Heiress or Mate?

Chapter 5 - Sticky situations

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Alivia (Veil’s friend)

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“Coffee?” I ask my dad, giving him a cup, and he thanks me. He has just returned from work. He was off today, but there was a request for him to go in. He didn't take long, though, he was in and out. Just then, mom enters the living area, and I ask if she would like some coffee too,

but she says she's good. I leave them and head to my room. I’m sucking up to them because I have a favor to ask. Amity, one of my friends, has planned a getaway for us this weekend, and I’ve just gotten into trouble with my parents. I'm not sure if they will let me go.

I’m nineteen; I shouldn’t have to ask for permission, but my dad says as long as you are under his roof, you need his or mom's permission. Sometimes I wish I were Veil; her parents understand the assignment, but then I’d also be out of touch like she is, and I like myself just fine the way I am. She hasn’t confirmed if she’s coming with us or not. Amity declined her offer of getting her event planner and having the get-together in one of her parents’ holiday homes, and Veil was offended. Veil is used to getting everything she wants. She hates taking “no” for an answer.

My phone rings just as I get to my bedroom, and it’s Jenna. I answer, and it’s her mom, looking for my dad. She says she can’t get through to his phone or mom's and ask that I tell him to call her, adding it's urgent. I tell her I will convey the message and head out of my bedroom.

They are not in the living area anymore, so I go to their bedroom, knowing that’s where they’ll be since it’s late. But I hear Veil’s name just as I raise my fist to knock, and the tone of the voices makes me curious. I lean closer to the ajar door, and my eyes widen when dad says it was for Veil he was called. He tells Mom Veil's mom had him insert a black diamond in her chest, shocking me. What the hell? Veil’s mom said she has one too and that it’s their family tradition and mom is just as shocked by the strange custom.

I hear dad coming towards the door, and I decide to make myself known before he catches me eavesdropping, and I get in trouble. No wonder Veil spends the way she does; she’s even got diamonds embedded in her skin. And Amity wants to compete with her. I don’t; I just let her pay for everything if she wants to. It takes nothing away from me and saves my money. But then again, Amity is just like her; they like to outshine everyone in the room.

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Linton

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You are afraid.

Calyx says, causing me to ask if he isn’t, and he says he is. I can feel it. We’ve just showered and are getting ready to join our mate’s family for dinner, which means we are about to see our mate, but it’s not bringing me any comfort. Everything that’s happened so far hasn’t, and the closer the time to see her gets, the more afraid I get.

I have thought about nothing but her this whole day, but she’s continued to stay away. How is she doing it? Why isn’t she longing for us? Why isn’t she going crazy like we are? I don’t want to, and it terrifies me, but her behavior makes me believe I wasn’t wrong in thinking she doesn't want us. If it weren’t for Cas, who’s also going to be with us at dinner, I’d say her family knows everything, and she’s going to reject me in front of everyone.

The thought makes my stomach churn, and just then, Cas knocks. I invite him, and he peeks inside and asks if I’m ready. I tell him I am, heading towards the door, and we head downstairs. We get to the dining area and find everyone seated, just like in the morning, but our mate is not here. We take our places, and Cas’s aunt says Veil is running late and asks us not to wait for her. Cas dishes up for both of us, and I place my hand against my stomach under the table, feeling it still churning.

They start eating and conversing, and after a moment, Veil’s mother asks if I’m okay, saying I haven’t touched my food. I tell her I am, grabbing the fork like I'm about to eat. I don't mean to be rude, and the food looks good, but I can’t stomach anything right now, not before I see Veil– not before I know what she’s thinking—what she intends to do. As if she heard my thoughts, her scent hits my nose, and I look toward the entrance, feeling Calyx also coming forward. My heart rate shoots up, but I frown just as Calyx whispers something is wrong.

What has she done?

He whispers with a horrified voice just as she enters, and my heart beats even faster, confused, as I watch her advance to the table. I can’t feel her wolf, and her scent is different. It’s still her scent but weak, like a human’s scent.

What’s happening? What has she done?

Calyx speaks again, starting to panic as it becomes clear her wolf is not present, and just then, she looks at us, and there’s nothing in her eyes. They are hollow. Her wolf is gone.

“Are you okay, man?” I hear a voice say, and I realize I’m shaking and starting to hyperventilate as Calyx's emotions hit me all at once– fear, pain, sadness, confusion, all of them beginning to morph into anger.

“Linton?” Cas says, grabbing my arm as my heart continues drumming against my ears, and I jump to my feet, dizzy and still struggling to breathe. I try to ask to be excused, but everything starts to fade, and I can’t hear myself speak.

“What’s happening to him?” I hear the girl’s voice from a distance, and I run back to the room, feeling like I’m going to lose my mind as Calyx starts howling loudly, losing it.

“Stop, please,” I whisper, falling on my knees inside the room, overwhelmed by his emotions, but I’m pushed to the back, and he takes over.

“No, no, please don’t,” I beg, terrified. "We can’t shift here," I whisper, breathless, fighting the transformation, but I fail, and next, I’m standing on all fours.

“Linton?” I hear Cas’ voice, and I desperately look around in total panic, begging Calyx to give me back control, but he takes off, galloping towards the backsliding door that we left open, and the next thing I see is the bottom of the pool as we sink like a stone, and my lights go out.

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Castiel

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“What the hell?! Linton?!” I call out while running towards the sliding door after entering Linton’s room and seeing what remains of his clothes, scattered on the floor. What the hell is this? I hear a splash coming from the swimming pool below, but when I get to the balcony and look down, I don’t see anything. Just then, Aunt Liora enters the room, causing me to walk back inside. I don’t understand.

“He’s not here, and his clothes are torn,” I mutter, picking up the ripped clothes and sneakers. She asks me if I know where he would go, but I don’t; he doesn’t know anyone here. I take out my phone and call him, but it rings on the bedside table.

I run out of the room and head to my room, calling his name, not knowing what else to do. When I don’t find him in the room, I take out my phone and run downstairs, dialing Anessa’s number. I don’t want to worry her, but I don’t know what else to do. I hear Aunt Liora speak behind me, saying maybe he went out, but how? I ran after him, and he didn’t come back my way. He couldn’t have jumped off the balcony. Oh God, no! Could he? I run outside toward the swimming pool, where I heard a noise, but I don’t see anything. I put down the phone and jump inside, my heart beating like it's going to stop at the harrowing possibility, but there's no one.

I get out of the pool to find Alec and Emma looking at me with distraught faces. My phone rings and Emma hands it to me; it’s Anessa. The pool horror came to my mind when I had already dialed her number. I pick up, and she immediately senses something is wrong, even though I try to act like it’s not that bad. I ask if Linton called her, and she says no. The last he heard from him was a few hours ago. She asks what’s wrong, and I tell her he went out without telling me, and now I’m worried. I don’t make it as bad as it is because I don’t want to scare her while she’s so far away.

She says she’s going to try him and get back to me, and I open my mouth to tell her he left his phone, but she cuts the call. I redial her number to tell her that, but just then, I hear Alec gasp, looking at his phone. Aunt Liora asks what it is, and he says it’s a huge wolf downtown. Aunt Liora takes the phone, and I return to what I was doing. I don’t care about any big wolves right now.

I place the phone against my ear, but the phone rings without an answer. Not knowing what else to do, I walk back upstairs to recheck the rooms, praying he’s there because I don’t know what I'm going to do if he isn't. How does someone vanish into thin air?

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Veil

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“You are eating while all this is going on?” Emma asks with an incredulous look as she walks back inside the dining area, and I lose my appetite. This is the first time I’m eating today because of this guy. My whole life has been a mess because of him. I’m pumped full of painkillers and pretending to be on top of the world because of him and his stupid mate bond. I told Mom to let me reject him and let him leave. But she said her plan was better, but look now. The guy has disappeared, and now I’m being forced to care.

“What do you want me to do? You’ve already looked everywhere and didn’t find him. I don’t know where he is.”

“You can at least show concern.”

“Is that going to bring him back?”

“You are unbelievable. The guy was a worried mess when you were sick, but you don't give a damn that he's missing. Shame on you,” she says, getting up and walking outside again while I warn her to tread carefully. Castiel and my mother are already running around like headless chickens; it’s enough. Just then, my phone rings, and it’s Amity, making me more annoyed. She's calling to remind me she's still waiting for my confirmation for this weekend.

I keep quiet for a moment, thinking of how I was looking forward to this call. I wanted to hear the disappointment in her voice when I tell her, no, but I can no longer say that now. I need to get away from all this. It’s just too much. I tell her I’m coming, and she tells me there’s been a change of plans concerning our departure time. I can’t say I’m surprised. I offered to organize the whole thing for her, but she wanted to do it herself, even though she knows everyone is going because I am. If I had pulled out, everyone would have. I tell her I’ve got it and end the call. I haven’t even decided what to get her and her obnoxious boyfriend. Thinking of boyfriends, I miss my boyfriend.

Today’s Thursday, and he’s not sleeping over. He did say he was going to make time for me when I told him I was going to pop in at the office when I thought my dad was going to come back. I wonder if he can still make that time for me. I really need him right now with everything that’s happened. Maybe I could spend the night at his place. I pick up my phone and dial his number.

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Eureka

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“Is he finally down?” I ask Andreas as he enters the living area, and he says yes. Azarios is always difficult when his father is here; he never wants to go to bed.

“Now I can finally have you to myself,” he says, wrapping his arms around my waist, and I wrap mine around his neck as he leans towards me and connects our lips in a kiss that lets me know just how much he missed me. But just then, his phone goes off, we break the kiss, and he apologizes, saying he forgot to turn it off. He grabs it after pecking me on the lips, and I see him frown.

“Is it Hades?” I ask, walking up to him, and he says no but doesn’t say who it is. Just then, the phone rings again, and I take it out of his hand just as he is about to answer. If it’s not Hades, then whoever it is can wait. But I feel my blood boil when I see the ID, and I turn it off and throw it on the sofa.

“So you work on Thursdays too now? They are no longer reserved for us?” I ask Andreas, feeling the familiar lump in my throat, and he cups my face with a hurt look in his eyes.

“They are my love. I’m sorry,” he says, caressing my cheek while tears pool in my eyes, and we connect our lips again. “I promise it won’t happen again,” he adds, pulling back from the kiss, his hands still on my face, and a tear rolls down my cheek. “I love you,” he continues, wiping away my tears while tears pool in his eyes, and I tell him I love him too.

"I'm sorry too for getting like this. I know you have no choice. It's just – it's hard you know."

"I know, my love, and you don't ever have to apologize," a tear escapes his eye as he says that, and I lean up and connect our lips again. He lifts me up and takes us to bed without breaking the kiss. I missed him and I die every time he leaves. Sometimes I wish I could poison that b***h and end this.

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Liora

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“Oh, my God,” I whisper, clamping my hand over my mouth, looking at the video of the wolf. It’s running in the middle of the freeway, and there’s smoke behind it. Alec says it caused collisions. I tell them to go help Castiel look, so I can have time to talk to Veil alone. They run upstairs, and I run to the dining area and find her looking at her phone frustratedly, and she looks up when she sees me coming.

"What? You found him?" she asks, and I tell her I think I did, showing her the wolf.

“What are we going to do? They’ve called animal control. We need to help him," I say, panicked and ridden with guilt. This is my doing. I’m the one who came up with the plan of him staying and seeing Veil without a wolf, and now I’ve put him in harm’s way.

Veil says she doesn’t know before saying we should let animal control handle it. But we can’t do that. What if they capture him, and he changes back to his human form? It would be a catastrophe.

“He’s a beast, mom. I’m sure he’s gotten himself out of sticky situations like this before. If you go out there and try to rescue him, you’ll get yourself implicated. What will you say? He’s your pet wolf. He caused an accident. You‘ll be liable for all that,” she says, and she’s right, but the odds are against him here. He doesn’t know this place; he probably doesn’t even know how to get back here.

I take out my phone and call one of my husband’s men and ask him to find out if animal control has the wolf yet and where they are taking it.

“Mom! What are you doing?” Veil asks, getting to her feet, but I don’t reply and run to the front to get my car keys.

“Mom! You don’t even know if it’s him. What if it’s a normal wolf?” She asks as I grab the car keys and I turn and look at her.

“That’s not a normal wolf. And he’s someone else’s child too, Veil," I tell her, opening the door, and she opens her mouth to speak, but I run out of the house.

“Mom!” I hear her calling after me, but I ignore her and get inside the car. I start the engine, but she stands in front of the vehicle.

“Get out of the way.”

“No, you haven’t thought this through! This isn’t about you; it’s about me. It’s about my life! What will you say to him? How will you say you knew it was him? How will you say you know about wolves? You gave birth to one?” she says, and I turn off the engine, realizing she’s right. I haven’t thought this through. If I tell him I know about wolves, I might as well rip the stone out of Veil’s chest and expose her. Everything we have done will be for nothing.

“I’m so sorry, Linton,” I whisper, taking my face in my hands, realizing there’s nothing I can do. I have to sacrifice him.