Into The Darkness [#2]

CHAPTER EIGHT

ELLIE

        After Nicole fell asleep on my shoulder, I didn’t want to put her down, she was so easy to fall in love with and I just wanted to hold her forever.

        She was so sweet and innocent. It was impossible not to fall in love with her the moment you saw her and I now understood why Jayson had a hard time putting her down once he had picked her up.

        Jackson was patrolling the borders, still waiting for the attack which Jayson had told us was coming, though apparently there was no sign of anything in the area. Jackson had even sent men to check on the camp and they reported that the only damage which had been done was the collapse of a building – though that had occurred when part of a tree fell onto the building and caused it to fall.

        Other than that though, there were no signs that they had been attacked and neither were there any signs that they were preparing to retaliate to the attack. I had told Jackson that he could come back but he simply told me it was better to be safe than sorry; he would return in the morning once he had organised the rotation of patrolmen.

        Luca was now out the front of the house and I could hear his voice every so often as he shouted at someone for slacking off or demanding that they do another perimeter check to ensure no one had snuck past them while they were busy in conversation with each other. It was actually highly amusing listening to be in charge because he’d never had that much free reign before – it was always Jackson who was in charge and he would have to follow orders without argument.

        Charlotte had managed to get her pups to settle down and both boys were now in the guest bedroom beside the one she was staying in with Luca. I made a note that I needed to check with Luca on what their names actually were – I may have been Alpha for almost two years but, in that time, I had only met with Charlotte and the boys five times.

        I couldn’t for the life of me remember what their names were or even how old they both were. It was terrible and I was still trying to figure out the right way to ask him without sounding like a total idiot.

        And Elliot had fallen asleep on the sofa. She was worried about Jackson, understandably, and he wasn’t doing anything to relieve that worry. I have only been back home four hours and I have already had to prevent Elliot from running out of the house seven times before she eventually fell asleep.

        I don’t think I’ve seen some cry quite as much as I saw Elliot cry when she broke down in front of me. She told me that the reason she was so worried about Jackson and wanted him back home was because she needed to tell him that she was pregnant – only she didn’t know how to tell him because she thought he was going to leave her.

        I knew that wasn’t true and Elliot knew it wasn’t true either but she was only thinking the worst of that situation so she wasn’t thinking the worst of the situation he was in right now in which he could potentially end up dead if he makes one wrong move. I didn’t want that to happen and if that did happen then I would feel nothing but guilt for the rest of my life.

        I think the guilt of Jackson dying would weigh on me a whole lot more than the guilt of Lex dying does. Lex didn’t have a mate and he didn’t have a child either but Jackson had both of those and they needed him, they needed him to be alive and to be there to protect them. I couldn’t rely on him forever to keep me safe.

        No matter how many times he promises that he will always be there to keep me safe. Or how many times he tells me that he will always want to protect me from the evils of the world. Or how many times he told me that my life was far more important than his own.