Leather Jacket

Chapter 31 Die

It was hardly 4am - me sleeping soundly in Marco's hold - when Tom almost knocked the door down.

"What !? What is it !?" Marco roared throwing the door open as I struggled to open my eyes to the harsh light shining in from the hallway.

"Sorry to bother you Marco,but some big things are going down at NightShade again. They need us. Like now." Tom said breathless - almost as if he just went door to door waking everyone up - while Marco let out a frustrated sigh.

"Gimme a sec." He said shutting the door while wiping his hands over his face. "I'm sorry. " he apologized grabbing his jacket from the chair and running out the door while I couldn't help but bury my face in his pillow. Why did this have to be a regular thing ?

I woke up for the second time by everything in the house being torn apart. Sitting up with a gasp for air I try and listen to what was going on as all I heard was glass breaking and the frustrated grunts of someone.

Maybe sleeping in wasn't my brightest moment.

On instinct I run over to Dante's crib picking him up as I backed into the closet , praying he doesn't wake up and give away our position. I pinch my eyes shut as I continued to listen to wood crunching as it was broken in half. Then it all went quiet. I held my breath not knowing what to expect next, and then I heard it. Heavy feet running up the stairs at lightening speed. I held Dante close to my chest as my other hand clasped around my belly while I pinched my eyes shut.

This was it. This was how I was going to die.

I heard the door slam open and fall to the ground with a thump as I started bouncing Dante - in attempt to keep him calm- as I listened to the them throwing open the bathroom door , flipping the bed and then ultimately;

"Alice !? " my breath hitched as I heard the panic in Marco's voice. And it was like he felt my fear subside or maybe it was just his father's voice, but at that exact moment Dante started to cry.

"Marco?" I said -still paralyzed with fear- as he opened the closet door , picking us up and placing us in his lap. He almost immediately wrapped his arms around me as he placed kisses all over my face while I still had no idea what was going on.

"You're okay. Thank goodness you're okay." He rambled on as I heard Frankie come in and yell down stairs 'he found her ' before all the noise died down.

"What's going on?" I said pulling my head back as the worry in his eyes was soon replaced with anger as he got up and placed Dante back into his crib.

"Why didn't you go to the panic room like I told you !?" He yelled making me flinch. It's been a long time since I was on the receiving end of his fury.

"I'm sorry ! I was just so tired and I-"

"That's not an excuse Alice! Do you know WHY I tell you to go there everytime I leave ?"

"For my protection. " I resided the line I've been told multiple times since arriving here.

"This is not a joke Alice!" He yelled out making me stumble back .

"I didn't say it was !"

"Why can't you just follow simple orders !?" He said frustrated, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe because I'm NOT under your control Marco!" I yelled out getting equally upset and fed up that he thought he could treat me like a child.

"Well , you are ! So deal with it !" He said as I watched him look at me with so much anger and seriousness.  I could see he meant it. So I didn't say another word. I just... left.

I didn't even bother to take Dante with me . I was so upset that he talked to me like that in the first place that I couldn't stand to be in his near vicinity for another second longer. I had no idea where I was going when I walked out of the room. I didn't even bother to acknowledge the damaged state the house was in or how ingured everyone was. I just didn't care. I was hurt and I needed to be alone.

Walking out back -the brisk morning wind nipping on my bare arms- I see a little broken down treehouse just behind the large willow tree , as I climbed unto it. It looked old and must've belonged to the previous owners of the house. Sitting down on the little ledge that out looked the forest behind the house, I couldn't help but feel alone.

I mean it's crazy since I basically have two babies within me to keep me company , but physically and emotionally I was alone in every other way possible.

I watched the wind blow the fallen leaves beneath my feet as a shiver ran down my spine. I don't know why Marco freaked out like he did. It wasn't like I intentionally disobeyed him. I knew better than to be an open target when no one was around. I realized that the moment I thought someone other than Marco could've been in the house. So yes , I knew he was right. I knew he had every right to be scared for my safety, and that I should've been in that damn panic room the moment he left. But what I didn't know was , why he was so angry at me for it. Why he had to say that I was 'under his control ' ? And here I thought we might just have become a team. Equal partners.

But I guess looks can he deceiving...

Swinging my legs as I listened to the hummingbirds sing, I felt more at home now than I did in the last 11 months. Isolated and alone. But home. It was weird that being away from him could make me feel more at home than actually being by his side did. I would argue that it was just my anger talking, or maybe the new found disappointment I had for him. But nothing could convince me other wise that he was the one that caused all of this at the end of the day.

That's it ! I thought it was going too good with them. She needed to be reminded of the man he was when she met him. Don't you agree ? Thank you so much for reading. Remember to leave your thoughts in the comment section below. Until next time keep howling my wolves ❤🐺