CHAPTER 22
After I took a shower, dried my hair, and straightened it–since it always got out of control when it was wet–l walked back to the bedroom. Connor had changed all the bedding and put the sweaty sheets in the wash.
“You didn’t have to do all that,” I said.
“I don’t mind. Do you want something to eat, or would you prefer to get some rest?” he asked.
“I think I might just get some rest for now,” I replied.
“Alright. Well, sleep tight, and I’ll be in the other bedroom if you need anything,” he said.
“Thank you,” I responded.
Connor left and closed the door behind him. I lay down on the bed, but I didn’t want to sleep too much because I didn’t want to be awake all night. It would just create an endless cycle of staying up all night and sleeping all day.
Deciding against sleep, I got up and walked over to the window.
I looked around the area, and there was forest everywhere, which made Meadow really excited. She hadn’t been out for a run in years because Vincent forbade it after she attacked him when we first shifted. He has hated my wolf ever since, and that’s why there was wolfsbane in those pills. I don’t know what else was in them, but they were enough to suppress my wolf so I smelled like a human and dulled enough of my fae powers to limit what I could do.
When I leaned out of the window, I could see the lake at the back of the cabin, and it looked pretty big, but it wasn’t the ocean. Connor knows that I love the ocean because I always talked to him about how my mom took me there as a kid. I always felt a deep connection to it.
I never told him about King Zion or anything like that. I don’t know how he would react if he knew my mother was the princess of the fae. It was a huge deal, and King Zion was well–known throughout all the supernatural species, so I always knew that I had to keep that information to myself.
I turned around and looked back at my room. There wasn’t much in it: a bed, a nightstand, and a wardrobe. The bathroom was separate and across the hall, but that was fine with me; I didn’t care if it wasn’t an ensuite. As I started looking around at the wood slats on the side of the room, they all seemed pretty secure on the wall. However, as I walked along the floor, I felt one of the boards creak.
I stopped and bent down to examine it for a moment. It seemed stuck down pretty well, so I extended one of my claws and managed to pull up the piece of wood flooring, revealing a small hidey hole beneath.
I noticed a tin container inside, so I pulled it out and sat on the floor to open it. As I lifted the lid, I discovered a bunch of photos inside, some of which dated back a long time. They went all the way back to my childhood when I was wandering around Vincent’s pack with my mother. She always took me with her whenever she left the packhouse because she didn’t trust him when she wasn’t around–rightfully so.
The photos didn’t stop at my childhood; they continued through my teenage years and right up until just before I was basically sold to Landon. How and why did he have all of these photos? It didn’t make sense to
- me.
I quickly placed the photos back in the container, closed it, and set the board back over the top, ensuring it
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was secure again. I didn’t want Connor to know I had found them.
“That is weird,” Meadow said.
48 Points>
“I know. But many of those photos belonged to me. I had to leave them behind when I was living with Vincent. Connor somehow got his hands on them,” I replied.
“So, why is he hiding those photos? Some of them weren’t posed; they looked like stalker photos,” she said. “Meadow, do you really think Connor is a stalker? Remember how he was when we were at Vincent’s pack? I can’t just ignore that. He always promised he would help me because he knew I was in trouble,” I replied. “I know, but it just seems really suspicious to me,” she said.
“I understand. Don’t worry about it; I’m sure Connor will explain everything once we’ve been here long enough. He probably wants to wait until I’m feeling better,” I assured her.
“Alright,” she said hesitantly.
I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep that day, and when I woke up, I could smell something cooking in the other room. I ventured out of my room and went to the front of the cabin where the kitchen was. There, I found Connor making us some food.
He poured me a cup of coffee and handed it to me, so I sat at the table to drink it.
“What’s all this about? I didn’t know you could cook,” I asked.
“My mom taught me how to cook whenever my dad wasn’t around. He didn’t think it was manly and hated that I wanted to learn,” he said.
“Well, I met your father, and no offense, but he’s a d**k,” I said, the words spilling out with an edge of disbelief.
“I know,” he replied, a hint of exasperation threading through his voice. “He had way too many opinions for someone who was just a maintenance worker in the pack.”
I could almost picture Connor’s father, a man puffed up with self–importance, strutting around as though he were royalty among warriors. “He must have felt proud when you rose to become the head warrior,” I mused.
Connor let out a dry chuckle, a sound tinged with irony. “I don’t think he’d feel very proud of me right now,” he said, his gaze clouded with frustration.
I shifted in my seat, the gravity of our situation pressing down on me like a heavy blanket. “Have you heard anything more from the packs?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper, fearing the weight of the truth.
“Only that they are still searching. Both of them,” he answered, his brow furrowing as he contemplated the looming threat.
I swallowed hard, the reality settling like a stone in my stomach. “And if they find us, we’re both looking at execution,” I pointed out, trying to keep the panic at bay.
“Trust me, they won’t,” he reassured me, his voice steady as he reached out to offer a comforting hand on my shoulder.
“So, when are you going to tell me the truth?” I asked, getting straight to the point. I hated it when people beat around the bush. I needed answers, and I would ask for them directly.
“Truth about what?” he inquired.
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48 Ports>
“About this house. There’s no way you managed to do all of this since the wedding,” I stated. He turned to
look at me seriously.
“I didn’t. I bought this place long before the wedding. I planned on bringing you here, no matter what. I just didn’t make it in time before he sold you to Landon. I was going to get you away from Vincent,” he explained.
“So, you’ve been planning on betraying your Alpha for a long time,” I said.
“I decided over a year ago that I was going to do this. I knew I would have to wait until you turned 18 before I could help you escape. But things changed. I planned to keep visiting you at Landon’s pack to ensure he wasn’t putting on a front; I needed to make sure he was treating you well,” he said.
“Well, that makes a lot more sense,” I replied with a smile. He just smirked back at me. However, Meadow still wasn’t convinced, though I wasn’t really paying attention to her at that moment.
I’ve known Connor my whole life, and he’s always been kind to me. I wasn’t going to dismiss that because of a few recent actions, which could also be seen as just kind gestures.
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