Chapter 25

Skye 

A few days later, Skye is sitting with Charlotte trying to learn how to properly use a breast pump. “L…like this?” she asks, mimicking Charlotte’s example.

“Yes, like that,” Charlotte answers.

Skye looks nervously around the room. “H…how long d…does t…this take?”

“Twenty to thirty minutes.”

She looks troubled. “W…what i…if something h…happens?”

“What do you mean by something?”

“I d…don’t k…know!”

“Honey, you worry too much. It’s unlikely something will go wrong. I can stay with you if that would make you more comfortable.”

“S…stay, d…don’t g…go.”

“Alright, I’m here, it’s okay.”

Skye continues to use the breast pump. When she finally finishes, she looks at Charlotte, confused. “C…Charlotte, w…what d…do I d…do now?”

“We’re going to put it in the freezer. It’ll last longer there.”

Skye nods and hands the bags to Charlotte. “I’m g…going to f…find S…Sebby,” she says.

“Alright, don’t forget to eat something.”

Skye nods and wanders into the dining room, looking for Sebastian. Instead she finds Alice. “Skye, do you need something?” she asks.

“H…have you seen S…Sebby?” Skye asks.

“I think he’s in his study.”

“Okay, t…thanks A…Alice.” Skye leaves the dining room, and wanders around the house for a while, looking for Sebastian’s study. Eventually, she wanders right into Charlotte.

“Ah!” Charlotte yelps, “Skylar, are you okay? You startled me.”

“I’m o…okay,” Skye whispers, “I d…didn’t m…mean to r…run into y…you.”

“It’s alright. You seem a bit lost, are you still looking for Sebastian?”

Skye nods. “A…Alice said that he’s in his s…study.”

“Ah, follow me.” Charlotte leads her to Sebastian’s study. “Here it is. Knock before you go in.” She walks away.

Skye reaches out and gently knocks on the door. There’s no response. “U…uh,” she mumbles, “S…Sebby?” She puts her ear to the door and listens.

Sebastian

Sebastian is in his study when his cell phone rings. “Hello?” he answers. “Who is this?”

“This is Alpha Silverstein,” the person answers.

“Ah, Alpha Silverstein. What can I help you with?”

“I heard that you had a witch hybrid on your territory. Is this true?”

Sebastian growls loudly. “You will not touch her!”

“So it is true. How could you hide a witch from everyone! You know how werewolves and shifters feel about witches!”

“I know that! My father was murdered by a witch! She…she isn’t like the others.”

“That’s just an excuse!”

“She was abused by Alpha Nathan! He beat her, starved her, and raped her! I couldn’t just kill her after she trespassed!”

“You should’ve called a meeting! You can’t make such big decisions by yourself!”

“Yes, I can!”

“No, you can’t! Nothing you say will change my mind!”

“She’s my mate! She…she wasn’t the only one who trespassed when she was first found on my territory!”

“Who else was with her?”

“Her children, two boys. She recently gave birth to twins too.”

“So she was pregnant when you first found her?”

“Yes, she was so scared of everyone and everything, including me. She…she couldn’t even properly tell me about her pregnancy because of it.”

“Does she know that she’s your mate?”

“Yes, we’ve made progress on that. We can hold a meeting to discuss things, but she isn’t leaving my pack. She’ll shut down again if I make her move somewhere new.”

“I assume that means we’ll be meeting on your territory?”

“Yes, that’s preferable. She’s never traveled before and I don’t want to force her if she doesn’t want to come with me.”

“Don’t worry about contacting the other alphas, I’ll contact them and tell them what we spoke about today.”

“Okay, I guess we’ll be seeing each other soon.”

“Yes, goodbye.”

Sebastian sighs and sets his phone down before getting up and leaving the room. Outside the room is a very pale Skye. “Skylar?” he asks, “Are you okay? You look ill.”

“T…they’re c…coming h…here?” she whimpers.

“Who?” Skye shakes her and wobbles away unsteadily. “Skylar, what’s going on? What happened?”

Skye continues to walk away, now visibly shaking. Eventually, passing by Charlotte who is carrying a basket of laundry. “Skylar?” she asks, “Honey, are you okay?” Skye stops and buries her head into Charlotte’s chest. Charlotte sees Sebestian coming down the hallway, chasing down Skye. “Sebastian, what the hell happened? Did you do something to put her into this condition?”

“I don’t know what happened!” he yells, which causes Skye to flinch violently, “I just left my study and there she was as pale as a ghost.”

“Sebastian, what were you doing before you left?”

“I was on the phone with Alpha Silverstein.”

Skye tenses up when she hears the name Silverstein. “What were you two talking about?”

“He wanted to know about Skye and why I hid her from him and the other alphas….” His eyes widen as he realizes that Skye must’ve overheard his conversation. “Skylar, it’s okay. I won’t let them take you from me. It’s just something that has to happen, I promise.”

Skye simply continues to shake violently, clinging onto Charlotte. “Honey, it’s okay,” Charlotte comforts her, “no one is going to hurt you, okay? Sebastian and I won’t let them.” She whimpers softly, still refusing to let go of Charlotte. “Alright, sweetheart, let’s go to your bedroom.”

Charlotte slowly begins to bring her towards her bedroom with Sebastian following behind them. Once inside the safety of her bedroom, Skye moves towards her bed on her own. “P…p…promise?” she whimpers, distraught.

“I promise, honey. You might have to meet the other alphas, but you and I can leave afterwards, okay?”

“O…okay.” She starts to bury herself in the blankets on her bed, feeling safer underneath them.

Sebastian looks at his mother helplessly. “What do I do?” he asks.

“Let her stay under the blankets for now. It’s her safe spot right now, it would do more damage trying to coax her out right now.”

“Okay, I’m going to stay with her.”

“Mindlink me if anything serious happens.” He nods and his mother leaves the room.

Skye

“Skylar,” Sebastian says softly, “I’ll be right here when you’re ready to come out.”

Of course, Skye doesn’t respond. She stays hidden within her blankets for several hours before she finally feels safe enough to come out. “S…Sebby?” she whispers, peeking out from her under her blankets.

“Skylar!” he replies, relieved, “I’m sorry, you weren’t supposed to overheard that conversation. The alphas of the surrounding packs and I agreed on some rules that we need to follow and I broke one of those rules. I won’t let them hurt you. If anyone’s getting punished, it’s me because I’m the one who broke the rules.”

“P….punish?”

“”Yes, shifters and werewolves are very strict with their laws and agreements. If either are broken there’s punishment involved.”

“W…when are they c…coming?”

“I’m not sure, probably in the next couple of days.”

She slowly stands up, one of the blankets still wrapped around her. “S…Sebby?”

“What is it?”

“I’m h…hungry.”

“Let’s go get something to eat, yeah?” She nods and follows him out of the room. Once downstairs, Sebastian asks Alice, “Alice, could you make something for Skye?”

“Of course,” Alice answers, “What does she want to eat?”

Sebastian and Alice look expectedly at Skye, who mumbles something so softly that neither Sebastian nor Alice can understand her. “Skye, what’d you say?” Sebastian asks.

She mumbles something again, still too softly for anyone to actually hear her. “I’ll just cook something that won’t upset her stomach too much,” Alice states.

“Alright,” Sebastian answers, “come on Skye. Let’s sit down.” He takes her over to the table and helps her sit down. A few minutes later, Alice comes out with a bowl of soup.

“Here, Skylar,” she says, “I heated up some leftover soup.”

Skye picks a spoon up and starts to eat, blowing gently on the soup before putting the spoon in her mouth. “Do you like it?” Sebastian asks.

Skye nods as she continues to slowly eat her soup. “Good,” she whispers.

Eventually, she finishes the soup and pushes the bowl away. “Are you feeling better now?” She nods and they head out to the living room, where Charlotte and the children are.

“Skylar,” Charlotte says, “are you okay?”

Skye nods and sits down on the floor next to Silas and Celeste. She reaches out and carefully picks them up. She lays down with them on her chest and her arms gently supporting their heads. She sighs and closes her eyes, accidentally drifting off to sleep.