"V," Marylis’s surprised shriek interrupted Ava’s stupor. She turned and looked at her sister in law who had just walked in, a shopping bag was in her hand. As usual, Marylis had a beautiful smile on her face, her hair had just been done. She looked youthful in a pink dress. "I didn’t know you were coming."
"Oh I was just dropping by. I was about to leave." Ava smiled.
"Why don’t you stay for dinner?" Marylis asked.
"No really, its fine. I just thought I’d see Gabi before heading home. I brought some fruit over."
"Really?" Marylis put the bags on the counter. "But Phil just cooked dinner, and I am sure it is something delicious. Why don’t you just stay and eat with us? It’s been so long since we have gotten together like this."
This time, Ava grabbed her coat and just told them that she was leaving as she still needed to do something important. Marylis didn’t stop her, instead she walked her out to her car.
"Is everything alright?" Ava asked as she saw the following in her steps.
Almost immediately tears welled up in Marylis’s eyes. She bit her lower lip as she shook her head.
"Did something happen?"
Again, Marylis didn’t say anything and just kept on shaking her head. "No. We’re fine."
"Lis..." Ava frowned. She could sense the woman’s distress. "Phil is losing weight."
"I know. It’s just that... he has been busy. Taking care of me and the baby. Of course, there’s also his business."
Ava nodded at that. Her brother was indeed a workaholic. Phil wasn’t the brightest however, he would always do his best when given a task.
"I’ve read that a couple of months after giving birth is the hardest. You know... couples need to adjust to the new schedule. It’s a stressful moment for both the parents and the child."
Marylis had a sad smile on her face.
Seeing this, Ava gave the woman a hug and unlocked herwent car. Once she was seated, she turned to look at Marylis.
"Oh... by the way..." Ava said as she started her car. "Phil told me that you were in-charge of the old house while I was away?"
"Ah, yes. I had to make sure that the pipes didn’t freeze. The cold is just... " Marylis shrugged as she pulled the coat that covered her dress tighter around her. "Well... this is Alaska."
"Yeah, so I noticed a jacket. I thought it was Phil’s, however he said it wasn’t. Maybe whoever you hired left it there?"
This time, she noticed a change in Marylis’s emotions. However, not an iota of change could be seen on her face. Ava pursed her lips.
"I am cleaning the house and I planned to donate some stuff. I was planning to include that jacket." Ava added.
"Oh, of course. Sure, just donate it. I will talk to Rick, the man that I hired to clean the place last time."
Ava nodded. Then, she waved Marylis a goodbye and pulled away. By the time she reached the highway, her expression had already turned deadly serious.
For a few seconds, she deliberated, almost conflicted with the choice she was about to make. Finally coming to a conclusion, she stopped the car by the side of the road and sent a text to Matthew asking him to check Marylis’s whereabouts. When it came to her family, she wanted to be as thorough as possible. Right now, she didn’t want to do anything without any concrete evidence.
She let out a sigh as she stared at her phone.
No replies.
Matthew didn’t contact her since that day.
She chose to shake his thoughts out of her head. She had more pressing matters to attend to.
After a few minutes, she started driving home. She had been very lenient about this case, partly because she didn’t want it to be Phillip or anyone she knew. But the current developments were making her conclude that this was not just a simple serial killing case.
Something else was brewing behind the scenes. And she was going to find out exactly what.
It was already eight in the evening when she arrived at home.
But before she could step into the house, she paused at the porch and smelled the air. Then she stepped back and looked towards the darkness surrounding her lawn.
"Leave," she said.
Lycans.
She could hear their blood buzzing as soon as she arrived. Honestly, it was infuriating. Why would Matthew even think they were mates and have these people follow her around? Witches don’t have mates!
They are not like shifters that have their own mates since the moment they were born.
"It seems that you are indeed special." A man wearing a white tuxedo walked out from the dark. Almost immediately, her senses shifted from just being alert to defensive. Everything about this man screamed danger. At six foot five, the man was all muscles.
The stubble covering his face only made him more intimidating.
However, her expression soon changed when she noticed the man’s eyes.
They were... silver. Silver gray to be more precise.
"Let me introduce myself." The man stood just a few steps away from her porch. His posture was languid, lazy even. However, the glint in his eyes was enough to tell her that he was a killer, a deadly predator.
"I am called Drigo," the man shoved his hands in his pocket. "A lycan, but you already know that." The man smiled. Then he tilted his head. "For some reason, you sound like you are already used to Lycans mulling around you."
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"You look clueless... didn’t my good brother tell you anything?"
"Tell me what?" Was he talking about her being Matthew’s mate?
"Oh?" he chuckled, his deep voice giving her goosebumps. When he took another step forward, she immediately muttered a fire spell.
A ball of fire took form on the palm of her hand.
"One more step... "
"Relax.. I am not here to hurt you." Drigo defensively said. ƒrēewebnovel.com
And that was true. Ava couldn’t feel any blood lust emanating from the man.
"I am just here to tell you what my brother failed to tell you."
"And that is?"
"We are expecting to see both of you... in a month."
"What?" Ava hissed.
"Since he let you go, I am assuming, he is planning to fix everything on his own. So, I personally came here to invite you."
He pulled out his hand, on it was a small square envelope. Grinning, he put the envelope on the snowy ground.
"The Lycan Royalty are expecting to see you Miss Woods... in a month’s time."
She opened her mouth but no words came. Royalty? Was this the real reason why Matthew told her she was her mate? So he would have a reason to hide her from these people?
"Oh, and before you think of running away, please know we know about your brother and his new born child."
"You— "
"We also know about your connections to Trillium... we heard you had a mentor that... Please don’t look at me like that. I am just a bearer of goodwill." He squinted his eyes, his gaze turning sharp. "Of course... if you continue to decline... "
He didn’t finish his words. Instead, he chuckled and took a step back. Then he went into the forest and disappeared into the dark.
Oh hell...
She thought.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
