Chapter Twenty-Six | Storytime
"Storytime?"
Suddenly somethings starts to beep.
"Shit, I almost forgot." He opens the oven and pulls out gingerbread cookies?
Who the hell makes gingerbread cookies in the middle of summer?
Is that why it smells like Christmas in here? Because he's always making gingerbread cookies?
"You want one?"
"Uh, no thanks."
He shrugs and pops one in his mouth before reaching down to uncuff me.
He walks me to a room and sits me on the bed. I watch him, waiting to feel the chill of the cuffs around my wrists again, but he gives me a soft look and places them on the nightstand instead.
I sigh in relief, handcuffs are so uncomfortable.
Sitting down on a chair by the bed, he stares at the ground with a pained look on his face.
"I had a mate named Eve. She was my world. Everything about her was perfect." He closes his eyes. "We had been planning a baby for a while and we had just found out she was pregnant."
"It was the happiest day of my life. She had planned a surprise to tell me the news and it was the cutest thing." He fond smile darted on his face for a second, before contorting into heart-wrenching pain again.
"And then she was murdered."
I knew where the story was going, and I still felt bad for him despite the fact that he kidnapped me.
"A pack we had been warring with decided to attack us. My father and I had been in a meeting with a different pack hours away and they knew that. They waited for it actually." He shakes his head in disgust. "She was strong. She was strong before we met, but I trained her to fight just in case something ever happened. Most of the women in our pack are trained to fight, because especially when it comes to protecting their children, they are no match for any man. She had taken eight of them down by herself. They were all trying to attack her at once but she was smart and knew how to fight around them."
"In the end, it didn't matter. There were just too many of them and they wouldn't stop coming."
I'm about to say something, but the look on his face keeps me silent. He looks somewhere in between wanting to cry and wanting to rip someone's throat out.
"So when I found out, I killed them," his smile is sadistic, "I found everyone involved and ripped their heads off. Literally." He shrugs. "I killed a little more than I was supposed to, I'll be honest. Only like fifty of them really."
Only fifty.
"It's a pretty decent sized pack so the loss didn't destroy them, but my family wasn't happy about it, and neither was their alpha."
"I wanted to kill myself after. I tried to. But Ryder wouldn't let me. You see, Alpha bloodlines can only be killed by wolfsbane or decapitation. And because of that, only the Alpha has access to it. I thought about just saying fuck it and decapitating myself, but I couldn't. As ironic as it sounds, Evie would never forgive me. If she was here she would be giving me so much shit for killing all those people over her. I would be sleeping on the couch for like a month, which is a huge deal for our kind. But she would've forgiven me eventually. And it may seem crazy and unorthodox for a human, but that's the way we are. If someone hurts or kills our mate, we're allowed to kill them in return. It's even in the law."
"I did bend the rules though. You're only allowed to kill the person or people who are directly involved. I killed way more than my fair share. So I was locked up. And I'll be honest with you, I broke out."
"For how long now?"
"For some time." He looks at me. "You have to understand that a human could never feel love to the extent of a wolf loving their mates."
I think about Ryder and how crazy he's probably going right now and I believe it. And I know if someone purposely hurt me he would kill them without hesitating. I could only imagine if someone killed me.
In fact, when he found us, Abel was going to be in some trouble
Would he kill his own brother?
"He'll find us soon." I look at him surprise."Even for humans, our mates are rarely not on our minds."
"Well, where do I fit into all of this?"
He was silent for a minute. "You remind me of her, you know."
"What?"
He clearly sees the alarm on my face. "Oh no, I didn't kidnap you to steal you away from him cause you remind me of her or anything. God no. I can't even look at anyone else after her. No one compares."
He shakes his head. "I didn't mean look-wise. She was a goddess, you're basic."
Well then. "Ouch."
"Don't take that personally. Mated males are like love-blind puppies. You could be the most beautiful girl in the world and we'd still think you're trash compared to our mate." He winces a little like he just realized he called me trash on accident. "But anyway, what I meant was, I was watching you."
"......"
"Fuck. That doesn't sound any better either."
"No shit," I say, really creeped out. "Should we add creepy stalker to your criminal record?"
"I didn't watch you when you were alone or in your house or anything. I just meant when you were with him."
"I was originally gonna try stealing the wolfsbane from my father, so I was watching Ryder to see when they would both be out of the house," he says. "And then I saw him with you. And I knew you were his mate right off the bat. When I said you reminded me of her, I meant you're aura and some of your personality."
"Evie had this kind, gentleness to her, that you could feel just being around her. But she had a strength too. And a witty mouth. I think that's the part that reminds me of her the most. You're wit. You realize I kidnapped you and you're still giving me back chat right?"
"To be fair, you're like the least intimidating kidnapper ever. You made me alfredo and gingerbread cookies." I squint at him. "Grandma? Is that you?"
He laughs. "They were her favorite. She would bake them year round. I would come home to the house smelling like Christmas day every week." The small trace of happiness vanishes.. "Before, when I was free, I used to buy those plug in air-fresheners. They had a gingerbread one and it was hard to find, but I would plug it in right before I left, so when I would come back I could pretend that she was right there, baking her little Christmas cookies."
He clears his throat. "Anyway, as to why you're here. There's one last person I need to kill."
"OK?"
"And I need your help to do it."
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Hope you enjoy <
I have another book idea btw but I'm not writing anything until I finish this one. :D