I replied, “But it’s not even noon… it’s actually only ten.” KJ snorted, “Yes, you get up insanely early, but that’s not the point. What’s going on?” I replied, “I need to go talk to my nephew… older brother… and sister in law… I messed up… and I feel bad.”
KJ said, “You have nothing to feel bad about. Just go talk to your brother if that’s what you want to do. He’s your brother and I know for a fact Beta T will be thrilled if you do.” I pulled up my brother and Everly’s calendars and cleared them.
KJ snorted, “You’re funny.” Ok? It wasn’t so much of me being funny as it was practical to clear their calendars…. Since I needed to talk to them for more than a brief conversation. Gosh… it was going to be long and drawn out.
I called out, “Can one of you guys open a portal? Since… you’re just around.” Chester opened one and I went through to my old pack. I walked to Everly and Tristan’s house and knocked on the door. I picked at my sleeve while I waited for someone to answer.
Everly opened the door and smirked, “Ah, I see the reason my calendar suddenly freed up. Come in.” I walked inside.Kai squealed, “AUNT LADYBUG!” I gave him a hug. Tristan showed up and asked, “What’s going on, Ladybug? My calendar suddenly went blank.”
I picked at my sleeve, “Umm… I just… I needed to say something… and you mentioned we’d talk about it… and well… I’m here…. so…now seems good.” Tristan asked, “What’s this about?” I blurted out, “Kai, I’m sorry.”
Kai chuckled, “You’re silly, Aunt Ladybug. Why are you sorry?” I replied, “I never should’ve asked you to keep it a secret that I saved you. It was wrong… and the reasons I was worried about… don’t really matter… adults shouldn’t ask pups to keep secrets like that from their parents… and I’m sorry.”
Kai shrugged, “It’s ok. Mom said everything is bullshit lately.” Everly groaned, “You spied on me then because I didn’t say that to you.” Kai replied, “Granpda Drake and Grandpa Bond agree. I’m not upset with you, Aunt Ladybug.”
Tristan spoke up, “I would prefer you two stop keeping such big secrets like the presents you give to my son and that you rescued him. I do want Kai to know he can always come to me, you, Jase, Everly, and the adults with anything.” I nodded.
I hummed, “Well… I was just going to say sorry and…” Tristan snorted, “Don’t even think you’re about to leave. Have a seat.” I sat down on the couch. Everly sat on the one across from me. Tristan declared, “You saved my son.” I mean…I had just admitted to that…so repeating it seemed silly. Freya snorted, “Just talk about it.” Ugh.
Kai agreed, “She did, and it was SO COOL! Her Demon friend came to my games you couldn’t come to daddy. He said he keeps the bad guys away.” I explained, “His name is Virgil… and he watched you if you were off pack lands… because… I’m slightly paranoid. I don’t if we can call it that though since… bad people keep proving me right… so it’s more like just the right amount of cautious…when you consider all the factors involved.”
Everly fist pumped into the air, “Team Melanie being whatever the hell keeps my pup safe.” Tristan said, “You thought Kai was Jase’s and that our brother was awful to you, but you risked everything to save Kai. You took a punishment for saving my son.”
Kai gasped, “From who?” I answered, “The bad people who kidnapped me and… I’d do it over again.” Tristan said, “You saved Jase in Missouri.” I asked, “And just what was he doing there?! You guys have access to Fairy charms… and…”
Tristan interrupted me to answer, “Jase was constantly doing dangerous things to try and keep his mind off the fact he saw you being whipped for him getting away.” I pursed my lips saying, “Well… I did not know that.”
Tristan sighed, “It was also a distraction from how weird you were being. Except it was the fake you. Which honestly makes it all better because it makes sense. You didn’t have a personality change, she was an actress.” Everly snorted, “A really bad one who couldn’t act like Melanie to save her life.”
I hummed, “Honestly she sounds terrible…. And well… to be fair… I also thought everyone here was being weirdly mean. So, you bought a bad actress….I bought several bad actors and actresses for multiple people. Even though we didn’t video call…but we talked so…I think it counts.”
Kai boasted, “But you still saved me.” My nephew was bragging and made me smile. I vowed, “I will always save you. I’d have had Xander pop to you if we were still together and we heard you were kidnapped…I was definitely not leaving you in the hands of bad people, Kai.”
Tristan somewhat demanded, “Walk me through it.” I told him, “Sierra and I were set to drive back, so… the fact that we got sent a plane tickets tipped me off. Edward nor Jean did nice things for Sierra or me…so it was immediately off to us both.”
“When we boarded there were Warriors on the plane… which was silly. They weren’t mine and trained like crap. When we landed, Buck was in the airport… but he didn’t know about Kai until I told him. He gave everyone a false trail so I could get out without causing a scene.”
Everly asked, “How did they not notice you?” I answered, “I had a hoodie pulled up and stuck close to a family, making it look like I was with them… just like T always told me to do.” Kai squealed, “Daddy said that to me too!”
I replied, “Because your dad is smart and adept at hiding in the forest and staying off the people’s radar… it’s one of the reasons he and Levi get along so well… they are similar.” Tristan disagreed, “I’m a normal wolf.”
I replied, “False. You have better survival skills than most wolves… trust me… I used those skills…. One could say a lot…and have the data to support my statements about your abilities. You taught me to slow my heartbeat down to blend into with surroundings so people could think it was an animal. That’s what gave me the idea to use science to eliminate it altogether.”
Everly agreed with me, “Your sister is right, T. I’ve been saying you have an innate ability with those skills.” Tristan said, “Levi…” I cut him off, “Does not use mud to blend in or leaves to become a bush. That’s all you.”
“Well…ok… he did on a mission once… but you taught him that… and I killed the people after him… which is a whole other thing….that we were not talking about him…or his changing schedule… like his cousins. It’s definitely to irk me…or that’s what I thought at the time…. probably not though now that I know everyone is not mad at me.” Tristan raised an eyebrow.
I hummed, “Anyway….we were talking about Kai. I drove through holoports… and pulled up his tracker to find him…. in the, very unoriginal, all white van.” Everly scoffed, “Assholes.” My sister in law squeezed Kai tighter to her.
I continued, “I shot out their tire and when they pulled over, I passed by them… came back and killed them for taking my nephew… which felt fair. I was shocked he knew who I was…and I wasn’t really prepared for that… leading to me saying he couldn’t tell people I was me… which was wrong… and the reason I came.”
Tristan snorted, “You didn’t come to discuss the kidnapping like I said?” I replied, “I figured you’d want to get into that… yes.” Tristan said, “You saved Jase. He said you made a jump that could’ve broken your legs.”
I replied, “I didn’t really care about that at the time. Besides the angles are science… so… I see the math in my head as I do things sometimes.” Tristan said, “You need to be more careful.” I pointed out, “I am… now. Then… well… I was a little... I’d had two weeks of a bubble… but acting without regard to myself is easier to do when umm…” I glanced at Kai.
Everly jumped in, “Buddy, why don’t you go to the main house. Your grandparents are there.” Kai huffed, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, adult talk.” Kai hugged me and I squeezed him tightly. He linked, “I’m glad it was you who saved me.” I said, “Me too. I love you, Kai.” My nephew kissed my cheek saying, “I love you too, Aunt Ladybug.” Tears sprang into my eyes as I watched him leave.
Everly handed me a tissue, and I wiped them away. Freya said, “Apollo has a lot of thoughts.” I’m sure he did. Tristan urged, “You were saying?” I hummed, “I mean I say a lot… if you mean about earlier… I was going to say when people wish you were dead, and hope you die… and you wish that yourself… you become the most dangerous factor in any situation.”
