Adea
My lips twitched and I fought the urge to smile at Duke’s obedience. It was a positive sign for me. I took my time looking at him before I nodded and finally turned from him and lead the way to Alpha Joshua’s office. I didn’t need him to point me in the direction I needed to go, I knew where it was. I’d been there a countless amount of times. Sometimes it was to bring him dinner when he couldn’t come down for his meal or late at night for snacks when he was hungry.
How did Shane feel sitting in the chair of the man who raised him? It had been something he’d always known he’d have but I’m sure he never could have imagined it would turn out this way.
Did he feel any guilt after he killed him? His father’s office was now his, the pack was now his. In the end, had it all been worth it? I knew it eventually would be but thinking about it and actually being here for it was a different matter. It made everything real.
“Did you tell him who was here for him?” I asked. I wanted to rub salt on the wound. Duke hadn’t put his hands on me after he linked Shane. I wasn’t expecting an answer but when he answered, I let the smile spread across my lips. Duke was in deep shit and he knew it.
My steps faltered as we passed the stairs. My mind automatically went back to the many times I’d made my way up and down as I went about my day. The reasons had varied. Most of the times were when I was cleaning, adhering to the strict law Alpha Joshua had set forth.
Other times were with Gabe was we hurried to work or hurried back to our rooms. Some were with Mavy as we talked about our day or I listened to her go on and on about Trent. There were a few times I’d been on this stairway with Shane.
We had been so young then, so innocent. Never would I have expected things to go the way they did, to change the way had. I couldn’t help but peek into the kitchen as we passed it.
A lot of my time at Half Moon was spent in the kitchen. It also hadn’t changed since I left, it was clean and in pristine condition. Including the workers, there wasn’t a person in sight.
I could see the ghost of the past in these walls. Gabe cooked while I did the dishes. The table was full of ranked pack members as I rushed over to serve them their meals. Those had been happy simple times. Before anything happened before he changed. Shane was there too, staring at me, always watching.
Pan said something to Duke that I didn’t catch. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes and dared them to fall as I blinked them away. Turning from the kitchen, I pushed forward. Leaving the ghosts of the past behind me. Just down this hallway, Shane was waiting.
I tried to ignore the bundle of nerves I felt as I made my way down the all. I stopped in front of the door to his office. My fingers shook as I reached for the knob. I hesitated, stopping before I turned it.
“We haven’t got all day,” Pan said nervously. “You wanted to see Alpha Shane, well, he’s right on the other side of the door.”
Before I put too much thought into it, I turned the knob and pushed it open. I was hit with Shane’s scent. It hadn’t been strong throughout the packhouse but as I took my first step into his office, it was strong.
When I walked in far enough for the other two to walk in, I stopped. Taking my time to look around the large room. Where nothing in the packhouse had changed, the office had changed.
When you first walked in there was a large wide-open space. The carpeting had been ripped out and replaced with hardwood floors. One large ceiling to floor window took the place of the left wall. The view outside was one of the dark forests I spent the little free time I had running through barefoot. It was beautiful and looked as breathtaking as ever.
Bringing my eyes back to the room. The right wall was void of any family photos that previously hung there. In their place hung four paintings. Each one is darker than the last. A small light shined down from the sky but other than that the painting was covered in darkness.
Each one had a natural disaster in black and white. A flood, a hurricane, a tornado, and a tsunami. At the bottom of each painting was the ruin that was left in its place. There was a painful pang in my chest and I ripped my eyes from the canvases.
I turned my attention back to the middle of the room. There was no seating available for guests to sit in aside from one extra-large red leather love seat. It was meant for one person and was seated in front of a large mahogany desk.
Behind the desk was a massive chair facing away from us standing by the door. A large fireplace made up a large chunk of the wall behind the chair. It had to be at least five feet tall and five feet wide. A white wooden mantle separated the fireplace from what was above the mantle. All of Alpha Joshua’s furniture, pictures, and things had been removed.
All, except for his sword, the sword. My heart stopped the moment my eyes landed on it. It was the one I had seen multiple times in my dreams. I could spot it anywhere. It was the exact same as I remembered. It was all silver and an intricate design was etched halfway down the blade. The chair turned around and cold obsidian eyes locked on me from across the room.