Chapter 130: Confrontation in the Den

~BANG!~

Willow practically leapt out of her skin as the door was flung open with such force that the handle embedded itself in the wall.

~She’s going to catch hell for this later. Oh well.~ The damage was done.

“W—what—”

“Spill it.”

“Pardon?”

“~Spill it,~” Maya reiterated.

“About what?”

“Everything. All the crap you’ve been spouting is pure bullshit, so I’m giving you a chance to come clean.”

Perhaps it was impulsive…~no, scratch that.~ It was definitely impulsive. She didn’t know this woman, and she had no idea what Willow might say to Julian in the future.

But Maya didn’t give a damn.

Even if she took the ~Julian~ factor out of the equation, it didn’t change the immediate threat.

Her pack was at risk, and while it began with locating Julian, Willow had also turned up with a practically lifeless body.

Then there was the teddy bear, the tracking…

~Something needed to be done~.

Something needed to be done before she lost everything she held dear. Before she lost ~her~ life. She’d tried venturing out there, and all that had happened was she got hurt…

She could have died. Julian and Alex had tried to go as well.

~Nothing worked~.

She was out there. She had to escape from ~something~.—

Because for reasons unknown, this hunter was ~tracking~ Julian and clearly wouldn’t stop until he ~killed~ him.

And them in the process.

So she had to put an end to it.

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Willow said.

“I want you to tell the truth.”

Willow leaned in, her nose twitching as if she was suppressing a snarl. “I ~have~ been telling the damn truth. I’m sorry you don’t like it.”

“You’ve left something ~out,~” Maya countered.

“~Yeah~, all the stuff about me and Julian. Do you want me to tell you about it?”

~Okay, now this woman was deliberately trying to get under her skin~. “Is this a fucking joke to you? Because people are fucking dying.”

“I know! It’s ~my~ fucking people who died. Not yours. Not yet, anyway. ~I’m~ the one who lost everything, not ~you~. ~I’m~ the one who’s trapped in here with nowhere to fucking go.

“~So believe me, I know~. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it.”

~Fair~. And yes, a part of Maya knew she was being unreasonable in her animosity towards Willow. But she was the outsider, the only one who knew anything about Julian.

So what else was Maya supposed to do? Offer her a glass of wine? Take her out to dinner?

~What were her options here~?

~Okay, yes, maybe Willow would have been more cooperative if Maya had been friendly but~…

Even though it was understood that a mate came before everything else, could Willow calmly converse with her and share information, knowing Maya was taking the only person she had left?

Perhaps not.

“Something happened to Julian,” Maya finally managed to say through clenched teeth.

“Is he hurt?”

~Maya was hurt~. The concern in Willow’s eyes felt like a knife to her heart. It was as if someone had reached into her chest and torn out her still-beating heart.

~She was worried about him. She was~.

When she found him, when he returned just now.

~Maya did worry about him~.

Did she worry about him the way Willow did?

Should she even be making comparisons?

Maya had seen Alex act pretty foolish when it came to Olivia. He couldn’t help himself, regardless of the consequences.

He persisted and persisted until he managed to break down the wall Will had built around herself during her dark times.

Was this because it was ~how~ one behaved towards their mate, or was it the stubbornness that came with being an Alpha? Maya wasn’t like Olivia. She knew about mates.

She had always known about them. About the fact she might have to leave the pack to find hers.

~It made sense~.

They were wolves and they craved the pack life, but they craved their other halves more.

But just like how everyone else seemed to have their lives figured out, while she just went with the flow…

Was there something wrong with her when it came to her own mate?

Should she have been consumed by the same recklessness as Alex? Should she have done anything and everything to strengthen their bond?

They had sex, but they didn’t bite each other. They didn’t make it official…

~Was there something wrong with Maya?~

“I asked, ~is he hurt~?”

Maya’s eyes fluttered open, pulling herself back to reality and focusing on Willow.

She had moved closer, bending over Maya, her eyes scanning Maya’s face for a response as she held her chest.

~Right~.

Maya had stormed in, looking ready to tear her apart, and…~and Willow was only worried about Julian~.

“He’s okay.” Maya’s reply left a sour taste in her mouth. “The… The person who’s after him left…his sister’s stuffed animal. Does that ring a bell?”

Willow shook her head. “He mentioned his family’s death, but he never gave details about who died or how.”

Maya nodded. “And nothing like this has happened before?”

~Calm down. Breathe. Control the anger~. She shouldn’t be like this. She shouldn’t be losing control.

Maya always did what she wanted, and she wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, but this ~anger~ inside her? ~It wasn’t normal~.

She let shit go. She didn’t bottle it up. So what the fuck?

“I already told Julian,” Willow replied, stepping back and putting some distance between them again. “We had to move around, we had to leave… I didn’t know why.”

“So, he’d just say jump and you’d jump? Without asking why?”

Sure, maybe Maya sometimes got involved in things that weren’t her business. Maybe she liked to know everything. ~It didn’t mean anything~.

She trusted Alex with her life, she really did. Otherwise, she wouldn’t be part of the pack.

~So she wanted to know why she had to jump~. Was that so wrong?

“Yeah, that’s what you do when you ~love~ someone. When you ~trust~ them. I trust Julian with my life.”

~And you love him~.

She didn’t say it, but Maya heard it loud and clear.

Was that what she was supposed to do? Mate with him without knowing the whole story? Throw herself into the chaos without knowing what was waiting for her?

Or was she ~running~?

That’s what Julian had told her. She was scared and she was running. She denied it.

Maya swallowed hard, feeling her stomach churn. Even though she was breathing, her chest felt tight, as if a heavy weight was pressing down on it.

~This wasn’t how it was supposed to be~.

“I care about him.”

It sounded like a desperate attempt to salvage Willow’s opinion of her, of her relationship with Julian. ~Why~? Why did she need to justify anything to Willow?

She didn’t.

“I wasn’t trying to come between you two.”

~Wasn’t she, though? Leaving her scent behind… trying to draw him to her~…

“I had a mate. I care about Julian. Not the way I did with my mate, but I do.” Willow wrapped her arms around herself.

“I always knew he would find someone eventually. ~I did~.

“But I thought when it was over between us, it would be because he found that ~love~…the kind that makes your head spin, the kind that overwhelms you and takes over your body.

“When I found my mate, I ~knew~ I had been missing a piece of myself forever…and I had finally found it.”

Willow clicked her tongue.

“When I saw you two, it didn’t seem like that was the kind of love you had.”

~How could she know, though~? She had barely seen Maya and Julian together. It couldn’t have been ~that~ obvious…could it?

“You don’t know Julian, but I ~do~. He’s a ~good guy~. You all treat him like he’s some criminal who can’t be trusted…”

“Can you blame the pack?” ~Can you blame me~? “We found him half-dead in a field of bodies, and since then, dead bodies have been showing up and threats have been made.

“How else is everyone supposed to react?” Maya asked.

Willow shrugged, dropping her head and tucking her chin into her chest. “I don’t know how you’re supposed to react. I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t keep people locked up…

“But what I can tell you is, he’s a good guy. I don’t care if he can’t remember who he is. He was never a bad person.”

~Could it be true?~ Everything about him was shrouded in mystery, in chaos. It made moving forward difficult. His lack of memories only added to the complexity.

“What was it about him that drew you in? Why did you choose to follow him, even when it meant running away?”

~She shouldn’t be prying. This wasn’t her business. It wasn’t her life~.

“He was a beacon for the lost and broken. Julian had a heart for everyone he met. Most packs wouldn’t bother with the kind of people he took in. But he didn’t care. He never passed judgment.

“I always thought he must have ruffled some feathers, crossed the wrong people, which is why he was always on the move. I was aimless until I met him.

“So, I chose to follow him, trusting that if he wanted to share more…he would.”

If Julian never regained his memories, Maya would never know ~that~ Julian.

He was destined to be her mate, regardless of his memories but…what if her true mate was ~that~ Julian? Not the one he was now?

Did it make a difference?

Could he rediscover himself? Could he regain his memories, beyond the fleeting glimpse he had? ~No one could say~. Was it even important?

Did she care if he wasn’t the same selfless, compassionate man anymore? Probably not. It’s not like she was out there making sacrifices for others.

~It shouldn’t matter~.

Was this why she had been avoiding Willow for so long? Was she afraid of what she might learn, what she might feel?

“Got anything else to share, or are you done wasting my time?” Maya asked.

~This was pointless.~ She’d come here hoping Willow would have all the answers, but she was right back where she started.

Except now she felt like shit. ~Perfect~, just what she needed.

More fucking guilt.

Willow laughed. ~She was actually laughing at her~. “Nope, nothing else I guess.”

“Great.”

Maya turned to leave, reaching for the door. She gripped the handle, pulling it forcefully.

“Want to hear something?” Willow asked.

~Really~, hadn’t Maya just asked her if she was done talking?

“I’m sure you’re going to tell me anyway, so go ahead.” But Maya didn’t give her the satisfaction of turning around. She kept her back to Willow.

“Whether he has his memories or not, if you don’t mate with him, you’re a fool.”

Maya bit her lip, a response stuck in her throat. She clenched the handle so tightly her knuckles turned white and the metal creaked.

~No~, she didn’t owe Willow an explanation. She didn’t have to respond.

She stepped out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

~Yeah, I am a fool~.