A/N: Are you ready for the next chapter? Sorry it took so long for me to write. I'm up to my neck in Essays, so this gets written in between them. Enjoy, and Respond! :)
Chapter Twelve- Don't tell me cause it hurts
Leah sat on the floor, shock echoed on her face. Bran eyes were wide, a deep fury within him raging through his eyes, as Caelie ran in between the two. Recognition slowly slipped into his eyes as Caelie lifted her hand and rested on his chest. She could feel his wolf, the unease that it exuded, the anger toward Leah that could not be fully controlled. The eye contact that Bran and Caelie maintained revealed the level of power she was exuding to prevent him from losing it. Adam, and Mercy edged towards them slowly, unsure of what to do, where to go with this situation. Charles stood next to Leah, the stillness of his body revealing the danger of what would happen if she attempted to break up this moment.
"Charles," Caelie stated in a calm voice, exuding control over the situation that she needed to have, "Take Leah out to the car, and sit with her. Anna will be out with Bran here in a second."
Charles nodded, the urge to submit to her so great that he practically jumped at her orders. Grabbing Leah's shirt they made their way out of the house silently, leaving the others to the situation that was Caelie and Bran. Caelie cocked her head to the side, letting her wolf float to the surface, watching Bran with now golden eyes. The pain and rejection that she always felt while thinking of him, was met with the same intense feeling of love that came every time she saw him. This time it was met with a saddening truth that she could no longer deny. He was married, mated, and she would always be there in the end. Leah wasn't going anywhere. No matter what she wanted to believe, and no matter how much she wished, he was with her.
A peace settled through her, leaving a trail of unmistakable pain that couldn't be healed. A smile crossed her face, as she softly brought her hand up to his face, caressing his face gently. Their eyes never left each other, and what once was a play for dominance quickly became a fire. A fire that had slowly been simmering underneath the surface, now so brightly hot that it was a miracle that they both didn't burn. Both of them lost their breath, the world focused on the sensations, the automatic ease that both them, and their wolves felt being near each other.
No one around them moved. The fear that they would tear apart whatever trance, state, Caelie and Bran were in. Silence reigned in the living room, as Caelie and Bran let everything go, let this one moment be their last, their last chance to have a moment where they were the only ones that mattered.
But no matter how much they tried to stay in the moment, live in this one moment, it lingered savagely in the back of their mind that at the end of the day Bran went back to Leah, and Caelie to the barely there existence that she had been subjected to.
It was Warren entering the house, just a simple click of the door opening that broke their wonderful spell. Caelie quickly snatched her hand away from Bran, holding it as if she had actually burned it during that brief, brief touch. Caelie's eyes quickly lowered, her demeanor changing to one where she was no longer the strong one , not that Bran wanted to be.
The haunted look quickly entered Bran's eyes, leaving the strong man he used to be a ghost in this shell of a body. Hands were quickly moved to the side, sparks dissipated, and the trance everyone seemed to create a wide eyed expression across everyone's face. Caelie turned, walking towards the back of the house, Ben on her heels, as Bran turned to look at Sam.
"I'll make sure that Leah is taken care of," Bran stated, as Sam raised an eyebrow.
"I could demand that you punish her here," Adam stated, as Bran's eyebrow raised.
"That can only happen if you formally put her in your pack," Bran stated quietly, eyeing Adam with a distaste that was normally reserved for the scum. Adam's eyes were down, but his eyebrow came up.
"I have formally accepted her into my pack," Adam stated, as Bran growled lightly. The gasp from behind Bran revealed a happily shocked Caelie. The smile that crossed very lightly reached her eyes, the genuity of knowing that she was no longer alone clouding over the fact that Bran was once again abandoning her again. It was evident that the thought crossed her mind, because her eyes once again dimmed, before the spark that had once been there dissipated.
"Thank you, Alpha, I promise you won't be disappointed!" She walked over to Adam, hugging him gently, before pulling away, looking at Bran briefly.
"Do you want me to punish her here?" Bran snapped, allowing his control over emotions to be overridden.
"Let them go," She mumbled, standing between the two men, a play between the alpha's growing in intensity.
"Are you sure?" Adam asked, eyes focused on Bran, as the question worked it's way over to Caelie.
"Let them go," She stated firmly, forcing Adam to meet her eyes. Adam nodded, as Caelie turned to Bran, a coldness, a logic in her eyes that he had never seen before.
"Please leave Bran, I think you and your wife-" the snapped word whipped across Bran's soul, "need to leave before things become more complicated."
Bran stood there looking at her for a second, the dismissal a burn on his soul. He turned and walked out, leaving his heart back with her.
Caelie watched as he walked out, the urge to beg him to come back, or to go with him, but logic kept her from chasing him down. He would never leave Leah. There was nothing more to the two of them then an unbridled passion that would never be stoked. It was time for her to truly move on.
"He loves you," Adam whispered, as she stood next to him, watching him go.
"Not enough," She whispered, walking back to her seat next to Ben, who watched her closely. Noticing the stiff way she held herself, Ben shrugged, letting it go for now. He knew that he would have to talk with her about it at some point, but now was not the time for it.
"Your turn," Ben mumbled, as Caelie nodded, allowing herself to ease back in to a comfortable routine. That would be all she would need. A routine. Something to keep her from screaming.
A month would pass before Sam would hear from Charles. Sam would think it would be the beginning of their monthly phone calls, but it wasn't. Or, at least, that's what the note would say. The note that Caelie would find on the door to the house as she would be walking up to it. It would be the note that Ben would find a day later, after not hearing from her, the linger of her smell on the traces of the wind, but quickly dissipating.
He dropped the note, running to Adam. The note that would cause so much trouble drifted down and softly tapped to the ground.
Caelie
I'm gone, I'll be back. Charles is missing. Anna is hysterical. Headed home to try
to help find him. Stay there. I'll call.
Sam
