Her Promise

Her Promise | Chapter Five

MADDOX

Ronin and I were talking in the front hallway while we waited for Langston when Missy and Emma came in. Missy had an odd look on her face but looked happier as soon as she saw me. Almost as soon as the door closed, Sadie burst right back through it, announcing that everyone had enough work for the day.

“Sadie, get out of here!” Ronin snapped at her.

“No, Rony, I won’t!” she declined. “All work and no play makes fat wolves.”

“Who says that?” Missy laughed. Emma held back her laughter as well.

“My mom did. Ronin left right after breakfast today, so I know you guys have been working all day. You guys need to get out and learn the pack! So let’s go!” Sadie insisted.

I looked down and Missy, who seemed to find the whole thing funny. She looked up at me, a smile spreading on her face. “She reminds me a little of Sol before everything. And a little of Leo.”

“Should we go then?” I asked her.

“I can’t do any more party planning today. Please?”

Party planning could only mean that she learned about our little welcome party. “So Emma told you?”

“You knew!” she exclaimed.

“Langston mentioned it. I was going to try to ease you into the idea,” I admitted.

“While I am very eager to hand over my job, Sadie is right. We’ve been doing a lot, and you guys should go out and have some fun. There is always the skating rink. It overlooks the lake. It’s a weekday, so it shouldn’t get too busy either,” Emma suggested.

Missy batted her eyes at me like she needed permission. I would follow her anywhere, and I didn’t know how she didn’t understand that. “Yea, let’s go. I could move my legs.”

Ronin huffed. “If you aren’t up for it, you could go home,” Sadie said to him sassily.

“No, I’ll come,” he sighed.

“I need to change first,” Missy added.

“Everyone meet down here in ten?” Sadie suggested. Missy nodded and grabbed my hand as she headed for our room.

When I closed the door to our room, I pulled Missy back to me before she could run off to change. I dipped her low and kissed her softly. “Where did that come from?” she whispered as we stood back up.

“Seeing you excited turns me on,” I smirked. “You looked a little worried when you walked in, so I’m glad you want to go out.”

“Sadie seems a little chaotic but also fun. As much as I miss our friends back home, we have to make new ones. If you’re going to make Ronin your Beta, Sadie seems like a pretty good friend to have around,” she smiled.

“And you don’t have to talk about that party anymore tonight?” I laughed. She blushed, confirming my thought.

“Come on. I want to put on something comfortable,” she said.

“And I want to watch,” I smiled, following after her.

-

The skating rink was neat. I had never been to a place like it. It had tons of neon lights and stuff that glowed in the dim lighting. There were a set of doors at the far end shaded so you could see a darkened view of the lake beyond, but not much light got in. Ronin told us there was a deck outside the doors with tables to sit at.

Sadie zoomed around us as I tried to get the hang of skating. “I’m surprised you aren’t good at this,” she laughed. I held onto her arms as she moved slowly backward, giving me a chance to carefully move the roller blades on my feet.

“Well, darling, I can’t be great at everything,” I informed her.

“You are a pretty good cook,” she smiled sweetly. Momentarily, I lost focus on my feet and started to lose balance.

Sadie circled around us, slowing down. “Come on, Alpha guy. You can do this. Just push forward!” she encouraged.

“I’m working on it,” I told her. “And you don’t have to call me that. Maddox is fine.”

“It’s just about momentum, really. A simple exchange and manipulation of forces,” she said.

“Thanks for putting it simply,” I said sarcastically. Missy laughed.

“Let’s take a break. I bet Ronin is almost back with our food, anyway,” Missy suggested, changing our direction to move toward the wall. I didn’t admit it, but I was relieved. I couldn’t make the wheels on the shoes do what I wanted.

We got over to the wall, and Ronin was waving at us from a table with the snacks we ordered. Sadie practically glided over to him, making it look effortless. When we were off the skating rink floor, I immediately plopped down and got the skates off my feet. When I got over to the table, Missy was already digging into her cheesy fries.

“This place is really cool,” I said, taking my seat.

“It’s stayed popular over the years. It’s one of the best hang-out spots on the weekends,” Sadie said through a mouth full of nachos. “Ronin hung out here a lot, so I tagged along.”

“So you went to school while she homeschools?” Missy asked Ronin. He nodded.

“Frustratingly, she is a genius. She was getting into trouble at school, and they figured out it was only because she was bored. Our parents thought it would be best if she studied at home at he own pace,” Ronin explained.

“I was just having fun,” Sadie sighed.

“You didn’t want to homeschool with your sister?” I asked Ronin. He rolled his eyes.

“No, hard pass,” he said.

“Ronin wasn’t a very good student,” Sadie laughed. “I had to help him with his homework a lot. Plus, he liked all his lame baseball buddies too much.”

“You played baseball?” I asked.

“Yea, outfielder,” Ronin nodded.

“That’s neat! How long did you play?” Missy asked.

“Not as neat as being vampire slayers!” Sadie cut in.

“Sadie!” Ronin hissed.

“What? They both killed vampires. They actually got to fight them. That is so cool,” she argued with her brother.

“It’s definitely not as fun as playing baseball probably was,” Missy said, looking down at her half-empty basket.

“It’s not exactly something we chose to do,” I said, hoping Sadie could take the hint.

“Fighting wolves is tough enough. Is it true the vampires can move faster than you can see?” Sadie trudged on. I could tell she was just curious, but it wasn’t exactly something we had talked about in Blood Eclipse. Collectively, the pack wanted to mourn and move on.

“Sadie, stop. You can’t just blurt that stuff out!” Ronin admonished his sister.

“No, it’s okay,” Missy said, looking up. She swallowed and then continued. “If she wants to know, I’ll tell her. Vampires are terrifying. Humans consider us scary creatures of the night, but we don’t compare. New vampires, they kill you quickly. Their venom is deadly. Older ones, they like to make you suffer first. Their venom may or may not kill you, but it will kill your wolf. And if you’re lucky, they won’t play with you for too long. They get faster and stronger as they get older, and they live so long that their vendettas only fester into obsessions. Some of them retain their humanity but not many.”

Ronin and Sadie stared at us quietly, Ronin’s mouth slightly agape. Missy looked back down at her food, and I could feel the sadness and frustration welling up in her.

“I’m sorry,” Sadie said softly. “Uncle Josh wouldn’t let us… I really didn’t know…”

“Excuse me for a second,” Missy said, pushing her chair back. She got up, her skates rolling toward the bathroom. I stood up to go after her.

“I’m really sorry!” Sadie said, making me pause. I turned back to her.

“I know it’s hard to understand this, and I’m sure you’re curious. What happened last year changed our lives. It took people close to us and hurt others. Missy almost lost her mom and baby sister; she did lose her grandma. I almost lost her before she even knew I was her mate. You don’t heal from that just because the bad guys are gone. If you want to know about it, give her some time and be a little more sensitive about how you ask. And be patient if she can’t tell you,” I told her. Sadie nodded, and I turned back to find her.

I called into the girl’s bathroom but didn’t hear anything inside. I knew she wouldn’t go into the boys, but there was a single-family restroom in between them. The door was locked. “Missy, let me in,” I linked her.

The lock clicked, and I was able to push the door open. Missy was leaning against the opposite wall. I closed the door behind me and approached her slowly. “Are you okay?” I asked her softly.

“I just need a minute,” she said, hugging herself. I rested my hands on her arms, rubbing soft circles with my thumbs.

“Not many people from Serenity Waters were involved that day. They don’t have the same feelings about it as we do. Sadie is just curious, and she probably didn’t realize how she came off,” I tried to defend the girl. I really didn’t think her heart was in the wrong place, but she should have changed her approach.

“Maddox, what if we aren’t worthy of this? What if we don’t make a good Alpha and Luna? What if Langston and Emma retire, and we ruin the pack?” she said, looking up at me.

“Is this what was nagging at you earlier?” I asked her. She just nodded. I leaned in and left a lingering kiss on her forehead. “Missy, you have to stop questioning it. We’re here. This is happening. It doesn’t matter what happened last year or two years ago. All that matters is that we do the best we can now. Everything that we went through only makes us stronger now.”

“I just feel like there is this wall between them and us. What if it is always like that? It’s the same way I felt growing up, but I know some of it was my own fault. I put that wall up to protect myself,” she said.

“Do you trust me?” I asked her. She nodded. “Then trust me when I say things are going to work out. We will handle this. We will become Alpha and Luna, get married, and lead Serenity Waters into a bright future. I only know I can do this because I have you by my side.”

“And if we mess it all up?” I asked.

Maddox shrugged. “We’ll call your mom and dad.” I smiled at her, so she knew I was joking. It worked because she smiled back. “Now, let’s go back out there and try to have some fun. I think I’m going to need another lesson on those wheeled death shoes.”

Missy laughed out loud at that. “I really don’t understand why you can’t do it.”

“Me either.”

MISSY

I felt a little better after talking with Maddox, but I couldn’t completely let go of the doubt I had about this transition. Sadie quietly apologized later, but I couldn’t stay mad at her. She didn’t have the same experience as we did, so she didn’t react similarly to it.

The skating rink started to get a little busier as dinner approached. After much coaxing, Sadie, Ronin, and I managed to get Maddox moving on his own. I stayed close to his side just in case, but he looked pretty happy with himself.

After a while, we retired our skates and moved outside to hang out before heading back to the packhouse. The outside deck area was actually over the lake. The sunset was gorgeous, and they had speakers playing soft but upbeat music that made the atmosphere enjoyable.

After the skating rink, we all went to get ice cream. I was quickly discovering that Ronin was a guy with very simple taste. At the skating rink, he only had a slice of pepperoni pizza and water. Sadie told me he never eats anything else on his pizza, just pepperoni. When we got ice cream, he went for plain chocolate. It fitted him, really.

When we got back to the packhouse, Emma and Langston weren’t readily found, so we headed to our room for the night after thanking Sadie for the fun. Maddox went to the shower, and I decided to try to call Sol.

“Missy?” she answered on the third ring.

“Hey! How’s school?” I asked her.

“Weird,” she said. “But It’s only been a few days. How is Serenity Waters?”

“Different,” I admitted. “I didn’t think about having to start from scratch.”

“Replace me yet?” she joked.

“Never,” I smiled. “But we do have a swanky suite with an extra bedroom, so maybe you can visit before it’s time for the ceremony.”

“I’d have to have some time off school,” Sol reminded me.

“That’s right. So you start your job next week, right?” I asked.

“Yea. It was really nice of Alpha to get me a job to help with school,” she said. “He didn’t have to do that.” Liam secured Sol a job near her new school with one of the companies he was a partner in so she could earn money to help with all the expenses.

“Just do a good job, and you’ll be even,” I told her. There was an awkward pause over the phone. I could still hear the water running in the shower.

“It’s not what we pictured, is it?” Sol finally said.

“No, it isn’t. Although, I’m not sure I ever had a clear picture of what the future would look like,” I admitted.

“You’ve got Maddox by your side,” she reassured me.

“And you can call us any time. Day or night, I’ll always be here,” I promised her.

“I know. It’s just hard some days. But it gets a little better all the time,” she said. I could hear the sadness in her voice. When he was alive, it was easy to tell Sulien and Sol were close. I never thought his death would affect her so much, and I still felt guilty that we couldn’t stop it. I guess it made sense, though. When I thought about the possibility of Little Liam or Leo getting hurt…. Without hesitation, I would give anything to stop that.

“Remember, he would have wanted you to go. You deserve to keep living,” I reminded her.

“I know. I’m here. I’m doing it. But I do need to go. My noodles just came out of the microwave, and I have some reading to finish before I go to bed tonight,” she said.

“Night,” I told her.

“Talk soon,” she promised.

I dropped my phone onto the bed. My mind replayed everything that happened during the day. I wasn’t sure if I felt better after talking to Sol or not. I took a deep breath. It wasn’t just Emma and Langston that thought we could do this. It was my parents as well. And then Little Liam and Leo looked at us like we were heroes. I could do it for them, all of them. I killed a vampire; I could be Luna.

The bathroom door opened, and Maddox came over to the bed, crawling on top of me, still only wearing a towel. “You good?” he asked, pecking my lips.

“Much better now,” I smiled at him.