Isis: The E6 Breeder (Lycan Breeder Series Book No. 2)

Scene 34

A steady stream of hot tears flowed down Isis's face. She had become used to the constant blur that faded the show they had been watching for the last hour. Season one of Stranger Things didn't require her full attention. She had already seen it, a couple times now.

The rest of the game room was quiet. Bottles of alcohol stood untouched and reaching for the ceiling on the glass shelves at the bar. The pool table was set and ready for someone to remove the rack and break them. There were only two in there, laying across the leather couch.

Julien's shirt was wet under her cheek. The salty mess had soaked through and most likely was itching his skin underneath. But he continued to hold her and stroke her hair. Each languid sweep pulled his fingers through her soft hair, keeping the strays from clinging to her face.

The rest of her mates were scattered. Marc was in the gym, Kylian was in the war room, Liam and Adrien were on duty in the packhouse. And Derek, well, that's why she was a mess. He was on a mission and out of reach.

She wanted to be mad, to shout and fuss, to break things. The truth was, she was proud of him. Pride and fear are not mutually exclusive, as she discovered recently.

"Are you ready to talk about this?" Julien's deep voice rumbled through both his chest and the air.

Maybe an hour of steadily leaking though her eyes was a little much. She hadn't been sobbing, but the depth of her sorrow felt like a constriction around her, blanketing her in a heavy haze. A tissue was presented to her and she wiped her face before sitting up, still snuggled between his thighs.

"I don't know how to talk about this without sounding ungrateful that you're here with me, Jules."

His features softened when he reached out, her cheek sliding against his palm. The coolness of his skin against her own heat was a mild relief in this saturation of depression she was wading through.

"Let's start with worrying about you first. I would like to hear what is causing such a beautiful face to become so red and puffy."

Her sudden chortle broke the tension and with the mood shifted, Julien reached for the remote and silenced the TV. All attention was on the female propped up on his stomach, wrapped up in his legs.

"I don't know how to handle this," Isis whispered thoughtfully. As if she was venturing into the deep end one step at a time. "He was cut off so quickly from me."

The silver cuffs had been snapped onto him in front of her and she felt the disconnect to his wolf immediately. Her hands had been resting on her mate and lover when suddenly it was like touching a stranger. A void had opened up where her Derek had occupied and threatened to implode her with the vacancy.

Well-practiced and prepared for the transition, his eye contact held steady and there was no flinch in his expression. Derek's continued physical presence didn't change with the severance. His clothing was intact and his skin unmarred, but she knew that would change. They would ensure it would look as though he had taken a beat down in the process of acquiring him.

The fact that he needed to look beat up was evidence of the potential for violence and harm at the camp. Her mate was not safe.

She hoped that she looked calm and in control for those few minutes. The last thing he needs is to see her hysterical and have that image distracting him from his scheming. No, she had to send him off with more confidence than she felt. She can fall apart when he returns to her.

"I can still feel you and the others, but having even one of you in danger is unbearable. It's like the percentages don't add up anymore. It's not a sixth of my heart that is gone, but my whole heart. Yet, my whole heart is with you, and with Marc, Kylian, Liam, and Adrien."