(Akira's Section)
Many choose to ignore love, treating it as a useless emotion. I did the same, mates were never a concern for me, I knew charlotte was mine but I didn't care, she was a pawn to me. but now, laying in my empty bed, I'm beginning to feel...
Lonely.
Like something that used to be a part of me is gone.
"Alpha?" I hear a tenuous voice ask, Robyn, Inched slowly into the room, and shut the door gently. I pulled down the covers and looked at him, his usual happy demeanor was gone, replaced with a steeled expression and right now it held fear with a bit of apprehension. "You've been in bed for three days now." He said quietly, I gazed into his green eyes, they had dulled ever since we declared war on Blue moon, his whole figure seemed weighted and tired.
"How did you do it?" I asked him, and he tilted his head questioningly "Do what?" He asked while sitting on the bed. I sat up and sighed, "How did you and Emmett end up staying together?" I asked him fully, he seemed shocked by me taking an interest in him, Emmett was my friend while Robyn... Robyn was his Mate, I never really considered us as anything more than acquaintances, Emmett was the one I went to for advice, and Emmett was the one I trusted.
Robyn blinked slowly, "Well, for starters he didn't treat me like a pawn," Robyn said bluntly, I could tell he'd been wanting to get this off his chest for a while, "He didn't deny every sign of affection and force me to leave." Robyn continued naming off my mistakes and I had to hold myself back from reminding him of his place, "He just...Accepts me." Robyn finished his statement and I could tell a weight had been lifted off of him.
"Emmett would never tell you this, But...Akira you drove her away, It wasn't Alpha Night." Robyn said this carefully and he quickly moved out of arm's length. I sighed and got up, My dirty clothes stunk and stuck to my skin, I felt stung by his true words.
A quick shower and a change of clothes later and I felt refreshed, I went to my office and saw Emmett and Robyn seated in front of it "Emmett, Robyn," I greeted them and sat down.
"The blue moon pack has an advantage in that most wolves in the pack are young and strong, while we may have sheer numbers our pack has more 'weak' members," Emmett said while Robyn remained silent and took careful notes, I saw his green eyes flicker to the chessboard on my desk and his notes again. "Robyn, Tell me, what's your take on this," I said, Emmett stopped mid-sentence and looked at me in shock, he knew Robyn was brilliant but I'd usually never let anyone but him advise me, he was my best friend and most trusted confidante, so why would I be asking his boyfriend for advice.
for one simple fact.
Emmett followed too much, he stuck to rules and refused to stick up to me anymore, Robyn was flighty and often seen as a free spirit, but he wasn't scared of me. I remembered his dossier that I had compiled when the pack first started, the words always underlined by his teachers and caretakers were 'Smart, Wild, flighty, reckless' but I always saw it as irrelevant, he never directly advised me, he fed Emmett ideas and then Emmett advised me.
"I suggest getting inside information and taking his pack apart from the inside out," Robyn said directly, his eyes started sparkling as he continued "You should also get charlotte back, her financial knowledge of the blue moon pack will prove vital to our plans" Robyn finished his statement and I leaned forward, he was impressive.
I excused the two and sat at my desk, my phone was conspicuously placed on top of it, probably by a certain red-head who shall remain unnamed. Just one phone call and I would hear her voice, her sweet tone would make every worry I had melt away...but who's to say she would pick up? Her brother already didn't like me, threatening his pregnant mate and jumping the gun on declaring war on the Blue moon pack made our relationship...stressful to say the least.
Charlotte was what I needed though, her graceful smile and empathy balanced out my rough edges, and her warmth and smell were missed from my bed. I missed her. I turned over the phone and left the room, I wanted her, I needed her, but I wasn't ready.
I sat on my bed and rifled through my drawers only to stumble upon a book, it was on my bedside table, it must have been placed there while I was talking to Robyn and Emmett. The leather-bound cover was dry and noisy, I read the note tucked inside.
'Akira, this book contains a few things you might find useful, I know times have been tough but always remember 'Believe half of what you see and nothing that you hear'
Sincerely,
R'
The letter was beautiful handwriting on old paper, a black feather rested itself on the page. I picked it up and rubbed it slowly, "R.." I said aloud, I read the title of the book
'Werewolves and Magic' by 'Charlie Griffen' I was taken aback for a moment, Charlotte? no, it couldn't be, the book was over 20 years old and handwritten, but the writing wasn't hers. Something Charlotte said to me made sense, she said she'd been named after her grandfather Charles Griffen, an odd but wildly intelligent man. He was the richest in her family and often gave them gifts, he was also the one that made Vee guard Charlotte. After Charlotte's Grandmother died he retreated more, he died after she turned 17. Vee disappeared after Charlotte turned 10 and I only heard from her once, it was an old letter that looked much like this.
But who was R? Vee's handwriting was much larger than this, plus a Raven feather? This reminded me of one of the bad novels Charlotte used to read, one meaningless twist after another.
I opened the book and read a couple of pages, it seemed to be a first-hand account of his experiments, his obsession was with vampires and magic, a few pages in I stumbled upon an entry about Charlotte, He thought she was lonely and thought about including her in his research.
I set down the book and rubbed my forehead, I was exhausted and mentally strained. I laid down on my bed and got under the covers, I turned to my side and shivered.
I need to get to the bottom of this.
Somehow it's connected to Charlotte, and that means she could be in danger.
I will protect her.