"Iris?" I turned to my side and saw Liam. His shirt was badly ripped and his face and chest were covered in soot. Forcefully, I pulled away from Lance's firm grasp and ran into his arms, hugging him tight, not wanting to ever let go.
"Oh my God, Liam! I was so worried. For a second there I thought I had lost you. I'm so glad to see that you're okay." Liam gasped, not expecting me to run into his arms. He hesitated for a few seconds before wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing me hard against his chest. I didn't care that I was starting to find it difficult to breathe, all I wanted was to be in his arms like this forever. I never wanted it to end.
He pulled away and swiped his thumbs underneath my eyes, wiping the tears I didn't even know I had started to shed.
"I'm glad to see you're okay too, Iris. When I heard the explosion, I was so worried because you had only just left but my fu.... My father wouldn't let me look for you to make sure you're okay." He sighed and pulled me to his chest again as he slowly ran his fingers through my hair. "Are you really fine?"
"Apart from the smoke I inhaled, I'm great. Lance pulled me out even though I tried to fight him. He's quite strong. Thinking back now, I'm glad I listened to you and didn't launch at him." I added in a murmur, which led to him chuckling.
"Soon, you'll be stronger than him and me. Just give it time."
I nodded and sighed. He smelled so good. I inhaled deeply, taking in his scent. It's so relaxing. With me in his arms, it was like nothing else mattered, like we were the only ones in the world. I let out a breath of relief. I was starting to enjoy the moment until the sight of Mabel appeared in my mind. I needed to tell him, he needed to know. Mabel was more or less his mother. It was going to break him but he needed to know.
Taking a deep breath, I pulled away from the embrace and took a step back.
"What's wrong?" He asked when he noticed the change in my expression.
"It's.... It's Mabel."
"What's wrong with Mabel?" He looked behind me then back at me. "Where's she? Why isn't she with you? Why isn't she with my father? IRIS!" He snapped in impatience when I didn't respond. "Where. Is Mabel?"
"I think you should see for yourself. She's...." I bit down hard on my lower lip. "She's inside." I continued in a whisper, my head bent low.
I looked up when he didn't make a move. Something in his eyes told me he knew, my expression must have given it away.
"No." He whispered and took a shaky step backwards. "No". Without another word, he raced into the house. His loud roar and scream made me know he had seen her.
"You told him?!!" I heard Lance growl behind me. Without looking back, I nodded.
"He needed to know."
Another low growl from Lance before he forcefully turned me around to face him. "You! Don't know what he needs! You only appeared in his life so stop acting like you know what's good for him?!! You know nothing about my son! Nothing of what he's been through!!"
"You think?!" I snapped. "My parents heads were ripped from their bodies and I saw everything from the beginning till the end and my suffering did not end there so stop saying I don't understand because I know damn well what it's like to lose a parent!! And it's not a fun experience! And instead of you here criticizing me for the decision I made, you should be by your son's side because he needs you more than ever! You're the only parent he has now so don't ruin this for him!!!" Lance looked taken aback by my reaction. He took a deep breath then walked away without a backward glance.
I clenched my fingers really hard until I felt my nails dig in to my palms, drawing blood while biting hard on my lower lip. I needed to calm myself down. It wasn't the time to give in to my anger, I wasn't going to let Lance get under my skin. Not then or ever again.
After taking series of breaths and felt calm enough, I walked into the house. The smoke was still very strong but I don't think Liam even noticed.
I went down on my knees by his side watching Mabel's body as I listened to him ball his eyes out.
He gripped his jeans really hard and cursed under his breath. "When I get my hands on the person that did this...."
He didn't need to complete his statement, from his eyes, you could tell what he planned to do to the person. Wouldn't want to be that person.
I placed my palm atop his.
"Tell me about Mabel."
"Why?" He gritted. "You didn't even like her."
"What? Of course I did! She was like a mother to me. The first person to actually care about me and my well being in my eleven years of torture. She made me feel at home, made me feel welcome and.... I was ungrateful. I was so angry that she was hiding something important from me, something that I know I have every right to know. And I have to admit, it hurts so much seeing her like this and the fact that I never got to apologize. I wish we had parted on good terms but now, it's too late. The last time I felt this way was when my parents died. Its been so long that I had forgotten what it's like to lose someone close to you, someone who was basically like a mother. She reminded me so much of my mom and I wish we spent more time together." I took in a deep breath, trying to keep the tears at bay but I honestly didn't think it was working.
"I'm sorry." I whispered, my voice breaking. "I'll leave you to mourn." I made an attempt to pull my hand away but he stopped me by placing his other hand on it. He didn't say anything for a while and I had no plans of rushing him so I just sat down in silence, watching him.
"My mother died while giving birth to Ryan, I was only two then. My father couldn't take care of us both while also overseeing the whole Lycaon affairs so he went to the human city and came back with a nanny, that nanny happened to be Mabel. He didn't trust any Werewolf to look after us for fear of us being used against him. He had a lot of enemies, still does. Anyway, Mabel took care of us like we were her own. I was still so young then that I barely understood anything. All I knew was that the woman I called mama suddenly vanished and never returned only to be replaced by someone else. I didn't like it at first but eventually, I forgot my real mother and saw Mabel as my mother. In less than two months of her arrival, I had started calling her mama and when Ryan became old enough to speak, he called her mama too. Everytime I tried to remember my real mother, Mabel's face came up instead. I only recognized my mother through pictures. Mabel didn't like the fact that we called her mother, she didn't feel comfortable replacing my mother but eventually, she got used to it. I think my father fell in love with her and they had a fling or two. All in all, Mabel was my mother, she was.... My everything. Seeing her like this.... is unbearable. This isn't what I want my last memory of her to be, it's.... It's horrible." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "When Ryan finds out he's going to be devastated."
"I'm sorry." I whispered and he nodded.
"Thank you but this isn't the time to mourn." He stood up straight, his face now completely blank. "I'm going to find out who did this and I'm going to make sure they suffer for it. I need to find out who was stupid enough to launch an attack on a Lycaon base."
"I think that would be me." A voice said and I turned my head at the entrance to see Ethan standing there, a cocky grin on his face.
"Ethan!" I growled and got up. He arched a brow at me and then laughed.
"Good to see you too, Princess."
"I should have known." Liam said calmly. Too calmly, it was scarily suspicious. "Only you would be stupid enough to do such a thing."
"I'll take that as a compliment, your Highness." Ethan said, doing a mock bow. "Rebellious phase is over Princess, time to go home."
"Next time you call me that, I will rip out your tongue and shove it down your fücking throat!!!" I snarled. I could feel Kayden moving to the surface, if I didn't put him in check, I might end up transforming against my will.
Calm down Kayden, too soon.
Too soon for what?! He snapped impatiently.
Ethan doesn't know I'm part Lycaon and he doesn't need to just yet, it's too early. If at all I'm to transform, Kayla is the one to do it.
Hell yeah! It's my turn to shine at last! Kayla said with excitement.
Tchh! Kayden scoffed and went to the back of my mind, isolating himself from us.
Kayden?
Oh leave him, let him sulk. He'll come around, eventually.
"Leave Ethan, while you still have the chance and while I'm still holding back from ripping your throat." Liam said.
"Not without Elise."
"My name is Iris you stupid fücking son of a bítch!" I hissed.
Ethan looked at Mabel and scoffed. "Are you sure about that your Highness? Because it looks like you've already suffered a loss and I don't think you want that multiplied."
"Is that a threat, Ethan?"
"It's a warning that if you don't hand over Iris, that barbecued corpse over there isn't the only one that'll get roasted. I don't care how many more Lycaons I have to kill in order to have her. I will keep on killing you all until she's in my arms and bed." He licked his lips at the last statement as he eyed me. Gross.
"I belong to no one!" I growled but he ignored me.
"Oh you're mistaken, Ethan. That barbecued corpse over there was human, not a werewolf nor a Lycaon. She was just a mere human." Mere human? Mabel? What's Liam playing at? He'll never use that to describe Mabel.
"Not a single Lycaon was killed Ethan, you only killed the woman of the former Lycaon King, which means you not only made the ex Lycaon really mad, you also angered an entire pack of Lycaons." Ethan's face paled which led to Liam grinning evilly. He looked really scary. I'd never seen him like that until that day.
"You're deeply mistaken if you think you're leaving this place alive, Ethan. You'll be a perfect example to those planning to launch an attack on us. They'll all think twice before they act."
"Do you really think I'm afraid of you?! That I'm afraid of any of you?"
"Oh you should be Ethan, you should be very afraid. If not of anyone else then of me." Liam's voice had grown deeper, really deep, it sounded like he was rumbling. Aragorn was at the surface. Any moment, Liam was going to transform. I honestly couldn't wait to see his Lycaon, even Kayden was so curious, he moved away from the back of my mind.
"Stay back Iris, this will get bloody."
"I want to help!"
"No, you'll only be in the way so stay back!"
He looked at me over his shoulder; his eyes were blood red. I sighed and nodded.
"Just don't kill him."
"We'll see." He turned back to face Ethan and took some steps forward. "Let's see what you're really made of. ARAGORN!"