Filed To Story: Zaia Toussaint and Sebastian King: Werewolf Book PDF Free
‘She’s not doing good, her reports are worse and the doctors can’t do anything for her… I can’t do anything. I feel like a failure. I wish I could stop her dying… There’s regret and sadness clear in her words.
“This isn’t on you, I remind her. “We can’t control death.’
‘I wish I could do more.”
Don’t we all?
It’s a while later and Zaia and Sebastian have taken all the children, including Linette’s, out for a few hours. The atmosphere has darkened considerably, and I’ve not seen Valerie as they continue to try to work on making Shelby a little more comfortable.
At this rate… I don’t think she’s going to survive for much longer. Something that I think everyone knows but doesn’t want to admit.
I can’t blame them. The morning was memorable, but the sadness that ensued really fucking isn’t pleasant. I stopped by Ada’s room too… She’s not looking good either.
Illnesses….
It makes me think of ARK1, the disease that was going around. It has miraculously eased up too. No surprise there, but I am not going to let it slide.
I have Anthony and Damien gathering proof that will be shared with the International Health Organisation when I have enough solid evidence to make my case foolproof.
No one is getting away with anything. Not on my watch.
Sighing, I step out onto the patio and light a cigarette, pausing when I’m certain I hear something down the side of the house.
Hugh?
I quietly walk down from the steps and round the corner to see him wiping his eyes. I had heard him leave the room so Atticus and Linette could spend some time alone with Shelby a little while ago, and I admit I do feel pity for the man.
“Want a smoke?”
I ask, offering him one. He looks up with a start, clearly not having heard me approach. He glances down at the cigarette packet I’ve popped open. He looks at it as if taking a second to understand what I said before he gives me a grave smile.
“Thank you… son.”
He takes one and I take out my lighter, flipping it open and light the cigarette for him.
Stepping back, I lean against the pillar, one foot propped against it, smoking my own cigarette as I look at the sky. The weather is bright and warm, but it really doesn’t match the mood any longer.
“You know I have had bad experiences with women, always betrayed and cheated, but Shelby… she is a beautiful soul, inside and out. It hurts to know she’ll be gone soon.”
His voice is quiet and thick as he tries to keep it together.
“It does fucking suck, that’s for sure. We’re all going to die, but imagine knowing prior that you are about to go? She’s probably trying to keep it together for you all. So, make the last days of her life so fucking good that she forgets she’s at death’s fucking door.”
“You…”
he seems to be taking in what I said, as he takes a clumsy puff on his cigarette.
“That is what you need to do, even if it is just talking to her. Tell her everything you want to, everything you envision for the next thirty years of your life. Do it now before it’s too late, and she’s gone.”
He nods as he places his hand over his eyes, his body shaking as he breaks into silent tears.
“Life isn’t a fairytale, we can die at any minute… but that’s life. So, live it without regrets.”
I hear the sound of kids shouting and realise Zaia’s back.
‘Mind coming around the left side of the house? Your old man’s not doing great,’ I say through the mind-link.
‘Oh my… I’ll be right there.’
I hear her ask Sebastian to take the kids inside as Kaia cries and Sebastian tries to calm her. It’s crazy seeing him as a dad, but he seems to be managing well.
“Thank you, son. You are right,”
Hugh says as he looks at me, placing a hand on my shoulder. “I know I failed you, and I will always keep trying to do better. I am truly sorry for falling for your mother’s deceit. It won’t make up for what happened to you, which is not something that I will ever forgive myself for, but I’d like to know you. I agree life is short. I don’t want to waste it.”
I turn my head away, staring at the sky once more, smoking my cigarette. “I guess I do owe you an apology as well. I shouldn’t have blamed you without getting all the facts straight, but like you said, there’s no point in reminiscing over what we should have done and didn’t.”
I hear footsteps and Zaia appears; her purple eyes are full of tears too. She looks at me, smiling gratefully. She heard our conversation…
“We were all tricked… we suffered for different reasons, but we’re together now. We’ll get through everything together,”
she murmurs as she walks over to us and wraps her arms around both of us. I raise an eyebrow as Hugh puts his armsaround us both
“We will,”
he agrees quietly as I hesitantly hug them back, patting Zala’s back gingerly. “Thank you, both of you. I am blessed to at least have my children.”
“Yeah, whatever, I don’t do hugs,”
I say, stepping back when it begins to get way too fucking awkward.
Zala giggles, “Unless it’s Valerie?”
she teases.
“She’s an exception,”
I admit with a smirk
“Of course she is.”
Zala giggles.
“I’m happy for you both. Valerie suits you well,”
Hugh says, smiling at me.
“She really does.”
I offer a half smile, hoping that somehow this conversation made him feel better, even if only a little.
VALERIE
Two Months Later…
Shelby died exactly one week after her wedding day, it broke my heart knowing I could do nothing. Something as doctors we often face, we try our best, but it still doesn’t mean we can work miracles.
My only solace is that she spent her last days surrounded by her loved ones and passed away in the middle of the night in Hugh’s arms.
We all felt it. Hugh took it hard, but Atticus took it the worst. He drowned himself in work and right now I wished he had Adriana by his side, but with everything going on Zade is right. They need to find their way to one another by their own means
Life is so so so short to hold on to grudges. We visited often, especially since Ada was in no state to move, and the doctors and I advised against it. She’s being given the best treatment she can get, better than what one would in a hospital where germs run rampant. But she is not improving and I don’t think she will.
Adriana and Atticus have had run-ins on these visits, and I can only hope that soon they can move past this stage of wanting one another but having far too many issues to be able to.
But what I have learned from my own love story is it will happen if it is meant to, when the time is right.
“Are you sure you’re happy with the paint colour?”
Zade asks me, holding up the brown I chose for the bedroom. I smile and nod, coming out of my thoughts and looking down at the papers I have in front of me on the bed.
“Yes. This one I am.”
“Great.”
He sounds relieved, but I totally get it. I mean, it took me ten trips to finalise the exact shade of brown I wanted.
The owner of the house we were renting agreed to sell it to us, and he also joined our pack. We purchased the land nearby and we are building this pack from the ground up.
I stick my tongue out at him and he smirks.
“Keep at it, and I might end up painting that body of yours with my own colours,”
he says, placing the paint tub down and coming over to me as he grabs me by the throat and pushes me back onto the pillows.
I smirk, wrapping my hand around his wrist.
“Don’t tempt me… you know I want…”
He leans down, kissing me roughly, choking me as he assaults my mouth. Pleasure courses through me as I lay there,parting my legs so he can get closer, and I kiss him harder.
A knock on the door makes me tense, and I internally groan.
‘Zade, they’re here…’ I moan through the mind-link.
“They can wait, his rough reply only turns me on more. Hut no, they can’t wait, because tonight is a party in honour of our newfound pack.
Zade
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