Chapter eight
I slumped onto the ground, he was gone, I muffled a sob, he was gone! Grace must be with him, the warm feeling of relief flooded my senses completely as I squeezed my eyes closed. I gathered up the pieces of my confidence back together and righted my clothes, though my jeans had dark red smudges to them.
I didn’t fucking care. Grace has Dyron for protection and that’s all that matters. How could I let my stupid cowardly self prevent her happiness? She eloped, they eloped and I was going to be fine with it. I was going to back them up. Though the emptiness that came with Grace’s disappearance might need a little getting used to.
In a sense, it was my punishment for causing Grace such pain.
When I got back to the house, I immediately went back to Grace’s room. The tray needs to be taken downstairs and the windows need to be closed. I walked into the room and bent down to pick up the tray when a piece of paper peeking out from under the sheets caught my eyes.
I slowly made my way to the bed and hesitantly sat down. I stared at the paper for what seemed a long time before reaching out and unfolding it.
Hey bestie,
If you found this letter then that means I ran away. I’m going to save my mate. I know you more than you know yourself and I’m so sure you would be coming after me, hunting me down or whatever but I want to say. No! You sit your ass back down wherever you are and you let me handle this like the grown woman I am!
I love you so much Ace, you know I do, you’re my sister and I’m sorry for leaving you alone by yourself in this weird, ugly looking but peaceful town. Even when I’m not there with you, my mind will always be there. Mind stalking your every move…
But seriously, you know I’ve been indecisive my whole life and this is the only choice I feel wholly confident I want to do. I just want to be with my mate. Please don’t let this drift us apart, maybe I’ll email you once in a while. But hey, if I get caught, I might as well suffer your wraith and embarrass myself for writing this epic letter then.
One last thing, when I’m gone I want you to be like me…sort of. Fight for something you love. Lately, you looked happy and sometimes you don’t seem like you’re there with me, your mind is somewhere else. I bet it’s a guy. Is he cute, hot, and devilishly handsome with an edible ass? He must be, I won’t let any average guy get his hands on my bestie.
And how come you won’t come out with it? But as you fav person in the world, I’m not mad you kept it a secret from me. Instead I want you to be happy, grab him by the neck and don’t let go, mess him up so bad he’ll be begging for more. Sorry, just had a Connor Maynard moment…
He must be your mate. That’s the only conclusion I came up with. I’m so happy for you Ace. So very happy, we can both be happy for each other (if I succeed). Well, I guess this is it.
Wish me luck!
Sincerely,
Your Gracie :)
It was hard to make me cry, though I cried when I found out about mom and dad, I cried when I found out about Richard but nothing else did the trick. I didn’t cry when Rebecca and Owen left, I didn’t cry when I felt alone and useless instead I partied harder, drank myself to oblivion and other things I wasn’t ashamed about cause it was how I cope.
Grace was my rock. She nursed my short but painful hangovers and she made a night in jail fun like a sleep over. She was my very own sunshine and I was very protective of her. At first she was like a leech, always sticking to my side in kindergarten but slowly she grew on me. She was always smiling, tripping over invisible bugs and doing the silliest things.
.
I smiled softly at the memory.
I’m sorry Gracie, I screwed up.
Big time.
Folding the letter back neatly, I tucked it into my back pocket. I picked up the tray and walked downstairs, I had barely placed the tray onto the counter before Chad walked into the kitchen from the back door.
“Hey Ace.” He grinned, looking awfully cheerful and harmless with a hand in his pocket. “Where’s Grace?” He looked around curiously. I bit my lower lip, conflicted whether to tell him the truth or lie to his face. Chad and Grace were always classified at the future couple, even though they date other people and always screw around, at the end of they day they’d still end up together.
So it was no shocker, I had a tough time dealing with him now. So being the bitch I am, I opted to lie.
“She went to join her parent’s business trip since they’ve been gone for a while now.”
He nodded his head like the excuse I gave him made complete sense. “Tell you what, since I’m bored not to mention alcohol free, lets get wasted tonight!” I cringed at my awfully high-pitched tone. I wasn’t cut out to be a voice actor.
“I guess, Tyler’s having this party tonight.”
I smiled awkwardly. “Then I’ll see you there.”
Okay, maybe drinking isn’t exactly what I should be doing in this situation but heck, I’m feeling so stressed out lately. I deserved a drink or two…or many. Shit happens all the time and I need a time out. Its normal.
Richard would be pissed when he finds out Grace betrayed the pack cause the only favour he did for me was to let Dyron go and let the other alphas handle him if he was caught in another territory. Gracie…well, what do you expect from my bestie?
After my turn at the scheduled run around the border, I had a nice long walk back home, the forest is a relaxant to us and proves to be very soothing to the soul. Everything about it just distracts me from the problems I had yet to face.
In fact I finally got my emotions under control and started to think clearly. I got a few answers from it, that’s for sure. I still wanted to be with Richard despite how crazy it sounds. I want to be friends with Ryan and not awkwardly trying to ignore/avoid him. I should tell Chad the truth, he’ll understand, the mate thing was bound to get in their way. Last but not least I want to be able to communicate my sister from another mister no matter if she’s a traitor or she’s states over.
I quickly shifted and dashed into the shower. The grime and dirt was starting to itch. I soaped, shampooed, shaved, brushed my teeth and wrapped a towel around myself. I decided I wasn’t going to be sexy and seductive, nope, tonight was ‘make me feel better by getting drunk’ night.
Sure I was going to be nursing a hangover tomorrow and probably do something stupid enough to get locked up for it but hey, that’s what Frankie’s for.
I slipped into my skinny jeans and a comfortable oversized off shoulder black T-shirt that says ‘I would tell you to go to hell but I work there and wouldn’t want to see you all the time’ in crimson letters.
It was one of my less appealing casual wear but damn if it wasn’t comfortable, plus it showed just enough skin to signify I wasn’t going to bang anyone tonight and that’s pretty much the point.
The only thing I’m going to bang is a bottle of tequila.
The thing with being in a pack is, you pretty much know everyone cause you live in the same neighbourhood. I know practically everyone in this residential area and nothing could be kept a secret for long, trust me, if you had a wart I would know.
Except if you were the alpha of course, he can do whatever the hell he wants.
I tucked in my id and a roll of hundreds in my pocket and locked the door behind me. I checked the time on my phone and it was once fifteen minutes past nine. The party was barely rolling. It was during midnight when the party really goes on with a bang.
I strolled leisurely, just the darkness, the moon and me. The chill in the wind tells me autumn was just around the corner, the leaves are slowly turning yellow. I guess it’s that time of the year again. A deep sense of loss punched me in the guts, I wouldn’t be celebrating Halloween I guess. Grace would be the one stressing over these stuff, forcing me to dress up as her favourite character of the year.
I actually dressed up as a cactus once with a cactus flower hat cause apparently; she was so obsessed with it in plant vs. zombie.
I’ll be alone this year if Owen and Rebecca decided their life in the city was way more important than spending it here with me. Rebecca worked as a doctor in New York, currently working on her PHD and Owen is studying to be a lawyer. They have high ambitions whilst I was happy with the current me. No matter how complicated and messed up it is.
I’m young, so what?
I was right, the party was barely rolling when I reached Tyler’s. I rang the doorbell and was quickly answered by a goofy smiling Chad. “ACEEEE!!! WELCOME TO THE PARTAAAAAAY!”
“You’re the definition of fun. I have a lot of catching to do if I want to have as much fun as you are.” He bear hugged me, lifting me slightly till my toes didn’t reach the floor.
“Alright mutt, down boy.” He stumbled back, releasing me in the process and fell onto his back, cackling. “Oh dear, I have A LOT of catching up to do.” I caught Tyler coming out of a room from the corner of my eyes and hollered. “Throw meone!”
He looked beside him and proceeded to throw it in my direction with great precision. I caught it midair and popped the cap with my teeth. Taking a large gulp from it, I feel the familiar sensation at the back of my throat. Though tequila would definitely hit a spot.
“Chad, Chad…you mutt!” I kicked him in the shin and he immediately sat up, half awake.
“Whaa…Ace? I didn’t know you have a twin…ugh, quadruplet?” I rolled my eyes and slumped on the couch, resting my feet on the coffee table. “Ace!” Tyler shrieked.
“Put your feet down, my mom will kill me!” I slowly took a sip without taking my eyes off him.
“She would never know.” He scrambled towards me and quickly swatted my legs off. I rolled my eyes and finished off the beer.
“First of all dude, you sound like a chick and secondly, you got anything stronger?” I gestured to my empty bottle of beer. He shrugged, “Wouldn’t be my party if I didn’t. Go rummage the bar.” I would need something MUCH stronger if i wanted to drink my problems away.
I took that invitation with open hands. Tequila baby, mama’s coming.
