Jason pulled me in for a hug and took me off guard by his sudden movement. After a second, I hugged him back. My brother whispered, “I’m so sorry, Ladybug.” I replied, “You didn’t do it.” Jason pulled back, “I’m your big brother. I’m supposed to stop bad things from happening to you.”
I shrugged, “I wasn’t exactly around. You’d have never let it happen in Red Run. Even when I thought you’d known I was punished… I knew you’d never have been ok with what they did.” Jason sighed, “Let’s just get this over with. You’re right about my feelings, I don’t want to be.” I sighed as I stood.
I looked at him asking, “Are you really sure? You don’t have to do…” Jason shrugged cutting me off, “It’s probably as bad as I imagined.” It was a little worse because I’d been whipped since he last saw it. I took off my shirt and Jason snarled in anger.
I closed my eyes, feeling awful. This is why I didn’t want them to know about this or see it. Jason was just different because he already saw it. Freya warned, “Ajax is fuming.” I’m sure he was. Jason growled angrily, “It looks worse than my memories.”
I put my shirt back on and turned around. I faced Jason saying, “Yes, well… I have been whipped since then.” Xander linked me. Freya said, “Mate will come back.” I reasoned, “We will go to him, but we need to talk to my brother first.”
Jason had tears streaming down his face as he said, “You are none of those words. Why does it say Ice Queen?” I explained, “Because I wouldn’t umm… do stuff… that… involves no clothes… with uhhh Trevor. He told me it would he would stop hurting me if I… did umm… the dance with no pants on.”
Freya cackled in my head. Jason even cracked a smile despite the clear anger in his eyes. Well, being awkward was finally working for me. I continued, “I just… umm… wasn’t interested in any of the guys in their pack. Ever since I got there... I just wasn’t.”
Jason closed his eyes, “Because you’ve only ever been interested in Alexander. I should’ve just gotten you to meet him.” I shrugged reasoning, “You didn’t think I was his. You thought I’d get my heart broken… even though I told you guys he was mine. So… I do know you were trying to protect me.”
My brother angrily shouted, “But I didn’t!” I sighed, “We do the best we can with the information we have.” Jason growled, “It doesn’t matter! If I had then none of this would’ve happened and that fucking coward wouldn’t have touched you. He branded you with his damn name! If you had met Alexander a whole slew of people would’ve killed him for having the thought of doing that.”
I nodded, “I know that… it… I… couldn't get away. I was too weak. I’d been starved and dehydrated and beaten. I wouldn't have let him do that. I used what energy I had to fight him off from trying umm… do stuff with me. I took Trevor down more times than I can count.”
Jason wiped tears from his eyes vowing, “He will pay, Ladybug.” I whispered, “I know. Do you understand why I don’t want the rest of our family to see that?” Jason said, “I do and I think you’re right. I know why you agreed about me seeing them too. I didn’t want to admit it, but I knew. Hearing about it and seeing are different.”
I acknowledged, “I know. It would really hurt them. It hurt you, and I didn’t want that… I just didn’t want you to think you were crazy. You’d seen it… so logically you’d know whether I showed you or not.” Jason apologized, “I’m just so damn sorry, Ladybug.”
I shrugged, “It’s all going to be gone... then I can go shopping for my mating dress... and get something without fearing what people will say.” Jason frowned, “You didn’t fear what people would say in Black Path.”
I said, “No, I didn’t. People already whispered about me as it was, but I’m a Luna here. Plus, my family and mate are here. This information didn’t hurt people in Black Path. My friends were pissed off about it.”
“Heck, they even felt bad they weren’t there, but it didn’t hurt them on the level it hurts everyone here. My friends felt guilty, but they knew they were under an Alpha Command to leave the area. They couldn’t go against that. Here everyone just feels guilty.”
I knew it was true because if they didn’t… Grandpa Ben and Nick would’ve confronted me about saving them. It was possible with the drugs… they thought they were wrong, or they wanted to be. The fact they didn’t confirmed they felt guilty. I was honestly surprised they hadn’t shared their theory with my parents… Or my brothers.
Both Jason and Tristan would confront me in a heartbeat. Something was weird with that. I shoved it aside. Jason offered, “I don’t have to stand up there with Alexander at your Mating Ceremony, you know? If you don’t want me…”
I cut him off, “I already told Xander I knew you’d be up there. You are one of his best friends. So… you should be up there. Besides, you are my brother… and a hundred years from now… I will want to see you and our family in the pictures of that moment.”
“I hope by then these times will be a distant memory. I think I’d regret it if you weren’t there. There are metaphorical wounds… but I want them to heal. I missed Tristan’s mating ceremony… I missed a lot of first moments in my nephew’s life.” Which I hated. Freya whined in my head.
I continued, “My first shift was a travesty… that will literally go down in history books as a cautionary tale. Hell, my life for the last several years has been a farce. I don’t want to miss any more big moments.”
“I missed your graduation ceremony… and your Male Lead Warrior challenge tournament. There are too many missed moments. It might be hard right now, but I think we will all regret it if there are more events to add to that list when they didn’t need to be.”
Jason nodded agreeing, “I think you’re right, but then you were always such a smarty pants. You know we will all go to counseling sessions with you. Mom and Dad want to talk to you about a family session. We all want to go.”
I sighed, “If by all of you… you mean you, mom, dad, and Tristan… we could do that.” Jason frowned, “Grandpa Ben and Grandma Esther want to come too.” I shook my head, “No….well not right now. I want to have a few sessions on my own… then we can all have one….the all being our core family….the larger family can come later.”
I paused then added, “By the way… are Grandma and Grandpa Haskins out of town or something? Because I noticed you didn’t mention them wanting a therapy session… also… I didn’t have them taking a vacation… so, where are they? Because Grandpa Ben is lurking around… Grandma Esther is too… Where are mom’s parents?
Jason sighed, “They are upset.” Ok? So was I. Freya scoffed, “Yeah, I’m with you here. The others are trying and making aneffort with us.” I hummed out loud, “I see… well anyway… just a core family session… for therapy I mean.”
Jason said, “Alright, we are more than our core family though. I won’t push you, and I’ll make sure they don’t either. We all missed you though.” I had missed them too, but the fake letters flashed in my mind. The hurt I tried to keep buried deep came barreling back.
I told my brother, “That’s just going to take more time for me. I don’t want them missing big moments either… but I’m just…” Jason grabbed my hand and squeezed, “I get it. You thought they’d abandoned you because of the lie about you not being dad’s biological pup.”
I sighed, “I mean… there was a lot of very mean stuff… said… or written….that weren’t really them … but part of me wonders… what if it was true? Would they even care about me now? Grandma and Grandpa Haskins clearly don’t… and I knew they knew I was related to them the whole time.”
Jason winced saying, “Ladybug, Grandma and Grandpa Haskins love you. Besides, you are dad’s biological pup. I understand the question though, but that is something our grandparents would’ve known the entire time.”
“I might not have known, but the Kyle’s definitely would’ve. They never treated you any differently because they love you for who you are. You are not a Hunter. You’re a Werewolf through and through.” I felt like now was the wrong time to admit I was, technically speaking, a Huntress. Because I joined…by force…but still.
