Chapter 249

#Chapter 249 – Retribution I wake at the sound of a drawer closing and the light click of ceramic on wood. I sniff the air and smile, opening my eyes to see a lovely cup of coffee just inches from my face.

“Oohhh,” I say, pleased and sitting up. I smile up at Victor, standing next to the bed. “And to what do I owe this great pleasure?”

I reach for the coffee but hesitate when I realize that he’s not smiling back at me. Instead, he’s very serious.

“What?” I ask, my hands falling nervously into my lap. “What’s wrong?”

Victor shakes his head and sighs, sitting down on the bed, his own cup of coffee in his hands. “It’s nothing to worry about, Evelyn,” he starts, nodding towards my coffee. “Please, have some. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“All right,” I murmur, taking the warm cup in my hands and pulling my knees up to my chest, watching him, waiting for the news.

Victor doesn’t say anything for a moment, looking down into his coffee and collecting his thoughts. I let him take his time, studying his profile – the shape of his straight nose, the muscles in his clenched jaw.

And suddenly, I know.

“Amelia,” I whisper, my stomach twisting awkwardly.

“How did you know?” Victor asks, snapping his face to me, surprised.

I shrug. “Astral mate instincts,” I reply, twinkling my fingers at him and then taking a sip of my coffee. “I can read your mind.”

He frowns. “Even when I’m not sending you messages?”

“No,” I shake my head. “Just our connection combined with woman’s intuition,” I raise my chin and give him the look of a wise, all-knowing being. “I know everything that’s going on in your head.”

“Liar,” he smirks, looking down at his hands. I can’t help but smile, seeing that he’s got some little secret brewing that he’s hiding from me that has nothing to do with Amelia. Well, let him keep his secrets. I like a surprise.

“So,” I say, watching him over the rim of my cup. “What did you hear?”

“The Betas found her,” Victor sighs, turning to me. “She’s shacked up with Alpha Taylor and his pack, two or three hours from here.”

“Taylor?” I ask, screwing up my face in confusion. “Who is that?” I wrack my brain, trying to remember anything I’ve ever heard about the Taylor pack, but I’m coming up blank.

“No,” Victor confirms, nodding. “Your reaction is correct – the Taylor pack is new, just on their second generation of Alphas.” He looks at me seriously now. “But they’re ambitious, and not without their resources. I think that their hunger, combined with Amelia’s relative…fame, and her supporters –“

He hesitates here, but I know what he means. Delia has kept me relatively updated on this – the number of people out there who still blame Victor for apparently ditching his mate at the altar for me, the little pet he kept in the cottage out back. I nod, letting him know I understand.

“Well,” Victor says, heaving a big sigh, “it looks like she’s not done with torturing me. I think that it would be…naïve to think that this new relationship with the young Taylor Alpha is a love match. It’s not just by chance that he’s meeting Amelia just as he’s eager to make big moves in this world, to get as much power as he can as fast as he can.”

Victor looks up at me seriously, but I can’t help myself from asking the true question on my mind.

“Well,” I say softly, hesitating. “Is he ugly?”

Victor just blinks at me, shocked and confused. “What?”

“Well?” I say, giving him a shrug and a big smile. “Come on, Victor – you know this woman. Amelia isn’t messing with any broke guys, and she’s not dealing with any uggos either, not without an ulterior motive. If he’s good looking, maybe…”

Victor sighs and pulls his phone from the bedside table, quickly typing on it and then handing it to me.

On the screen are a series of images of a young man with an unfortunate pug nose and an obvious paunch.

“Yeah,” I sigh, handing the phone back to him. “She’s doing this to get at you.”

He gives me a little derisive look, as if my methods for drawing this conclusion are ridiculous, but then he takes a second look at the images and shrugs a little. I smirk, pleased he sees my point.

“Well?” I ask. “What…are you going to do?” I bite my lip, holding myself back. I mean, I know what I want him to do. But he needs to make his own decisions regarding his ex and this pack.

Victor pauses for a moment, his head hanging. “I don’t want to go to war again, Evelyn,” he replies softly. I let my breath out in a deep exhale, relieved. “I don’t think I can do it again,” he continues, shaking his head. Then he looks back at me. “I mean, we have all the resources in the world – we would win – but I’m done with that. I want to foster peace in this world.”

I nod, understanding and agreeing completely. I reach forward to take his hand. “So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to take care of it,” he replies firmly, his jaw set and his mind made up.

He hesitates here, but I know what he means. Delia has kept me relatively updated on this – the number of people out there who still blame Victor for apparently ditching his mate at the altar for me, the little pet he kept in the cottage out back. I nod, letting him know I understand.

My eyes go wide. “Wait – are you going to like…”

He stays perfectly still, letting me finish my sentence.

“Victor,” I whisper, horrified. “You’re not going to kill her, are you?”

“Shouldn’t I?” he asks. “It’s not as simple as a personal vendetta, Evelyn. She burned my house down, putting my family’s lives at risk. She attacked this pack, several times, Evelyn – giving your father and Willard the ammunition they needed to take us to war. A war we came very close to losing.”

I stare at him, still horrified at the idea.

“If she were a man, Evelyn?” Victor continues, perfectly serious. “She’d already be dead. It’s only because of who…who she is to me. That she’s alive.”

“She’s your mate, Victor,” I whisper, desperate.

Victor snaps his eyes to mine. “You’re my mate, Evelyn,” he corrects, his voice getting angry.

“I know, Victor,” I insist, putting my coffee down and pressing my hand to my heart. “I’m not challenging that. I’m just saying…you owe her more than you would some random Alpha who worked against you.”

He sighs, and I know that he understands this, that he feels all of the complications of the issue.

“Can’t you just…let it go?” I press softly. “Just give her what she wants, in exchange for peace?”

“What she wants, apparently,” Victor replies, “is to see us in pieces.”

I bite my lip, knowing that this is impossible. That she’s going to come after us and not stop. But still, there has to be some other option.

I move, then, scooting across the bed and pressing myself warmly against Victor’s side, my head on his shoulder. We stay that way for a long few minutes, thinking our own thoughts. Until I make a decision.

“Whatever you decide, Victor,” I say, looking up at him. “I support you. Whatever it is.”

He nods down at me, the lines of worry smoothing out a little.

“I know you’ll make the right decision for this family, and for your pack,” I continue, my voice soft but firm. “But please, if it’s at all possible…please lean towards mercy.”

“All right, Evelyn,” Victor says, after a pause, placing a hand on my cheek and pressing a kiss to my lips. “If that’s what you want, that’s what I’ll do.”

But we both know, in our hearts, that Amelia is a threat.

And in this feral wolf world, threats need to be eliminated before they eliminate you.