Filed to story: Rylee the Orphan Luna Novel
“How’s Lexie and Lanie doing?”
“Lanie seems to be holding her own, but she was upset when I told them that Rylee needs time to process everything. Eric is the one who turned Rylee into a child slave and killed her parents and destroyed her pack.” “What!?”
“Yeah, that’s a story for another time.” I just nodded and shook my head at the same time. Things were really complicated. “What about Lexie?” I asked.
“She thinks Brent hates her, and she’s afraid he may reject her because she’s related to the fucker that ruined his life.”
“You don’t think he would actually do that, do you?”
“I hope not. Lexie loves him, and I know he loves her. This is just a lot to process. Everyone thought they were done with Halfmoon and their s**t but, even from beyond the werewolf grave, they’re still f*****g up our lives.” I nodded my head in agreement. “What about that fucker, Marvin?”
“Rylee killed him. Ripped off his head without even touching him.”
“I’m not going to say anything to that. I’m going up to J. Link me if you need me for anything.”
“Goodnight, brother.”
“Goodnight, Alpha.”
When I made it back to her room, I knocked on the door and waited a few seconds before opening it. I still had her back towards the door, but she wasn’t crying anymore. Her breathing was labored, but it appeared that she had cried herself to sleep. I put the water and the food on the nightstand by the bed and gently sat down next to her. She looked so fragile curled up in the bed.
I looked around and just scoffed to myself. She was in a king-sized bed, and she barely took up a fifth of it; she was so small. I gently maneuvered her and pulled the comforter from under her body and put it back over her to keep her warm. She whimpered slightly, and she started to cry again. I thought maybe I had awoken her, but it turned out she was dreaming.
Hold her.
Arkhos was adamant about keeping her close. I sighed in defeat and gently got on the bed behind her. I stayed on top of the covers but placed one arm underneath and ever so delicately snaked it around her waist. A few seconds of me holding her like that, her breathing evened out again, and her tears stopped.
See, our touch soothes her in her sleep even if it doesn’t when she is awake.
How can someone be so evil as to hurt something so beautiful and delicate as her?
There are evil beings in the world, Maverick. Our job is to let our mates know that we are not one of them.
I just nodded my head and pulled her close to me. She seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. I figured I would stay with her for the night just in case. If she woke up freaked out, I wouldn’t take offense and would apologize. For now, I just wanted to provide her some comfort. I doubt she ever slept comfortably a day in her life. I prayed to the Moon Goddess that J would be able to find solace in my arms for the evening and shut out the horrible things that happened today. I prayed that her parents would meet her in her dreams so that she could at least say her final goodbyes to them.
I readjusted myself and put my free arm under her neck and let her sleep on my arm as a pillow. I inhaled her scent of what seemed to be candy apples and drifted to sleep. I only hoped her wolf didn’t try to kill me when she woke up.
***Wyatt’s
P.O.V.***
After witnessing Rylee descend into temporary madness, I pulled her out of the dungeon and escorted her upstairs. It was no secret that Marvin was sick and deranged, but I didn’t think that his wolf would be too. Finding out that he entered this business to save his mate’s life almost made me sympathetic to his cause, but then his wolf admitted that he didn’t even accept his mate as his Luna, all because she was human. But hearing that it was Eric who violated Rylee’s mom all those years ago made me sick, and Blade’s hackles were standing upright.
I carried Rylee to our room and laid her down but saw that her clothes were covered in blood because of me. “Dearest, I’m going to run a bath for us, okay?” I told her. All she could do was nod softly. I discarded my clothing into the laundry chute. I was pretty certain the Omegas were going to have a field day with all of the bloody clothing they were about to receive from all of us. I went into the bathroom and ran the water and added some stress-relieving bath salts. The moon goddess only knew how much Rylee would need this.
To think that her only remaining biological family shared DNA with the disgruntled Pattersons. That would be enough to drive anyone over the edge. As I was getting the bath ready, it suddenly dawned on me who else this directly affected. I let out a disheveled sigh and hung my neck back. I shook it off and went back into the bedroom to fetch Rylee. She was still laying down in the exact same position she had been when I walked away.
“Come on, Tink. The water is ready.” I picked her up and she leaned into my chest but didn’t hold onto my neck. It was like carrying a statue. I placed her on the counter of the bathroom, and gently removed her clothing. While I discarded them, I mind-linked my mother to get some Omegas to replace the sheets on our bed.
I brought Rylee to the tub with me and gently lowered her into the tub. Once she was settled, I got in behind her and had her lean against me. She was moving on autopilot and didn’t seem to be cognizant.
“Rylee, I need you to talk to me,” I said to her gently as I rubbed her shoulders. She didn’t say anything and was completely still. “Dearest, don’t shut down on me. If you need to scream, then scream. If you need to cry, then cry. Don’t bottle up your emotions. William taught you to never do that.” She was silent again, and after a minute or so I felt her body starting to tremble, and I heard her sniffle. “Baby?”
“How?” she said softly. Had I not been a werewolf, I never would have heard her.
“How what?”
“How do I accept them?”
“Accept who? Lanie and Lexie?” I asked, and she just nodded slowly. I knew where she was going with this. Anyone would, but it wasn’t their fault. It wouldn’t be fair to them. Sure, life isn’t fair, not by any means, but they sure as hell didn’t ask to be reborn to the likes of Eric Patterson. “Rylee, you can’t look at it that way.” She immediately sat up and turned out to face me. Her eyes were dull and empty.
“How can I not!? Eric ruined my life, Wyatt. You were there! You saw what I went through while at Halfmoon!”
“Yes, I did, but what happened to you has nothing to do with Lexie and Lanie.”
“Doesn’t it?” she snapped back. I looked at her as I waited for her to continue. “Wyatt, Eric killed my parents, remember? He challenged my father but killed him instead. All because my mom refused to be with him.”
“I get that, but I don’t get where you’re going with this,” I replied.
“Eric had her. He had her, and he fathered pups with her. Why would he just let her go?”
“I can see your point, dearest, but you have to remember, Eric was an Alpha of his own pack. He wouldn’t have been able to hold her for that long. He may have just impregnated her and left her to Marvin.” “That doesn’t make sense, Wyatt.”
“It doesn’t have to make sense to us. Whatever sick and twisted mindset Eric was in all those years ago only had to make sense to him. We can’t turn back time to figure what happened exactly, but we also can’t blame the girls.”
“Eric killed my parents, Wyatt. All because my mom refused to be with him. She chose her mate, and he couldn’t accept that. He staged a challenge to kill my father. Then killed her because she still refused him even though he was victorious. Then he ordered Halfmoon to slaughter my pack, my home. But that wasn’t enough for him, to add injury to insult, he took me and turned my life into a literal living hell!”
“Baby, I know all of this,” I said reassuringly and cupped her cheeks when I saw her eyes fill with tears. “But Eric also didn’t know who you were at the time, because you were smart enough to keep your identity a secret at such a young age.”
“He took everything from me, Wyatt. And now he’s making it so that I can’t even love my own sisters.” Her voice faltered, and the tears fell. I watched as the droplets fell into the bathwater. She held my wrists as I continued to cup her face and her sobs turned into full-on bawling. I dropped my hands, scooped her up, and pulled her to me. I cradled her in the tub as she let out of all her emotions. In the back of my mind, Blade was whimpering seeing Rylee in so much pain. Too bad Eric is dead.
I know. I wish we could revive him and kill him all over again.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
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