Chapter 100
Greyson’s POV:
I searched around in the crowd for Simon because I could see how Freya was starting to get unsettled from the absence of the boy. It looked like he was nowhere around and I was just about to move from my seat to properly search for him when a familiar mop of raven hair caught my attention.
Emilia.
And cuddled up in her arms was Simon. The two didn’t look like they were having any conversation. They just looked to be enjoying each others company. It was such a beautiful sight and I just stared at them for a full minute.
The paranoia eased a little from my mind knowing the boy was safe. The last thing I wanted was for the tiniest thing to go wrong, I wanted this to go as easily and as smoothly as possible for all of us. It was the least we deserved.
I take a sweep of the crowd once more with my heart pounding heavily in my chest, almost as if it knew that something was about to go wrong. There was nothing out of place. Everyone seemed to be in high, merry spirits and it looked like I had nothing to worry about.Content bel0ngs to Nôvel(D)r/a/ma.Org.
And with this realization, I relaxed a little more in my seat.
I raised the glass of drink to my lips and just before I could take a sip from it, I caught sight of the familiar red haired i had been praying to never see again.
It was a good thing I was yet to put the drink into my mouth because I might have spat the entire thing out and created a scene which was the last thing I wanted to do in this moment.
I removed the glass slowly from my lips and when I looked to the same spot, she was nowhere to be found. I couldn’t believe my eyes, there was no one standing in the spot right where she had been standing and there was no explanation for it. I looked around quickly and I still couldn’t her mane of red hair.
She had looked as beautiful and as perfect as the time when she had been alive. It was hard to believe that she was here in flesh but I know what my eyes had seen. That face wasn’t one I could ever forget or mistaken.
I brought the glass back to my lips and take a sip of it and immediately my nose and lips scrunch in disgust at the aroma and taste from the drink. It wasn’t like anything that I had ever taken before. I tried to look around for the made that had served the drink but she was nowhere to be found.
Once again.
There wasn’t a large crowd of people around but somehow everyone just had a way of disappearing.
“How does your drink taste like honey?” I asked Freya and she turned her attention to me.
“Grapes I think. It’s nice. Did you get something different?” She responded and I frowned.
“I could have sworn we have the same drink maybe because of the color but mine doesn’t taste or smell like grape at all.”
Freya brought her glass to her nose and took a sniff of it as if to confirm and then she took my own glass to take a sniff and before I could stop her she took a sip from the glass.
My heart dropped into my stomach and anger immediately overtook my frame at the action.
“Why did you do that? There’s a lot of things wrong with what you just did. Firstly, it might be alcohol and could harm you or the babies, then it could be something different that we don’t even know about and you just took a goddamn sip from it.” I say through gritted teeth.
I couldn’t explain the sudden anger, I knew that I was upset with Freya’s irrational behavior but I didn’t think it was that bad.
“Sorry. I feel fine though, I was just really curious.” She responded and the softness in her voice eased the anger in my heart.
Sighing heavily, I signaled Christie who was passing by us and instructed the maid to throw away the drinks.
There was an awkward tension between Freya and myself and I felt bad and at fault for upsetting her with my attitude, I took her hands in mine and rubbed a comforting thumb over her smooth and soft skin, before bringing her hands to my lips to kiss it.
“I’m sorry.” I said quietly to her and for the first time since I scolded her, she turned her eyes towards me and offered me a small smile which I happily returned.
And just like that, the tension was gone. Disappeared into thin air. People continued to approach us to make small talk after small talk with pinches of congratulations here and there, but it made Freya happy so I indulged it as best as I could.
But I could see that my pregnant mate was getting tired. And I knew that if I didn’t put a foot down then she would stubbornly fight her body and remain sat in her position, indulging as much people as she could.
“Let’s go upstairs love, we’ve had a long day.” I said to her.
I could see the protest in her eyes but thankfully Jessy chose that moment to come to us.
“Tired daddy.” My four years old said, raising her small hands so I could pick her up. A request I responded to immediately.
“Go in. I’ll put Jessy to bed and round up everyone here and I’ll come join you.” I said to Freya, giving her a kiss as she made her way through the stairs with me behind her and a sleeping Jessy in my arms.
Emilia had asked to take Simon for the night and although it had upset Jessy, she had finally settled when Simon had promised her a hundred times that he would be right back the very next morning.
I still didn’t know how I was going to tell my child that Emilia had requested to take Simon with her. She had finally been able to work enough to settle herself and there was never a question that if she was able to do this then she would have full custody of Simon.
It hurt myself and Freya to learn that Emilia had chosen to leave the pack and separate the children. She had promised that she would bring Simon to say hi once in a while, but we all knew that it would never make up for the children being apart.
We didn’t even want to think about how it would make Jessy feel when she would eventually find out.
I pushed open the door to Jessy’s room and settled her sleeping frame on the bed. I went into the bathroom and filled a bowl with warm water then brought it back with a towel and then proceeded to wipe her face, hands and neck.
Then I dressed her up in her pajamas that had one of her favorite cartoon characters on its shirt. Once I was satisfied that she was comfortable, I placed a kiss on her head before disposing the water and towel in the bathroom and going back down into the living area.
I had expected that some people would have started leaving, since mused and Freya had left but I didn’t expect to find the place almost empty.
There was still no sight of Estel and for some reason my heart skipped in its cage. Maybe a part of me had been hoping to confirm that she really was the one I had seen earlier, a part of me still longed to get a last glance of her face even if for only a split second once more.
I helped round off with the other maids as well as Smith and as the night went out the more tired I got. Until it was time to finally settle down for the night.
I took painful steps through the stairs and which every step I took, I yearned even more for my bed.
The closer I got to the room, the more I felt that there was something wrong. I couldn’t pinpoint it, but the way in which the hairs on my neck rose and my heart beat tripled in my chest and goosebumps rose in my skin, I just knew that there was something really off.
I open the door to find Freya sleeping peacefully on her side of the bed, I take a quick sweep around the room and nothing looks out of place.
The room had been cleaned and every top was pristine. I approached Freya’s sleeping frame and when I got closer to her, the smell that immediately hit me let me know the exact thing that was wrong in the room.
I moved closer to my mates frame and the smell of rot that came from her made me gag terribly. I backed away from Freya in disgust. The smell makes my skin crawl and the more I look at her, the more disgust I feel.
There’s nothing else to feel between us for me. Not the mate bond, not love, only the smell of rot and death and the disgust from my end.
I immediately exit the room and head for the guest room at the other end of the hallway.
The guest room wasn’t nearly as comfortable as my room, neither did it feel like the luxurious master’s bedroom that I had gotten used to, but at least it didn’t stink.
With that thought in mind, I settled into the bed after a hot shower and forced my mind to go to sleep. I did not allow myself the space to think about tonight’s event or the fact that my mate was literally stinking.
Instead, I forced my eyes close and allowed sleep take over my mind.