Chapter 179

Cara’s POV

Eamon and Landon meet us when we arrive at my house. The maids had been hard at work in my absence, bringing the place back to life. Stepping inside, it felt as if we had never left it, with no sign of dust at all.

Eamon came in for a hug from me first, followed quickly by Landon, then both ushered me farther inside and gestured for me to sit.

“I’m okay,” I told them. “I was sitting this whole time in the car.” My legs were tired and I needed the stretch.

“Please,” Landon insisted, gesturing again at the couch.

At the same time, Aidan and Ryan came in carrying all the luggage belonging to the kids and me. I rushed to help them.

“I can take one,” I said, holding out my arm.

“No, no,” Ryan said quickly. “We’ve got it all. You just relax.”

“Don’t overexert yourself, Cara,” Eamon said, coming to stand beside me. He placed his hand on my back like he thought I might fall over.

They were already treating me like I was made of glass.

“I’m not this fragile, Eamon,” I told him. “I’m capable of standing on my own.”

“No one says that you aren’t,” Eamon said. “But there’s also no need to. Everyone here can take care of things. Please, you should just relax.”

While his overprotectiveness did annoy me, I allowed it for now. After all, Eamon and Landon hadn’t seen me since receiving the news. Everyone needed their own time to process what was going on with me. I was still coming to terms with it myself, so I understood.

For now, I supposed I could go along with their need to see me protected. Likely they were going with instinct, their wolves wanting to protect their weak little sister. As frustrating as this was, for now, I wouldn’t fight it.

So I moved to the couch and sat down and let them handle all the work.

The next morning, after sending the kids back to school, I went to the Alpha headquarters like I had always done before the assassination attempts had forced me to flee the pack lands.

As I walked past his office, Eamon came bolting out of it like the place had caught fire.

“Cara? What are you doing here?” he asked in a rush.

I looked back at him, making no effort to hide my confusion. “I’m working? I’m still the Beta, after all.”

“Yes, but this is all too taxing.” He shook his head. “You should be at home, resting.”

“I’m not tired,” I told him. “I’ve been away too long and I’m ready to work again.”

Touching my forearms, he gently pulled me to the side, away from the curious ears of those nearby.

“Given how things are, I think you should take it easy for a while longer. We’ve been splitting up the Beta duties around here with… some success. There’s no reason we can’t continue to do so while you focus on your health,” Eamon said.

Focus on my health? What did he expect me to do, sit around and worry about it all day? There wasn’t much I could do right now, other than try to reach out to Lucy, which I already did every morning and night and lunchtime. She wasn’t answering, and it was incredibly distressing.

I didn’t want to stress every minute of every day. Some of those times, I would like to feel like a productive member of society – someone who was actually doing some good in the world, not someone who just hid away at home and waited for the inevitable.

An inevitable I would fight tooth and nail to keep from happening too soon.

“I intend to work, Eamon,” I said flatly, “And I would appreciate if you would allow me to do so.”

Eamon seemed at war with himself then, wanting to give me what I wanted, while also being incredibly overprotective.

I didn’t want to overreact. This news was difficult for everyone, but he had to let me do this. The alternative, my sitting around doing nothing all day, was much too bleak.

“Very well,” he said, though he didn’t seem happy about it. “But please don’t overdo it.”

“I won’t,” I said, a happy compromise. “I just want to keep busy, Eamon. Thank you.”

He nodded, then left me to it.

Throughout the day, my brothers each came to check on me and each seemed to also want to convince me to give up my job. I calmly rejected each one.

Only Colin seemed to have a different agenda in mind, as he arrived near the end of the day with the intention of walking me home.

Something was on his mind, that much was clear, as he was even more quiet than usual.

I waited patiently for him to tell me what he was thinking. Soon, my patience was rewarded.

“Have you considered telling Alaric about your condition?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said. Of course I’d considered it. Pretty much every hour on the hour, it crossed my mind. But each time one of my brothers treated me like I was made of glass, it made me want to tell Alaric the truth less and less.

I wanted one adult person in my life to treat me like everything was normal, like I was still a strong and capable woman. Everyone else was acting like I’d already lost the fight.

I wasn’t giving up. Not yet and not ever.

“I’ll tell him,” I said. Slower, I added, “Eventually.”

“Cara…” Colin wasn’t scolding exactly, but there was a measure of concern in his voice.

“It’s fine,” I said, with wavering confidence. “He’ll understand.”

“It doesn’t seem fair,” Colin said. “If he knew the truth…”

“He would be here?” I finished for him. At Colin’s nod, I added, “All the more reason not to tell him. I’m not going to let him surrender his role as Alpha for me.”

Colin stayed quiet after that, and did not bring up the topic again.

Alaric’s POV

The weekend arrived at a painfully slow pace. My heart was already in BloodyMoon long before I boarded the plane that took me there. With eager anticipation, I counted the moments on the flight and then in the taxi from the airport all the way to Cara’s house.

To my surprise, she wasn’t home.

Granted, I hadn’t told her when I was arriving, but I thought she might have expected me.

Knowing her, she was probably overworking herself, diving back into her job as Beta. With that in mind, I reentered my taxi and had them divert our route to the Alpha headquarters building of the BloodyMoon pack.

Inside, I took the elevator up to the Alpha’s floor.

Barely off the elevator, I overheard Eamon and Landon talking.

“I think I’ve tracked down a specialist,” Landon said, “But I’m not sure he isn’t a quack. I’d like to go and see him for myself before I make any offer for him to come here.”

“And you aren’t just using this as an excuse to get away?” Eamon asked. “I know how restless you must be, helping to fill in for Cara all this time.”

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my family,” Landon said. “I am restless, but I assure you that my only interests here are doing what is best for Cara.”