Sapphire Bones

Lena

Hey, so there is a little bit of discrepancy between Lena's name. In a previous chapter, "Abandoned", I referenced her as Lina but it's actually Lena. I apologize for any confusion and will fix the mistake in said chapter. 

Thanks, and enjoy!

Image to the right up top is of Lena (the actress is Anya Monzikova)

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Updated: April 15, 2019

Corvo

Flower buds hanging from skinny tree limbs grew into bright jade leaves, and the cool spring air sweltered into summer. Not long after we arrived home after the trial did the true realization of my new reality hit. A dead mate, and two dead friends I swore to protect from the Council. A gut-wrenching blow to my capabilities as an Alpha and friend, I succumbed to the calls of my bedroom and private floor most days. Dark clouds hung over Emerald the way depression rests on the backs of meek victims. My siblings didn't prod as I thought. The look on my face as I walked through the door answered the burning questions on the tips of their tongues. I left with four and came back with two. A failed mission to save three. L's death dangled in front of me on a loose rope. I did my best to look around it but her face, the longing look she sent my way moments before she plunged over the side of the cliff, haunted the inches in front of my face. The fall, every second of it, and my inability to get to her as I fought Luis and Mattias, occupied my dreams. Nightmares kept me awake at night. I stared at the ceiling and watched as it concaved into L's face, and her stretched out arms as she teetered on the edge of life. Terror-induced sweat-stained my clothing. A steady supply of shower steam filled my room every night. I stood under the rainfall faucet and allowed the scalding water to beat into my pores and leave red streaks in its wake. My mouth opened, and water filled my gums until it spilled over the side of my lips and crashed onto the tile under my feet. Numbing thoughts burned through my mind while I stood under the hot water. I thought of drowning.

"Corvo it's been three months," Jax huffed. He sat across from me at the dining room table. While the eggs in front of me tantalized the nerves in my nose, I couldn't bring myself to eat more than a bite or two. It hurt. Everything hurt. An empty shell of what used to be an Alpha sat before his Beta, and nothing Jax said broke through that barrier. "it's time to let go," he breathed out after a couple of moments of silence, most likely to see if I responded. Instead, I shoved the plate of food toward the center of the table and stood up. My chair screeched in protest.

Alpha Tyler called a dozen times within the first week. Twelve voicemails piled up on the office phone, a small red dot lit up every few seconds. I watched it through a dark room while I sat in the high-back chair and stared at the door. A reminder of a reality I wasn't ready to face. Jax had eyes everywhere, careful not to get too close, but never far. He refused to leave me alone for too long, afraid I may do something neither of us believed I had the capability to do. But his fear trickled into the others and they started tailing me as well. I caught their glances whenever I stepped into a room, only for them to dive off under the shadow of a doorway and slip out of sight before I had a chance to yell after them.

"Lena's coming today," Jax called before I escaped his arms reach. The already frozen scowl on my face worsened at the mention. I swallowed and shifted to face him.

"Is it that time already?" I asked, a bite in my tone. Jax nodded with a mouth full of food. He washed it down with coffee and stood to take our plates to the sink in the kitchen a doorway over. I watched him as he moved about the room, a near-floating entity whose body, besides his legs, remained perfectly still in stride. I followed him into the kitchen where several pack members loitered, plates in their hands. They talked loudly, a droning sound that carried through the entire room and bounced off every surface I saw.