Stars Above Lonely Nights — Michael Brown novel Chapter 150

Lizzie

Jax POV:

+25 Points

I

Walking to the pack hospital I feel the conflicted emotions Nova is feeling so I wrap my arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

“The rest of the pack will be arriving in a couple of hours” I tell them both as I get a mindlink from Theo who I had asked to organise it.

“I’m looking forward to seeing them” Nova says with a genuine smile at the news.

“They’re all ready to be home” Laurence agrees as his eyes brighten at the news his mate and pups will be home soon.

“We made the right decision sending them away” I say thinking back to the gruesome sight that was left for us last night. The dead have now been burnt and the fallen warriors were all ready to be transported to their respected packs for their traditional burials. Ours will be done once the full pack is in attendance.

“We did” Nova says quietly after a moment, her nerves growing as we reach her mother’s door.

Pausing i hold her chin gently and look into her eyes, “I’m right with you” I murmur before kissing her softly.

“Thank the goddess for that” she chuckles lightly makes Laurence laugh from behind us. Holding her head high she pushes the door open without a second thought and walks into her mother’s room, any sign of nerves long gone as the Luna within her becomes apparent.

“Athena?” hear a timid voice whisper as I look towards the bed to see the hazel eyes of her mother trained on my mate.

Taking in her appearance I see the dark circles standing out against her pale skin, her eyes bloodshot and red from crying. Whilst her hands are shaking at her side, showing her fragility.

“It’s just Nova now please mum” Nova says quietly as she moves closer. “How are you feeling?”

Feeling her sense of helplessness float through the bond as she takes in her mother’s appearance I stay close behind, my hand resting on her lower back showing my support.

“Lost” her mum says with a sad smile. “I feel as if I’m a stranger in my own body.”

“You will be ok mum” Nova whispers as I see Lizzie bite her lip unsure of Novas words. “What did they do to you? You look so much weaker than earlier this week?”

Taking a shakey breath in she gives Nova a heartbroken smile, “I’ll tell you what I can I promise. My

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memory is fragmented, some seem to be just out of reach, blurry almost” she says pursing her lips. “I’m weak without Cedric’s magic coursing through me, but I’ll take that over being under his control any day.”

“Where were you all this time?” Nova asks.

Seeing her natural skin is deathly pale and lacking colour I murmur quietly, “were you kept in the bunkers too?”

Her eyes

flash to mine and all I can see is pain in them, “yes” she whispers. “I was their prisoner, one they experimented on and kept alive solely to get your father and you. I was Cedric’s little toy.”

“When did they get you?” I ask, “how long after you dropped Nova off with her brothers family?”

“Days, that’s it” she winces. “Without your father I was no good at staying hidden. I tried, I really tried” she cries as tears pour down her face. “But I’m weak, I always have been.”

“You don’t strike me as weak mum” Nova says quietly. “You have survived all this time, you have inner strength that people would be jealous of. I can tell.”

Offering Nova a watery smile Lizzie shakes her head in defeat, “I was weak Nova. I should have fought for you both more, tried to get away. But I gave up on life, on everything. I would have died of my own doing if it wasn’t for Cedric’s magic. It was all a mask.”

“You’ve survived a mate bond breaking” I point out quietly.

“You

“A mate bond that had been forced away from me for years, one that had weakened so much that it was barely there” she whispers as she shakily wipes her tears from her face. “My Kingsley thought I didn’t love him..”

“He knew” Nova interrupted. “He knew you did in your heart, you saw his reaction when he saw you. The guilt he felt because he hadn’t found you was strong but the love shining in those eyes of his was even stronger. The matebond is what made you remember him, what got you out of whatever twisted world Charles and Cedric had created around you.”

“I forgot how good those sparks felt” she says with a sad smile as she closes her eyes for a moment. “Now they’re gone forever, I never even got chance to apologise to him.”

“Do you know about Sophie?” Nova asks quietly as Lizzie eyes flash open looking surprised by her question before nodding slowly.

“I do” she whispers. “I was there, made to watch everything. I’d had two years of being alone, confined in a cell underground not seeing the light of day. Then I was brought into a room and Cedric was there, on the other side there was your father. But I couldn’t sense him like I normally could, nor could he sense me. Cedric’s magic got between us, at the time I was heartbroken,

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watching my mate with another. I felt all the pain and heartbreak a mate would, the stabbing in my heart was so horrific I screamed until I passed out. To physically see it broke me. But he never once reacted, not once. I knew deep down he wasn’t himself and that he would never betray me like that, but with everything Cedric did to me overtime I began to believe he’d done it because I

left him.”

“That’s awful” I say sadly as Nova begins to cry quietly

“She’s telling the truth, her emotions are so raw” she sobs through the bond as I bring her into my

side.

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