Caged

Chapter 29.

*Cast: Olivia

The next several hours flew by as Rhett, Asher and Weston began to devise a plan of attack, hoping to use the element of surprise as we moved in on the little cabin I'd come to know so well in my past.

I sat back in the leather back chair, quietly listening, memorizing every detail that I could. I only inserted any change or added my input twice, knowing how Cage would respond to certain types of action. A useless feeling was slowly filling me, but I tried to focus on the task at hand. My part of the plan.

My job was to get to Avery and my daughter. And then it hit me. I didn't even know her name. I had no idea what Cage had decided to call her. Only the one I'd held in my heart. The one I'd spoken to her as my hand stroked my growing belly.

Huntleigh.

I'd spoken it only once out loud to him, but I doubt he'd ever planned to use it just for spite. A flash of sick thoughts crossed my mind at her life in his care. The life I'd unknowingly left her to endure. The one I'd known better than anyone.

I couldn't help the anxious feeling rising up inside of me, filling me until it was suffocating every breath I tried to breathe into my lungs. My knee bounced nervously until I couldn't stand it anymore. I stood from my chair and began moving around the room, touching random objects and putting them down, pacing the floor boards as I listened.

"Lili..." Rhett's voice spoke softly in my ear, pulling me back to reality in an instant. My head whipped around to see him staring down at me over my shoulder, his hand stroking against my back.

"Sorry. I just..." I stammered, struggling to regain control of my thoughts.

"I know. We have a few more things to iron out and then I'm going to do a sweep before we head to train one last time. Why don't you get out of here? Get some air. Meet me at the training center in a hour for the run through." His eyes swirled dark with emotion as he gave me a gentle smile, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly.

I gave him a solemn nod, running a hand through my hair. "You're right. It'd do me some good. Clear my head. Ok, I'll be back in an hour."

He leaned forward and pressed a kiss on my forehead before I turned and walked out of the room. I caught a sympathetic smile from Asher before I turned the corner, shaking my head free from the thoughts I was drowning in. I needed space. I needed room to breathe.

I walked out of the pack house, moving my feet aimlessly as I let them guide me down the path with no particular direction in mind. I simply soaked up the sun, now high in the sky as I tried to move crisp clear air in and out of my lungs.

Before I knew it, I was winding through the tree line and down a familiar trail I hadn't walked in six years. I stopped short as I came to the little cabin, tucked quietly away just inside the woods away from the rest of the pack. My home.

I let out a short breath and eyed it warily. The shutters hung crookedly and the windows were covered in dust and cobwebs, but the porch still held the two idle rocking chairs that mom and I had spent countless afternoons in.

The memory of a day when I'd come home from school in tears popped into my mind. We'd spent the whole week learning about the mate bond, and what to expect once we'd shifted. I remember an awkward tension directed toward the back of the class, toward me. Everyone knew what the Oracle had said. They knew our laws.

"One day you'll see sweetie. You'll find someone who will see you for who you truly are. Deep down inside. Maybe even know you better than you know yourself. It'll frighten you. Absolutely terrify you. But you have to let it happen. You have to let that person in. Otherwise, what's the point of it all?" My moms smooth voice spoke soothingly as she smiled over at me, her warm eyes crinkling in the corners as her chair creaked with every rock.

"Mom, you heard the Oracle. I'm not going to have a mate. It's pointless. It's just not something that's meant for me." I sighed as I kicked my heel against the floor beneath my feet, trying to sound calmer about the loss I felt than I felt.

My mom shook her head slowly, her warm cinnamon eyes boring into mine. "No Thalia. You have someone. I know it. I know it down in my very bones. Even if it isn't a mate, you have someone who's meant to love you more than you could even love yourself."

I blinked back at her in disbelief. "Mom how can you say that when you've been cast out the way you have? What about my father?"

Her face changed to a neutral expression as she slowly faced ahead of us. " I had my reasons. And the main one was because of love for you above all else...I know you don't understand right now. But one day you will baby."

She reached over and squeezed my hand gently as her gaze fell on mine before she stood and walked back inside, wrapping her blanket around her frail shoulders as she let out a thick, rattling cough.

I remembered thinking I may never get to talk with her this way again. She passed suddenly a week later.

I stepped onto the porch, hearing the wood creak beneath my feet until my hand floated to the door knob, shoving the now warped door open. Dust floated thick through the air as the sun shone through the coated windows. The bed was still there, exactly as I'd left it. The cover was even partially pulled back from not making it that day.

I shook my head as memories began to flood my mind. My mother's laugh floated through the room in my mind and I felt a warmth begin to wrap around me, calling to me as I walked over to sit onto the edge of the bed. I looked around the room, seeing my mother everywhere at once and a tear dropped down my cheek.

After several long moments, I collected myself and pushed my feet forward, walking out the door and stopping at a patch of gold wildflowers just in front of the cabin. I leaned down, plucking several into my hands and walked up to place them on the porch beneath mom's chair as tears began to sting my eyes.

"I miss you mamma. I love you so much. Please be with me tonight." I said quietly before turning down the path to walk further down the trail.

I felt the emptiness as I left the little cabin behind me, saying goodbye to the only home I'd really ever known. The only love I'd ever had. Until now.

I thought I'd loved Cage, but I could not have been more wrong. He was a monster disguised in sheep's clothing. I had been helpless against him, wishing so badly for love that I'd have accepted it from anywhere. Accepted it in whatever form I could find it in.

I felt my wolf perk inside of me, nudging me to turn back but I wasn't ready. I let my feet fall one in front of the other as she began to whimper in my mind, ears pinning back. I sensed something was wrong. She was seeing something I wasn't. The sound of a twig breaking behind me caused me to jump, my heart lurching in my chest as I spun around, lowering my stance.

A familiar pair of electric blue eyes peered out of the shadows at me as a white toothy grin formed beneath them. "Hello darling. Miss me?"

*A/N: I just have to do a shoutout to @Auslly4ever15 because she is following me on Wattpad and Inkitt AND commenting and voting on both platforms. Can't thank you enough for the support girl! You rock! All of the comments and votes from y'all inspire me to keep going and pushing to make these stories the absolute best that I can so thank you all for the love!