Mysterious mate to the lycan prince (Addison and Max) novel Chapter 80

Chapter 80

Addison

“It’s Jeffrey,” my father said.

“What the hell does he want in Red Valley?” My mother rushed over to the window, standing right next to my father.

Then, she gasped with so much emotion, like she had just seen something that was about to bring her to tears. My brothers had a similar reaction and I was the odd one out.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Don’t you feel that?” Cole asked me.

“Feel what?” My forehead creased.

“Aunt Nora,” Dylan said quietly, like he couldn’t believe it.

“Jeffrey’s approaching this house and has Nora with her,” my father said, his voice the softest it had been since I’d woken up.

Not only did I struggle to understand how Jeffrey had made it to Red Valley with my aunt, I also couldn’t understand why I’d been unable to feel what everyone else had felt. I should’ve been the first as my senses were the most heightened. Then, I realized what had happened to me. Saga had retreated.

While my family’s reaction to Jeffrey and Nora were a mix of relief and fury, I just moved backwards until I ran into the wall behind me. The destruction had been too much and after that talk with Lyra, it changed things for Saga. I couldn’t feel her at all.

I looked over at Lyra on the other side of the room and she knew what was going on with me, her glare changing to something softer as she sighed.

I couldn’t even say anything to anyone right there as I didn’t want to take anything away from what was about to happen. It was for this reason that I masked it all up.

Jeffrey’s approaching footsteps were now loud enough for me to hear and I rushed to the front door and leaned forward so I could look through the keyhole. There he was, coming up the steps with Nora in his arms. I covered my mouth so I wouldn’t burst into tears just there. She was still in her same dress, the only difference being the hole Warrick’s hand had made after shoving it into her chest.

He set her down right by the door and I just wanted to rush outside and get to her, but my mother grabbed my wrist just in time before I could unlock the door.

“Not yet!” she said to me.

“But-but Aunt Nora-”

“This could be a trap for us. Haven’t you thought of that?” She then looked over at my father. “Should we wait until he leaves, or get out there for Nora and let him know that we’re home?”

“Before you make your decision,” Lyra chimed in, “remember that the cloaking spell is weaker now but it’s still up. He can’t tell that there’s anyone’s home. He can’t even hear you, but the moment you open that door, the spell will completely break. My mother isn’t even here to-”

My father growled, dashing past my mother and I to open the door.

Jeffrey was still in a crouching position right beside Nora when he got kicked in the jaw and fell backwards.

UIC, UyIaII, B་་

house before baring his claws.

As soon as my brothers got to the door and saw her up close, they inhaled sharply, their eyes lingering on the bloody hole in her dress. They tried their best not to break down, gently lifting her while looking down at her.

Lyra just stood by as my father broke the stairs by slamming Jeffrey into the ones at the bottom, but I wasn’t worried that my father was about to lose his life and Jeffrey would escape.

With that in mind, I focused on my aunt and crouched down, wishing there was something I could do to bring her back, but there was no heartbeat or even a heart at all. She was now just a corpse.

“Oh, Aunt, I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop it.” I burst into tears, my mother embracing me with one arm after crouching beside me. She hadn’t yet shed a tear as she tried to keep it all in for my sake.

The second my brothers gently set Aunt Nora down on the living room floor, my father and Jeffrey put a stop to their fight, like it was out of respect for her.

“How dare you show your face here after the role you played?” My father put his claws away, his breath heavy as he looked down at his ripped shirt from Jeffrey’s claws.

“You could at least thank me for bringing Nora all the way here,” Jeffrey said, wiping the blood dripping down his lip. Apart from his forehead that had also been busted open and left bleeding, the sides of his face had my father’s claws. It was going to heal fast, but the blood was still going to be a reminder that he stood no chance against him.

My mother was still crouching right beside me while fixing Aunt Nora’s hair when she paused, her eyes glowing at Jeffrey. “Thank you?”

“You’re welcome,” Jeffrey chuckled.

My father was about to launch himself at him when my mother growled, a warning for both of them not to do anything more than what had already been done.

“After what happened in that dungeon, why did you do this?” My mother’s voice was softer this time.

“You have to believe me when I say I didn’t want any part of this,” Jeffrey said. “I didn’t know Warrick was going to kill Nora. I didn’t even know she was going to be in that dungeon. After she died, he told me to burn the corpse, but I couldn’t do it. It was only right for me to bring her home. I know your family’s been in hiding for a while now. That’s why I didn’t know if I would find you here or not, but I didn’t know where else to take her.”

“If you think we’re going to fall for that, you’re wrong.” My father bared his claws on one hand like he was about to use them. “You think we don’t know that this is a trap? You expect us to believe that when you left the palace, you came straight here without anyone spotting you? We were all in trouble that day at the palace but you did nothing for us, now you want to make it look like you actually care?”

“Nora wasn’t there. None of you matter to me as much as she did. Besides, the situation was extremely chaotic when I left the palace. I just kept her somewhere safe for a few hours since I couldn’t be gone too long. That would’ve been too suspicious.”

“Are we actually believing his bullshit?” Cole huffed. “Pike Hill is far from Red Valley and you just came here like it’s no big deal? Fine. For a moment, let’s pretend that this isn’t a trap. How did you come all the way here without being spotted?”

He shook his head at Cole like he was being disrespectful. “I made sure I wasn’t spotted. Don’t ask me how. That part is no one’s business.” Then, he looked over at me. “It’s because of Davina we learned who was responsible for the attack. It was you. You should know that Warrick turned so many packs against you. They intend to capture you with Davina leading them. So far, no one’s against it because they all have enough reasons to be in support. This is going to be a war against this one pack.”

“So this is the other thing you came for? To intimidate us?” Dylan asked.

“No. I just came to warn you. There are those who have lost their limbs and then there are those who lost their lives. You don’t even want to know how many have died in total.”

I swallowed hard, my heart already pounding hard as I said, “How many?”