Chapter 4 Bestie

• ~Lynn~
• Mark fills me in on what he found on his lands. I ask the usual questions: who are their enemies, and what new Alphas are trying to prove themselves? When he had no valuable information to contribute, there was only one thing that popped into my mind, but I didn’t want to be the one to bring it up. I said my goodbyes and hung up the phone.
• “Well, that was an enlightening conversation, I think.” I put my phone down and lean back on the bed. I haven’t spoken to my brother in a while, and I feel bad about that. We both just got caught up in our lives, and checking in wasn’t the top priority.
• The bathroom door opens, and a shiver runs through my body. “Who was that, babe?” I want to answer, but my mouth is suddenly dry. Devonte is standing in the doorway with just a towel hanging low on his body. There are drops of water running down his chest as he rubs his hands together. Just remembering what those hands do to me regularly has me leaking all over myself. “Uh, babe?” I shake my head, and Devonte is standing in front of me. I have no idea how the hell he got in front of me so fast. Devonte takes a deep breath and smirks. “You know, if last night and this morning weren’t enough, I can definitely help with that.”
• I close my eyes and clear my throat. “That, uh, that was my brother.” I feel the bed dip next to me.
• “The brother that’s now the Alpha of Moonlight Pack, right?” I open my eyes and look at Devonte, causing him to chuckle. “Former royal nerd, remember. I made it my business to know all of the packs and their ranked members. Not to mention the fact that I researched everything I could about you the minute I found out we were fated to each other.” I roll my eyes and stand, stretching as I make my way to the closet. “So your brother called and…..”
• “He was telling me that he found a dead warrior on his territory. The body was drained of blood.”
• “Are we thinking Aida?” I sigh while shifting through my clothes.
• “I don’t see what other answer there could be. We never really have dealings with vampires and now my brother finds a drained body on his territory. It seems to be too on the nose for it to be coincidence.”
• “Well, what did your brother do to Aida?”
• “What do you mean?” Devonte walks toward me and stands in the doorway, replacing his towel with boxer briefs. He’s playing a dangerous game, and I know he knows that.
• “It seems like this wave of violence she plans to go on will be against those who have harmed her. You told me that Lincoln was saved because Adela ratted their location out. I’m going to assume that she wanted payback, and it wasn’t just because she was starving. That other vamp also said that we would be next. If it was her at your brother’s territory, we have to ask what he did to her.” That makes a lot of sense. It won’t keep her from messing with him and his people, but will prepare him. He’ll know to be on the lookout and to be ready to defend his people.
• “As far as I know, he didn’t do anything to her. He didn’t have much contact with the Colby twins. If he is a target, it would be based on his relationship with Tia, I’d imagine.”
• “Were they that close?” I chuckle as I pull my outfit from the closet.
• “It was the three of us….all the time. He even had a bit of a crush on her for a while. He doesn’t know that I knew, but it was obvious. He never acted on it because we were so close. Tia saw him as a brother and he didn’t want to ruin that. I never brought it up because I didn’t want to make our group uncomfortable.” I move to the dresser to pull out my undergarments.
• “Well, I think we should talk to Vonte and the Alphas about this. Maybe we need to make a trip to your brother’s pack and help them get some things in place. I need to check in with my brother and see how many warriors they are sending. We are going to need all of the help we can get.” I nod and start to get out of my robe to get dressed for the day. “Uh, babe, you may want to shower again. As worked up as you were earlier, you probably made a mess down there.” I grab a pillow and turn, throwing it at his retreated body. The pillow hits the doorframe, and Devonte laughs loudly in the hallway. He isn’t wrong, though; another shower is definitely in order.
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• I take a deep breath and then knock on the door of the Alpha suite. “It’s open!” I turn the knob and walk inside. It’s pretty quiet, and a layer of sadness is in the air. Lincoln is packing the baby bag in the kitchen with Kian on his hip. “Hey, there, Beta. What did you need? Landon should be in the office already.” I smile at him and make silly faces at Kian to make him laugh. “I’m taking him to daycare.” My head shoots up.
• “Daycare? Seriously?” Kian hasn’t been in daycare for one day. He has too many grandparents who fight to get time with him. Lincoln sighs while putting a few more things in the bag.
• “Yeah, I know. Everyone just needs time to grieve and I have to run the pack with Landon. We’d keep him, but we have meetings that we can’t postpone. He’ll be okay in daycare and they are excited to have him.” I nod and kiss Kian on the cheek.
• “I just came to see Tia.” Lincoln’s face falls, and he nods toward the hallway.
• “Just….just be gentle with her. She’s still taking it kind of badly.” I nod and slowly walk down the hall. I stand in front of the master bedroom door with it slightly ajar. There’s no movement from the room and no sound. I take a deep breath to center myself.
• “Hey, bitch,” I knock on the door before pushing it open. “I’ve been missing you. You’ve been hiding from me.” The room is dark, with no sunlight shining from anywhere. There’s a mass on the bed under the covers. I jump onto the bed and wrap my body around the mass. It squirms a bit, but I don’t let go.
• “Get off me! Damn, Lynn, can I sleep?!” I slide off to the side and keep my arm around the mass.
• “Uh, sleeping time is at night. It’s daylight hunty…time to get your ass up!” Tia huffs and pushes the covers down. She turns to lie on her back, staring at the ceiling.
• “I know, I’m being ridiculous. She was hateful to me. She beat me up, tried to take my mate, hell she probably wanted me dead. But she was my sister….my blood. It hurts, Lynn.” I kiss Tia on the cheek and snuggle up to her.
• “That’s one thing about you that never changes. You are so kind-hearted. That’s why this hurts you so much; you care for everyone. She was a superbitch, but I get it. She was your family, and you loved her. What you can’t do is keep living in this bubble of despair. You know damn well that if things were different, that bitch would be having a party. She would have found a way to mark Landon and would probably be pissing on your grave.” Tia chuckles, and I smile. “I don’t want you to stop being the kind hearted person you are; just limit that to those who truly deserve it. Grieve for your sister, but don’t let it last long; she doesn’t deserve all that from you.” Tia sighs and turns to me.
• “You should have been my sister instead.” I scoff.
• “The fuck you mean?! I AM your sister, dumbass.” We both start laughing. “Get up and get in the shower. We have things to do today, and we need to start with getting my nephew from daycare.” Tia’s eyebrows raise so far they almost hit her hairline.
• “Daycare?!”
• “Yeah, your mates have meetings, and the grands are a bit occupied.” Tia jumps out of bed.
• “Shit! Let me get in this shower.”