Chapter 130
[ 1,151 words ]
Chapter 131
Haiden
I watch my brothers walk the three Tolaris wolves back out the front door. I don’t care for them much, helpful today, sure, but where were they when Envy was growing up? Not my cup of tea. Fine. Today we share a problem.
I’m leaning on the door Envy slipped behind to take a call. She’s talking low to her brothers, by the sound of it. I catch pieces, not the whole. I lean in. The door swings. I fall in and land on my ass.
“Woah there, wobbles. I thought we were past this?” Envy looks down, smirking, then offers me a hand.
“I’ll be falling head over ass for you the rest of my life, love.” I take her hand, grin. “Who was on the phone? Sounded serious p>
“Eavesdropping, are we p>
“Only when it’s you p>
She exhales. The joking stays on her mouth but not in her eyes. “Family meeting. Dining
room. Now. ”
That tone moves a house. Dad kills the burner. Mum scoops kids with a game voice. Tommy peels off the wall and ghosts toward the hallway. Levi’s already got a pad and two
pens.
Noah shoulder–checks me on the way past. “Up,” he says. I’m up.
We take the dining room again, map rolled to the corner, coffee down the middle, chairs that have seen worse. Envy stays standing at the head, one hand on the chair back, the other low on her belly. Hauntingly quiet. Steady.
“ I just got off the phone with my brothers,” she says. “Malachi. Julius. Arztec. They were trying to fix something before telling me p>
Dad nods once. “Your birthday p>
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“In six nights, ” she says. “Midnight. They say I’ll take the Lycan whether I want to or not.” She taps two fingers against her stomach. “They say it’s dangerous. For the baby. ”
“Shit.” Noah cusses. “Do we have options? ”
Envy laces her fingers. “Mum says we need an anchor. A living tether dumps steady into you while your body breaks and remakes. Bleeds off the surge. Keeps it off the baby p>
There’s a soft knock. Niall edges in. “Felix is on the porch,” he says. “Asked to speak. He… heard enough to know what it’s about p>
“Bring him,” Envy says.
Felix steps in. He tips his chin to Dad, then to Envy. “I won’t pretend I wasn’t listening,” he says. “The walls in this house are polite, not deaf p>
I like him a little more for not wasting our time.
“I know the tether you’re talking about,” he says. He sets both palms on the table. “I’ll stand in for you, Envy. If you’ll have me p>
“You understand the ask?” Noah says.
Felix’s mouth doesn’t waver. “A life for a life.” He nods. “I’ve already been given a second chance and I’m not sure I used it well enough p>
Dad studies him the way you test a ladder rung. “Certain p>
Felix looks at Envy, not Charles. “You want to meet your pup,” he says. “I owe you this p>
Envy’s eyes go soft for a beat, then firm. “Have you spoken to Theo about this p>
“Quickly on the walk down the driveway, yes. He understands why I want to do this p>
Felix doesn’t blink. Doesn’t dress it up. Just squares his shoulders like a man measuring a load.
“I know what I’m offering,” he says. “I don’t walk out after. I give what I’ve got and your child gets to breathe. That’s the cost. ”
Envy doesn’t look away. “Why you?” Her voice is even.
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He nods once, eyes steady. “Because I was pulled out of a hole I dug myself, on the promise I’d put my back between you and anything that wanted you. You’re alive, but I didn’t stop all of it. Marcus still got hands on your life. That’s on me.” He lifts a palm, stops her from arguing the history. “You don’t owe me absolution. I owe you a job
finished p>
“Felix…” Dad starts.
Felix doesn’t budge. “This isn’t noble,” he says. “It’s arithmetic. You’re Luna. You carry pack and child. I’m a man with years I can spend all at once. If you need a life, my life, you can have it p>
Silence lands like a clean board. No one fidgets.
Envy’s jaw tightens, then eases. “It has to be your choice,” she says.
“It is,” he says. “It’s the only thing that’s made sense in a long time p>
Levi’s voice stays level. “Thank you, Felix, really, thank you.
We all say something along the same, because what more can you say when a man stands
before you offering to die so that your pup can survive? Okay, yeah, I like this guy now.
“I’ll leave you to it and be back on your birthday. I’ve got some goodbyes to say and some people to hold tight beforehand p>
Envy
I go to the sunroom because I need to see small faces doing small things. Mum’s turned pirate school into art class. Macey’s hair has three new ribbons. Elliot’s shoebox treasure chest now rattles when you shake it because someone tucked pebbles in with the biscuits.
“Home time,” I say p>
Two heads pop up. Elliot reads my mouth before my voice finishes. “Underworld home p>
“Yeah. Your ship can sail tomorrow p>
Macey tucks Fergus under her arm like a football. “Okay. But I dibs the big blanket p>
“Fair,” Noah says, already looping it off the back of the couch. He scoops Macey with the
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same motion. She goes without fuss, a soft oof and then a grin.
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Xavier offers Elliot his hand. Elliot takes it, serious. The shoebox thumps against his shin as they walk.
We portal from the apple tree shade. One step and our living room meets us: sky lazy- blue.
“Hands,” Macey says, holding both of hers out. Noah lowers her to the floor. She pats Layah with grave ceremony like she’s nothing but a big puppy. Someone puts the TV on and I sit comfortably on the outside. On the inside I’m a mess. A life for a life. Things weren’t perfect for me growing up, but Felix loved me, he spent time with me, he taught me things, we have…history. Now I’m supposed to accept that he will give his life for the one growing inside of me?
“Hey, little mate.” Xavier says softly sitting next to me and pulling me in close as he places a hand on my growing belly. “It’s all going to be okay, you’ll see.
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I nod, because words right now would threaten to make the tears come.
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