On A Stormy Night

Ch.16 The Little Village

Elena

I was shocked when I heard my mom had murdered two people. I was so confused. Why would she do such a thing? It didn't seem like her. It didn't seem like something she would do.    I guess I didn't know her the way I thought I did.

"So, what are you going to do Alec?" I asked him, setting Liam down. He ran back to his friend and sat down.

"I'm sorry, but we are going to bring her back. She'll have to deal with the consequences of her action," he said in a neutral tone, but you can see the anger in his eyes. He was beyond mad with her.

I nodded my head in understanding, "I understand, but I really don't think she could do something like this. I mean she's my mom, I know she's done horrible things in the past but murder? I just don't think so..."

"Luna, I'm sorry for interrupting but I think you might be right," Luke said.

He surprised me because I'd forgotten he was there. I think Alec had also forgotten because he jumped a little. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, then I realized that Luke was talking to me.

"Huh? You do?"

He nodded then turned to Alec, " I'm going to talk to their families and loved ones." Alec sighed and shook his head.

"No, I should be the one doing it," Alec said sadly.

"I'll come too." I told them.

Luke looked surprised, Alec smiled softly and nodded his head. I went to get Liam and then we were on our way. As we were walking Liam was slowly falling asleep on me. I smiled and kissed his forehead, I was so happy to have him back. I heard a throat clear. I looked to Alec with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?" I responded.

"I can hold him since he's falling asleep. I mean, if you don't mind," Alec suggested. I smiled and carefully handed Liam to him so I wouldn't wake him.

"Thank you," I said, gratefully.

"You're welcome. We don't have far left to go."

"Okay. So not everyone lives in the mansion?" I asked, curious.

"No, of course not. I don't have enough room for everyone. Well, not comfortably at least. Maybe during an emergency if we had to, but a lot of people would be annoyed," he said with a laugh.

I stopped walking. "Wait, how big is your pack?" I asked, confused.

"A little over 750,000 people. But they live all over the state, most live in the city," he said, nonchalantly.

"Oh my goodness. That's a lot of people. How does that not get noticed by the government?"

"Well that's easier said than done. Recently I have been trying to get our leaders to come out that we do exist, but they are still adamant on keeping us a secret," he said with a tired sigh. I took his hand in mine hoping it would comfort him.

We walked up and over a hill, on the other side at the bottom was a village. Well it looked like it was one any way. It took us a few more minutes to get to our destination. We knocked on the door and patiently waited for someone to answer. What we didn't expect was a small child opening the door. I had to hold back my tears. How were we going to tell this little child that his dad was never going to come home? I looked at Alec, my lower lip trembling. He returned my sad look completely understanding my thoughts.

"Hey there, where's your mom? Can we talk to her?"

The little boy looked at us shyly for a moment, then he turned and ran into the house calling out for his mother. His mom came back to the door with him tugging her by the hand. Looking at her a moment I realized she was the one who'd made us dinner.

"Oh my! Alpha, Luna, and at my door! come on in!" She said nervously, moving aside.

We carefully stepped past her into the house. After my eyes adjusted to the change in light, I noticed another lady was also waiting to welcome us. She smiled and looked down at Liam sleeping soundly in Alec's arms

"Oh, poor little fella. We have an extra room. You can put him there to rest while we talk if you want," she said, she appeared to be the other woman's mom.

I looked at Liam and back to her. "I hate to impose but I would definitely appreciate it," I responded.

I took Liam from Alec and followed  the older lady to the room she'd mentioned. I was getting Liam comfortable when I heard the sound of sobbing. I knew he must've just told her. There was a part of me that blamed myself for what had happened. I walked out of the room and sat down next to Alec.

"I'm so sorry. I would say that I understand what you're going through but that would be a lie. I do know what it's like to lose someone you love though. I also feel responsible for all of this. I'm truly sorry," I said softly, my voice cracked on the last couple of words.

I tried to stay strong but a tear slowly made its way down my face. Alec put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me towards him. It seemed no matter how bad I felt all he had to do was hold me to make me feel better.

The lady got down on her knees and bowed to me, "You don't have to apologize for someone else. You have no control over other people's actions Luna, you are truly a caring woman. I know that you will do great things for our pack."

"Thank you umm?" I said trying to hint that I didn't know her name.

"Oh, my name is Robin. Sorry I should've introduced myself."

I shook my head, "No, it's fine. These aren't the best circumstances for a first meeting." I felt a tug on my pants leg and looked down.

"Can I play with him?" The little boy asked, pointing at my son as he came walking towards me rubbing his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but we have to go on to the next house. Maybe next time?" Alec answered, as he stood up.

He picked up Liam with one hand and lifted him into his arms. We said our goodbyes and grimly left for the next house. We only had to go a couple of houses down. We gave them the sad news and left them alone to grieve.

Alec showed me around the small village, telling me about this and that. I learned that his mom was from here and his dad was from Japan. He was a student here when he realized he'd found his mate. I also learned that he had a little sister. I could tell from the way he talked about her that he adored her very much.

"Now that I know about your family, would it be too soon to meet them?" I asked.

Before Alec could answer Luke came jogging up to us, "Luna, there's someone from the hospital asking if you're still interested in the job as a labor and delivery nurse?"

I smiled with excitement, "Oh! Are they still on the phone?"

"Yes," Luke said, handing it to me.

"Hello?" I questioned, making sure they were still on the line.

There was a pause, "Hi! Is this Elena?"

"Yes."

"Did you want the job?"

"Yes, absolutely! I mean I would like that. Thank you," I said, trying to contain my joy.

"Okay! I'll see you tomorrow at 7a.m.," the person said with a chuckle before hanging up.

I looked at Alec and started to speak but he cut me off, "Yes, Liam can stay here. I know you want to take things slow, so I decided to give you your own room. If that's ok?" He asked with a shy smile.

I nodded my head, "That's fine, especially with everything that's going on with my mom," I looked at Liam, "We should get back Liam still looks tired."

And he really was.