Chapter 365: Greta’s Anger
"What the f—... why were you in Violet’s room to be BEGIN with?" Greta snarled in disgust at her brother. Was he out of his mind? Had he completely lost it?
Graeme stood in his office with Greta and Sam after explaining to them the eyes he saw the night before. He kept trying to convince himself that it was his imagination—after all, he and Lucas didn’t find a trace of anyone or anything outside of the pack house afterward—but it kept nagging at him, the reoccurring sight of those golden eyes. The memory seemed to get sharper each time—more realistic—rather than fading into unknowability.
He stared guiltily at his feet with his hands folded behind him, his stomach churning at the scolding from Greta that he knew he deserved. Only Greta could make him feel like a pup again. She had that maternal presence that affected him like he imagined his mother would.
"You know Violet will stop at nothing to get you back under her spell," Greta continued, glaring at her brother.
It was infuriating that he could be this stupid, and she felt sick to her stomach because of it. If August were here—if he had his memory back—he would have never done that. What would August think? It would hurt her to know he had been that close to the very female that sought to entrap her while Graeme was away...
"Greta, something terrible happened to her. She is part of this pack..." he tried to say, but Greta cut him off.
"I don’t care what happened to her—I don’t care if she was beaten to within an inch of her life—there is always someone else to help deal with it. It was in the middle of the night, and you just walked right in, accepting her invitation? What is wrong with you?" she seethed.
If Violet weren’t in such bad condition, she would pay her a visit herself and teach her not to ever even look her brother’s way again. The elders weren’t here to throw Greta in the dungeon this time.
"What did she say to you?" Greta crossed her arms in front of herself, eyebrows lifted in question as she waited for her brother to prove her right. "Was she not trying to come between you and your mate?"
Graeme swallowed uneasily, a muscle feathering in his jaw as he avoided his sister’s eyes.
"Why didn’t you just go ahead and try out Lucas’ suggestion then? Why not see what it takes to get your memory back, and then you’ll know the full stupidity of that mistake?" Greta continued, refusing to let it go.
"Greta..." Sam put a hand on her arm, trying to get her to stop. Graeme was already hurting and confused enough.
"No!" Greta pulled her arm away. "Can you imagine if I had done something like that to you while you were away, Sam? What would you have done if you found me in another male’s room?"
Sam swallowed back the growl that wanted to erupt from his chest at the thought. "This is a complicated situation..." he said quietly.
"What is so complicated about it? He has a mate who is risking her life right now—who is sacrificing her safety and well-being for him and for this pack, putting her life and the life of their unborn child at risk—and he is entertaining Violet’s sob story and, I would wager a guess, her conspiratorial theories that are trying to make him question what he knows about his mate. Am I right, Graeme?" She was leaning in closer, accusing him with her posture, her words, her glare that leveled him.
"You are not wrong, though it was not my intention to entertain her in that way," he said quietly. "I was surprised she was there and hurt so badly—no one prepared me for that."
Greta growled in frustration and turned away, pacing the room and holding back tears of anger. She had to figure out a way to help him get his memory back. This was unbelievable.
"Do you even deserve this gift you have been given?" she asked through angry tears. "Do you know how precious that female of yours is?"
"No, I don’t deserve it," he said through clenched teeth. "I know that for a fact that I don’t. Perhaps that is why I find it is so hard to believe all of this is real."
"What part do you find hard to believe? That feeling in the very center of your being that ties you so intimately to another?" she asked, huffing her disgust at his behavior.
"All of it," he said, glaring back up at her. "This office, the Alpha role, the alyko being back... it is all hard to believe. It is as if I woke up in another dimension in someone else’s life."
"Okay," Sam said, extending his hands out in front of him as if to calm the very air itself. "Okay, let’s talk about these eyes. Is this a real threat that we should prepare for? Should I alert the guards?"
"I don’t know. I wanted to hear your thoughts, because both of you obviously have more knowledge about what has been happening here lately than I do," he replied.
"I know how we can find out. Let’s offer her as bait," Greta chuckled, shrugging her shoulders as if she could care less about what happened to the malicious female.
"That’s hardly honorable. She is part of this pack..." Graeme started, only to be interrupted again by his sister.
"SHE is hardly honorable," Greta snapped.
"It is our duty to protect her just as we would any other member," Graeme said more fiercely. "I have no feelings for her. I do not say that because I care for her any more than anyone else who calls these lands their home. I left this pack to get away from her, for Goddess’ sake!"
"That’s why you left this pack?" Greta glared at him. "You would allow her to have that much power over you and your future?"
"That’s not what I mean, Greta!" he roared back.
"It’s not? Then explain it to me, because if you abandoned your people here merely because of the stupid mistake you made with her, that is the most cowardly thing I have ever heard of!" she cried, her face finally crumpling into a mess of tears.
Graeme groaned and buried his face in one of his hands. "I have never claimed to not be a coward. I am one. I left you all. This is all my fault. All of it."
"Ugh!" Greta cried, exasperated by having to begin again with these insecurity issues of her brother’s.
He was over this! He had moved past this! He had grown so much in the past few months—becoming a worthy leader who had earned the pack’s respect—and now it felt like that was all unraveling.
She stormed out of the office, leaving the stupid males to decide if glowing golden eyes were an issue to be concerned with rather than the scheming female who put the very thought into Graeme’s head to begin with.
"Where are you going, Greta?" Sam called after her.
"To deal with Violet myself," she muttered low enough so neither male could hear her.
