Sapphire Bones

Weep

Corvo

            Whiskey and Coke washed down my throat in heavy gulps. I sat with Ethel, Luis, Julianna, and Mattias in the basement while the rest of the pack house flooded with pack members getting ready for an event the next weekend. I decided long ago I wanted nothing to do with the planning; I left that to Erin, who doubled quite well as an event coordinator. The basement looked much like the living room, exempt the extravagant windows. Instead, smaller block size windows were at the top of the wall, near the ceiling with a magnificent view of the grass around Emerald house.

Ethel took a long sip of her own drink colored like a pale flamingo, and spoke up, "has Damien left his room since the funeral?" His name burned her tongue on the way out, and she washed the acid down with another slurp of the pale pink cocktail in her hands.

"Probably not," I answered, setting my glass on the table. "He knows if he does I'll put his head through the nearest wall." I tried not to spend too much time thinking about my temporarily estranged younger brother. His actions, choosing his mate over our dead mother, were inexcusable no matter the reasoning he brought to the table. Stammering over his words didn't help his defense, either. As much as I wanted to blame Allison, no amount of my energy wasted away on her decision to keep Damien away from the funeral. He made his decision on his own; Allison just provided the sex.

"Good," she hissed. While I harbored unpleasant feelings toward Damien, Ethel took it to a new level. She resorted to banging on his door in the early hours in the morning to wake him up, only to succumb into a verbal fight with our brother. Julianna often woke up from the floor below us and came up to break them apart. I didn't bother mentioning the house rules about who was allowed on the Alpha floor, especially when Julianna kept my brother alive for another day. Tessa and Liam spoke their grievances the morning after the funeral, saying Ethel needed a better way to vent her anger. I agreed, but Ethel heard none of it, and continued the nights following.

"I don't mean to defend him at all," Julianna said from beside Luis. He squeezed her side with his arm slung around her waist but she continued anyway. "But have either of you tried talking to him – and no Ethel that doesn't mean screaming at him at four in the morning."

"Just the thought makes me want to gag," Ethel shivered and downed the rest of her drink, slamming the glass onto the marble coffee table afterwards. She pulled her legs up underneath her body, folding herself into the side of the couch. Her one arm searched for the blanket folded neatly over the top of the couch, and she grabbed it and pulled it around her lower half. It slung over her body in a maroon and blue wave, the fringe sewn into the edges hovered off the edge of the couch. Rose petals and chamomile dusted off the fibers in sweet odors, filling the room to the brim. Yet none of it helped Ethel calm, instead it fueled her anger as she clutched the thick blanket with every muscle in her fingers.

"It couldn't hurt to let him explain himself," Mattias noted from his own arm chair. A blanket rested on his lower legs but otherwise his sweatshirt and workout pants were on full display. "Allison can be kind of manipulative." I shivered in my seat, not from his words but from the chill in the basement. It wasn't the kind to come and go when it pleased. The freeze lingered in the air like clouds of frost, and grappled on exposed flesh to ice over.

"Is that enough of an excuse to get out of the funeral? For our mother?" Ethel snapped, ignoring my own open mouth ready to speak for myself. I kept quiet instead, allowing Ethel to speak for me because as much as I hated to admit it I agreed with her. Damien betrayed our family and mother's last wishes.

"I can't help but agree with Ethel here," Luis shrugged. He spread out, his legs wide with one over Julia's knee that leaned toward him. They were a pretzel puzzle bent into one unit that emitted more love than I ever hoped to enjoy or have for myself.