"I believe you," said Caeden, "she was p.i.s.sed."
"Watch your mouth," Gram said with a smile.
"Yes, ma"am," said Caeden with a tilt of his head.
Bryce opened the trunk of the Jeep and Caeden gently set me down. He handed me some crackers. "Sorry, it"s all I have."
"That"s fine," I said, "I"m not sure I could stomach much else."
Charlotte and Chris came over. "We were so worried about you," said Chris.
"Caeden"s been beside himself with worry," said Charlotte.
"We all have," said Bentley. That surprised me coming from Bentley. I didn"t know him that well. He was Caeden"s best friend and a part of the pack, that was about as far as our relationship went.
Caeden shook his head, "I"ve never been more scared in my entire life. I thought my soul was gone." He sat down beside me and held me against him while I tentatively nibbled the crackers.
Bentley cracked a smile and looked at me. "He was like a crazy man. I"ve known him since we were in diapers and I"ve never seen him freak out quite like that. Not even when his dad was found dead."
"Thanks for bringing that up," said Caeden.
Bryce and Caeden both looked sad at the thought of their dead father. Bryce sniffled and walked off into the woods.
"Sorry," said Bentley and he looked like he truly meant it. I saw Chris lean against him and rub his arm rea.s.suringly.
Caeden looked at me to explain. "Bryce, found our dad"s body. He"s never gotten over it. Not that I can blame him."
"What happened? If you don"t mind me asking, you don"t have to tell me," I a.s.sured him.
"We don"t really know. We thought it was an accident but now I"m not so sure. He... He was caught in a hunter"s trap... But... while we were scanning this area for you... I saw the same kind of trap."
"Here?" asked Bentley.
"Yes," whispered Caeden.
"You think Peter had something to do with it," said Bentley, it was a statement not a question.
"I thought it was an accident before, that he had been careless and gotten stuck, but dad never was careless. I think he was lured into it by Peter."
"But why?" asked Bentley.
Gram had joined us. Caeden answered Bentley"s question but he was looking at Gram. "Because, that meant I would become Alpha. Once he kills me, Bryce will become Alpha. Once he takes out Bryce the line ends and he can become Alpha. He"d have the control of two packs. He craves power. The power of this pack is the only thing he wants."
Gram nodded her head, "I"ve suspected as much. It"ll only get worse if he finds out that Sophie is a true Beaumont. He still doesn"t know does he?" Gram asked turning to me.
"No," I said. "Leslee said she knew who I was. That I have my mom"s eyes. He made her test my blood but she lied to him. She told him that I was only a human that I really was adopted. She also said that he still believes that my mom is truly dead. She says the pack has never suspected otherwise."
"That"s good," said Gram. "The less he knows the better for all of us. Peter Grimm is not one to be angered."
"Gram," I said looking down at the crackers in my hand so I wouldn"t have to meet her eyes, "if all the Grimm"s are so evil why is my mom different? She"s always been nice to everybody and the best mom anyone could ask for."
"Christine always rebelled against what her parents wanted her to be. She was always a sweet girl. She was different than them. I think that"s why they always clashed. I mean, the poor girl, had to fake her own death. When she met Garrett I worried, like any mother. She was a Grimm and I thought she was going to corrupt my son. I thought she was leading him on. Finally, your dad came to me and told me that he believed that he and Christine were mates. We started researching the legends and I was positive that he was right. I had gotten to know her better and genuinely liked her. But I still worried. If her family, or even if my husband, had found out... They would both be dead, of that I"m certain. When she got pregnant with you they had to leave, it was the only way to keep you and them safe. I sent them money every once in a while and they would send me pictures of you to a post office box. When your grandpa died they started sending you here every summer. It was the highlight of my year."
"Gram, was my dad really in the military?" I asked.
"No," she said. "That was a cover for all the moving you guys had to do. Your parents feared that if they stayed in one place too long that the Grimm"s might find them."
"They sacrificed everything for me," I whispered.
"No," she spoke softly, "they sacrificed everything for each other. You and Caeden will do the same."
I looked at Caeden and he looked at me, "I know," I whispered, "I"m already there."
I finished the crackers and Caeden said, "Alright guys, let"s go bury Leslee so we can get out of here."
I squeezed his hand. "Thank you," I said.
His blue eyes glowed with love. "I"d do anything for you."
"I know," I said.
He grinned. "I a.s.sume you want to come," he said.
"Of course," I said. "You didn"t think you"d get off that easy by just leaving me behind, now did you?"
"Of course, not," he said, and picked me up.
"I think I can walk now," I said.
"I"m going to carry you," he said. Seeing that I was going to protest, he added, "Please, don"t argue about this with me. I don"t doubt that you can walk but maybe I just want to hold you close. You"ve been gone for almost a week. Holding you in my arms means that I know you"re safe."
"I understand," I whispered.
"Good," he said. "Bryce," he called over his shoulder, "come on."
I saw Bryce emerge from the woods with red eyes and a puffy face. I was surprised when Charlotte went to comfort him.
We all started the trek back to the encampment, well except for maybe me; I just had to lay there while Caeden held me. When we came through the opening in the trees I hoped to see Leslee sitting up and smiling like nothing had happened. But of course, that wasn"t the case, she was dead. Murdered by her husband.
Caeden set me down on the wooden steps of the log house. He went around back and returned with a couple of shovels. He tossed one to Bentley and one to Logan, keeping the third for himself. "Bryce, can you sit with Sophie?"
"Sure thing," he said and hopped onto the step next to me.
The boys set to work on digging the makeshift grave.
Bryce and I talked for a while before he stood and said, "I"ll be right back."
I watched him go and he returned with a large rock in his hands. He sat down next to me once again and then pulled a knife out of his back pocket. I flinched. He glanced over at me and murmured, "Sorry."
He set to work carving something into the stone. It took him a long time but the end result brought tears to my eyes. He showed me the carving he had created, Leslee Grimm, who was not a Grimm at all.
"Bryce," I said choking on tears. I hugged him to my chest. "Thank you. This means a lot."
"She helped you. I understand why you want to do this for her. I thought this would make it as close to a perfect grave as it could get."
"Thank you, really, Bryce," I said again. I was still hugging him and his hand rubbed soothing circles on my back. "How did you guys find me?" I asked.
"Archie," he said. "Your familiars can always find you."
"Oh," I said. "I forgot about that."
He laughed. "So did we or we would have found you sooner. When you panic like we all were, coherent thought goes out the window. We just thought the dog liked to bark at us. Then once we understood that he could find you it took a matter of understanding which way he wanted us to go. You can"t exactly talk to them and we didn"t want to walk because for all we knew you were halfway to Tennessee."
I laughed, "That"s true. Where are we?"
"The mountains of West Virginia," he said. "Deep in the mountains," he said. "We would"ve never found you if it wasn"t for Archie. I think that dog and Caeden have formed some kind of weird relationship," he said with a laugh. "Caeden has talked only to that dog for days straight, only stopping to yell at us, like he was going to answer back or something. I don"t know maybe he did. I"ve always found dogs to be quite human."
I laughed and b.u.mped my knee against his. "Despite all of this," I said waving my arms to cover the entire area, "you still manage to make me laugh."
"I try," he said.
The boys finished digging the grave and Caeden went to get her body. I saw that someone had wrapped her in a blanket. They gently deposited her body into the grave and then started covering her with the dirt they had just dug up.
A few tears escaped my eyes and Bryce wrapped his arms around me. "It"s okay, Sophie," he whispered. "Go ahead and cry."
And I did. I cried for me. I cried for Caeden. For all the wolves. My mom and dad. Gram. But mostly for Leslee.
She had lived through h.e.l.l being married to Peter and then bore a son that was just as evil as his father. She had died to save my mate; not given it a second thought. Leslee had spent her entire life being a part of a pack that was nothing but evil. Yet, she epitomized everything that was good. She was someone to admire. She was a good person and her life had been cut short because of that. I could only hope that she was in a better place now, no matter how cheesy that may sound, she deserved it. She deserved to find some happiness in her death since she had so little in her life.
I wiped away the last of my tears with the back of my hand. "Better now?" asked Bryce.
"Much," I replied and gave him a small smile, but it was forced and he knew it. I didn"t really feel like smiling after all I had been put through. But I was safe now. And that"s what mattered. The torture was over. I would never have to be put through that again. It was over. It was done.
The boys patted the dirt trying to compound the small hill that had risen. Caeden leaned against his shovel and wiped sweat from his brow. Normally the sight of him shirtless and glistening in sweat nearly sent me into convulsions but not this time. It still made my heart pitter patter but not at the magnitude it normally did. This week had changed me completely. I was forever changed. How could I not be? I didn"t want to let what happened to me ruin me but it wasn"t something I could just forget either. I hoped time could heal me. And if time couldn"t then I hoped Caeden could. "We"re done," he said.
"Thank you," I said standing and going to hug him. He wrapped his arms around me but loosely. I was thankful. My entire body was sore. I knew I must look horrible but I had vowed to myself not to look at my reflection.
Bryce came over carrying the large stone. I knew that a normal man would never have been able to lift it, let alone carry it without breaking out in a sweat. Bryce placed the makeshift headstone at the top of the mound. He disappeared into the trees and returned with a bunch of frozen wild flowers in his hand. He shrugged and said sheepishly, "It was all I could find."
He gently placed the flowers on top of the marker and they all turned to look at me.
"You should say something," said Caeden squeezing my hand gently like I was a fragile piece of gla.s.s that might shatter if he wasn"t careful.
"Um..." I started meeting all the eyes staring at me. I cleared my throat and looked instead at the grave so that I was speaking solely to Leslee. "I didn"t know you well. I know you were my mom"s best friend and I know that you saved me." I sniffled. "You saved Caeden because I asked you too. You were a good person but you were with the wrong one. You deserved to find peace and since you didn"t find it in life I hope you"ve found it in death. Thank you for your sacrifice. I will never forget what you"ve done for me."
I stepped away and let out a breath I hadn"t known I was holding. I looked up into Caeden"s clear blue eyes. "Ready?" he asked.
I nodded my head.
They put away the shovels and then we started back to the car. Caeden let me walk this time but he kept a firm hold on me and lifted me over various obstacles. I was thankful for his solid presence at my side.
We made it back to the cars all in one piece. I didn"t tell Caeden but I was still expecting Travis and Peter to come out and attack us. I didn"t trust them and I knew they"d be back and with a vengeance. That was both of their personalities. They didn"t give up.
Gram had stayed behind and dozed quietly in the front pa.s.senger seat of the car. The sun had almost completely set and darkness was slowly taking over. Caeden dug in his pocket and tossed his keys to Bryce, "You drive," he commanded his brother.
"Sweet," said Bryce, running around to take the driver"s seat. Caeden shook his head at his little brother. He said a quick thanks to the others who then hopped in Bentley"s GMC and took off.
Caeden gently helped me into the backseat of the Jeep and then laid me down with my head in his lap.
"Home," I breathed.
"Yes," he whispered, "I"m taking you home."
"Not if I can"t get this stupid thing to work," said Bryce hitting the built in navigation system.
"Hey, hey," scolded Caeden. "Don"t hurt it."
"Stupid Chinese," muttered Bryce, "can"t they make anything simple?"
"Don"t diss the Chinese just because they"re smarter than you. It"s unbecoming," Caeden said with a laugh.
Bryce mimicked his brother in a high-pitched voice. "Don"t be an a.s.s, how about that?" he grumbled.
Caeden rolled his eyes. "A simple navigation system has your panties in a bunch? What am I to do with you?"
"One: I don"t wear panties. I prefer to go commando. Two: why don"t you just feed me to the wolves? Oh right, I am one," laughed Bryce.
"Too much information," said Caeden. I sat up so that Caeden could lean forward and fiddle with the navigation system. Five seconds later he sat back and muttered, "Was that so difficult?"
"Very," said Bryce, turning on the headlights and putting the car into gear.
"What"s all this grumbling about?" groaned Gram. "Can"t you see an old woman trying to sleep?"
The boys laughed. "You"re not old," said Caeden.
Gram scoffed. "What planet are you living on? The planet of the completely blind?"
"How about the planet of the completely absurd?" added Bryce. Gram smacked the back of his head. "Ow," he said rubbing his head. "What was that for?"
"For calling me old!" quipped Gram.
I started to laugh but immediately stopped when it hurt too bad. Caeden noticed and sent me a sad look. He pulled me back down onto his lap and ran his hands through my hair. "I"m so sorry," he whispered.
"It"s not your fault," I said. "Don"t torture yourself with something that was out of your control."
"I can"t help it," he said sniffling, his tears dripping from his chin onto my face. "I"m your mate. I"m supposed to protect you."
"Shh, can we talk about this later?" I asked, my eyes already growing heavy.