Another Half

A few minutes later, Crys sent down everything with a very troubled-looking Sergio. Blade cheerfully smiled at him, which made him frown even more.

Rex had gone back to his office so they could both work in peace. Her mate always surprised her. She could feel his innate Alpha’s possessiveness over her, his desire to not let her out of his sight, but she could also feel the strength of his willpower to control it and not stifle her. At his most vulnerable, Rex was terrified of Blade leaving him if he was too controlling, too demanding. Completing the Mating Rituals had not healed him as Blade had anticipated, but she supposed it was to be expected. She wasn’t entirely healed, either, but Rex had yet to talk about his first Fated Mate, about his painful rejection. The experience must have been really bad if, even now, he didn’t even want to mention his former mate’s name; he had recoiled and shut down completely when Blade had asked.

Iracema squealed as soon as she saw all the makeup and nail polish but stopped herself from grabbing anything.

“I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hand over her heart and looking at all the goodies Crys had sent. “I love makeup.”

Blade grinned and pulled on one of the sweaters and then gave Iracema the other.

“Thank you! My teeth haven’t stopped chattering since I got here!” Iracema quickly pulled on the sweater and sniffed it. “Oooh! And it smells so nice!”

Blade laughed. “Let’s get you cleaned up. My friend sent you some face wipes and even moisturizer.”

Iracema looked toward the door that had no handle on the inside. It was locked from the outside and she quickly looked back at Blade.

“Do you know why they have us here?” Iracema whispered. “When will I be able to go back with Alfredo?”

“Who’s Alfredo?” Blade started cleaning off Iracema’s makeup with the wipes. Iracema sighed contently as Blade worked.

“Goddess, that feels so good! I mean, the wipes are cold, but it still feels good! Alfredo’s my mate’s father, but he’s also my mate now.”

Blade stopped and stared at her. “Wait, what? Your mate’s father? But he’s your mate now? Where’s your mate?”

“The Night Invaders killed my mate,” Iracema whispered, tears seeping out of her eyes. “They killed him the same night they killed the Alpha and his family.”

Blade continued to gently wipe Iracema’s face, making sure to wipe away the new tears on her face.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Blade said softly. “Tell me about it. What happened?”

“It was horrible.” Iracema started to sob. “My mate was one of the Pack House cooks, and the Night Invaders forced the Alpha and his family to host them for dinner. I don’t know what happened, but everyone in the Pack House died that night.” She sobbed. “Everyone except the Invaders.”

“How, Iracema? What did they use?”

Iracema shook her head. “No one knows. People started screaming and running out of the Pack House. There was so much blood everywhere. My mate ran home, and he was bleeding from everywhere, his eyes, mouth, nose, even his ears—blood was gushing from everywhere. It was like he was a pot on the stove and all the blood in him started to boil over and it didn’t stop until he died in my arms.” Her sobs shook her violently, and Blade moved to put her arms around her.

Sergio, please bring the rucksack of jars you found by the lake and just set it on the table. Thank you.

Blade sat back down, and opened the case of red nail polish.

Iracema immediately recoiled when she saw all the different shades of nail polish.

“Do we have to?” She asked, looking at Blade.

“No, we don’t,” Blade whispered, closing the case of nail polish. “But let’s take off the old nail polish from your nails, okay?”

Iracema nodded and sat quietly as Blade worked.

Sergio went in a few moments later and, grim-faced, set the rucksack on the table next to Blade.

Iracema looked at it. “Are there any different nail polish colors in there?” She took the bag and started to search and looked rather disappointed when she took out a couple of jars. “There’s nothing here but these jars. I think he brought the wrong bag.”

Blade smiled with relief. “That’s too bad, isn’t it? How about some clear polish instead?”

Iracema nodded. “I’ll get some yellow or purple or whatever when I get home. Maybe you can come and visit me so we can do each other’s nails?” She looked at Blade hopefully before looking down at Blade rubbing off the red nail polish. “Red used to be my favorite color and that’s why Alfredo wanted me to wear it for last night, to remember the good times. But I don’t think that color looks good on me anymore.”

“Who are these Night Invaders you keep talking about?”

“They’re the ones that took over our pack years ago. They just came one night and told the Alpha that they were taking over. Two weeks later, the Alpha died—just like I told you. We were all scared after that, even the Beta and the Gamma, but they died too.”

“Like the Alpha and his family?”

Iracema shook her head. “It was more sudden. Alfredo said he was there. They were toasting because the Invaders were going to make the Beta the new Alpha. And then they died. Their mates, too.”

Rex, I need to come down here as soon as you can.

I’m on a phone call with a distributor for the distillery, but I’ll be there soon.

“But who were they? Why did they come only at night? Were they witches? Or,” Blade was almost afraid to say it. “Were they vampires?”

Blade had never seen a vampire. Even though her grandfather had mentioned them often, he hadn’t come across any. At least, not that he had ever told her.

But that wouldn’t make sense! Talon suddenly piped up. Why would they waste all that blood? Vampires love wolf blood.

Iracema vigorously shook her head. “No. They were wolves. Like us. But they hid in the darkness with their black hoods.”

“Why? Were they disfigured?”

“I don’t know, Blade,” she said, shaking her head, “but everyone from our pack that’s seen them in the light has died.”

“What about Jonson?”

Iracema frowned. “He was with them until that last day when he let us out. He said that that sick pregnant girl was his sister, but I sort of knew Gabby. She was from out of state, where her mate found her three years ago. They killed her mate and her baby girl.”

Blade finished polishing Iracema’s nails, and Iracema looked at them with delight. “Thank you! I can tell you don’t do this often, but you did a really good job.”

The comment took Blade by surprise and she laughed.

“I guess I need more practice, huh?” Blade took one of Iracema’s hands into her own. “Why did you accept Alfredo as your new mate? Did he force you?” she asked softly.

Iracema shook her head vigorously. “Alfredo has always been very kind to me, and I didn’t want to be alone. I have no other family. My mate’s death was really hard on him, too. He was Alfredo’s only son. And then the rest of Alfredo’s family died from the white sickness.” She looked at Blade gravely. “We’re all we have left and that’s why we Chose each other. Do you think that’s a good enough reason?”

“As good as any if you’re happy,” Blade said.

Pulling her long hair to one side, Iracema showed the double Marking on the left crook of her neck, one slightly imposed over the other, like the tattoos of two incomplete irregular ovals of dots. The small size of both Markings told Blade that Iracema’s mates were omegas, as opposed to an alpha’s Markings, which were deeper and larger.

“What did Alfredo do for a living?”

Iracema looked at Blade with confusion. “He was the pack’s Chief of Produce. Before the Invaders, Alfredo bought all the produce for the Pack House and the rest of the pack.” She looked at her polished nails. “He paid for my mate to go to chef school, and that’s how he got the cook’s job at the Pack House.”

“And Jonson worked with him?”

“I don’t know Jonson very good,” she said. “We met him at the prison they kept us in. He brought our food.”

“You don’t strike me as a criminal.”

Iracema laughed. “They arrested me and Alfredo because we Marked each other without their permission. Can you imagine? Asking the Alpha or Luna to Mark your mate? So, anyway, Jonson was our jailer and he cooked up a plan to help us escape.”

“That is strange,” Blade agreed. “Why would Jonson be on their side if he was from your pack?”

“Oh, but he isn’t from our pack,” Iracema said. “He came with them, but then made friends with all of us at the jail because he said we reminded him of his family. They died of the white sickness, too, he said. He started by giving us more food, clean water, and blankets,” she said. “And then when they announced our execution, he cried with us and promised to help us. The next day, he let us all out. He had prepared food for us to travel with, and even led us to Blue Ponderosa. I don’t think we would have survived without him, to be honest. He’s been a good friend.”

“Of course, he has,” Blade murmured. She started to gather her things when Iracema put her hand on Blade’s forearm.

“Are they going to torture me?” she whispered urgently. “That male said he was going to get a set of pliers to pull out my fingernails.”

“Who told you they were going to torture you?”

“The male that keeps bringing you stuff,” she said. “He said the Alpha was going to personally hurt me if I didn’t answer his questions.”

Blade raised her eyebrows and patted her hand. “Iracema, you have anything to worry about. They will let you and Alfredo out soon and you can continue to lead your lives in this pack in peace.”

“How do you know that?” She whispered incredulously. “They picked us up for no reason, y’know. We were in a restaurant celebrating Alfredo’s birthday when they arrested us and accused us of trying to poison the Alpha. I haven’t even seen the Alpha since that first day when we escaped.”

“They will let you go because,” Blade moved her braid from her left shoulder revealing Rex’s blue Mark, and Iracema gasped, “except for my mate, everyone does what I say.”

“Luna, forgive me for my disrespect,” Iracema said, bowing her head low. “I honestly had no idea.”

“You have nothing to fear. But I have to ask you, is everything you told me true?”

Iracema’s response was instant. “Everything I have told you is the truth, Luna. I have hidden nothing from you.”

Blade ignored the strangeness that came with being called Luna, and instead nodded to what her instinct had already told her about Iracema.

The door opened and Rex strolled inside, the strength of his aura filling the room. Iracema immediately stood up and bowed her head.

“What are we to do with this girl?” He asked, his gaze softening when he saw Blade. He looked at the items on the table and grinned.

What is this? You’ve turned my torture chamber into a spa?

“Let her and her mate go, Alpha,” Blade said. “They are innocent.”

Blade lifted one of her shoulders and winked at him. I do whatever it takes to get the truth out of my subjects.

“Very well. And the other?”

“I believe Jonson and I need to have ourselves a little chat over some hot tea.”

—and a few syringes. You might want to stick around for that one.

Rex’s smile lit up his entire face.