Tears of the Fallen Ch. 21

"We were originally tasked to protect the Vârcolac, that is true," he answered. "However, the Vârcolac call the pack their home, and as such, that makes the pack ours to protect by default. Until the Triumvirate give us a new task, we continue as we are. We will be vigilant and on call to either the Armand-Hanlon Pack or the Hanlon Pack. We will help to guard them from all intrusions be they local or from Europe. Our job is not done here; it has merely morphed into a new one. So I suggest you get your ass out back and get training, Brandon."

He laughed as he said the last bit, genuinely fond of the young male his mate had chosen to be her closest friend. It was hard for anyone not to like Brandon, and anyone who made his Lily smile was a friend of his.

Brandon mocked saluted, and winked at Lily before he jogged around the house to do as he was bid.

"That boy is nothing but trouble," Karn groused, though he was smiling as he said it.

"That's funny, because he reminds me of you when we first met," Mac countered, drawing an irritated snort from his second in command.

Liam smiled at the banter, a feeling of sadness coming over him that they were leaving the tight knit community. He'd enjoyed his time there and he could see the good effect it had had on Reasa too. She had loosened up a lot, her walls starting to come down as the Praetorians had welcomed her into their home. Perhaps he would talk to Rafe about allowing them to return to the compound when the threat from Europe has been dealt with. He wouldn't mind living with the Praetorians.

"Time for us to head back," he announced, opening the Jeep door so Reasa could climb in. "If you need us for anything, let Rafe know and we'll come back."

"You both have our thanks, Liam," Mac answered, a large smile on his face. "You're welcome here anytime."

Starting the engine, Liam headed back towards the pack compound. Reasa was quiet beside him, the silence deepening the closer they came to pack lands. He could see her shutting down as each mile passed and he wanted to curse out aloud. He couldn't face taking a backward step, not after the way she'd allowed him closer up at the Praetorian Compound.

"Do you want to return to Freya's home when we get back?" He asked the question even though he didn't want to hear the answer. If she retreated from him, he didn't know how he was going to reach her again. When she didn't answer straight away he glanced sideways to see her staring out the side window at the passing trees.

"Thereasa?" Her head turned and he couldn't make out what she was thinking. It set his heart plummeting into his stomach. She had retreated.

"Would your mother be agreeable to me residing in her home once more?"

It was the last thing he'd expected her to say, her response surprising him so much he stepped on the brakes to bring the car to a halt. Unclipping his seatbelt, he turned to face her. "Is that what you want? Think about it before you answer, Reasa. I only want you to say yes if it's what you truly want."

"It is what I want," she answered, her expression remaining neutral. "I find I have become accustomed to spending my days and nights with you, Liam. I do not want that to end."

She wasn't declaring she was ready to mate with him, but it was the most hopeful news he could have expected at this point. Liam would have let her go if she'd asked it of him. He was just glad that he didn't have to. He smiled slowly, his heart feeling suddenly lighter. "I am sure my mother will be agreeable to you staying with us again. I know she hasn't been exactly welcoming, but you have to understand that she's only concerned about me. She's very protective."

"Ashleigh's reaction is one of the things I do understand," she sighed, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. "You have an incredibly amazing mother, Liam Eriksson. She would walk through fire for you, and lay down her life for you. Being truthful, I am in awe of her. If only my mother had been the same then perhaps my life would have turned out differently."

When she didn't say anything further, Liam restarted the engine and continued on, a huge smile on his face. Things would get better, he just knew it. His mom was an amazing woman and it filled him with joy that his mate could see that too. Now, he just needed to convince his mother to see how amazing his mate was. He was convinced he could do that, even if it might take a little time.

Reasa remained silent with her eyes closed until they pulled up in front of his home. Her gaze turned apprehensive for a moment, her body stiffening when the door opened and his parents came outside.

"Liam, you're home." Ashleigh gathered her son close, laughing as he picked her up and gave her a huge bear hug. "You did it. You brought them back. I'm so proud of you, honey."

"Yes, you both did." Nors smiled as he held the car door open for Reasa to step out. "You've done an amazing thing, Thereasa. Thank you."

She appeared startled by his warmth, a blush crossing her cheeks as she looked away. "Liam did all the hard work. I merely helped him to finesse his phenomenal strength."

"Nonsense, you worked just as tirelessly as I did," Liam countered, moving to her side. "And you didn't have the luxury of healing from the physical wounds our bodies took while we were dream walking. Not once did you complain about it. In fact, you never mentioned it once to me. Elina had to tell me that she was healing you while we were working to bring the Praetorians back."

"Your bodies took physical damage?" Ashleigh gasped, concern spreading across her face. She was aware that Liam wouldn't have been in danger but Thereasa was human now. "Are you okay? Should we call Mallen over?" Her concerned gaze was directed at the former vampire who appeared to shrink even further into herself.

"I am unharmed," she muttered, looking everywhere but at the woman in front of her.

"Come on, let's get you inside before the rest of the pack come out to be nosey. They're still talking about your departure last week, and some of the younger heads still need to cool off a bit. Nors, grab their packs. Have you eaten yet? I can put on some breakfast." Ashleigh ushered the couple inside as her mate did as she bade.

Reasa turned perplexed eyes to Liam, unsure of how to react to suddenly being mothered by the woman who would have quite happily have seen her rot the week before. He shrugged but grinned happily.

"Just go with the flow, Reasa. There's no stopping her when she gets in one of her 'mothering' moods."

"I heard that, Liam Eriksson!"

He laughed loudly. "You were meant to, Mom."

Liam retrieved their packs from his father. "I'm going to head up to my room with our stuff. I take it there's no problem with Reasa staying with us again?" He threw the question out light-heartedly though his gaze was fixated on his mother's reaction.

His parent shared a brief look and then his father smiled. "I'll give you a hand, son."

There was no mistaking the fact that he meant for them to leave the women alone for a while to have a 'talk'. Liam wasn't so sure if Reasa was up for that but his father's expression told him that he didn't really have a say in it. With a resigned sigh, he followed him out of the kitchen.

Reasa didn't know what to do when Liam left her alone with Ashleigh. For want of anything better to do she sat down at the breakfast table, tensing a bit when Ashleigh sat down across from her. The blonde Were eyed her speculatively for a moment before she gave her a half smile.

"There's no need to look so concerned, Thereasa. Wiser heads than mine have prevailed." Ashleigh paused, looking down at her joined hands resting on the tabletop before she looked back at the former vampire.

"I love Liam with all my heart," she began, that love blazing from her eyes. "His happiness is the most important thing to me and for a time, I wasn't able to see that too clearly. I was too busy being a mother reacting to her child being in harm's way that I didn't want to see in you what he saw. The only thing that registered with me was that you tried to kill him."

She paused, letting the words sink in. "I'm not going to lie to you, Thereasa. I am still working on that and it may take me a while to fully forgive you for hurting my son. However, I am willing to try to see past it."

Reasa knew it had to be hard for her to say that, and it was probably more than she deserved. She nodded her acceptance of Ashleigh's position. "If it is of any assistance, I do regret that action now, Ashleigh."

Brown eyes searched her face for a long moment, and then there was a softening to Were's expression. "I can see that," she conceded. "I think I even believed it before you headed to the Praetorian compound. I just wasn't ready to have this conversation with you. I needed some more time to work through the emotions I was going through."

"You were a mother protecting your child," Reasa answered, her body still tense indicating how uncomfortable she was with the situation. "I respect and understand your position. If our circumstances were reversed, I would have reacted exactly as you did. You are a good mother to Liam."

Ashleigh laughed, but there was no humour in it. "No, I was a selfish mother, afraid of losing her son. The relief at knowing the Vârcolac were immune to your poison was quickly tempered by Liam claiming you as his mate. In my mind, you had failed to take my son away from me in one way, but were instead going to take him from me in another. No one knows the mating call of a Were better than I do. There is no stronger pull in the universe and Liam follows his wolf. That I rejected his claim and made your time living here untenable is not the act of a loving mother."

Reasa had expected her time at the Eriksson house to be more of the same when it came to Liam's mother, but this unexpected admission left her in confusion. There was a bitterness to Ashleigh's tone but it wasn't directed at her. Instead, it was directed inward and that wasn't what she'd expected to encounter at all.

Hesitantly, she reached out, placing her hand over Ashleigh's. She had done so instinctively and was further confused when the Were didn't pull away but instead turned her hands around to capture her's in a tight grasp.

"I do not find you at fault for your treatment of me, Ashleigh. I am aware of how much importance you hold in Liam's heart. It is hard not to as I have walked in his memories and seen the love his family have given him throughout his life."

Reasa blinked slowly, trying to find the words she was looking for. "I am not good at this kind of thing," she admitted, "but what I do know is Liam has a huge heart, full of so much love and forgiveness. I believe he receives that from you, his mother. Do not hold onto a past action that is but a mere fraction of a second in comparison to the wealth of moments where you have excelled yourself. You do yourself a disservice if you do."

She had never known she had such eloquence or such inclination towards forgiveness. Clearly, Liam was rubbing off on her because she was astounded to find that she meant everything that she said and that she truly did want to assuage the self-loathing she was seeing in the other woman's expression.

"I am ashamed, Thereasa," Ashleigh whispered, a lone tear falling as her grasp tightened. "Yes, you came here with ill intent but I allowed myself to be blinded by that fact and I failed to see how much you have grown in your time with us. I let hate dominate my heart and I have hurt my family by doing so. It has taken me a while but I am starting to accept that Liam can never be happy without you in his life."

Something twisted in Ashleigh's heart as she said the words; the knowledge that she was part way to forgiving and that it didn't make her a bad mother if she did. Liam had chosen this woman to be his life's mate, and now she was really seeing her for the first time, perhaps that wasn't as bad a choice as she'd once believed. "You are welcome in my home, Thereasa. For however long you wish to remain here."

Did miracles happen? Reasa had never believed in them before but sitting here with Liam's mother was a revelation that astounded her. Ashleigh was willing to welcome her into her home and into her family. Though she hadn't said the latter words, the implication was there. She swallowed hard to dislodge the lump that was suddenly clogging her throat. "I am grateful for your generosity, Ashleigh." She couldn't think of anything else to say.

The blonde Were scrubbed at her wet cheeks, rising from her seat as she did. "How about we start again and see how we get on? Make a fresh start for both of us? We both love Liam so we have a strong foundation of commonality."

Reasa nodded her agreement a split second before what Ashleigh had said fully penetrated her brain. Her heart sank, shock rocking through her body as the full import of what she'd just done registered. She had just admitted to Ashleigh that she was in love with Liam! Now that the thought was out there, she wasn't able to take it back and deny it. She couldn't avoid it, couldn't pretend it wasn't there. Somehow she had fallen in love with Liam Eriksson and she didn't know what to do about it.

How could she leave him now? Leaving was the only solution to the problem she had been able to come up with and she'd had to go and make it so much worse by falling in love with Liam? She had done nothing but bring irrevocable harm to the pack and their vampire friends. Louis was out to kill her, of that she had no doubt, which meant she would continue to bring harm to the very people who were now welcoming her into their lives.

She couldn't be responsible for that, she just couldn't. Liam would have to understand. He had to let her go and not come looking for her. It was the only way the pack would ever be truly safe.

The sound of Liam and his father coming downstairs shook her out of her reverie and she absent-mindedly answered a question about food that Ashleigh had just asked her. By the time the two males entered the kitchen, Reasa's expression was carefully neutral, no indication of that had just occurred visible to see.

She remained quiet as the family interacted, accepting the food placed in front of her and playing with it rather than eating. She felt sick to her stomach and nothing could have convinced her to eat anything. For the most part, they didn't appear to notice, and she almost let out a sigh of relief when the plates were cleared and Liam and his parents rose from the table.

"Just how bad are things with the younger pack members?" Liam was asking his father as they stood.

"Aaron has them out patrolling the south side of the compound. He's been tiring them out so they don't have too much time on their hands to think. The signs are that it's working already. Quite a few of them have calmed down." Nors held his son's gaze. "Cassia has mated though. She's returning to the pack later today with Pietro."

Liam frowned, concerned brown eyes turning to Reasa. The last time they had all been in the pack together Pietro had tried to kill her. Hopefully now the vampire has mated, some of Cassia's pack orientation may have transferred to Pietro.

"I have to go meet with Rafe now to let him know how we got on at the Praetorian compound," he finally said with a half-smile gracing his lips. "As it's pretty quiet right now around here, why don't you stretch your legs a little and go for a walk around the compound, Reasa? It would probably be best not to head south though."

Thereasa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Not only was Liam giving her permission to wander around alone but also his parents weren't objecting. Could she really walk around unescorted? Would this be her opportunity to slip away unseen while their guard was lowered? Just the thought of disappearing made her want to weep but knowing the harm coming their way made her heart break even more. She couldn't allow Louis to hurt any member of this pack because of her.

"If that would be permissible, I would like to see more of the pack," she answered, keeping her voice carefully modulated not to show any sign of her tumultuous emotions.

"Just don't go too far," Liam answered, his smile widening. "There are patrols around all the boundary lines so if you see any wolves out there, do what they indicate they want you to do."

His caution made sense, though she was going to do her best to avoid any wolves she came across. If luck was on her side she could slip passed them. Thanking Ashleigh for breakfast, Reasa kept her emotions locked down tight and headed outside with Liam, walking with him to the Alpha's house.

"I may be a while," he told her. "Despite the few hotheads around, my pack mates are pretty decent people. Enjoy your walk, and if you feel uncomfortable at all just head back to our place. You'll be fine there."

Now the moment was on her Reasa didn't want to leave. Staring up into Liam's smiling face her hand itched to reach up and touch him, to pull his head down and taste his lips once more. There was total trust in his eyes and she was about to break that trust. Even though she knew it was for the best, it didn't hurt any less. "I will not go far," she lied, holding her breath while she waited for him to acknowledge her words.

Liam nodded, heading into the Alpha's house, as Reasa turned towards the tree line. Her feet felt leaden but she took the first step, forcing herself to keep moving. There would likely be no better opportunity than this one and she had to keep going. She brushed a hand over her wet face, lowering her head and disappearing into the trees.

How far had she travelled already? Had she passed the boundary line? She'd been walking for close to half an hour, being careful to hide her tracks as best as she could. If the wolves came looking for her they would probably find her in the forest, but if she could make it to a road and hitch a lift into the city, then there was a good chance she could evade them.

A sound to the left startled Reasa, and she froze in her tracks. Something or someone was close by, and she hadn't seen any sign of them approaching. Could she outrun them? Had they even seen her? Perhaps if she stayed silent long enough they would leave? Any hope of that happening was dispelled when a male voice whispered close to her ear.

"You've made my job so much easier, Thereasa."

She screamed, but a hand clamped over her mouth, a thick arm snaking around her body to hold her pinned to a wide chest. The arm was naked, and as she struggled against him she realised he was completely naked which meant he was most likely a wolf as opposed to a vampire. It still made his next whisper so much more confusing...

"Michael sends his regards..."

Astonishment stilled her movements, dread washing over her. Michael? What was he doing aligning himself with wolves of all things? He detested all Weres as did the majority of European vampires. This man was certainly a Were. There was no reason for a vampire to run around a forest unclothed.

The moment of surprise passed, and her fear escalated. Michael excelled at being a vampire. His penchant for cruelty was almost as legendary as Louis', and he had no love for her. If her former coven leader had sent him then that was to be part of her punishment. He wanted her to die in the most excruciating manner possible.

Reasa started struggling again, kicking behind her to try to catch her captor off-guard. Her blows were ineffectual though. She was human now and so very weak.

The Were threw her to the ground, slapping her face as she tried to rise. His blow was hard but controlled. It was enough to cause her head to snap back against the bark of a tree, pain blossoming at the base of her skull. Crying out, she slumped to the ground in a wave of dizziness.