Lost Without You (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Twenty-Three - Looks Like We're Getting Down and Dirty

© 2013, Briana Hernandez

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

☼☼ Chapter Twenty-Three ☼☼- ♦♦ Looks Like We’re Getting Down and Dirty ◊◊

“Shh. It’s all going to be fine. I told you I wasn’t going to leave you to sink,” he cooed as he rubbed my back.

I sniffled once more before rubbing away the tears with the back of my hand. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have even called you. I wasn’t thinking correctly. I just didn’t know who to call.”

“You can always call me, girl. You know that. All I’ve wanted was to see emotion come from you. You’ve bottled it up for so long and I’m glad you felt like you could turn to me to vent. I’m not as young as I used to be, but that don’t mean that I don’t get what you’re feelin’,” he told me.

“Thank you, Old Pat. I’m glad that Caleb was too much of a blabbermouth or else you would have never found the lake,” I confessed.

“He told me right when he got home that day when y’all made this place, I just never wanted to ruin y’all’s special place. Now, how about you tell me what’s got you all upset?”

I huffed and looked away. “Where do I start?” I mumbled.

“Wherever you want,” he replied.

“I’m not normal,” I began. “Well, not in the same sense as every other wolf. I’ve seen and done things that a seventeen year old girl should not have ever seen or done. Tonight I felt that I had finally made a breakthrough, but now it just feels like I took a billion steps back. I was going to get answers from Chavez and then someone mutilates him before I could get anything. He was seeing common sense and someone ripped him from a better future. I thought I was helping him. He didn’t deserve to be ripped open and spread across the forest like he was cream cheese on a bagel. Then Trevor gets in an accident and I know that he wasn’t hanging out with the right people. He knew something and that’s why he was in an accident. Whoever is behind this knew that I was getting close to finding out, so they took matters into their own hands. Whoever did this killed my brother and now they’re coming after me. I’ll be damned if I let that son of a bitch think that he can scare me. I just don’t know what to do, Old Pat, I don’t know what to do,” I told him before my body was overtaken by sobs.

.

“There, there, child. I don’t get how you say you ain’t normal. There ain’t anyone normal in this whole entire world. If anything you’re a special one. You are exactly where you were supposed to be. Your brother saw something in you that he could trust. You can take care of this Pack and you can do anything that you want. No one is going to hurt you. You’ve just hit a bump in the road, I’m sure you’ll figure out everything that you need,” he told me as he rubbed my back soothingly.

“I had a meeting with all of the Alphas. They kept mentioning the book. The one about my family history and they mentioned stuff about prophecies. Do you know anything about that? I’ve been trying to build up the courage to finish reading it, but I’m scared of what I might find.”

He shook his head, “No, only the Alpha knows what it’s about. The person you should be askin’ is your daddy. He can explain it to you. All I know is that the book has never been wrong. It would be best to read it yourself and maybe it holds the answers to the questions you’re askin’.”

“You know I’m not going to ask Marcus anything,” I mumbled.

“He wasn’t always the hardass he pretends to be. I guess in a way he wanted to assure that you would be able to take care of yourself if he wasn’t around. You know, he blames himself for what happened with Bryson. He thinks he’s weak because he couldn’t defend his only son. I’m pretty sure he uses his limp as a constant reminder that he wasn’t strong enough to protect his family,” Old Pat told me.