The halls stretched long and dark; moonlight slanted through high windows. Selene moved with grace, her hand trailing along the walls, but I slowed when a door creaked faintly open on our left.
“Esme used to spend a lot of time in here,” she told me, stepping into the room.
easy
The air was stale, and my heart squeezed in my chest as I realized where we were. It was a nursery.
It was heavy with dust, but the crib still stood, delicate lace draped over its frame. Toys lay scattered across the rug–a stuffed wolf, a carved rattle, a tiny silver cup. It looked as though someone had simply walked out and shut the door years ago.
“We never understood why,” Selene went on to say. “It took years for us to get her to leave this room. Once we shut the door, we never opened it again.”
“Whose room was this?” I asked, my voice coming out unfamiliar and hollow.
“Lila’s,” she replied, turning to look at me. “We had it built when she was a baby.”
I looked around the room again, my chest tight. The scent… it was odd. There was something to this scent that put my wolf in distress.
“
Judy,” I heard his voice through our bond, and suddenly my heart had skipped a beat. “Where are you?”
I couldn’t answer him; it was like I was stuck in some kind of warp with the walls closing in around me. My breathing, which flowed so easily only a moment ago, felt constricted. I stepped back, a wave of dizziness crashing around me.
This room… this scent… this manor.
Why was I feeling this way?
“Judy, are you okay?” Selene asked, her voice laced with genuine concern.
I tried to answer her, but I doubted any words left my lips.
She stepped towards me, her brows pinched together, but just as she reached her hand out, Gavin was by
my side, wrapping me in his arms.
“Don’t touch her,” he nearly growled. I could feel that his wolf was on edge, and he was seconds away from tearing every living person up in this manor. I rested my head against his chest, breathing in his calming and familiar scent. “I’ve got you,” he murmured, pressing his lips to my temple. “It’s okay.”
For once all night, I truly felt he was right. It was okay… I was okay. I had my mate… he would take care of me. I buried my face in his chest, my arms wrapping around him like a vice.
1/3
“It’s time for us to leave,” Gavin said, and I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or to Zachary and Selene. I
hadn’t even noticed Zachary behind us until Selene softly spoke to him, explaining that I had a minor
panic attack.
Was that what that was? A panic attack?
“Well, I suppose all has been said for this evening,” Zachary said, his eyes finding mine briefly before his
attention returned to Gavin. “We’ll talk more in the near future. Just think about what I said.”
Gavin’s body was tense, but he nodded.
“Yeah,” he murmured, his hand rubbing soothing circles along my back, anchoring me to him. My wolf immediately felt calmer, and my breathing had finally slowed back down to its normal rate.
We left the nursery behind, but its air clung to me, thick and wrong. Even in Gavin’s arms, my chest still ached, as though the room had stolen something from me I couldn’t name.
Zachary’s words echoed behind us, smooth and measured, “I’ll see you soon.”
But it wasn’t his voice that followed me into the night… it was Esme’s.
As Gavin guided me through the front hall, her hair sat at the far end, waiting in the shadow. Her milky eyes found mine, unblinking, ancient.
Her lips parted slightly, and in a soft, yet raspy and unused voice, she said the words that haunted my dreams.
“Blood calls to blood.”
I glanced at Gavin, wondering if he had heard and seen what I had, but his focus was on the front door, his frown deep and the worry lines on his face prominent. I glanced back in the direction of Esme, and my heart lurched when I saw that she was gone like she had never been there, a whisper in the wind or a forgotten shadow in the corner.
I stumbled, clutching Gavin’s arm. He stared at me instantly, his body tensing at the look on my face.
“You’re pale,” he said softly. “What is it?”
“Nothing,” I whispered, though the word tasted like a lie.
I rested my hand over my belly as his arm tightened around me. My wolf was silent now, but not calm. She was waiting… she was listening.
He pushed the front doors open and stood in the cool night breeze, taking in the calming outdoors.
“Let’s go home,” he whispered.
I nodded in agreement, wanting nothing more than to leave with my mate.