James returned to sit next to Cornelia on the sofa, and he absentmindedly poked a piece of sausage with a fork.
His hand froze mid-air when Cornelia asked, "Someone from your pack died?"
James released a long breath. He really didn't want to talk about it, but Cornelia overheard what Maddox said. He couldn't pretend like it was nothing. "My sister. She died last night."
Cornelia's eyes widened in slow motion when she understood that Maddox was talking about Marcy. Cornelia saw Marcy in the Dark Howlers pack. At that time, Marcy made a statement to a reporter in front of a camera about how she was giving up on the role of Damon's Luna so that she can travel the world.
Cornelia was confident that she will never hear about Marcy again, and it didn't cross her mind that Marcy will be here. Dead now.
"I went there last night," James spoke in a low voice. "I was hoping that she will be in the shelter, or maybe that she left this pack. But I found her in the forest, being beaten to death by rogues. There was a girl crying, yet I felt nothing. My biggest concern was to avoid exposure. If my father found out that Marcy was here, I would be in trouble. Alpha Damon and Alpha Maddox would also be blamed. I didn't care about Marcy."
Cornelia hugged him from the side. "I'm so sorry."
James snorted. "Why are you sorry? Didn't you hear what I said? I felt nothing. The female I considered to be my sister died, and I felt nothing. I am a monster."
Cornelia moved to look into his blue eyes which were like endless oceans as they reflected his internal struggle.
"Monsters don't feel, Jay. You are capable of love and care and anxiousness, and so many other emotions. I know. You are not a monster. You are just… broken."
James fisted her shirt, his fingers dug into the fabric, nearly ripping it but he didn't notice because he was staring into her dark brown eyes full of love as her words echoed in his mind.
"I am not a monster," he repeated.
"That is correct," Cornelia confirmed. "I know you are not a monster because you are my soulmate. You were forced to hide everything deep inside, so your father won't find it and use it against you. You hid your emotions so well that you couldn't recognize them anymore. I know you are scared. You are scared to look into the person your father molded, but I can tell you that I'm looking at him and he is not a monster. I am here for you and I'm not going anywhere. I won't force you to open up to me, but I hope that one day you will allow me to share your everything, pain included."
Cornelia raised her hands and wiped the moisture off his cheeks.
"See? I am right. Monsters don't cry. Monsters don't fear disappointing their other half. Your father broke you, but I know that my sweet Jay will feed me and put my needs first. My Jay will do everything he can to keep me safe, and he will rather harm himself than do something I might dislike. I love you, Jay. Together, we will get through everything."
James' shoulders shook and then he pulled her into him, and he sobbed silently.
Cornelia hugged him with all her might and patted his back. No matter how smart and how tall and how mature he was, in the end, he was still a sixteen years-old boy who was dealing with a lot.
His father was a horrible person, his mother didn't care, and he just saw his sister dying. He was surviving every day while fearing that his father will oust him due to the lack of Alpha aura, and there was also the point that James believed he was not strong enough to protect Cornelia, his mate. That was a lot of challenges for anyone to bear, and James was just one person.
At that moment, he looked like a fragile boy and Cornelia held him and let him cry it out because she knew that he needed it.
Part of her was glad that James broke down like that. He opened up and allowed her to see his vulnerable side. She knew that no one got to see that, and it made it special.
Later that afternoon…
Maddox led the group to an isolated stone building.
By his side was Tatiana, and behind them were Damon, Talia, Caden, Maya, Kalina, and Tony.
When they entered the room, they found Grady, Varya, Cornelia, and James.
Cornelia drew a circle with chalk on the stone floor.
Cornelia confirmed that Grady removed most of the unnatural energies by washing the body paint from his body, and she performed a few spells to extract the rest.
Cornelia said that she will need to investigate the collected samples to confirm how the bodypaint actually worked.
James ensured that no one could see his chocolate-colored Goddess doing her magic, so guards and Varya had to stay outside, but unfortunately… Grady saw it. Cornelia was performing the spells on him, so Grady was necessary.
James was set on killing Grady at the smallest sign of betrayal. Actually, he might kill the guy just in case he reveals later how special Cornelia was.
Grady was overwhelmed by the hostility that was tangible. What the heck? Even that teen boy looked at him like he couldn't wait to end him.
No matter how Grady saw this, he disliked packs and whatever structure they were following. No one asked him his name, nor occupation; that one word "rogue" labeled him as a black sheep and it seemed that no amount of good deeds will help him appear clean. Maybe Tristan was right after all.
Grady's instincts told him that he was lucky to be alive. Somehow, the scout and observe mission that Tristan described escalated. He saw bodies of rogues being carried, and he recognized some.
For now, Grady decided to observe and cooperate. His priority was to survive, and he will find his exit later. Hopefully, with Varya by his side.
"The circle on the ground is to contain the flames, in case he spontaneously combusts," Cornelia explained when she finished.
They all stood facing Grady, and Kalina had to drag Varya away from the guy.
Seven more rogues were caught alive, currently held in the dungeon, but Maddox didn't think they will give him any useful information. Leaders of rogue groups were not Alphas, and they had no way to enforce loyalty other than with threats, money, and brainwashing how everyone was out to kill them (which was not necessarily a lie).
"Do you understand that if you talk about your rogue group, you might die?" Maddox asked.
Grady shrugged. "What are my options?" He didn't believe the burst-into-flames story. And didn't the brown chick say how the burning curse was removed?
"Will you cooperate?" Maddox asked his next question.
"Yes," Grady responded without missing a beat.
"Why should we believe you?" Damon asked.
Grady looked at Varya. "Because I want to be with my mate. I will do anything to be with her."
"Even lie?" Damon asked stiffly.
Grady was not sure how to respond to this. Would he lie? Of course, he would! But if he says that, it can backfire big time.
