific about not wanting to have kids.
“Ah, forget it!” I reached down and picked Ethan up, trying my best to make him stop crying.
“There, there,” I comforted and walked around with him, feeling foolish, but I didn’t know what else to do. “Your mother will be back. Don’t worry.”
He continued to cry, and I looked at the cat as if it could guide me.
“A little help here!” I requested, hearing the little hiss in my voice.
She just tilted her head to the side, as if she didn’t understand me.
“Oh, right now you want to act like a real cat,” I said.
She walked over to me and brushed herself against my leg as I stood there, trying to get Ethan to stop crying. That was when I got an idea and reached down, picking the fat cat up with one arm and bringing her to the same height as Ethan.
“Look. Cat,” I stated.
I was holding Ethan with my other while Little Diva looked at the little boy, who stopped crying and studied the animal. She did not look very impressed, though, but she didn’t try to scratch me.
“You like the cat?” I asked, and Ethan stared at her, mesmerized. “That’s better…”
I slowly put the cat down again, who then started to walk away, looking rather offended with the way she had been used.
“Okay, let us find Valerio,” I said and started to walk out of the room and back to my own.
We had some stuff to fix here, and I couldn’t do it alone.
