26. Being The Better Person

Louis

Juliet disappeared again. We had a fight, and she left. I was sitting in her room on the carpet, staring out the window where she had been just moments ago. I knew where she was going. There was nowhere else she would go. Following her at that stage wasn’t an option.

Cindy opened the room door when she finally woke up.

“Louis?” She scanned the room. “Where is she?”

I pointed to the window. “I told you it wasn’t a good idea to keep her in the dark about my ability.”

“You told her?” Cindy asked.

“She slept with Chris last night.” I had to say it out loud. I had to hear it for myself.

Cindy was quiet, taking in the information. “But… he’s married.”

I shook my head. “Not anymore.”

“His wife is the wolf, and you let her get in the middle of that? You knew she was in love with the possible hybrid, and you didn’t tell us.”

I shook my head. “No! You brought me here to see if I could accept Juliet as a wife. Not spy on her for you… You told Samuel that your daughter needed someone… I came… I… fell in love with her. I wasn’t going to betray her trust… Just because you’re her parents… She forbade me to tell you… But if you were honest with her, we might have been together.”

“What do you mean? I thought your relationship was developing well… But now she is with Chris?” Cindy asked, confused.

I shook my head. What a mess.

“It was going really well until last night…I didn’t know Chris and her paths would cross. I didn’t want to control things anymore… make everything play out a certain way. I love her too much to manipulate her.”

“We’re her parents. It’s not manipulation making a choice for your child when they know nothing.”

“Why does she know nothing!? Because you chose to raise her like this? Among humans. What did you think was going to happen.”

“You would see her in Marcus’s harem fighting every day of her life? You know we didn’t have any other option. He still wants her, Louis. He wants her there.”

The thought made my heart race. The little blood I had to keep me alive was boiling at the thought of her being taken. If anyone knew where Samuel’s niece was, the compound would descend.

“Okay! Let’s not fight anymore. It’s pointless… Do you know where she is?”

“Where do you think?” I spat out. I didn’t want to think about them together. I couldn’t even be angry at her.

“She’s with Chris? She walked all the way there in her state.”

“You’re really naïve about the obsession your daughter has for this man. You should have read her journal. You take control of everything. Why didn’t you just go all out… Letting her experience life and letting her do just what she wanted didn’t make up for what happened with Liam.”

“I would never invade her privacy.”

I grimaced. “But it’s okay that I did? Because you have chosen me as a good candidate for your daughter. Does she even know anything concerning where we come from?” Cindy shook her head.

I sighed. My gaze kept drifting to the window and Juliet’s face when we fought. I had to get out of there before I went to Chris’s house and made a scene.

“I’m leaving… If you want to find Juliet, you can do it yourself.”

“I will just check the app like we did last time.” She took out her phone. It showed exactly where I knew she would be.

“I would leave her alone for a bit. Let her vent some of the anger… Because when she does come back. She’s not going to let things slide anymore.”

“What about France? Don’t you leave Wednesday?”

My mouth pulled at the thought. We were so close… It was a few days… We would’ve been happy. “If you think Juliet will get on that plane with me… you’re mistaken… But I will take Carl and Charlene. She would expect it of me. And I keep my promises.”

“Fine. Go home and….”

“Juliet hasn’t eaten in two weeks!” I said loudly. “She is out there… all alone… with no way of doing this on her own. She will start acting recklessly if she doesn’t feed.”

“Should we go get her…”

Irritated, I bumped past her… “I don’t care. You guys sort it out! I have made enough of a mess… I wouldn’t go there even if you paid me. I will make sure I have someone just in case.”

“Thank you, Louis.” I waved my hand in the air to shrug off her unwanted appreciation.

My Car was still at Charlene’s house. I thought a walk was a good idea to clear my mind. I was mostly disappointed in myself. I had four days to keep things together… I couldn’t even do that. Wanted her to make a choice. Juliet was attracted to me… She kissed me… We enjoyed each other’s company. Even if she was so obsessed with Chris, they had no time together… They didn’t know each other. Even less than we did. It wasn’t like she was delusional about his situation. After the letter, she was adamant about letting him go...

I should have made it official. I knew that’s what she was thinking. What she wanted… I needed it to be special. Left it for another day. Planning a romantic setting in France. I didn’t think that… “Argh!” I don’t know what I was thinking. She was obsessed when I first got there. But the more time we spent together, the scales between Chris and me evened out. We were on level playing fields. It wasn’t even a competition… Fate had thrown them together.

Ringing the bell at Charlene’s house produced her father giving me the keys and saying that he was glad that I helped them out last night.

“You’re the teacher going with them to France for the exchange program.”

“Yes. Thank you for trusting me and granting Charlene this opportunity. Everything set for Wednesday?” I asked, putting on my human façade.

“The women are very excited packing and preparing. We are glad that Juliet’s parents are also going… makes it all a little easier, you know.” I nodded but didn’t say anything, hoping everything worked out for Charlene to get out of there.

“Well okay, thanks again… It seems you are in a hurry.”

That was my queue. “No, sorry… I’m not the best company right now.”

“You want to come in for a beer?” I thought about just leaving… but where would I go. I knew I would end up in front of Chris’s house, finding out what she was doing or what they were doing.

After my beer with Charlene’s father, I ran some errands and went home. Forced myself to have a few more drinks alone. Get my head screwed on straight. I needed to find Juliet a meal so that if she came home, she would feel better.

My cell phone rang on my way back to my house. I hoped it was Juliet calling to ask for help. She hasn’t done that so far. It still felt like an all-time low. She didn’t trust me.

Samuel’s name flashed on the screen. I wasn’t in the mood to deal and let it ring. A message came through.

Samuel {Another cub was taken! Tracker needed. Heard what happened. Good time for you to find this bastard before you leave for France. Give her a few days.}

It was exactly what I needed. A way to help Juliet. Find the infected freak that injected her. I dropped off the takeout at my house. And another message came through.

Samuel {Contact of werewolf you must work with… Does the name Sita Rheed ring any bells? Play nice.}

I hit the steering wheel. Juliet hated Sita. I didn’t particularly like her either. Stuck up cow. I pushed the gas, frustrated at how I handled the whole freaking business.

***

Liam

When I came out of the garage, I saw Louis storming off. He was probably going to get his car, but why was he in such a huff. Did he and Juliet fight?

Cindy was sitting at the breakfast nook, a glass of water in her hand spacing out. She didn’t even realize I was there. I put my hands on her shoulder. She only patted mine, deep in thought. I walked down the hall to Juliet’s room. She wasn’t there either. It struck me. Juliet must have gone off-grid again. Louis and Cindy didn’t know where she was.

“Did you check the app?” Cindy snapped out of it and stared at me.

“She knows everything now... Louis told her about his ability. She didn’t take it well…We know where she is, but he refuses to go get her.”

“Do you want me to go? Show me…” Cindy handed me the phone. I opened the app, but there was nothing when I refreshed her location.

I let out an exasperated breath and sat down next to my wife. “Juliet put her phone off.”

Cindy grabbed the phone out of my hand, checking if I was right. “Now we have no idea what’s going on.”

“She wouldn’t put her phone off if she was in a sticky situation. Means she is safe. Just throwing a tantrum.”

“I suppose… But she hasn’t eaten in two weeks. How could we have forgotten.”

I sighed. “You’re taking this too hard… We just came back… I should have sorted that out, but I thought we would have today… Let’s hope she will be here by tonight. A lot of things happened in the last twenty-four hours. Let’s give her the day to unwind.”

“There is more Liam… She slept with Chris.”

“But he’s married… They don’t even know each other….”

“Well, now we know why Jerry freaked out… Our daughter almost died last night… So much has happened to her… She doesn’t trust us. Couldn’t even tell her own mother.”

I pulled her into my arms. For the rest of the day, neither of us could relax or settle down, knowing that Juliet could get into trouble at any moment.

***

Sita

I had to listen to Chris and Juliet have sex in the back of his car. I wasn’t even angry. I felt nothing. It scared the crap out of me… I wasn’t even jealous. It was all about losing…

I got up, left him in bed, and didn’t look back.

I listened to their conversation… Juliet was right about everything. She had guts. Revealed herself to him. Manifested and laid it all out there. And he still slept with her. More proof that I didn’t give Chris the benefit of my doubt. But I wasn’t going to admit to any wrongs on my part. I had done nothing wrong, and he cheated. I was late Friday on purpose. Wanted to postpone our make-up session. Two weeks had not been enough for me to get over it. I watched him on my laptop that whole night… She was in my territory. So, I got dressed. Drove over… But by that time… Chris was pushed over the line. I could see it in his eyes… She had taken my husband, and I would never forgive her for that. It didn’t matter what we were going through. We could have made it work if he wasn’t lusting for a vamp.

By the time I was back at my grandfather’s farm… I signed the divorce papers out of anger. Leaving them with Nicholas. I was going back to the city where I belonged. My phone rang. Julia Thompson was hysterical at the other end. I didn’t need any prompting to turn the car around and keep myself busy with whatever presented itself. The cub was just an excuse. It wasn’t something I was good at. Even so, doing nothing was going to drive me insane.

I had no more home. I didn’t want to get involved in the middle of everything Chris would have to go through. He had Nicholas. The old guy had a soft spot for him. Maybe if it had happened and they had not slept together… I would have stayed. I felt a sense of freedom, knowing that it was over. I had held on for so long… hoping that it would be me that made him manifest. When he did, I would have told him about myself. Everything that I knew. We would have started over.